Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We won’t go back.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

He really is that stupid.

Let there be snark.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Bark louder, little dog.

T R E 4 5 O N

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

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

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Motown is Joe-Town!

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: A Literal Confederacy of Dunces!

Open Thread: A Literal Confederacy of Dunces!

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Ethics question: Would it be wrong to pray for a norovirus outbreak at that convention center?

And if we’re willing to overlook Young Donald’s old man’s chronic self-tanner abuse, is it really so wrong if ex-felon Dinesh D’Sousa wants to photoshop his head shot in the opposite direction?

Actually, since TP-USA were the soopergenyiuses who thought wearing diapers in public would pwn the libs, I suspect this “all-star” conference may be Charlie Kirk’s latest aspirational lunge, which he will “regretfully” abandon once it turns out the higher-ranking grifters aren’t actually committed to showing up. But he’ll blame it on the Intolerant Left, of course!
***********

Apart from rolling your eyes / eating leftovers, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

ETA:
Turns out to be a “PWN ALL LIBS” photoshop, from a lower-ranking TP-USA grifter:

Reader Interactions

256Comments

  2. 2.

    Duane

    It’s nice of the cretins to provide us with mugshots of these Nazis. Could be useful come tumbrel time.

  4. 4.

    smintheus

    Must’ve gotten pale during the 5 years he spent in jail for his felony.

    Oh wait, he didn’t have to do any jail time did he? Hard to keep track of whose felonies do and don’t get rewarded with imprisonment.

  13. 13.

    d58826

    Days ahead of what should be a major moment for Ivanka Trump on the world stage, CNN has learned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson isn’t sending a high-level delegation to support her amid reports of tensions between Tillerson and the White House.

    Multiple State Department officials, as well as a source close to the White House, have told CNN Tillerson’s decision not to send senior State Department officials to this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit, being held in India next week, is not related to his key project of slashing the Department’s budget, and is more to do with the fact Ivanka Trump is leading the US delegation this year. Trump was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, and this year’s theme is supporting women entrepreneurs.
    The State Department puts on the large yearly event, which Secretary of State John Kerry and even President Obama attended multiple times. But this year, according to one senior State Department official: “No one higher than the deputy assistant secretary is allowed to participate. The secretary and his top staff have insisted on approving all travel– even the most minute details.””They (Tillerson and his staff) won’t send someone senior because they don’t want to bolster Ivanka. It’s now another rift between the White House and State at a time when Rex Tillerson doesn’t need any more problems with the President,” the official added.

    I seem to remember playing these kind of childish games in elementary school. Now fortunately war and piece does not ride on this decision but this is supposedly one of the adults in the room. The man who ran Exxon.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/24/politics/rex-tillerson-ivanka-trump-india-trip/index.html

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    Been laying around with my bum knee up and Internet shopping — mostly smaller businesses (TeeTurtle and Etsy), but I had to hit Office Depot to get a decent laptop for a gift. Hopefully my brother is right that it’s a good deal.

  18. 18.

    d58826

    @Ladyraxterinok: Der Fuhrer offered sympathy to the Egyptians and then said it would not have happened if he had his extreme vetting/border wall. Or something confusing like that. 230 people die and he still twists it back to himself.

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    A veritable Who’s Who of Alt-Right scumbags. Location not identified; to be held at Mar-A-Lago as a bogus charity event?

  22. 22.

    d58826

    @Baud: OH I think Ivanka is only qualified to pick the WH china but the job of State is to support US interests abroad. And if Der Fuhrer wants his daughter to lead the delegation then State should get with the program. It is petty score settling.

  26. 26.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud: I’m hoping Adam will have time to post about that later, because all I can do is {face*palm} the response of the Oval Office Occupant…

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    @d58826:

    Much as it pains me, I think I have to side with Tillerson here — Ivanka has no business representing the United States at that conference. She is not an entrepreneur. She’s an autocrat’s daughter. Her attendance should not be officially supported, because it makes it look like the US has gone full North Korea. Tillerson is at least smart enough to realize how awful it makes us look.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @d58826: If it were a normal Secretary of State, I’d say it was about protecting your senior people. But somehow I don’t think that’s Tillerson’s motive.

  32. 32.

    Just One More Canuck

    @d58826: what the hell is she going to say about entrepreneurship. Tell everyone to be born to a rich, crooked father?

  36. 36.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: I’d agree with you, though I’m not entirely sure Tillerson is doing this with the same intentions. Not because she doesn’t have any business being near government, but because she’s encroaching on State’s turf and Tillerson isn’t happy about being sidelined.

    But even if they’re doing it for petty reasons, I’ll take it.

  38. 38.

    germy

    Some reasons to be thankful: 1. God is in charge 2. Life, for all its problems, is sweet 3. Hillary is not president— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) November 23, 2017

    I don’t understand why they lightened his complexion. I thought they wanted to brag about the people of color on their side. (That vast minority)

  41. 41.

    germy

    @Baud: Still busy being a deep thinker.

    “Almost all of the growth in top American earners has come from just three economic sectors…that tend to benefit from regulatory barriers that shelter them from competition.” Fight inequality = shrink government. https://t.co/ZovMO5rygF— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) November 18, 2017

  45. 45.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @d58826: Having Ivanka lead the delegation puts Tillerson in a strange place. Ivanka’s title is Assistant to the President. People in jobs with titles like that generally stay out of the limelight and do a lot of work generating reports and cajoling the departments and Congress. Since this is a trade-oriented meeting, the appropriate leader of the delegation would usually come from the Commerce Department or State.

    Ivanka could presumably ask those departments to send people along in the delegation, but has she? Or does she feel, as her father does, that she can handle the whole thing by herself?

    That’s the most bizarre and also the most expectable part of how the administration operates. The departments are there to support the president and provide expertise. But your crazy uncle doesn’t need their help, and neither do your privileged cousins. It’s really Dunning-Kruger. They have no idea what they don’t know.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: @Ladyraxterinok: @Major Major Major Major: @d58826: @Mnemosyne: @Anne Laurie: I will probably do something later this evening. The bottom line up front (BLUF) is: there were two major attacks against Muslim targets in Africa today. The one in Sinai and another in Nigeria, along the border with Cameroon. Both targeted mosques. The one in Sinai was a Sufi mosque and in Nigeria, as far as I know, just the village Sunni mosque. The Nigeria attack was done by a 17 year old and is most likely a Boko Haram attack. The Sinai attack is most likely the Sinai affiliate of ISIS given the target.

    As for the President’s remarks: 1) Egypt hasn’t been on any of his travel bans, neither has Nigeria. 2) It is most likely that the attackers in both places were locals – Egyptian ISIS affiliates in Sinai and a Nigerian teenager from the Fulani tribe (Boko Haram is predominantly made up of Fulani). So even if Egypt and Nigeria had their own travel bans, it wouldn’t have made a difference. 3) I’m not sure where he thinks a) the US border is or b) where he thinks it might be built. It’s 6,816 miles from the US to Egypt. And 6,882 miles from the US to the Nigeria/Cameroon border.

    Also, the US Navy has called off the search for the three missing Sailors that were lost when the COD went down between land and the USS Ronald Reagan. So we’ve got 3 Sailors declared lost at sea and dead, but building a wall would somehow have stopped a terrorist attack in Sinai.

    Now if you all don’t mind I’m going to get ready to go to the gym. First day back in 3 weeks now that I’m over the sinus infection and off the antibiotics.

  50. 50.

    lgerard

    @Baud:

    That reminds me, where is Bobby Jindal these days?

    He declared that republicans should stop being the “stupid party”

    They disagreed

  51. 51.

    Gravenstone

    @Baud: She may not have business being there, but 1) Modi invited her personally and 2) we still need adequate representation for our own interests as a country. Tillerson is indeed playing the petulant child here. He must be jealous of the Donald acting like that all the time.

  52. 52.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    Went for some amazing Pho this morning in Chinatown and when I asked about the cool “I Love Pho” tee shirts the staff had on, the owner gave me one. Going to continue the Viet theme and start marinating pork loin for Banh Mi dinner (we got a fantastic baguette at a French bakery downtown.) Pershing Square has ice skating which is novel given that it’s 90 degrees outside.

    We finished Godless last night, and I can’t rave enough about this show. It’s the best Western series I’ve seen since Deadwood. And in some ways even better. Jeff Daniels was surprisingly good as a villain, Michelle Dockery (of Downton Abbey fame) was also surprisingly good as a tough-as-nails frontier woman. But, in my opinion, Merritt Wever really stole the show. She was incredibly good, funny, tough. Lots of bad-ass women in the series which made it great to watch. It’s only 7 episodes so you can binge it in a day. About to start our tradition of watching multiple Nutcrackers between now and Xmas.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @tobie:

    And even if she was invited personally, should she really be determining policy at the conference rather than the State Departmenr? It seems that may be the source of the conflict.

  56. 56.

    Gravenstone

    @tobie: From this line in the quoted article

    Trump was invited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, and this year’s theme is supporting women entrepreneurs.

    I am taking it to mean that he invited Ivanka directly in that role. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the reporting and it was a more general invitation to Trump and his administration.

  57. 57.

    lgerard

    @delk:

    Who boasts about ‘applications received’?

    i know my good friend Joe Bogus who joins a lot of these right wing sites online put in an application

  60. 60.

    Calouste

    @Gravenstone: Foreign leaders don’t get a say in who heads or is part of your delegation. Modi could have invited her as a speaker or an attendee, but not as a delegate.

  61. 61.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The sad thing here is that you couldn’t pay Daesh enough money to attack this event; they have no desire to hurt their allies.

  62. 62.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I’m having happy fantasies of the theater scene at the end of Inglourious Basterds….

  64. 64.

    Baud

    Any Floridians know anything about this asshole? (Politico)

    TALLAHASSEE — John Morgan tossed a bomb Friday into the 2018 political landscape, saying in a post-Thanksgiving message he is leaving the Democratic Party, and that Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson should not run for re-election, but rather seek the governor’s mansion so he can leave a “legacy.”

    “I can’t muster enthusiasm for any of today’s politicians,” the prominent trial lawyer and Democratic fundraiser wrote on Twitter. “They are all the same. Both parties. I plan to register as an independent and when I vote, vote for the lesser of two evils.”

    Florida man, indeed.

  69. 69.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: He’s been threatening to enter the race as a spoiler on the Democratic side for a couple of years. There was a lot of speculation about the Tallahassee governor, who is young and African American. He held a major fundraising event earlier in the month. Raised $500.00. So he spent way more than he raised and is now considered DOA for the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.

    The other major named contender is Gwen Graham, Senator Bob Graham’s daughter. Everything she’s ever run for she’s lost.

    The Florida Democratic Party assisted the Florida GOP in killing the Florida Democratic Party starting back in the late 90s/early 00s. Senator Nelson may hold his seat, and I wouldn’t bet against him, but he’s the only Democrat with any ability to win statewide in Florida in almost 20 years. And a good chunk of that is incumbency. If he were to decide to run for governor he’ll likely lose. Once Governor Chiles, Walking Lawton, passed away that was pretty much it for someone who could paper over the Florida Democratic Party’s demographic and human geographic divisions. This, combined with the Florida legislature’s Black Caucus’s (almost all members were Democrats at the time) assisting the Florida GOP in cracking, bleaching, and packing the state and then Federal legislative districts in exchange for a few majority-minority districts that are functionally unimportant as the Democratic state legislators that hold them have been in the minority for almost 20 years, has reduced the ability of Democratic candidates to get elected. What remains to be seen is where the influx of Puerto Ricans into Florida post Maria. over 200,000 have already relocated and they are PISSED OFF at the GOP!

    As for Morgan, he provided the landing pad for now Congressman Crist when he seemed to have destroyed his political career paving the way for both Senator Rubio and Governor Scott.

    This is all you need to know about Morgan:

    And there’s plenty more where that came from.

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    @Adam L Silverman: Good summary of our state catastrophuck. And the state party chair had to resign last week for sexually harassing women on staff. Christ Jeebus, what a mess.

  77. 77.

    d58826

    Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway/ Trump!

    First saw this and thought it was a parody account but a number of people have commented on it. And lets face it Der Fuhrer is just crazy enough.,

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/934189999045693441

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    Steven Greenhouse‏ @greenhousenyt

    This Thanksgiving there appears to be a War on Education
    The Tax Bill would:
    1—Kill the tax break for student loans,
    2—Vastly increase taxes on graduate students,
    3—Tax employer tuition assistance,
    4—Tax college endowments
    5—End Lifelong Learning Credit

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Betty Cracker: I used to teach state and local politics at UF. Was never quite sure why they wanted to assign the terrorism specialist to teach that, but given the way Florida is governed I’m sure it makes sense…

    I think this new Puerto Rican diaspora is going to do a number on the state in terms of shaking up the state’s politics. And I think that will be for the better.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yutsano: The state party has been this way for decades. In general I think you can say that Democrats are bad at politics, but somewhere between decent to good to excellent on policy. The GOP is, of course, the other way around. Much easier to market bumper sticker slogans and fear. Kind of hard to put a feasibility, suitability, acceptability assessment on a bumper sticker. At the Florida level this is even more so. And it is combined with some of the most boring, dull, cookie cutter, and uninspiring candidates you could imagine (or have nightmares about). That was why the Tallahassee mayor was being looked on as a breath of fresh air. Young, telegenic, educated, erudite, African American. A lot of Florida Democrats were thinking “Florida’s Obama”. Unfortunately, no one seems to actually be interested based on the early fundraising fiascos. And there have been some recent problems in Tallahassee that he’s getting hammered about that aren’t going to help.

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    Bruce Bartlett‏ @BruceBartlett

    Strange how the media never tired of repeating Trump’s baseless charges against Hillary, but seldom ever reports about the ongoing suffering in Puerto Rico, children going w/o care b/c Congress can’t be bothered to renew CHIP, or the grossly excessive time Trump spends golfing.
    6:36 AM – 24 Nov 2017

  90. 90.

    debbie

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I’m not finding anything on Google other than Time hasn’t responded. There won’t be an announcement until December 6th, so he has almost two weeks to make up stuff about this.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:

    I tend to agree with Tillerson here. Ivanka has no business leading the delegation.

    Wait, what? Tillerson needs to get with the program: Trumpov’s not even interested in a passing semblance of normalcy at State. He’s the ‘only one who matters’, amirite? Ivanka IS the state whenever Trumpov wants her to be.

    It’s going to be quite exciting a few years from now when Trump Jr and Ivanka try to rile up/grift off of the Trumpkin base of the GOP. Just think, Jeff Flake/just think, Bob Corker: your GOP will be ‘led’ by some newer, fresher faces without a long history of bankruptcies and p-grabbing.

  92. 92.

    MazeDancer

    Black Friday story – Have been the poster for Apple Fan Girl ever since I wheeled my first Performa in a cart out of Sam’s Club around 1994.

    All Mac, all the time. Have never owned a machine that had Microsoft Word installed. Used translators for work with clients. Just don’t do Windows. Never have, never will.

    In 2018, it is likely I will be needing to replace my MacBook Pro, my back-up MacBook Pro, and my iPad. Needless to say, this adds up.

    So, Amazon was offering the new Amazon Kindle Fire 7th gen for Black Friday deal of $100 bucks. $114 if you want no special offers. $50 bucks off. Read reviews. Thought worth a shot to replace iPad for a while. Could send back if it was another too ugly to look at non-Apple thing.

    It arrived today. It’s very nice. It works really well. Amazon seems to be quite good at the intuitive, just turn it on and go mode of Apple stuff. It even has hands-free Alexa. And now I can easily get the monthly free Kindle books, too.

    For $114, couldn’t ask for more. Well, the streaming video is a little dark on any service but Amazon Video. But, seriously, for $114 think I can manage. Having mixed feelings, to say the least, about going to the dark side. But happy to save big bucks.

  95. 95.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @d58826: Not clear to me that Tillerson is at fault. Ivanka may be keeping him out of it and then her allies leak this story to make him look bad. There isn’t enough information in the story to distinguish. Reporters have to get a lot smarter on this palace intrigue stuff.

    I’m not defending Tillerson. He can be stubborn, and he has no idea of what constitutes American interests or seemingly of proportionality in this infighting, so that’s a possible explanation. But overall, he’s been more inclined to suck up to Trump than otherwise.

    He might be getting fed up with being treated like the downstairs help, though.

  96. 96.

    debbie

    @MazeDancer:

    Having mixed feelings to say the least about going to the dark side.

    As well you should!

    I too have been all-Apple since 1995. I am forced to endure Windows at work and it is appalling.

  97. 97.

    lgerard

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I generally use Pensacola Christian because I have a weird fascination with that institution, but I think I might adopt your suggestion.
    Once you sign up for a couple of these things it is amazing how quickly they proliferate. Within months you will be hearing from dozens of them, most of which you have never heard of before. I got on the email list for Roy Moore’s fake foundation, probably via Huckabee a few years ago. The scare tactics and groveling are really entertaining.

  98. 98.

    Walker

    @MazeDancer:

    Kindles are fine if you do not require a lot of specialty Apps. The App ecosystem on Android is pretty bad, but it is great for generic tasks like web browsing or ebooks.

  99. 99.

    MazeDancer

    @trollhattan:

    Wallet is very, very happy. Actually, the $114 for a tablet that do all this stuff is pretty amazing. My Apple self is a little worried.

  101. 101.

    HeleninEire

    I meant Karen, not Trump. And BJ is losing it’s shit tonight too. Posting a comment takes forever. I gave up four comments ago. Hope this one makes it.

  102. 102.

    MazeDancer

    @debbie:

    A few times, I have been a houseguest in a Windows household, and have not understood why someone – other than for budget or work necessity – would voluntarily choose to put it in their home. Recognize what a snobby, absurd, why, yes, I am a design focused, beauty first, creative biz type, jerk that makes me seem, but really, it’s my only display of intolerance of any kind, other than Trump voters. Just can’t help those years of obsessive training for obnoxious devotion to detail.

    And I live in a Mac world. Most everyone I know is also all Mac, all the time. But, lo and behold, not me anymore.

    @Walker:

    Yes, just want to browse web, be on Twitter, come to BJ a few times a day. That has been my iPad need. But dear iPad 1 hasn’t been able to keep up, recently. And I live in the boonies with iffy cell phone reception, thus, haven’t ever ponied up for an iPhone. So, good deal on this Kindle Fire is a good deal for me.

    Do want to mention that all I had to do was hook up to my WiFi and the Amazon Empire knew who I was. No entering anything, not an id, not a password, nothing. it knew my name, where I was, who I was, my entire Amazon everything. So bye-bye privacy.

  103. 103.

    Cheryl Rofer

  107. 107.

    tobie

    @Cheryl Rofer: Given everything we know about the White House, it’s certainly possible they’re spreading misinformation to make Tillerson look bad. I suspect the leaks this week about what McMaster said at a dinner meeting were also exaggerated. Do Ivanka and Jared want to fight their way back to the top by getting rid of Tillerson and McMaster? Who knows. I’m not in a position to read tea leaves, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that Trump and spawn are as straight as a corkscrew.

  108. 108.

    Cheryl Rofer

    And so on…

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    Nate Lerner‏Verified account @NathanLerner

    Alabama has an archaic law banning those who owe court fines, legal fees, or victim restitution from voting.

    A study of 1,000 former felons found 75% couldn’t vote because of these outstanding expenses.

  114. 114.

    Mnemosyne

    @MazeDancer:

    How is the backlight? I find it hard to read on the iPad because the backlight is too bright, but I would love to be able to read things in color that my Paperwhite can’t handle.

  115. 115.

    Duane

    Undefeated Central Florida leads South Florida 35-34 late in the fourth. SF is 9-1. How are they unranked?
    Way to go Missouri, 48-45 over Arkansas, who fired their head coach immediately after the game.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    People magazine offered me Sexiest Man Alive, but I didn’t want the attention.

    I never dreamed I was driving them to that Shelton fellow

    Yup, all that folderol was my fault.

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack

    @MazeDancer:

    Do want to mention that all I had to do was hook up to my WiFi and the Amazon Empire knew who I was.

    It got that from when you ordered the device. If you’re buying one for someone else, you have to specify that it’s a “gift” when you order. I have done that for several of the Kindles that Bro’ Man keeps losing.

  123. 123.

    Ajabu

    @MazeDancer:
    All Mac since 1989. Don’t do MS ANYTHING EVER. My solution has always been, rather than go for LAG (Latest & Greatest) when I have to replace something – as I recently did with a workhorse iMac* – I figure out what I need said Mac to do and go shopping for an older product. It hasn’t failed me yet. I’m typing this on a 2011 Macbook Pro. And I have a ton of performance music on a classic iPod that I still use regularly. I’ve never found a need to use anything but Apple products for anything I do. And, as a musician I have less money than most people.
    * The replacement iMac was purchased as a refurb for $91 and with a RAM maxout of $35 I’m good to go.

  124. 124.

    MisterForkbeard

    @MazeDancer: I’m the opposite of you – I generally can’t stand Apple interfaces and never understood the rabid fanbase Apple hardware had after the late 90s. It always felt too controlling and like they were always trying to second-guess what I wanted – and failing. Pretty screens, though… and they’re really good for certain uses at my job. Generally much prefer PCs in general and Android phones/tablets.

    That said, I’ve always really liked the fact that you can get a linux terminal in MacOS. :P

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Between that San Juan sub lost, the Navy’s plane down, and terrorists running free all over Africa, not to mention our own political problems, the news is pretty much all bad.

    I begin to suspect that much of the whole sex abuse scandal is to divert attention from our REAL problems, like a failed government and an “owned” election process.

  127. 127.

    frosty

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I generally can’t stand Apple interfaces

    iPhone SE is my first Apple product, other than a Gen5 iPod. I can’t figure out what they have against a “Delete” key. I’m really sick of having to go to the right and backspace over whatever it is that I want to get rid of.

  128. 128.

    magurakurin

    @MazeDancer: they’re just toasters. seriously. commodity machines that are fungible. Windows, Apple, Smindows, Smapple, Smandroid…whatever. They all, more or less, just work…until they don’t. and then you get another one.

  130. 130.

    magurakurin

    @MazeDancer:

    A few times, I have been a houseguest in a Windows household, and have not understood why someone – other than for budget or work necessity – would voluntarily choose to put it in their home.

    whatever wiggles your waggle. My toaster is gray…

  132. 132.

    Mnemosyne

    @magurakurin:

    Well, sure, but if one brand of toaster consistently burns your toast to a crisp regardless of what you set the temperature to, you’re probably better off trying a different brand.

    When I had to use Windows at work, the program that crashed my PC most consistently was Microsoft Explorer. If you can’t even write a browser that’s compatible with your own operating system, that’s a problem.

  133. 133.

    JMG

    I have both. My laptop is Apple and my desktop is Microsoft because that’s what my old job required for me to work at home. The Apple is way better in many ways, but I usually use the desktop because it’s on my desk and the chair is better for my bad back. They’re not THAT different. Use the laptop for travel.

  138. 138.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @lgerard: Just FTR, it’s not original – I lifted it from a porno movie I saw while in grad school 45 yrs ago. The flick was intended as an X-rated parody of a porn movie – narrated by an LBJ impersonator, the plot, such as it was (IIRC) revolved around a coed named Virgin Summers matriculating at King Farouk University who was on track to inherit bazillions if she remained virgo intacta on her 21st birthday. Needless to say, she did not, prompting a desperate attempt at a maidenhead transplant, the rejection of which resulted in her untimely passing.

    (What struck me about this flick was that as hard as it tried to send up the genre, the serious porn movies I saw that year – all grimly dedicated to presenting the maximum frequency & variety of sexual gymnastics – were much funnier. At least ca. 1972, the skin-flick industry was awash in unconscious self-parody.)

    /tmi :^D

  143. 143.

    Jeffro

    OMG this, a million times this: Time To Take Baby Boomers Off The Ticket

    …Admittedly, leadership is not a simple matter of speedy thinking. It also requires enough knowledge and experience to make wise decisions, as well as the savvy to read people and situations. For the gifted leader, though, a little experience goes a long way. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was only 39 when he was murdered, younger than any U.S. president. Yet few could match his ability to inspire, to frame the debate, to match strategy with tactics, to seize the moment and to hold coalitions together.

    Indeed, a point arrives for most of us when additional experience no longer produces better decisions. Our brains seem to filter out information that doesn’t fit neatly into our existing worldviews. In problem solving, University of Arizona brain researcher Elizabeth Glisky has written, older humans “tend to rely more on prior knowledge about the problem domain and less on new information.”

    Which might explain how a president in the 21st century could think that coal mining is a key to America’s future.

    Rapidly changing modes of living and working call for leaders at the peak of their creative and conceptual powers. And decisions that will shape lives long after the baby boomers are gone should not be made by boomers and their older siblings. We’re passing a lot of red ink and unsolved problems to the next generation. We should pass the torch, too.

  144. 144.

    r€nato

    Ethics question: Would it be wrong to pray for a norovirus outbreak at that convention center?

    since prayer is exactly the same as making a wish, I see nothing unethical about that.

    Here’s a couple more salient ethics questions:

    1) would it be wrong to wish for a terrorist attack on the convention center? I would say likely, yes.

    2) If you knew a terrorist attack was absolutely going to happen and there was no stopping it, would it be wrong to wish that it happen to this conference? I would say no. Just like there is nothing wrong with being annoyed that the Grim Reaper – whose work never ceases – is always taking too soon our best people like Tom Petty and Prince, and leaving behind ambulatory refuse like Trump.

  146. 146.

    Argiope

    @J R in WV: Well, yes, the news is all pretty bad….but I’m not quite following how sexual harassment /abuse or the threat thereof, for about half our population, doesn’t qualify as one of our real problems. We can multi-task, after all, exhausting though it may be. One of the reasons we don’t have a female POTUS right now is that we couldn’t get a few more million people to vote for an extremely qualified……female. And the fact that we didn’t have *more* females running with less baggage has everything to do with a long, long history of hostile workplaces and harassment.

  147. 147.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: When I cracked the glass on my iPad back over the summer, it took the repair place almost a week to get the glass in. There was an order substitution issue, wrong size was sent. So I got a Fire HD8 as a backup. I found it to be very kludgy compared to the iPad. I returned it after several days.

  148. 148.

    MazeDancer

    @Mnemosyne:

    Display brightness adjusts and for non-video can get way too bright and backlit fast. It’s more tablet than Kindle. It’s not paperwhite. It’s like iBooks more than Kindle.

    @rikyrah:

    It’s a good tablet. And Amazon taking such a big slice off the price hard to beat.

    @Ajabu:
    All my old Macs still work fine if I turn them on and want to work on them. Biggest problem is Apple stops supporting them. Which leads to Adobe not supporting them. And they can’t talk to the new Macs. And it’s hard to get on the internet easily. But impressed you maximized. And I’m typing on a 2011 MacBook Pro, too. Which I never upgraded from Snow Leopard. (Cue laughter)

  151. 151.

    raven

    Nice day on the gulf. We went on a 6 hour and spent 3 2 hrs screwing around catching bait (which we barely used) and getting out to the spot. The advertised it as a trolling and bottom fishing but we only trolled for abut 30 minutes total. The good new is that the mingo and white snappers were hitting and my arms couldn’t have taken much more. I cooked up a couple of slabs after a quick nap, Now, Go Hokies!!!!!!

  157. 157.

    raven

    @eclare: Yea. I hate that it is an 11am kickoff with the Iron Bowl following but, on the other hand, my arms and back are a hurtin!

  158. 158.

    MazeDancer

    @Steeplejack:

    Thanks for info. Interesting that Amazon extrapolates order info from WiFi address. But guess each Fire Tablet has its serial number and Amazon knows which one it sent you. So when you log on, maybe the Fire tells Amazon who it is.

  162. 162.

    frosty

    @frosty: Looks like FYWP didn’t take my edit. Anyway …

    ETA: Sorry that tone sounded a lot more cranky than I intended. At any rate, what’s so hard about a Delete key? Just Apple bein’ Apple I guess.

  164. 164.

    cain

    @MazeDancer:
    As someone who is a core member of a desktop project on Linux. I would really appreciate you looking at GNOME. Hell, I am employed at a company that cares about the Linux desktop. :)

  165. 165.

    Ajabu

    @MazeDancer:
    I know what you mean about support (or lack thereof). I keep one older machine that will still run Appleworks 6 because I can’t abide Pages. No all change is progress…

  168. 168.

    rikyrah

    Bandit Aléatoire‏ @BanditRandom

    BREAKING: #Trump’s weekend is officially ruined. Czech court rules #Russian hacker detained in October 2016 *can* be extradited to the US where #Mueller will surely have his way with him. It is suspected #YevgenyNikulin was part of the #DNC hacks. #OMFG

  170. 170.

    cain

    Fuck Dinesh D’Souza, some of the indian folks on twitter wanted to trade him to some other ethnic group. I told them that I would rather we get rid of Ajit Pai (FCC – net neutrality) and I described D’Souza as an annoying flea that was already stepped on.

  171. 171.

    rikyrah

    John Toner‏ @jptoner50

    A number of billboard companies in #Alabama refused to install this graphic. It would be tragic if everyone decided to make it go viral instead. #RoyMooreChildMolester

  172. 172.

    RobertDSC-Mac Mini

    And I’m typing on a 2011 MacBook Pro, too. Which I never upgraded from Snow Leopard. (Cue laughter)

    I have a first gen Mac Pro with Snow Leopard sitting next to me that was a champ until I upgraded my iPhone’s OS to 10. That rendered the Mac Pro obsolete and I had to buy a Mac Mini to keep the iPhone updated.

    I would prefer using the Mac Pro if it wasn’t for having to keep the contents of my iPhone up to date.

    On that Mac Pro, I have Rosetta installed. I still use a couple of PPC apps for my workflows.

  174. 174.

    The Moar You Know

    the Mac vs PC thing is still something anyone cares about? My God, some of you need hobbies. They’re both tools that do exactly the same thing. Stop pretending there’s a difference. I support both (and Linux too) and the biggest problem any of the modern versions of the three have are idiot users. As has always been the case.

  180. 180.

    rikyrah

    Rick Wilson‏Verified account @TheRickWilson

    1/ The most delicious moment in the coming days? When the thousands and thousands of pro-Trump MAGA accounts (bots and real) who thought Mike Flynn was…
    7:30 AM – 24 Nov 2017

    2/ …an American hero turn on him. The Orwellian level of unpersonhood Flynn will achieve will be epic. “He was against Trump ALL ALONG.” “Flynn was DEEP STATE…” “TIED TO SOROS…”

    3/ None of the MAGA types will even recognize the irony of their instant flip from loving Flynn to hating him.

  183. 183.

    BellyCat

    @frosty:
    It used to be, before the latest iOS, that you could rotate your iPhone horizontally and a more expanded keyboard would show up, allowing for cursor moving — an invaluable option — that Apple, in their infinite wisdom recently eliminated.

    Apple fan since 1984. Increasingly disappointed in their software development (or lack there of) since that irascible bastard, Steve Jobs, passed.

    Use Windows too, but find it lacking in finesse at best and utterly maddening at worst (Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, anyone?). The one undisputed item of leadership from MS was the right mouse button with contextual menus. As for the rest, it was mostly cribbed from Apple and has all the appeal of anything designed by a mediocre committee who are content to stop once the beta version (almost) works.

    But Apple is losing its way, I’m afraid. Manufacturing quality remains high, but they have basically stalled all Mac software development in favor of iOS and even deleted software features once on the Mac that aren’t compatible with iOS. D. U. M. B. I. D. E. A.

  191. 191.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @cain: Yeah, Pai is quite the piece of work, and should be exiled to the peak of Everest without a sling ring.

  192. 192.

    Another Scott

    @BellyCat: If you like the RMB, you would have loved the Workplace Shell on OS/2. Or maybe not. ?

    Ah, what might have been…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  193. 193.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Cheryl Rofer: I’m shocked, shocked (insert Claude Rains here) that Donald is incorrect about the process for Time’s Person of the Year. If he was in the running, he’s probably not anymore.

  195. 195.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Felanius Kootea: Boko Haram is a violent, extremist movement that has grown out of the composite Hausa-Fulani tribe. The transnational Fulani basically coopted the Hausa to their extreme, fundamentalist version of Islam. Boko Haram, roughly translated as western education is forbidden, arose among the most extreme Fulani in the north to push back against Nigerian government attempts to better integrate the northern, Muslim parts of the country. The Nigerian government efforts were not always pleasant.

  199. 199.

    Spikester

    > I can’t figure out what they have against a “Delete” key.

    That’s what ctrl-D is for. Been that way since the first time I used Emacs way back in nineteen-eighty-mumble.

  203. 203.

    raven

    @eclare: No, there we 10 folks on the boat. There were two families so I got out of their way. I suspect I caught about a dozen keepers.

  204. 204.

    frosty

    @raven:

    16 ounce weights and more than a few of the hits had two fish

    Hauling all of that onto the boat? No wonder your arms and back are sore!

  206. 206.

    raven

    @frosty: Oh my left arm is just dead. I don’t know why but all the bottom fishing rigs have you can with your right and pull with your left. A lot of the people on the boat just quit or took long breaks. Homie don’t play dat. I always fish like it might be my last time!

  209. 209.

    frosty

    @Spikester: ctrl-D is fine, I use it in a bunch of Windoze programs. But can’t find it as an option on this iPhone virtual keypad since there’s no ctrl key. The only way I can see to get rid of something is backspace. Which is irritating.

    OK, done with this 1st World Problem, On to the next …

  210. 210.

    BellyCat

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The cost of Apple computers (not phones or tablets) is generally competitive with EQUAL component options from other machines running Windows in most comparison breakdowns that I’ve seen.

    Apple has chosen to use high quality components where many others use lesser quality (meaning performance and/or durability) components to keep costs low.

    For some, a car is just a means to get from point a to point b, while others may rely heavily on their car for high mileage or high performance tasks, and a few even like to smile while they drive.

    So, buy what works for you — but maybe it’s a good idea to avoid impugning other’s choices?

  216. 216.

    J R in WV

    @Argiope:

    Well, I agree with you about all that. I’ve watched my wife break ground back in the 70s in an all male career path and suffer huge harassment. And other friends. But right now we’re seeing a Republican Senatorial candidate who is a predatory SOB. And entertainment moguls revealed to be the same predatory SOBs.

    Then suddenly liberal powerful men are revealed to be — huggers who may get too affectionate with women they don’t know, which is as bad as raping a 14 y o. ??? WTF??? No, it isn’t. And EMAILS aren’t important either!

    My cynical nature sees a conspiracy. No evidence but history.

  221. 221.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: That’s fucking hysterical! They can’t find anyone who wants to work for them, so they just keep moving the same gang of morons around, slowing both agencies down. Awesome! Please, GOP, don’t learn from this disaster – the country can’t afford to have evil scum in charge that actually know what they’re doing…

  224. 224.

    Steeplejack

    @MazeDancer:

    Yeah, the Fire/​Kindle identifies itself no matter which wi-fi address it logs in from, and the Amazon mother ship identifies it as belonging to you. You have to enter account information only if you get one as a gift, as my brother did when I got him a replacement Kindle.

  227. 227.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m Nigerian. They are mostly Kanuri and lost a battle with the Hausa just before the British came into that part of West Africa (now North Eastern Nigeria). There’s no love lost between the Kanuri and the Hausas. Kanuri languages are distinct from Hausa and Fula/Fulfulde/Peul although most Kanuri also speak Hausa (as conquered people). If they do manage to coopt the Fulani then the Southern part of Nigeria, which has basically ignored the problems up North will be in big trouble.

  228. 228.

    SgrAstar

    @schrodingers_cat: it’s absolutely not a case of snobbery. When we committed to top level graphic design to support our products, there was only one candidate in that space: Apple. Been a fan ever since.

  230. 230.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @BellyCat:

    The cost of Apple computers (not phones or tablets) is generally competitive with EQUAL component options from other machines running Windows in most comparison breakdowns that I’ve seen.

    Nope. For the same configuration, Apple products are at least 1.5 times as much.

    Apple has chosen to use high quality components where many others use lesser quality (meaning performance and/or durability) components to keep costs low.

    They use the same parts, parts are a commodity.

  233. 233.

    J R in WV

    @cain:

    And I bought a laptop from your outfit. Expensive. Have spent time today looking at other laptops with Linux pre-installed. Expensive!!! Starting at around a grand.

    Yes, you can buy a discounted laptop from NewEgg and install Linux, and mostly it just works. The last one of those I bought is a nice Acer Aspire, and the wireless card will not work with Linux. Won’t! So it’s tethered with an ethernet cable in the house, might as well be a desktop.

    I like the laptop we bought with LInus preinstalled from your outfit, it’s got a great screen and is fast. Wife is using it. Her old laptop was getting hot, I expect a new fan would have fixed it, but she didn’t like it anyway.

    Another guy offered to install linux on a hot new Acer for $1,200. SSD for the OS and a terabyte traditional HD for data, a sweet machine. But the $$$???

    Black Friday…I ordered new underware and a robe. Stuff I really need and will use.

  234. 234.

    schrodingers_cat

    @SgrAstar: Not in every case. You have a point about Apple graphics, I have an iPad. They are aesthetically pleasing, but I like to tweak my computer both the hardware and software, it is much easier to make changes with a Windows based machine. I have a dual boot laptop, and once added twin processors to my desktop to get it to crunch my data faster etc.

  235. 235.

    Mnemosyne

    @SgrAstar:

    Yes, but no matter how far down I turn it, a backlight still glares too much. I forgot to say that I may be unusually sensitive to such things since my migraines are often light-triggered. An eInk display makes my eyes happiest when it comes to electronic reading.

    If someone could figure out how to do a full color (or at least 256 color) eInk display for an ereader, I would be in heaven. ?

  237. 237.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I like to tweak my computer both the hardware and software, it is much easier to make changes with a Windows based machine

    Honestly, this is the true difference between Mac users and PC users. In general, PC users love to fiddle with their machines, and Mac users hate it. If I’m installing a new keyboard, I want to just plug it in and start doing the stuff I bought the keyboard for, like writing my novel. Spending a half hour configuring it is torture. But my brother loves to constantly tweak and then troubleshoot his PC. It’s half the fun of having a computer, as far as he’s concerned.

  238. 238.

    joel hanes

    @raven:
    We went on a 6 hour and spent 3 2 hrs screwing around catching bait (which we barely used) and getting out to the spot.

    Now that’s a day perfectly spent. Anticipation is the greatest part of pleasure. Also:

    Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
    Simply messing…about in boats — or with boats…
    In or out of ’em it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you’d much better not.

  245. 245.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:
    As I recall, “they” put the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys as far apart as possible, to make it hard to hit the combo by accident.

  246. 246.

    Steve in the ATL

    @J R in WV:

    And entertainment moguls revealed to be the same predatory SOBs.

    “Revealed” might be too strong a word. This has been well known forever, but at least now people seem to care. I find all of this very exciting as a labor and employment lawyer, a father of daughters, a husband, and a (generally) non-asshole. Hopefully, all the evil that is being revealed now that the sheets have come off the faces of republicans will leave us with a better world once we get these cabrons out of office.

  249. 249.

    J R in WV

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I agree whole heartedly. Friends and the wife have suffered during their careers. At least few of my friends have been sexually assaulted. One that I know of. Seemed to get over it after the rapist was convicted. Was not a repressed person, ever.

    I wouldn’t have any way to know about Hollywood producers except hearing about casting couches, which is not really factual information. Politicians here locally seem to be about as likely to have girlfriends on the side as in DC. That’s old news.

    But running a racist theocratic pedophile for Senate, that’s a new bar isn’t it!

  251. 251.

    r€nato

    @schrodingers_cat: clearly you’re not familiar with the devotion some people have to bashing Apple users. Now THERE is a cult. There’s few things as humorous as the users of the mobile OS that enjoys 85%-90% penetration rate bashing iOS users as “iSheep”.

  252. 252.

    r€nato

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I wish I could count the number of casual discussions I’ve had over the years with folks who regularly get 7 to 10 years of useful life out of their Apple computers. That definitely includes my own experience. I regularly have in use a primary Mac that is < 5 yrs old and a secondary Mac that is 5 to 10 years old. These same folks (including myself, my parents, two highly-accomplished engineer friends, I could go on and on and on…) will go through or have gone through no fewer than two and often three PCs (laptop or desktop) in a comparable period.

    But please don't let that stop you from peddling the nonsense that Macs are ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN PCs. My time is worth something too. The Macintosh "tax" is wildly over-exaggerated.

  253. 253.

    r€nato

    @SgrAstar: oh dear. Brace yourself for a barrage of indignant posts from Windows cultists who will snidely insinuate that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and are too stupid to be permitted access to a computer.

    I bought some AAPL (not nearly enough as it turns out) 16 years ago. I chortle with glee every time I read an anti-Apple rant. Yes, it’s all a house of cards and will come down with a resounding crash any day now. Any. Day. Now. Clearly the most valuable company in the world for several years running exists solely due to marketing hype and its stupid, clueless customers. I will be sure to remind my highly-compensated market research clients – the overwhelming majority of which use Apple products – of what simpletons they are. Surely someday soon their bosses as well will realize they didn’t hire highly-educated and experience professionals for six-figure salaries but rather morons who are easily duped by Apple’s hypnotic marketing efforts. Then after that I will remind my three highly-compensated engineering friends who are perfectly capable of rolling their own, that they too are stupid idiots for insisting on Apple products when it comes to how they spend their money on tech.

    *eyes rolling*

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