Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Celebrate the fucking wins.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / Open Thread: “You’ll Poke Your Eye Out!”

Open Thread: “You’ll Poke Your Eye Out!”

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Guns YES, thoughts NO!

Also, for Leftovers Day:

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154Comments

  6. 6.

    Roger Moore

    @Another Scott:
    What I find interesting is how they’ve twisted the relationship between the two sign carriers. In reality they were carrying signs that referred to each other, but that worked because they were cooperating to make the same point. The photoshop makes them look like they’re arguing instead of agreeing.

  7. 7.

    Lahke

    Just finished reading”The Hired Man”, by Aminatta Forna, which really packs a wallop. The emotional aftermath of the Croatian war of Independence; the south must have been a little like that after the civil war. How do you live on in a community that’s torn itself apart? The difference being the huge power imbalance in the south, of course. Anyway, highly recommended. What are folks reading that’s worth the time investment?

  8. 8.

    gene108

    My brother gave me an Amazon Echo Dot. I am not exactly sure what I should do with it or how it would benefit.

    Other than it will give me someone to talk to at home.

  9. 9.

    Raoul

    Does the right to bear arms mean that one could bring a pike, battle axe or other instrument of war to the Tenn capitol? I mean, why stop at just guns?

  10. 10.

    ArchTeryx

    @gene108: It really doesn’t do all that much unless you have “smart home” appliances, i.e. things connected to your wireless internet router. It can do some things as well with a smart phone with the right stuff on it, like Spotify. I’ve held off getting one myself because very little in the house is “smart”.

  11. 11.

    Mark Hodgson

    I can bring my firearm per the 2nd amendment. I can have a hand carried sign but not a sign on a stick, due to the dangers of the stick.

    How about I tape my hand carried sign to an 1812 smooth bore musket (very 2nd amendmentish) and hold that up for all to see?

  12. 12.

    gene108

    On the All Holidays Matter sign, I don’t get the bottom three symbols. The one on the left is a star burst of some kind. Or the symbol the “Pow” graphic would be on in the Adam West Batman TV show, during a fight sequence. The middle symbol looks like the Wheel of Pain from the Schwarzenegger era Conan film, and the swastika is used by multiple religions as an auspicious symbol, and therefore does not denote any particular religion.

  14. 14.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Given the open thread thing: One present I received yesterday was a black t-shirt that said:

    “Thunderbolt & lightning,
    very, very frightening me.”

    – Galileo

  16. 16.

    Ruckus

    Somehow the republican party around these parts has decided that sending me emails would get me to vote republican. My first response was rejected as spam. I think I may have used the word fuck one too many times in it. So I sent them another one with word press modifications to get through their spam filter. That appeared to work. I don’t understand how the word republican was OK and the word fuck wasn’t. But then while I’m an old white male, I don’t speak or understand republican. To my great and everlasting pleasure.

  17. 17.

    gene108

    @ArchTeryx:

    I don’t want smart appliances. Last thing I need is for a Russian hacker to hijack my fridge and hold my left overs hostage, in exchange for bitcoins.

    Either that or have them gain sentience and go all SkyNet on us.

  24. 24.

    Ruckus

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
    Other than the George Dickel distillery (and I no longer drink so that’s a moot point) I can’t think of really any rational reason for it. I’d bet there are a few people living there who are sane and all but really how many can that be? Of course there have to be a few BJ readers that live there and they are of course the exception.

  26. 26.

    jl

    A well trained terrorist can probably slice your head off at the next with a properly flung 8 by 11 card stock.

  31. 31.

    ArchTeryx

    @gene108: Heh. The only “smart” item in the house is the Nest thermostat, and it’s there because there are four people living in this shack and it basically puts the thermostat under control of the house owner. (He’s a close friend, so I get thermostat privileges. I’m a bastard son of a dinosaur, yes).

    (“Life not fair, is it? Well, I shall never be king, and you shall never see the light of another day! Hm…adieu!”)

  32. 32.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    Doesn’t allowing anybody to bring in a gun inviting a mass shooting that would take out several legislators?

  36. 36.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    Also, in those Trump voter pieces, are the journos using real names?

  38. 38.

    Pluky

    @gene108: The Wheel (of Dharma) is Buddhist. Each spoke represents an aspect of the Eight-fold Way to enlightenment.

    The nine-pointed star is Ba’hai. Don’t know the significance.

  47. 47.

    Temporarily Max McGee (may or may not be a myth)

    Where does the Second Amendment differentiate between types of arms that are protected? I’d use the ability to cut with paper and to use a stick as a spear or a club to challenge the ban. I’m sort of…Serious here.

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    If we’re discussing what people got for Christmas, my spouse the future librarian (he graduates next December) received a librarian action pack from my brother and sister in law: a sweater vest, two pairs of reading glasses, and a chain to hang the glasses on.

    I’m still laughing. ?

  56. 56.

    lamh36

    I will NEVER not love seeing Alvin Ailey’s “Wade in the Water” choreo!!!
    #KCHonors #KennedyCenterHonors

  61. 61.

    Mike J

    @gene108:
    Alexa, the Dude abides
    Alexa, sing a song
    Alexa, can you rap?
    Alexa, tell me a joke
    Alexa, tell me a dirty joke
    Alexa, tell me a shark joke
    Alexa, my name is Inigo Montoya.
    Alexa, surely you can’t be serious.
    Alexa, Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

  62. 62.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: OK, that made me laugh. But are you going to wear it? ; )

    I, on the other hand, received a pair of socks from a friend that simply proclaimed: “Fuck This Shit.” Not as clever, but definitely apropos. I plan to wear them to work tomorrow.

  63. 63.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: I wasn’t saying you were wrong. But the people I know who argue about Stax minutia are all white. Anyway, I was just using your post to try to make a joke.

  70. 70.

    lamh36

    “ability to write simple melodies & lyrics for songs that nobody could forget”
    If that DON’T descrbie Lionel Ritchie’s songwriting and hits PERFECTLY!!!
    #LionelRitchie #KCHonors #KennedyCenterHonors

  71. 71.

    lamh36

    I can’t even tell you my FAVORITE Lionel Ritchie solo song…but the ENTIRE list of songs on the albums “Lionel Ritchie” and “Can’t Slow Song” ARE ALL FAVORITES
    #LionelRitchie #KCHonors #KennedyCenterHonors

  72. 72.

    Alex

    The Michigan Capitol has the same rule. Signs might bump the historic faux finishes. But no one would ever bump the gallery walls or columns with a rifle.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mike J: I SAID I like Memphis. Stax, Chilton, Hi, Ike (asshole, but still), Isaac, West Memphis 3… Ribs and catfish? Couldn’t live there, but could visit often.

  77. 77.

    scav

    Hand sticks, hand-stick are forbidden, right? Didn’t they just effectively ban all crucifixes from being carried into the TN legislature? Ok, of a certain size, but still, sticks carried by hand. Those things could definitely take an eye — or THREE — out.

  79. 79.

    eclare

    @Omnes Omnibus: I live in Memphis, my rep introduced articles of impeachment. Like most cities in the south, Memphis is not Tennessee, and vice versa. And the Democrats are running a real possibility for Corker’s seat.

  80. 80.

    Honus

    @Raoul: or say a seven-inch switchblade knife? Or am I restricted to my 9mm Browning Airweight Hi-Power? Could I carry a compound bow and some broad heads?

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:
    He’s in the library, isn’t it mandatory to wear one to get paid?
    Did at least one of pairs of reading glasses make his eyes look like they were in a fish bowl?

  89. 89.

    Alain the site fixer

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Hey – yes the form is f’ed and your emails were fine but FYWP didn’t like your panorama. So I held off. I’ll fix but I plan to run a few other panoramas first – I owe it to the photographer, and we’ll all benefit, you’ll see.
    Like always, I’m in awe of your work. That’s a beaut. And yes I know I can run the other pictures without it, but I’d like to run the whole set as intended. So that will be next year then, be seeing you!

  92. 92.

    eclare

    @Ruckus: Corker is retiring. Democrats are running a popular former governor, Phil Bredesen. The two leading Republicans are people who have attached themselves to Trump at the hip, say the problem is that Republicans don’t support Trump enough.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @eclare: I had two great great grandfathers who started their Civil War careers in your city. One got invalided out; the other was with Sherman from beginning to end.

  94. 94.

    ArchTeryx

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: You ain’t the only one! I am much more of a techie and even I have trouble keeping up with the (many unnecessary, IMHO) gadgets. Certain things are nice (having a thermostat that knows when to lower/raise the temperature and can give you the day’s weather out the door is actually pretty nice, as is having a clock radio that can wake me up with a Spotify playlist) but who the hell thought it a good idea to make a net-connected refrigerator? Washer and dryer? Yeah, I’ll stick with a modest amount of tech, thank you very much.

  99. 99.

    Ruckus

    @eclare:
    Sounds good.
    Hope you know I was kidding about TN, I thought the George Dickel comment would show that.
    And even if he’s retiring, his ass should be kicked to the curb. Boing Boing had a nice article on him.
    ETA Conservatism can never fail you just have to be more stupid and believe. I thought magic slippers were from Kansas.

  104. 104.

    Mnemosyne

    @MomSense:

    Your mom has good taste. ? I still remember him performing “Mama Said Knock You Out” shirtless on the Grammys 20+ years ago. He won many fans that night. Mostly female, but about 10 percent of the guys, too. ?

  105. 105.

    Tehanu

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:

    Doesn’t allowing anybody to bring in a gun inviting a mass shooting that would take out several legislators?

    Feature not bug?

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I had two great great grandfathers who started their Civil War careers in your city. One got invalided out; the other was with Sherman from beginning to end.

    One of my great-greats may have been with Sherman, as he was from Missouri. Apparently it was the deep dark family secret (on my Texas-born mother’s side) that he was a Union soldier. My brother & sister and I may well be the only descendants of my whole generation who are grateful for that; the rest of them are still unreconstructed. Anyway, I’m envious of you!

  108. 108.

    chopper

    man, if only there was an amendment in the bill of rights that allowed us to carry sticks. fuck, the framers must be real embarrassed right about now.

  109. 109.

    eclare

    @Tehanu: Yeah, I have some relatives in prior generations that were Union. Afraid to ask what some of my current relatives really think about that.

  110. 110.

    Doug R

    @gene108:

    I don’t want smart appliances. Last thing I need is for a Russian hacker to hijack my fridge and hold my left overs hostage, in exchange for bitcoins.

    Either that or have them gain sentience and go all SkyNet on us.

    Silicon Valley’s got you covered.

  111. 111.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tehanu:

    Anyway, I’m envious of you!

    Dear god, don’t be. I still have my hairline but the gray is gaining fast, and I can be less than nice on occasion. :P

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SWMBO: Random examples of various value. Never intended to be an exhaustive list.

    ETA: And, at least, I am making some late-ish night musical discussion happen.

  114. 114.

    Ruckus

    @eclare:
    I lived in OH for a decade. Ken Blackwell worked magic on the precincts in the liberal parts of OH. In 2004 we had 2 machines and 6 or 8 precincts voting in one church. It took me 4 hrs and I had to stand in the rain for most of that.
    I hate republicans. Any one that can support the shitgibbon and this tax bill……… let alone the rest of the shit they are doing and want to do. Thankfully they are the most unprepared and ill equipped otherwise the damage would be catastrophic, as opposed to just horrible.

  116. 116.

    eclare

    @Ruckus: Agreed, I’ll do what I can for next November. If it can happen in AL….

    ETA> Turnout in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga will be key. Like elsewhere, in every election or ballot initiative, the cities vote Democratically.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: To be fair, I couldn’t grow a decent beard if you paid me. My clean cut, preppy look thing isn’t a political or social statement. It is just want works for me stylistically.

  119. 119.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: I like “Brickhouse” but it’s not even close to being my fav song from Lionel Ritchie & Commodores…

    Sweet Love, Zoom, Still, Just To Be Close To You, Easy…I put ALL those before Brickhouse, and also of course the above mentioned Jesus Is Love over Brickhouse…

  120. 120.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Style? I gots no stinking style. I gave up on that at about age 16. I grow a beard because I hate to shave. I trim what little that’s left on the top of the noggin because I’m lazy and don’t care that I’m bald. (Took me about 4 yrs to get that point through the ole noggin!) That the beard pisses off a lot of stuffy assholes is just a bonus.

  121. 121.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: Like I said, agree to disagree. The type of song you are mentioning just make me want to bash my head against at wall.

  122. 122.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    Ladies love Cool J! ?

    Do you remember that SNL skit with the junior high/UU church music teachers singing pop and hip hop songs? That was the scene in my living room tonight. One of the funniest and sweetest things I’ve ever seen. My mom is an 80 year old retired classical violinist and she was dancing and singing with her hand making the L sign. I should have filmed it.

  124. 124.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Mine looks better with hair on top as well. But the damn stuff just jumped ship one day. Either that or hair on top of a man’s head is highly susceptible to gravity. I can go with either theory.
    And all the men a generation ahead of me on both sides had hair till they passed. At least mine hung around till I’d passed half a century. My cousin lost his in his twenties.

  125. 125.

    SWMBO

    @Ruckus: Many years ago my husband’s boss’ wife made him shave. She HATED his beard. When she asked me why I didn’t make D shave his beard off, I told her it tickled. She said M’s beard scratched her face. I said I didn’t say it tickled my face. ;-)

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: For me, it is now something to use to “tease” my brother. I have great hair, he has crap looking gray hair and two fantastic kids.

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne

    @MomSense:

    I love when our moms surprise us with their pop culture knowledge. ? Shows that you don’t have to become un-hip with age.

    And since this thread is doubling as a hair discussion, I seem to be on track to be 99 percent gray before I’m 50 like everyone in my mom’s family. Fortunately, i found a great colorist 15 years ago and I’m sticking with her for as long as humanly possible. She gets my base color exactly right so the roots are less noticable.

  133. 133.

    Ruckus

    @SWMBO:
    ROTFL. Thank you! I’ve been told that. And it was appreciated by the person that told me as well.
    I needed a laugh, the last 4 days has been a bit much, the angiogram was not all that much fun but the worst part was that 2 of the 3 IV sticks went wonky and my back went out laying stone still for nearly 6 hrs. I’m not used to that. And my bosses mom fell down when her dog tried to run off with her holding the leash and her walker couldn’t hold her up. Broke her hip, not all that bad, if they ever operate and fix it. She’s been waiting for 4 days, but the hospital has just been slammed with emergencies and haven’t had an operating room available. She’s a 90 yr old tough bird, we chatted Thursday at the shop xmas lunch. She gave each of us a large jar of M&Ms peanuts. Of course I can’t eat them, but it’s the thought that counts.

  134. 134.

    frosty

    @Ruckus: It gets passed thru the maternal side. My dad and his 4. brothers were fine. My mom had a sister but no brothers. Go back another generation and my grandma’s two brothers? Cue balls. Damn!

  135. 135.

    eclare

    @Mnemosyne: I was going to say to guys going gray, there are options if you don’t want to. Been coloring mine since I was in my late 20’s, twenty years ago.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @lamh36: Clicking on it gave me a gif. Obviously, you have decided already. Thanks for making me your fun.

    ETA: I try to take music things seriously, because it is something that matters a lot to me. My bad.

  139. 139.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Some people are just lucky. Of course I don’t have to waste a lot of shampoo so I guess it evens out.
    @SWMBO:
    As I said every male on both sides in the previous generation had decent hair till they passed. I seem to not follow the general rules no matter what they are. Or maybe the mailman……….

  140. 140.

    lamh36

    @Omnes Omnibus: nah…I messin’ with ya..no need to be so touchy…I just happen to be listening to a playlist right now…

    As a native New Orleanian…there are a few things we are BORN to know and love at ANY age…I won’t list them all, but Maze featuring Frankie Beverly is one of those things!!!

    MAZE ft Frankie Beverly – Joy and Pain StudioVersion 1980 Lyrics Incl youtu.be/lQhZSyXUUX8 via @YouTube

  142. 142.

    Ruckus

    @eclare:
    I have a nice 3 tone effect. Light brown, to gray, to white. I look distinguished or some crap like that. It turns out that in the end I can take care of my hair on my own, don’t need a barber or stylist or any of that. Every 6 yrs or so I have to buy a new trimmer when the old one wears out/battery won’t hold a charge. Being an old has some advantages. Mostly that you just don’t give a fuck any more.

  143. 143.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Hey go with it. Ya got it flaunt it. Just remember that you may wake up one day with a pillow covered in hair and that vision in the mirror may look like a cue ball. Hope not, no one deserves that. OK that’s not true, I know a current resident of a large house in DC that does.

  144. 144.

    eclare

    @Ruckus: One of my aunts finally decided at 80 that she was ready to not give a fuck about being gray anymore. Don’t know what age it will be for me, but I’m not there yet. But your way would be easier on the wallet….

    ETA>One of the great joys if Ivanka goes to prison will be that she will be forced to show her natural hair color.

  146. 146.

    SWMBO

    @Ruckus: Being a mean child, I have a fantasy that someone sneaks into 1600 Penn Ave or Mar A Loco and puts Nair in his shampoo bottle.

  147. 147.

    lamh36

    Good night BJ.

    I’m gonna finall get off the interwebs (well blogs for the night)

    Peace out and hope everyone have a good night’s sleep

  148. 148.

    Ruckus

    @SWMBO:
    Good for another laugh!
    I wonder if the person that does his hair, surly he doesn’t have the skill to do it, even if it does look like it was done by a two yr old, could be persuaded to, given that she/he probably has been stiffed at least once, you know left his wallet in his other pants…….

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    @eclare:
    I think, given our culture, that it’s easier for men than women. That said, I’ve seen some absolutely ridiculous comb overs and bad dye jobs in my time. There certainly are men who peg the vain meter, no question about it.

  150. 150.

    Mnemosyne

    @eclare:

    The one consolation I have is that it seems to be coming in a really nice silver-gray, not a muddy gray like I’ve seen some people get stuck with. Since I was never a fan of my natural hair color, I find it comforting that I’ll have a nicer color for my next phase.

  151. 151.

    Dolly Llama

    @danielx: I was thinking the exact same thing. I was born in Georgia, and worked for a longish while in South Carolina before moving to the Triangle six years ago. Thought I was finally escaping the redneckitude, but it followed me here.

  154. 154.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ruckus: My Sicilian barber told me last time he’d left the top a little longer ‘cuz it’s getting thin up there. Crowding 70, no surprise. I’d shave the pate, but I’ve whanged it so many times (once memorably attacked by a rabid metal paper towel dispenser at college) that without the hair I’d look like an extra on Alien Nation.

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