It’s been remarkable how the generals have continued to stand up for equality and respect under the torrent of bigotry pouring from Trump’s mouth. Here’s one more, the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy.
Watch the whole thing. This guy really means what he says.
And open thread.
"If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect–then you need to get out."-Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, Superintendent @AF_Academy pic.twitter.com/njCktv5Fmp
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) September 28, 2017
Elizabelle
Can you imagine how many brushfires that guy has to put out? Good for him.
hitchhiker
That moment when he tells them to get their phones out and make a record of what he’s telling them.
Damn.
lurker dean
i saw this earlier today and it made me happy to see decency. if only the idiot-in-chief could repudiate racism and misogyny so clearly.
M. Bouffant
I wish the general would tell Trump that.
Patricia Kayden
While his speech is fantastic, I hope that the rooms occupied by Black Air Force members are fixed with hidden cameras so that the perpetrators can be caught and kicked out of the military.
Bobby Thomson
How is this remarkable? He actually meant the oath he swore.
Van Buren
This is very encouraging, especially in light of the USAF reputation of being filled with Christianist aholes. Credit given where it is due.
efgoldman
In 1969, when I was in Army basic training at Fort Polk LA, they went out of their way to accommodate minority religions.
As an all-of-a-sudden very observant Jew, I never did a Friday night barracks cleanup or a Saturday morning inspection.
It helped that whoever ran the chapel services laid out familiar food and drink; there was also a bank of phone booths right next to the chapel, so we got to call home at least once week.
lollipopguild
Band of Brothers quote-“You salute the uniform not the man wearing it” You may dislike or hate some of the people you serve with but in order for the military to function you have to obey orders and help keep good order. There has to be a certain level of trust or things will not work.
rikyrah
Thank you, General
clay
One thing that Trump’s rise has done is that it’s demonstrated which institutions are fundamentally strong, and which are rotten. The military, the intelligence community, the Washington Post, the judciary (somewhat), the NFL (!), and others have all been able to been able to weather the storm without sacrificing dignity or their ability to do their jobs.
Meanwhile, ICE, Congress, the NYT have had their credibility damaged if not outright destroyed. And it might take a long time for them to become strong again.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
While I’m glad that generals are saying this kind of thing loudly, I’m unsettled that we’re veering much nearer than I ever could have thought we would to a time when we depend on the military to keep us safe from our own elected [sic] civilian government. We aren’t Turkey. It isn’t this guy’s job to say these things–well, I guess it is now, but it shouldn’t be.
NotMax
Would like to ask his opinion of Curtis “bomb ’em back to the Stone Age” LeMay.
noncarborundum
@lollipopguild:
After Johnny got through basic training, he
Was a soldier through and through when he was done.
Its effects were so well rooted
That the next day he saluted
A good humor man, an usher, and a nun.
A Ghost to Most
@Van Buren: Indeed. As an AF veteran, I have been appalled at some of the christianist bullshit that has gone on at the AFA.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Good to see at lest one of our insitutions is standing up for American values.
Gravenstone
@Van Buren: Pretty much my thoughts. Their recent reputation for god bothering has not been comforting.
ted mills
“If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect–then you need to get out.”…OF THE WHITE HOUSE
NotMax
@Gravenstone
Not recent. It’s been endemic (at varying intensities) for over 20 years.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@noncarborundum:
One of my jobs was repairing copy machines for Xerox on the USS Carol Vinson. After Reagan bombed Libya the security was extra strict so everyone had to line up and show ID to get aboard the ship. So one sailor after another showing the officer and them saluting each other. It gets to me, I show the ID and the officer salutes me, stops dead stunned at what he just did so I just smile and said thank you.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@efgoldman:
A born-again Jew?
A Ghost to Most
@NotMax: I was seeing the beginnings of it in 1978 as I left. I have step brother and BIL who both stayed in and retired from AF. They said it only grew as time went on.
wuzzat
@NotMax: Given the age of the crowd around here, I think it just depends on your definition of “recent.” AFAIK, the Christianist stuff didn’t ramp up until W’s administration, which granted, was nigh on 17 years ago now, but doesn’t seem that far away to a lot of us. I was a senior NCO’s kid, so I grew up hearing that the Academy produced know-it-all LTs with no common sense, but the bible thumpers usually came from off base.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Yeah, this did kind of remind me of Turkey a little bit. I hate to say it, but for the last few decades, the military has been the most relatively competent instiutions, while the GOP is in power.
NotMax
@Gravenstone
Following up on my comment above, kudos is due for the impassioned tenacity of Mike Weinstein for his good efforts in this sphere.
A Ghost to Most
@NotMax: Mikey is a hero of the Constitution.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
I was in two different companies in boot camp. The first had an E6 company commander, a rather young fellow. He was there to make sailors out of the recruits. He didn’t act like, talk like or treat us like he was there to make automatons out of us. The second was an E7 old grizzly lifer. He acted, talked and treated us like he was there to do exactly the opposite. Those two opposing types of leadership I saw for the next 4 yrs and am seeing it again. This general belonged in the first group. Conservative assholes belong to the other side of this. They don’t want diversity, differences, colors of skin, women in control of anything. They want bland obedience. This general wants us to work together to create a better world. Conservatives want to destroy anything that doesn’t met their world view, that of docile servitude.
zhena gogolia
We have people who can speak so clearly and with such elegance, and yet look at what’s in the White House.
I almost felt he was going to say “trans” at one point.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
Okay, I chuckled. I’m quick to cite my Lutheran upbringing for the Witnesses and Mormons who traipse to my door. “Can we talk about alcohol and Christ’s first miracle? How do I tell my kid she no longer gets Christmas or her birthday?”
zhena gogolia
@M. Bouffant:
It almost felt to me as if that’s what he was doing, or at least thinking.
A Ghost to Most
When I was in boot camp (AF; not like real boot camp), our mean DI got pissed finding contraband shoe shine in a locker, and shoved the tube down the guy’s throat. The guy turned out to be the nephew of Senator Sam Nunn.
Dude lost a stripe plus.
A Ghost to Most
@trollhattan:
Lots of nonsmokers became smokers in boot camp because you got breaks to smoke.
different-church-lady
@noncarborundum: I remember the first time my pesky little brother came back from Lejeune for Christmas break. He stood at rest position the whole time, called everyone either Sir or Ma’am, and was basically an entirely different human being than the one who had gone there.
Elizabelle
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
My, my. It is a fast forward Navy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue
RP
Donnie Trump, pick up the white courtesy phone. Donnie Trump, please pick up the white courtesy phone
trollhattan
@A Ghost to Most:
Definitely believe this. My old man got hooked in the Navy, for free!, and the cigs took him at 65, something the Japanese failed to do forty years earlier despite their best efforts.
Ian G.
The military is pretty much the last government institution I trust. I find this quite disturbing, but what the fuck am I supposed to do? They’re the only ones left not in it for the grift or the white supremacy.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
Thread awarded, here’s a nice glass of wine.
stinger
@A Ghost to Most: Focus on the Family moved its HQ to Colorado Springs (home of the Air Force Academy) in early ’90s. AF Christianism was already pretty overt, but it really took off after that.
Leto
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): It is his job. It’s part of the very bedrock of the Core Values.
1) Integrity
2) Service before self.
3) Excellence in all we do.
Whoever the fucktards are that did that broke all three. Besides reminding the cadets to be “basic human beings”, it’s a reminder that as an Airman the Core Values should shape everything you do, at a minimum, during your time in service.
Steeplejack
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Might want to back-burner that for the duration of the current administration.
ThresherK
@noncarborundum: This blog has a very high per capita ratio of folks who can quote Tom Lehrer chapter and verse.
PAM Dirac
@noncarborundum: Tom Lehrer for the win!
debbie
This has showed up four times on my FB feed. This NPR interview is about the Lt. General and is well worth the listen.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@noncarborundum:
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.
TenguPhule
Speaking about standing up…..
Tillerson says Kurdish independence referendum is illegitimate
Fuck you, Tillerson. We lost any right to have a say when our country betrayed the Kurds twice.
MJS
@zhena gogolia: I noticed that he didn’t. I guess when push comes to shove, they won’t qualify for dignity & respect.
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
Or as John Cole calls it, a typical Friday night in Virginia.
trollhattan
Random eye-catching BBC headline.
Twp peoples separated by a common language.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Stay frothy.
TenguPhule
@lollipopguild:
I have some bad news for you…..
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
Flush.
PAM Dirac
@ThresherK: And Rocky and Bullwinkle and Jonny Quest and Monty Python and … Why it’s almost like most of us are a certain age ( and it’s not the the demographic most advertisers are aiming for)
debbie
From the article:
Optics, Trump? You want to see crap optics? Look in the mirror.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@TenguPhule:
I still think
is one of the best lyrics ever in the entire history of lyrics.
Jeffro
I inhaled so much Thai food just now, I’m having trouble breathing…it was still worth it.
Fuck Tom Price. Next up, Zinke and Pruitt!
Leto
@A Ghost to Most: Our TI told a kid to quit singing during a demo of how to fold shirts/socks/etc… Kid didn’t. So the TI threw him in a locker, got quarters out of his pocket, fed them threw the airholes at the top, banged on the locker and yelled, “I WANT TO HEAR MICHAEL JACKSON! I WANT TO HEAR MICHAEL JACKSON!” This really quiet voice started singing,” Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it…” All of us lost it. Pulled the kid out, asked him if he was going to sing again. Michael remained quiet for the rest of the demo.
The Fat Kate Middleton
Many, many years ago (1963), I was given provisional acceptance to USAFA (whatever “provisional” means). After seeing that video, I’m regretting my decision to turn it down.
efgoldman
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Actually, it is and it always was. This stands out because it wasn’t always obvious or enforced around the USAF and the academy.
trollhattan
NY Mag
Jindal?!? I swear. if Trump installs a dude who performed an exorcism…..
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Bullseye!
gbbalto
I was very impressed by this few years back, when our senior officers seemed wishy-washy about sexual assault in our armed forces:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRQBtDtZTGA
(sorry, link-fu not good)
I wonder whether the AF LtGen had seen this..
efgoldman
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
As was said at that time and place: The best thing to be in basic training is a Jewish truck driver (the drivers didn’t walk) with a [physical activity limitation] profile.
trollhattan
@PAM Dirac:
All fine reference points. Speaking of, it’s the 50th anniversary of The Prisoner!
Be seeing you.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
This is the Air Force I remember.
Suzanne
@Ian G.:
Um, really? They have the guns, ergo I trust them the least.
I have a great deal of faith in the DMV (here in AZ, it is the MVD).
efgoldman
@Ruckus:
My platoon smoky-bear hat drill instructor was a black E-7 who was doing basic as a respite after two tours doing bomb disposal in ‘Nam.
Nothing – not one damned thing – rattled this guy.
Citizen Alan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It is interesting that I saw his name mentioned for the first time in years just this past week when he showed up at a hearing on Obamacare repeal. In retrospect, it almost looked like he was auditioning for the role of Price’s understudy
NotMax
@trollhattan
Dr. Bornstein not in the running?
@SiubhanDuinne
First runners-up among Lehrer lyrics:
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that ICBM
When the air becomes uranious
We will all go simultaneous
Amaranthine RBG
Reminds me a bit of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRQBtDtZTGA
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
Okay, it was worth plowing through your nym to read that. Hilarious!
JMG
If Trump nominates Santorum, he won’t be confirmed. Party loyalty has a statute of limitations, and he’s been out of Congress tor 11 years..
efgoldman
@A Ghost to Most:
I had quit just before I left for basic. I started again. Didn’t fully quit for another few years *after I turned 30)
NotMax
@trollhattan
Also too, Luther Strange’s daily planner is bare come December.
ThresherK
@PAM Dirac: At some point I would put Lehrer in the not-that-popular category compared to Jay Ward or Monty Python works. There’s an oddballness in this crowd which finds itself going to “That Was the Week that Was” as much as it does to “Laugh In”.
Bigger than a cult, smaller than something which is too universal to be a cult. (For the latter, an example is, Rocky Horror eclipsed cult status I would say in the mid 80s.)
Jeffro
Btw this article is appalling on multiple levels (one of which is that as soon as working folks learn to stick together the way rich folks do, we’ll be a much better country for it)
The New Reality of Old Age In America
Like I said, outrageous on multiple levels. Starting with the mentality that would take the crumbs that ‘fall down to us’ while the rich go their merry way…
Leto
@efgoldman: It’s stands out because 1) it’s at the academy and 2) instead of having an NCO/SNCO putting a boot in an Airmen’s a$$ behind closed doors, it’s being broadcast. In my limited 20, and counting, years of service I only had one instance of a dipshit trying to defend the klan. I spent 10 minutes reaming him out in front of every other airmen there, then my SNCO spent the next 20 doing the same. We don’t tolerate that shit. It has no place in our Air Force, military, society. Full stop.
different-church-lady
@ThresherK: We don’t quote the Firesign Theatre nearly enough around here.
different-church-lady
@Jeffro: Alternate headline: STUPID GULLIBLE PEOPLE START TO THINK MAYBE A NOTORIOUS LIAR MIGHT HAVE LIED TO THEM.
A Ghost to Most
@efgoldman: Yep. Once we realized that smokers got to stop, and we didn’t, I started again.
TenguPhule
@JMG:
If only that were true. About the statute of limitations.
Leto
@efgoldman: Have you watched the Ken Burns Vietnam series? In episode 5 (if I remember correctly), there was a black guy who talked his experience during Khe Sanh. Said after experiencing the continual mortar fire, day after day after day, that nothing scares him anymore. Nothing.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@NotMax:
Another very strong contender:
Your lips were like wine, if you’ll pardon the simile,
The music was lovely, and quite Rudolf Friml-y
gbbalto
@Amaranthine RBG: If I remember correctly, that general appeared on Ozzie national TV and said that the day he heard about that scandal was the worst day of his career. I found that video after some very depressing Congressional testimony from our top officers that demonstrated that they had hardly thought about sexual abuse issues (while everyone in DoD was getting stern mandatory training).
ETA: Including shocking DoD stats about outright rape
TenguPhule
@Jeffro: Stupid old people whining that they didn’t think the leopard was going to eat their face.
efgoldman
@A Ghost to Most:
Plus they were ten cents a pack (!) in the PX.
A Ghost to Most
@efgoldman: My mean DI was a ticking time bomb himself. The other guy was decent.
Eta I’m glad I did it.I’m even more glad that I got out .
lamh36
Evening BJ.
I’m ready and not ready for DC…clothing bag is packed…but don’t know if I’m ready for a FAMILY vaykay…Lord this is the first time we did something like this since the day we used to take a day ride to Pensacola or Mississippi…LOL
So far we’ve had one glitch this morning. We all decided to change our DC flight bout a month ago to an earlier flight tomorrow so we could get in a bit more DC time (The birthday girl wanted to check out Howard U’s bookstore and view the campus), but today when it was time to check in for the earlier flight, as everyone checked it, when she tried to check in, it told her it was not 24hrs.
So we checked her confirmation number and she hadn’t changed her flight, so it still said the later time…
We all sat down at our last meeting and changed our flight together I thought, but apparently she helped two others change their flights, but didn’t change her first…
So now she’s really upset, cause she’s been trying to make sure the two most unreliable ones have their shit together and she never even noticed that she never received an email saying her flight had changed…
I went ahead and bout an upgrade ticket for my sister for the trip. She is the reason we got the tickets to the NAAHCM in the first place, and it’s her birthday we are celebrating…
I told her though…this IS her birthday present, so BISH don’t ask me for no present… :-)
#BestSisterEver
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@different-church-lady:
“Babs, have you been neglecting your uvula?”
TenguPhule
Peon debt bondage, now upgraded for the 21st century.
efgoldman
@Leto:
Haven’t watched. I know raven has watched it closely. I don’t need the aggravation.
I went thru basic with two post-docs from the University of Chicago, who got drafted. I always wondered what happened to them.
Jeffro
@different-church-lady: leopards, faces, lather-rinse-repeat
ETA: I see TP beat me to it
It’s just pathetic. (Not that TP beat me to it…it’s these low-info old folks)
ThresherK
@different-church-lady: Oh, geez, I just missed the turnoff for the Antelope Freeway.
I also note a lot of my fellow SCTV fans here. Thanks to reruns on TVLand I was able to show my wife some of what formed me in my youth.
NotMax
@different-church-lady
Complaint forms available at the Department of Redundancy Department.
Must be filled out in duplicate.
;)
TenguPhule
@NotMax: Your Spam, Eggs and Bacon is ready.
Baud
@Jeffro:
That’s cuz the poor help the rich if it means the other poors don’t get their sparrows and rods.
Jeffro
@TenguPhule: It’s kind of unbelievable that a guy who has skated on something like 7-8 bankruptcies for probably hundreds of millions of dollars (and for what – bad real estate and casino deals?) would even think to say “oh, they’re going to owe us big time” at a time like this. But then again, this is the World’s Worst Human Being we’re talking about here.
Just makes him more of a target for the righteously disgruntled, and I’m fine with that.
TenguPhule
@Jeffro:
Voted for Reagan, Bush and Johnson.
They can fuck off and die.
Suzanne
@lamh36: I just went to the NMAAHC on Monday and it was AMAZING. Enjoy it! It was very crowded, so give yourself enough time to see everything.
Jeffro
Mods, help, I used that gamblin’-place word and now my wisdom is ‘awaiting moderation’
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@efgoldman:
Wow. I remember in the early ’60s when (in civilian life) they jumped to 35¢/pack, or 3 for a dolla. By the time I quit in 1993, I think I was dropping something like $25+ per carton. Can’t remember. Two and a half decades later, I think they must be somewhere between $40-$50, although I’ve made a point of not knowing, so I may be off by a significant factor. If there are any current smokers among the BJ jackaltariat, I’d be interested in knowing what the going rate is.
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
Hey, I’ve been looking for you! I’ve got some recommendations on steakhouses and restaurants in D.C. Check back in a bit. Gonna write ’em up right now.
A Ghost to Most
@Leto:
Well, that’s the company line, and how it should be. There is a fair bit of evidence that that is not always how things happen. Mikey Weinstein could inform you.
Cheryl Rofer
@Jeffro: Liberated
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Per carton? $80 and up not out of the norm at all. One reason why they’re now in a locked cabinet behind the service desk at most markets.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: Basic Training is now tobacco free.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@efgoldman: Well, yes, I know, but what I was trying to get at is that it really is the president’s job foremost. These guys shouldn’t have to be saying these things in direct contradiction to the president. They should be following his lead.
Mary G
Some corporation is doing a good deed:
Leto
@efgoldman: Understandable. It’s helping a lot of “kids” my age (40’s) have a better understanding of what exactly went on, on both sides.
Amaranthine RBG
@gbbalto:
Yeah I saw the Australian general at the time.
I’m not familiar with him, so I don’t know of the video is just his default demeanor, but he does not appear pleased.
ThresherK
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): I’ve been listening to more and more of what I call The Monsters of Operetta lately (largely Friml, Romberg and Herbert).
My wife is a bit worried that she will have to learn the tunes to more than “Lover Come Back to Me”.
Mike in NC
@TenguPhule: Trump simply wishes he could sell Puerto Rico for pennies on the dollar, like one of his crap properties.
lollipopguild
@different-church-lady: Porgy! Porgy tirebiter! Dinner is ready. Commminnng Mother!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): About $75 at the cheep places.
Jeffro
@Baud:
True, BUT: the couple in this article (short as it is) didn’t seem to knock other poor people, or people of color, etc. They just didn’t save anything for retirement and now they’re barely scraping by on their social security + these minimum-wage jobs.
Ah well, I’ll save my sympathies for folks who are scraping by on minimum-wage jobs and NO social security, plus kids to feed.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
If he could do 2 tours of bomb disposal in Vietnam………
He made it out alive. What could recruits possibly do that would rattle him?
I will tell a small story here. Ship was at a munitions depot and we were loading 5 in ammo. Powder/primer case and shells are separate. Case is easy, weighs 20 lbs? Shells are a lot heavier and more awkward. You cradle the shell with one arm and hold the other hand covering the fuse. You don’t want to drop them, it isn’t nice to blow up the ship, crew and the ammo dump. However we wore leather soled shoes and the gangway was about 18 inches high, metal and wet. As I stepped on the gangway my foot slipped and I started to go down. Didn’t drop the shell and I’m still here so you know it didn’t blow up. The look on all the faces of the workers at the ammo depot was the same, they thought it was their last moment. They suggested that I not load ammo. I sure wasn’t going to argue.
A Ghost to Most
@Leto:
I’m recording it, to bingewatch.
Who wins?
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer: thank you ma’am.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Leto: During my first tour I encountered a couple of klan wannabes. One of them left a note in his room, planning some violence against his newly assigned AfAm roommate. Roommate brought the note to me, and I took it to the First Shirt. Let him know that I was concerned that should these two giblets try to carry out their plans, they might suffer a reduction in mass. They were aggressively encouraged to find civilian employment.
Fun fact: my only encounter with the marching down the street type klan happened at the same base.
debbie
@lamh36:
What a good sister you are! Have a great trip!
Jeffro
@Mary G: Great move on their part and I don’t care if they benefit tenfold from the good publicity or the tax write-off. Iz our corporations learning?
lamh36
@Suzanne: our queue time is 2pm…so we’ll have until closing to explore…that like 4 hours!
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics,
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate the Moslems,
And everybody hates the Jews.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
A carton now is more than $50 (in Ohio). I almost fainted when I saw the price at the grocery store. I quit when it hit $22.
A Ghost to Most
Rick Perry is coal-rolling America
raven
@Leto: And the the cabbies at Logan wouldn’t pick him up. There was also the brother who said some cracker fuck from Arkansas told him he’d never follow him because he was black. They made a real point of explaining how the African- American troops were treated differently. I’ve always said that if I were black I’d still be in Leavenworth.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: I understood that completely.
lamh36
@Steeplejack: cool…I’ll def check back. At this point we’re looking at either Outback or Sweetwater Tavern
Leto
@A Ghost to Most: I know; that is just my personal experience and, as always, you can’t extrapolate that to the rest of the force. I was recently looking over my EPRs (APR for you old timer) and realized how many POCs/women were my first line supervisor/additional rater on those. I’d like to hope that that type of continual exposure has helped shape my view for the positive as to what POCs/women can do, what they’re capable of.
Side note: have you seen this?
USAF Basic Military Training Flight PhotosUSAF Basic Military Training Flight Photos It goes all way back to the 1940’s. Granted it’s not going to show you and Orville Wright, but you know… ;)
Baud
@Jeffro:
They did with their vote.
Mine are reserved for Hillary voters.
japa21
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Totally depends on tax situations. In Chicago a carton could easily go for $100. Downstate could be $35-$50.
zhena gogolia
@The Fat Kate Middleton:
Hi, haven’t seen you in a while.
Caphilldcne
I’m an AF vet. My Dad is too. I’m always proud when we get a general who gets it. Sadly there’s a number who don’t.
raven
More on “Vietnam”:
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a12499159/the-vietnam-war-ken-burns-the-beatles/
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
$90-$120 per carton in Hawaii. And that’s the wholesale rate.
I don’t smoke, but I’ve had to learn about the industry.
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: Did you resolve your steak house dilemma?
If not, here is what Valdivia suggested:
NotMax
@ThresherK
Romberg came up with these lyrics for the ages
A mane of jet locks
I love her little fetlocks
:)
Full tune.
gbbalto
@Amaranthine RBG: From the TV show clip, he seems like a level headed guy. He was not faking absolute fury in his statement as far as I can tell.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Did she post here? I miss her.
Leto
@A Ghost to Most: It’s on the PBS website free to stream if you don’t want to waste HD space.
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I grew up in the heart of sedition/treason, first base was back in the heart of sedition/treason. After exchanging stories with them, I came to realize how widespread white nationalism is around the US. Even in the “liberal” haven areas it’s still there. Tai-Nehisi Coats pretty much has it all pegged.
@raven: “I’m a Marine.” I was so fucking mad/sad about that. Glad to see Dotard bringing that back.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ruckus: Your shells came fused?
Leto
@raven: 50 Years Ago This Week We Started Bombing Vietnam This was back from 2013, but it has a lot of really good information about how the “Support the Troops!” narrative came about, along with how the protest movement was smeared.
debbie
@raven:
What a series! I’m 12th in line at the library for the series whenever it comes out. I want to watch it more closely and with a replay button.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: No, I asked her.
Steeplejack
Oh, God, no! My eyes! Chris Matthews is having Sally Quinn on to pimp her new book. Title: Finding Magic: A Spiritual Memoir. My gorge is rising.
(P.S. My D.C. insider friend says she’s banging John Kerry. Unsee that!)
raven
@Leto: Perlstein has a great deal to say about the POW shit in The Invisible Bridge.
Omnes Omnibus
OT (First typed as OY, which is oddly appropriate): Wishing all the Jewish juicers an easy fast.
A Ghost to Most
@Leto:
Ha! I’m afraid to look. I weighed 116 when I went in, and was force fed thru basic.
I ended up working my full time just OUTSIDE the blast doors in SAC HQ.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@Steeplejack:
Okay, I think I’m done barfing. For the moment.
Really, Finding Fucking Goddamn MAGIC? A fucking break, give me one.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
Topher SpiroVerified account @TopherSpiro
Remember how Sen. Hatch changed the rules of the Finance Committee to get Price confirmed? They knew he was unethical—didn’t care.
2:11 PM – 29 Sep 2017
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I ate at The Smith last weekend. Got seafood. It was really good. Relatively small portions, which I like but the husband less so.
Jeffro
Btw folks, I just finished “What Happened” this evening and I really have to recommend it to all of you. I’ll try to write a little more about it in a day or two, but I’d say I was surprised by Hillz’ good and cutting humor, pleased with her insight (as to what she could have done differently, as well as accurately describing what Trumpov, the Russians, and Comey did), and inspired by the calls to action and talk of grace at the end.
(That reminds me: I also owe Adam a note about “Chasing Ghosts”, too)
Anyway…on to attack the next book in the to-read pile…
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Time was it was almost a requirement to dine at The Flagship when in D.C., for the rum buns. Understand they’re now defunct.
Sidebar: Non-dinner eating options at the Smithsonian. The one at the Museum of the American Indian sounds interesting.
Jeffro
@Baud: Hillary voters – that’s who I was picturing when I said ‘minimum wage workers with children’ or whatever. But definitely a good point about who this couple screwed with their vote.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: The rum buns?
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: Wait, what?
Talk about a late-November, early December romance…
raven
@A Ghost to Most: Want to see a trained killer at Ft Campbell in 1966?
thalarctosMaritimus
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): I wish I could upvote that!
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Yup. Unforgettably good. Rum buns were a thing a D.C. restaurants (Flagship, Hogate’s, etc.).
rikyrah
Daniel DaleVerified account @ddale8
Puerto Ricans tell me they see racism and colonialism in Trump’s talk of debt repayment as their families suffer:
Leto
@raven: This series has added more books for me to read. The pile never gets smaller.
@A Ghost to Most: Haha! You were part of the Star Ga… *zap* *blink* *blink* What was I talking about?
@debbie: Remember that you can stream it on the PBS website too.
raven
@NotMax: Ever go to the Market Inn ?
lollipopguild
@Jeffro: Someone on a comment thread several weeks ago recommended “The Delirium Brief” by Charles Stross. I got it from the library and am about halfway thru it, it is a very good read.
raven
@Leto: Try Late Thoughts on a Old War by Phil Bielder and Remembering Heavens Face by John Balaban.
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
You asked about steakhouses in Washington. The following notes are mostly paraphrased from my friend who is a D.C. resident and big-time professional foodie (books, magazines, etc.).
She said the big steakhouses are all expensive and are pretty comparable. Two in particular:
Bourbon Steakhouse (2800 Pennsylvania Avenue) is on the edge of D.C. and Georgetown in the Four Seasons Hotel. The most convenient logistically, with free valet parking (but call and make sure).
Charlie Palmer, 101 Constitution Avenue on Capitol Hill. Good place to see Congresscritters and various movers and shakers. (May not be a plus!)
But my friend said to consider a French bistro instead, as they do steaks equally well at not so steep a price. Plus better side dishes and options for non-steak hounds.
Café Bonaparte, 1522 Wisconsin Avenue, north Dupont Circle.
La Piquette, 3714 Macomb Street N.W. Casual, great French food. Near National Cathedral.
Bistrot Lepic & Wine Bar, 1736 Wisconsin Avenue. Belgian influence. Priciest of these three but still not as much as the steakhouses.
No links, but all are easy to Google, and you can get an idea of prices and current menus.
Hope this helps!
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
Only know what I was told. I don’t think the fuses were set because that would be rather stupid. But then a lot of stuff that I saw was stupid and would never have been allowed in industry in CA even back then. I think the navy was spread very thin and was trying to do way too much with what they had. But that seemed to be the story with every branch of the military at the time. M16s that weren’t ready for prime time, no concept that we might have been way unprepared or totally not cognizant of what was required……..
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
ETA: I’m adding this one even though there is one in New Orleans.
If you want an unusual experience, consider Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse, 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue. Prix fixe, all-you-can-eat menu with endless, various meats carved tableside until you surrender. The “salad bar” to go with is equally phenomenal—not just salad but lots of sides.
NotMax
@raven
No memory of doing so.
@Omnes Omnibus
A paean to Hogate’s rum buns.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet):
I always picture you in a flimsy burnoose.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Sounds like Brazilian churrasco.
SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet)
@Jeffro:
I’m just a couple of chapters from the end (as usual, I am reading three or four books simultaneously — a lifelong habit). It is excellent, and with every page I am prouder than ever that I not only voted for her but worked hard as a volunteer for her.
raven
@NotMax: @NotMax: Interesting place, lot’s of nude paintings and right of Capitol Hill.
Noncarborundum
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): Egad! Does this mean Johnny shot the Good Humor man, usher, and nun?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Me, too
somebody on TV today said there are 100,000 people in Florida who identify as Puerto Rican, in case anyone is wondering why Marco Rubio is acting like a human being.
Steeplejack
@Mary G:
Moral hazard! Now they’ll have a devastating hurricane every year.
A Ghost to Not
@Leto:
I might try to find my FIL; he was a B-24 pilot in WW2. My wife would appreciate that.
YellowDog
Everyone in the video is white. Diversity must not apply to the staff. Plus, there is no mention of religion. The Academy has a history of aggressive Christian evangelism. Diversity must only go so far. That said, it is a powerful message that should be delivered at the next Cabinet meeting.
raven
@Mary G: Sounds like they have Donut Dollies running the show!
chris
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): Quite the nym. As an almost-Canadian you probably remember Export *A* and Player’s Light brands. They go for 18 to20 bucks a pack now. Down market brands are 14-15.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
There’s a notable election missing there..
NotMax
@raven
Link borked.
Last time I was in D.C. was 1977.
schrodingers_cat
@Roger Moore: Hindus don’t hate Jews or Parsis, and even the feud with Muslims blows hot and cold, in the 1000 plus history of Islam in India, peaceful co-existence has greatly exceeded the times of strife. The militant Hinduism (Hindutva) of RSS and BJP is inspired by European Fascist movements more than anything else. The real cultural divide in India is the north-south divide rather the Hindu Muslim one.
ThresherK
@NotMax: I am relieved that the fetlocks do belong to a horse.
raven
@NotMax:
Gravenstone
@raven: I can only /facepalm to that. I mean, c’mon – it’s right there in the opening verse.
Leto
@raven: Will do; thanks for the recs.
raven
@Gravenstone: Incredible isn’t it!!!!
raven
@Leto: I actually had some great email exchanges with both of them when IU read them a decade ago.
Gravenstone
@Steeplejack: Isn’t John still inconveniently married to Teresa?
MoxieM
@RP: I think he only answers the discourtesy phone, sorry.
Steeplejack
@Jeffro:
More like late-January/February-leap-day romance.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: I remember the rum buns at O’Donnell’s Seafood House. And the Crab Norfolk. It was my parents’ favorite restaurant — had a treasure chest for us little kids; we went to the downtown location, which struggled after the riots in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination.
WaPost’s late and very great food critic/columnist Phyllis C. Richman has a fantastic roundup of famous Washington DC restaurant specialties, including the Flagship’s Rum Buns, which look kind of easy to make. Albeit they take time (dough rises twice).
Oh, and I miss Gifford’s Swiss Chocolate Sauce. I miss Gifford’s.
From 1982. WaPost: Washington’s Bill of Fare
Here’s the rum buns recipe:
Before expressways and beltways, Sunday dinner on the waterfront was a major excursion. At the end of the ride came the impossible decision — Hogate’s or the Flagship? Those were the days when waterfront dining was a quiet business, before your name was shouted over the loudspeaker when your table was ready. And if memory serves, those waterfront restaurants gave Washington good cause to be considered a seafood town. What those who knew the Flagship from childhood remember, however, was the rum buns; only on Washington’s waterfront were we allowed to start dinner with what might elsewhere be considered dessert.
FLAGSHIP RUM BUNS (Makes 18) 1 cup scalded milk 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup shortening 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 yeast cake or 1 tablespoon dry yeast 1 egg, beaten 1 1/2 teaspoons rum extract 3 1/2 cups sifted flour 2 tablespoons melted butter 1/4 cup chopped raisins
For the icing: 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 2 tablespoons hot water 1 teaspoon rum extract
Pour scalded milk over 1/4 cup sugar, shortening and salt. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast. Beat until smooth. Add beaten egg and rum extract. Add half the flour and beat until smooth. Add remaining flour and mix until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours. Roll dough in strips, each 12 inches long, 4 inches wide and 1/2-inch thick. Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and raisins. Roll up, starting from the long side and pulling dough out at edges to keep it uniform. It should be 15 inches long when rolled.
Cut rolls in crosswise slices 3/4-inch thick. Place in 3-inch greased muffin pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. As soon as rolls are removed from oven, brush with icing. Rolls should be served hot with icing dripping from them.
To make the icing, combine confectioners’ sugar, water and rum extract until smooth.
****
Phyllis has recipes for all kinds of foods, from what we would call “Chai” now, to a popular turkey sandwich named for Patty Hearst. I remember most of these, although I never went to the Big Cheese. Remember it was famous and popular, though.
I miss these classic DC restaurants.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Yep. I also recommend Chima at Tysons Corner. Very similar, just more convenient for me.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah. I noticed that too. What was going on between 2008 to 2016? It’s like it didn’t happen.
This couple, while I’m sympathetic to their economic plight, are stupid, stupid, stupid voters.
Spanky
@Steeplejack: Oh my! I Googled “John Kerry banging Sally Quinn”, just to see what would happen. John Kerry pretty much disappears, but evidently Google does a synonym search, because it sure knew what “banging Sally Quinn” meant.
The Pale Scot
It’s a scary thing that an apocalyptic cult has a strong presence in the academy that trains the officers in charge of the US’s land based missiles AND nuclear bomber force. A quick google didn’t turn up any indication of this guy’s religious views, but after all the shit that has gone down at the AFA I’m reluctant to to cut him some slack. This could just be a convenient opportunity or dog I hope not intentional misdirection. I’d like to hear Mikey Weinstein’s opinion. The chistianist end time cults who curiously decided to make Colorado Springs the location of the their headquarters and outreach efforts are among the top five biggest threats to the survival of the human race. They are explicitly against it. And revel in the thought that they alone are anointed to avoid the horrors, as evidenced by the fact that they, but not most others, go to a specific church.
It’s a shame that we can’t create a white christian homeland in Idaho/Utah with a complete watershed that empties out into the Nevada desert. Move them in and then hit the area with an EMP burst that fries their electronics and institute a tech blockade. Electricity and antibiotics aren’t in the Bible, they should keep to their creed. You know, the about helping the poor and no divorce etc
Add: It’s amazing how 6 lines in text edit looks like a screed in the comment section
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Also fond memories of the Inn of the Eight Immortals out Tyson’s Corners way. Had a dish called Pa Hsien Steak that was glorious.
Steeplejack
@Gravenstone:
I report; you decide.
Spanky
@raven: You know, I might have had Balaban as my English prof at Penn State in Fall of ’72. I’d placed out of freshman English, so I took a Shakespeare course. His current picture doesn’t ring a bell but who looks just like they did in ’72?
raven
@Spanky:
Geeno
@SiubhanDuinne (at some point in the indeterminate future to be known by my real name, Judith Mann Costello, but maybe not quite yet): $11.50 per pack (or there abouts) in NYS. Cartons (if you can find them) cost the same as 10 packs – no volume discounts.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: I loved the Inn of the Eight Immortals. Yes!
The Pale Scot
@trollhattan:
I go with telling them about the early Gaelic church and its Pelagian viewpoint that human beings can earn salvation by their own efforts. Some of the Mormons sort of got it, the jehovahs, not at all
lamh36
Late, but
@Steeplejack: @Omnes Omnibus: Thx for the suggestions…
The Pale Scot
@PAM Dirac: Don’t forget Speed Racer and Gigantor
Steeplejack
@NotMax, @Elizabelle:
Fortune is currently at that location—Seven Corners, not Tyson’s Corner—and it is excellent. Best dim sum in the area that I know of.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Leto: Sounds like you grew up in the state my parents did. Were you anywhere near Maxwell?
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@The Pale Scot: Secret Squirrel or GTFO
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Knew the word corner was in there somewhere. And it has been 40 years since last set foot there.
Was also an eatery in or quite near Falls Church which liked, but the name escapes me.
NotMax
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
Courageous Cat don’t get no respect.
;)
Barry
@clay: “Meanwhile, ICE, Congress, the NYT have had their credibility damaged if not outright destroyed. And it might take a long time for them to become strong again.”
FTFNYT never never loses credibility. Or should I say ‘credulity’?
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: If we evah, evah scheduled a BJ meetup at Fortune for dim sum, would you come? You can wear a mask; retain your mystery.
Maybe some more resignations will have occurred by the time we get anything scheduled.
Mike in Pasadena
I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1976, but never attended the prep school. I was able to go directly from high school to the Academy itself, so I cannot speak about the prep school. At the time (72 to 76), racism was not tolerated at the Academy. Period. After I was commissioned as a 2nd lt., I found that the actual Air Force did not tolerate it either. However, after I left the Springs, Colorado Springs and the Academy were both gradually invaded by racist, mean-spirited, “Christian,” RWNJs. The people who call themselves Christians, in many cases, should never be allowed to use the term. They do not exemplify the teachings of Jesus Christ in any respect whatsoever.
The Pale Scot
@raven: “still”
How long were u there :)
Leto
@Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): No, the original home of sedition: SC. I’ve known plenty of people who have been stationed at Maxwell and they never paint a pretty picture of the place.
PAM Dirac
@The Pale Scot:
And what about Cutch Cargo , Tom Terrific, and Tennessee Tuxedo and his pals? Oh and Deputy Dawg. They don’t make them like they used to. And get off of my lawn.
ETA: I have I big lawn. With 150 grape vines. Lots of good wine.
The Pale Scot
And it’s after our time, but have you all seen Danger Mouse, the World’s Greatest Secret Agent.
Dry Brit humor. I ask a Brit friend if he watched it, ¿Yea, when I was a kid. I was in my thirties and thought it grand.
PAM Dirac
@The Pale Scot: i haven’t seen Danger Mouse, but it did bring to mind Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.
NotMax
@The Pale Scot
Baron Greenback and a certain someone who is mentioned here from time to time have much in common.
Just One More Canuck
@NotMax: Or Dr. Nick Riviera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgqKv9rkAE0
?BillinGlendaleCA
@japa21: I’m talking here in CA, it would obviously vary by jurisdiction.
Omnes Omnibus
@PAM Dirac: YOU MUST WATCH DANGER MOUSE NOW! I’ll be quiet now.
PAM Dirac
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m sure it will go well with a Cab Franc. Googling now.
I'll be Frank
@different-church-lady: Praise the ammunition
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
And it’s totally kosher to fast forward through any included Bananaman segments.
Amir Khalid
@trollhattan:
A hooker in this context plays in a rugby union team — one of the forwards, with a particular job in a scrum. Baldwin plays for Wales’ national team.
I like what his club team boss had to say about the incident:
The Pale Scot
@PAM Dirac: Lancelot Link
I vaguely remember that. but by that age I old enough to walk around the parish with grandma collecting old clothes to send to Poland or something.
Missing Saturday morning TV really really pissed me off. I still haven’t forgiven my parents
PAM Dirac
@The Pale Scot: I looked it up. I was 15 at the time. I still laughed my ass off. Of course anything 40+ years ago kind of runs together.
The Pale Scot
@NotMax: One Banana Two Banana Three Banana Four?
NotMax
@The Pale Scot
As no one else has mentioned them – Underdog, Roger Ramjet, Super Chicken, Atom Ant.
NotMax
@The Pale Scot
Oh gawd, the Splits. (shudder)
PAM Dirac
@NotMax: I was just going to say that Danger Mouse is pretty brilliant but kind of seems like what you would have got if the Monty Python crowd had done Underdog. Of course Roger Ramjet he’s our man the hero of our nation. And I often call on Super Chicken. God the stuff that is taking up space in my memory.
The Pale Scot
And of course, the coolest kid show ever, H.R/ Puff&Stuff.
I have a HD laying around somewhere with the episodes wait for when I
A have the time
Spelling sucks can’t fix it
B Don’t have to worry about random drug tests
C get my hands on some magic mushrooms
D Am willing to scoff down a box of Coco Crispies with my sister while watching it
Like I said, I really still pissed about not watching Sat Shows
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@Leto: Spent a tour at Shaw. Volunteered for the ROK to get away.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Pale Scot:
I used to watch them with my dad as a kid. And the American Bandstand and Soul Train would happen.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
as I recall, one baw-WACKS for Super Chicken
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
@NotMax: And the grandaddy of all acid trip-induced Saturday shenanigans, H.R. Pufunstuf!
ETA: The Pale Scot beat me to it.
The Pale Scot
I just had a thought. When we’re (greater) doddering old fools, if you r going to park me in front of a TV, these are the shows I wanna be watching.
PAM Dirac
@The Pale Scot: My suspicion is that even if the the screen is blank, these are the shows I will be seeing.
The Pale Scot
And Skippy, the bush kangaroo
Which was on at Friday, at 4pm. When the factory got off and we had to go pick family up.
Or Hatari, the vet hospital in the middle of the jungle. (not like the John Wayne movie at all)
The Pale Scot
@PAM Dirac: That would be grand.
NotMax
@The Pale Scot
Jungle Jim.
The Pale Scot
And what was that “Catch that pigeon show”?
PAM Dirac
@The Pale Scot: Oh my god I hadn’t remembered that but google tells me it was Dasterdly and Muttley in their Flying Machines. What a trip.
The Pale Scot
@PAM Dirac: More than enough media for our dodderage
Steeplejack
@Elizabelle:
Probably. I haven’t really been ducking the meet-ups in the past, just fell prey to bad logistics. Why, I have even hosted efgoldman and his charming wife at Huong Viet in the Eden Center.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: You did wear a mask, right?
J R in WV
@TenguPhule:
This is so wrong. In the first place John and I don’t live in Virginia. Virginia is that state that seceded from the United States, and it’s capital, Richmond, was the capital of the CSA.
West Virginia, where John Cole and I live and grew up, seceded from Virginia AND the Confederated States of America. West Virginia is nothing like Virginia, although this is less true today than it was while John Cole and I were growing up. You actually see the CSA flags here now. When I was a kid that would have been an invitation to leave the state of WV.
Plus, West Virginia is said to be the place where Men are Men, and Sheep are Nervous! No cows in that joke. Also to let you know I’m not that serious about all this. But, no, we are not from Virginia. There is a good part of Virginia, the very western end, which is a little west of West Virginia. The parts south of southern WV are OK too. Mostly.
;-)
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
There might have been a cloaking device involved. I cannot say more.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: Fogo de Chao is a big chain. I do like their salad bar. My husband calls it “meat on a sword”.
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
I think I’ve only been to the Fogo de Chão in Las Vegas. As I said lower down from my previous comment, I also like Chima, which is a small chain that has a restaurant in NoVA. Like Fogo, the salad bar is awesome, and I have to pace myself so I don’t fill up on that before the meats start coming in.
Full disclosure: my brother is married to a Brazilian. Apparently their main food groups are meat, sugar, alcohol and coffee. . . . And I realize I’m okay with that.
J R in WV
@lollipopguild:
That may have been me, Charlie Stross’s Laundry series is about an MI5/MI6 unit in England responsible for identifying people who can do Demonological Math in their heads, and taking then into the unit. They are preparing for the doors to open that keep the elder masters of the universe from entering Earth in the very near future.
Computational Demonologists are the only chance the Race of Mankind has to resist the influx of monsters. Computer Scientists doing math are the front lines of this warfare, but some politicians don’t realize what’s going to happen and who will be trying to save the day this time.
Protagonist is a Systems Development guy, and his significant other plays a seriously haunted violin, made from the bones of those who died at a Nazi DIt can play itself, if she slips up, and that would be bad as it yearns for more company so the war against all that is good can begin, the soonest the best, as the evil ones from the everlasting darkness are anxious to begin fighting in the normal daylight, and eating the souls of the people with no resistance to their thoughts.
evodevo
@Van Buren: Yes. I’ll believe something will change when they purge the Xtianist fundie fanatics from the faculty and upper echelons of the AF Academy. Mikey Weinstein has kept a running record of their religious over-reach for many years …
Tehanu
@different-church-lady:
The President of the United States IS named Schickelgruber!
Ithink
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
The frightening irony of this being is that, according to some recent stats I read, military veterans went Republican almost 7 out of 10 voters. I have all the respect in the world for them collectively, but what in the hell were they thinking giving the Presidency to this troglodyte so decisively?