On a short break from work.
It’s a beautiful day outside, and I’m in here. I don’t really have anything to say today.
When James Gandolfini died earlier this week, the entertainment industry lost a great star who helped to transform television. Veterans lost an advocate and friend.
Jury finds no negligence in case of man’s eight-month erection. Go ahead, click the link. You know you want to.
Lasers have revolutionized archeology. Do you think if we put the fricken things on shark heads, they could find Atlantis?
Realtors–rising home prices ‘unsustainable.’
Lawyers eye NSA data as treasure trove in divorce and criminal cases.
raven
On June 22, 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, commonly known as the original GI Bill. This act not only transformed the lives of millions of veterans, but the future of a nation ready to take its place on the world stage.
jeffreyw
Big Mouth Bird
dmsilev
From that link, yes that one,
I suppose it depends on the sort of parties you attend and the sort of friends you have.
Tone in DC
No, the close of business cannot come fast enough. An old buddy or two, a very nice dinner and a good ale await me in a few hours.
As for dude with the 8 months of happy, I figure he needs a blood transfusion or something right about now. At least he kept a stiff upper lip.
SatanicPanic
“The device was ultimately removed in 2010 after tubing punctured Metzgar’s scrotum.”
Sounds like these doctors got him going and coming.
Yatsuno
@SatanicPanic: Heh. I’m only sorry I have to go to work. We could do this all day I bet.
Temporary problem with home computer connection. I should have it all good by tomorrow. Right in the middle of settling a dispute with my landlady. WHEEEE!!!
Cassidy
That amusment park pictorial is awesome. The Pripyat amusement park was the inspiration for a level in the first Modern Warfare game.
Cassidy
And I love horror movies with slasher flicks set in creepy amusement parks among my favorite.
Can’t edit on this network.
Yatsuno
@Cassidy: I can’t edit on my work computer or my phone. FYWP.
SatanicPanic
@Yatsuno: That’s too bad, I suspect there’s going to be some pointed snark on this issue.
schrodinger's cat
Don’t mess with this kitteh, he is bigger and more ornery than Tunch.
Cassidy
@Yatsuno: Neither can I. I can at home, but the DOD seems to not be cool with those features.
Yatsuno
@Cassidy: I know in my case it’s because the work browser is IE8. No word on any upgrade to that at this point, but I doubt it.
pokeyblow
@raven: Hours drag by.
All wasted. All decayed.
According2Robyn
Why did I read the comments on that Zimmerman article? Mother of Zod, I should know better than to read the comments.
Tripod
@Cassidy:
There is no joy in Joyland.
srv
Revolution in Brazil, civil war coming in Egypt, civil war in Syria, and I guess a relevant thread on dead amusement parks (so representative of the US).
And LIDAR is evil, replacing all those hard working interns and jr. archeologists from making a career in science.
22over7
Not to pile on, but I have the day off today. I want to see a movie, but I’m torn between World War Z and Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing.
I’m leaning toward Shakespeare.
Ted & Hellen
@raven:
Yeah…that hasn’t worked out so great, now has it?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@srv: And shovels displaced all those spoon wielders. Damn technology.
Ted & Hellen
@Cassidy:
Of course you do.
Jesus. Nothing like an untreated rageaholic, PTSD victim who obsesses on WOW and slasher flicks, wandering free among the populace.
Ted & Hellen
@According2Robyn:
Because you love every second of the sweet, sweet, god help me how very sweet poutrage you allow yourself to feel as a result.
Did you achieve completion?
Cassidy
I guess our village idiot rolled out of bed. If it needs an emotional connection that bad it should go pick up a hooker.
Randy P
@According2Robyn: I don’t know why I read comments on any article. This morning I was reading an obit on Gandolfini and there were a bunch of commenters (not a majority) saying things like “I hope he burns in hell” “I hope he died slowly and painfully”.
Are these people who think Tony Soprano is real or something? It was very strange and upsetting.
Keith
Must be a slow news day…TPM has had Paula Deen not being on The Today Show as their front page story. And that’s been the main headline since yesterday. I’m shocked – shocked – that an old Southern woman said the n-word at some indeterminate point in her life.
Amir Khalid
@According2Robyn:
It’s the naked hate towards Trayvon — people calling him a thug and worse, the willful repetition of known untruths about him — that I found startling.
Yatsuno
@jeffreyw: I couldn’t quite tell: what kind of pretty bird is that?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Ted & Hellen: Yep, considering that the convergence of all past events led up to you. Hell, the lack of a GI Bill may have kept us from having to put up with you.
El Caganer
@Randy P: That’s bizarre – from all accounts I’ve seen, he was a really nice guy.
Scott S.
Impotent Republican Troll is an impotent Republican troll.
jeffreyw
@Yatsuno: Barn Swallows. They are nesting in my garage.
Yatsuno
@Keith: It’s funny how she said she was a white woman growing up in the South in the 60s plus she had a bad experience where she got robbed at gunpoint and the n-word came from her mouth. But suddenly she’s the Grand Dragon of the KKK even though she also said she’s changed over the years.
Ted & Hellen
@Cassidy:
Projection, thy name is Assidy.
Amir Khalid
@Randy P:
Well, it wouldn’t be surprising, I suppose, for people who watch “reality” TV shows and are persuaded that what they’re seeing is real life. But more likely, these people are of an ilk with the commenter at #22.
Ted & Hellen
Hey Assidy, you never answer, but who is “our,” “we,” “us” when you’re at BJ?
pokeyblow
@Keith: It’s 2013.
If that nasty pig doesn’t have the decency, or even the business sense, to put a cork in it regarding her racist feelings, she deserves to be drummed out of public life.
I go to the grocery store and pretty much have no choice but to see magazine covers of that vapid POS (and perhaps a hundred other worthless celebrities) every time. Now that she’s earned negative publicity, I say keep her balloon-jowled face front and center.
piratedan
HEY EVERYBODY!
LOOK!
Our favorite troll has returned, new and improved with personal attacks and scathing out of context commentary on past policy….our living embodiment of the argument sketch come to life.
Hope that someday T and H can find true happiness in each others arms and can find a higher purpose in life than trolling here. Such scathing insight shouldn’t be wasted on unworthies such as us mere mortals. Perhaps you can stalk Louie Gohmert?
TaMara (BHF)
Sigh, I’m without my bike for the weekend. Repairs. You know you have a problem when the idea of being without something makes you start to twitch.
A friend of mine grows exotic iris, I don’t know where she finds them, but they are amazing and in full bloom this weekend.
Photos here and here.
They have really cool names like Starship Enterprise, Millennium Falcon and Bewilderbeast.
Scott S.
I know three different horror writers, all winners of the Stoker Award, and they’re pretty much the biggest sweethearts on the planet. They say the horror cons they’ve been to are full of incredibly happy people, well adjusted, kind and mostly liberal-leaning. Seems like a big shift, compared to how absurdly wingnutty so many sci-fi and comics writers seem to be…
Seanly
Where the fugg are home prices rising in double digits? My wife & I are stuck renting a house out in SC and would love to sell it. Everytime we check on house prices in the area (Columbia, SC region), they are as bad as they were two years ago. We’re not upside down – the house is worth more than the mortgage & HELOC on it until you include the 6% realty fees. Luckily the rental market is low on inventory so we’ve had continuous occupation.
We’d even be making a little money on the place, but property taxes go way up in SC for non-owner occupied houses.
Ted & Hellen
@Amir Khalid:
.
As a personal friend of his who witnessed the whole thing going down, I would imagine that IS painful for you. And “startling” too.
Ted & Hellen
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Extremely weak.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@piratedan:
Starve it. Just starve it.
Ted & Hellen
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Yes Dan, Starve it. Please dear god, starve it. I’m unable to tolerate rude comments from anyone other than my fellow Botsplainers.
piratedan
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: aye, back into the pie filter with it.
wasabi gasp
The amusement park pictures would only be better if in one of those rusty bumper cars sat a very patient man with an eight-month-old erection.
Cassidy
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: It’s just so incredibly sad. It comes here just to fight and attempts to say the most hateful and spiteful things it can just to generate a response. I feel so sorry for it, alone with it’s crayons, children who put up with it (worse than hate imo), jus tthis pathetic, lonely existence. And it’s given up! it can’t even make friends so it come here hoping to generate enough hate so that someone will feel something for it. You can’t help but respond out of sympathy.
Cassidy
@wasabi gasp: I see you’ve read the Killing Joke.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Ted & Hellen: Well, the highlight of my life isn’t trolling a blog. I don’t practice snide remarks to people.
Ted & Hellen
@piratedan:
YAY!
Question: Why would you ever have taken one such as I OUT of your alleged use of the awesome pie filter?
I think you’re lying.
Chyron HR
So, wait, is a “botsplainer” worse than a “botulist”? I have trouble distinguishing between Tim’s many baby-talk euphamisms for “race traitor”.
Randy P
Something about this thread reminds of an old SNL skit featuring Buck Henry as a radio talk-show host who wasn’t getting any calls. His original topic was “municipal bonds” but as he got more and more desperate for a response, ke kept throwing more and more red meat out. “Communists!” “Stealing puppies!” “Communists stealing puppies to buy municipal bonds!”
Now what could have brought to mind that image of a lonely desperate talk-show host that nobody is paying attention to? Beats me…
Ted & Hellen
@Cassidy:
Wow. Your PTSD-based projection neurosis is getting worse. You, my tubby friend, dominate most threads these days with endless bellicose, insulting, violent, arrogant, and stupid comments, aimed at plenty of others beside me.
And yet you are able to type with no sense of awareness, the revealing passage above. Priceless.
Ted & Hellen
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
I’ve been here long enough to know that is an outright lie. You’re only pleasant to those who see and say what you do.
Ted & Hellen
@Chyron HR:
RACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCIST!!!!!!!!!!
FlipYrWhig
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Archaeology drones! Oh, sure, they SAY it’s for mapping ancient civilizations, but that’s just one shallow slippery slope from total surveillance plus instant fiery judgment from above. Thanks a lot, Obama.
wasabi gasp
@Cassidy: I have not.
Ted & Hellen
@Randy P:
O M G, you are so erudite and just totally intelligent.
Hot!
raven
@Cassidy: Not reading but wtf-k, just pie the douche.
Cassidy
@wasabi gasp: It’s a Batman graphic novel and has a scene similiar to that, minus the 8 hour erection, but the grin on the guy’s face could leave it open for interpretation, I guess.
Cassidy
@raven: I do at home. Not an option for my phone or at work. Plus, it’s kind of fun to laugh at it.
raven
@Cassidy: Yea, couple of my machines don’t have the filter either.
Haydnseek
@raven: Exactly this. The quality of life for millions of vets, and their families, can be directly connected to this. Without the GI Bill, and a Cal Vet loan, my folks would never have been able to buy their house in So Cal in 1957, despite the fact that the both had full time jobs. They weren’t considered a good risk. After decades away, I returned home to take care of my mom as she was dying. After my divorce, I had no place to go. I still live in the house, and not a day goes by that I don’t thank the FSM for the fact that my folks could buy it. Every time some teabagger starts making noise about tearing down the New Deal, I just want to fucking scream.
Chyron HR
@Ted & Hellen:
Why must people wrongly accuse you of being racist just becuase you think it should be legal for vigilantes to summarily execute blacks? WHYYYYYYYY?
Ted & Hellen
@raven:
lol
Mnemosyne
@TaMara (BHF):
So is it cruel to mention that I may be going to CicLAvia this weekend with thousands of other bicyclists? (And walkers, and rollerbladers, and other non-motorized transportation.)
Cassidy
@raven: Your first comment makes me think of Bob Dole. maddow has been talking about him a lot lately. Its interesting because that’s one of the first things you learn in 10th Mountain: Bob Dole was one of us. Anytime I hear his name it gets my attention.
Ted & Hellen
@raven:
Couldn’t you download it to a “couple” of your machines?
burnspbesq
God clearly has abandoned us, and wishes us nothing but misery for the next three years.
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/netroots-nation-howard-dean-hints-2016-ru-0?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Ted & Hellen
@Chyron HR:
Link?
Thanks.
Ted & Hellen
@Cassidy:
FFS.
You are not in the military anymore. If you ever were. Get over yourself.
Yatsuno
@Haydnseek: I didn’t think the GI Bill was part of the New Deal. I thought it was more, “Holy shit, we have 5 million unemployed men that we have no idea what to do with!” and so they threw a bunch of money at them for education and housing. I could see how it could count though.
Cassidy
@Mnemosyne: I’ve been thinking of taking up biking, but then I look at the price. I’m getting tired of the treadmill, but not $800+ tired.
Amir Khalid
World War Z and Monsters University are now playing in KL. I reckon I’ll be seeing both of them this coming week. But which should it be first: cute animated monsters or hordes of ravening zombies?
raven
@Yatsuno: They started planning the GI Bill before WWII even started. They knew what was coming and, after the Bonus Army, knew there had to be some kind of buffer to reintegrate the returning troops. The educational benefits were a good idea but more than half of the GI’s didn’t have a secondary credential so the GED was devised as a way to give credit for skills learned in the service and provide that credential so post-secondary work was possible. You should read what the elite institutions had to say about the idea of admitting lowly GI’s!
soonergrunt (mobile)
@Amir Khalid: see them both on the same day.
burnspbesq
It took the Spanish U-20s all of five minutes to unlock a suspect US defense. Could be a long afternoon for Tio Sam.
burnspbesq
@Ted & Hellen:
You’re being remarkably dickish today, even by your high standards.
Haydnseek
@Yatsuno: You’re right, of course. I wasn’t as precise as I should have been. I was taking a broader view with regard to how we handled the huge influx of returning veterans and how we would deal with the economics of this, for the greatest long term benefit to the future of the country and the citizens of America, most of whom will have to navigate a very turbulent time.
TaMara (BHF)
@Mnemosyne: That sounds like fun. I’m more of a solo cyclist – I like to think of it as mobile meditation.
@Cassidy: I have a Specialist (I tried on 5-6 bikes before I found one that fit). It’s meant for fairly regular cycling, but nothing hardcore. I bought at the end of one season into the next (kind of like buying a 2013 car after the 2014s come out) and only paid $600.
If you’re just starting out, you can probably get by with a nice $300 bike, just make sure it fits you. If riding becomes your thing, investing in a more expensive bike will give you a smoother ride with more shifting options. But it may not be important to you if you’re only riding 10-15 miles a day, every few days.
Don’t let hardcore cyclists talk you into more bike than you need. Just like you don’t need a Maserati to commute to work, you don’t need a $1000 bike for recreational riding.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Cassidy:
In Up Front the late Bill Mauldin coined a great phrase “The Brotherhood of Them What’s Been Shot At.” That still resonates with me.
According2Robyn
@Ted & Hellen:
You’re onto me. Seeing a stark reminder of the naked, seething racism that still pervades our society just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Poutrage” is exactly how I’d describe my reaction to racist assholes wishing death upon “thug n*****s”.
In other news, it’s lucky for a lot of people that I can’t seem to set fire to them with my mind, no matter how hard I try.
Ted & Hellen
@burnspbesq:
No nonsense non-Bot activity is usually seen as dickish around here.
I am ok with that. It is part of the burden I bear and parcel of my agreement with Cole.
Ted & Hellen
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Ah, but how do WE know you have the life experience you claim unless you unmask yourself by providing evidence of your RL identity in the form of a FB page or such?
Lots of freaks onlines pretend to be people they’re not. It’s called “Catfishing.”
In your case it would be called Fatfishing.
You’re welcome.
Ted & Hellen
@According2Robyn:
If not so, then why do you subject yourself to it?
You won’t admit there’s a form of pleasure for you in it?
Shakezula
When you’re done with abandoned amusement parks, check out the aircraft grave yards.
Cassidy
@burnspbesq: You must have missed it talking about mmenosyne’s yeasty ladyparts.
burnspbesq
@Ted & Hellen:
“No-nonsense non-Bot activity” is entirely unobjectionable.
It’s your peculiar way of going about it that makes you a dick.
Your comments are entirely substance-free, and show no sign of any rational thought, other than the low-level cleverness required to continually reach new lows in disgusting personal insult.
You’re a waste of bandwidth. Nothing more.
shortstop
@Yatsuno: But despite all that “changing over the years,” she’s been using that word quite recently, hasn’t she? Isn’t that what her former employee is saying?
burnspbesq
@Cassidy:
Yes, I did.
Damn. That must have been enlightening.
Cassidy
@TaMara (BHF): On non-lift days, I usually do long cardio, but I’m getting bored, so really I’m looking for about an hour every other day.
Cassidy
@burnspbesq: Nothing surprising. It’s whole schtick is to try and be as offensive as possible. At this point, it’s cry for attention is so great that I’m surpised it hasn’t started posting videos of it sexually abusing animals. Sad and pathetic. it’s lashing out at anyone and everyone just hoping for engagement.
catclub
@Cassidy: “but not $800+ tired.” I vote for getting out on the road, unless you are in a swamp or Saudi Arabia. There are benefits to getting out.
TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: So about 13-15 miles on flat trails would give you that at a pretty good clip.
My thought is I’m using it as training, not trying to race, so I’m not as worried about weight of the bike. My tires are meant to go on both road and dirt (as the trails around here are both). It’s definitely heavier than a racing bike, but then I figure I get a better workout for my hour. ;-) Heavier means cheaper bike…the lighter and faster you get, the more expensive it gets.
My uncle rides less often than I do, but he rides much longer distances – usually a 30 to 60 mile ride a couple of times a week. So he went with a much lighter and more expensive bike. We probably ride the same number of miles a year, just in a different configuration, so different types of bikes.
I am not a kook
@Ted & Hellen:
Uh huh. Cole got 15% off of a velvet Elvis painting?
Halp, I’ve been trolled.
Cassidy
@TaMara (BHF): That makes sense. That’s what I’m looking for: the workout. I’m not trying to race. If only we had hills in florida.
Yatsuno
@I am not a kook: JC might be paying Special Timmeh to generate page clicks and comments, but if so he risks alienating some of his viewers. I don’t believe for a second that’s true. In fact I think 90% of what Timmeh says is bullshit.
And no mas comidas.
Cassidy
@Randy P: Speaking of old SNL:
“Well, you know my name is
SimonTimmeh and I like to do drawerings.”TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: I highly recommend Mapmyride.com for tracking your rides. It’s a good GPS app, easy to use, pretty accurate – speed, distance, elevation, calories burned. Tallies it up and sends you an email each week congratulating you on your miles.
raven
@Yatsuno: It’s a bluff.
Cassidy
@TaMara (BHF): Does Zombies! Run! work with riding? I would think it does as it goes by GPS and you have to pick up speed on the chase intervals.
raven
@Cassidy: I wish I could gps my swims!
Keith
@Yatsuno: I just don’t get how TPM is now suddenly covering celebrity chefs. It’s bad enough when he has to FP Apple stories, but at least I know the guy’s an Apple fanatic. Where did the Paula Deen attention come from?
Amir Khalid
@Yatsuno:
Only 90%? That’s being generous.
TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: Wait I have to stop laughing…what the hell. So it yells at you that Zombies are chasing you to keep you moving? Love it.
If it’s like Mapmyride, you can choose what your workout is. I can change from cycling to hiking to walking the dog…my guess is yes, there’s probably a place to pick your style of workout.
ETA: I should clarify, too, since there are a lot of cyclists on BJ who could give you advice, I ride about 12 miles 5-6 times a week in about 50 minutes…I average about 13mph, it’s pretty flat with a gentle elevation. My biggest hurdle most days is wind…seriously I can hit 15mph winds on many a ride with huge gusts, just to add to the fun. I’m a pretty middle of the road (so to speak) cyclist.
Cassidy
@TaMara (BHF): Lol, Actually, it’s really cool. It’s a story done in small episodes, 30-60 minutes, telling the stroy of a zombie outbreak. So, every time you run, you’re a “runner” out hunting for supplies or sent on a mission. As you’re running, it’ll start telling you that a pack is behind you and you have to sprint to get away from them. If you’re caught, you lose some of the supplies you found. It’s actually pretty cool. The story progresses as your run and you can do generic supply runs to spread out the missions. In between, you do some base building and assign the supplies to parts of your camp. My only complaint is that it doesn’t integrate with any music service. I don’t keep music on my phone, just podcasts, so I have to load a playlist before I run.
Seanly
@Cassidy:
Don’t say anything about not being able to edit in a Soonergrunt post! He’ll mock you.
Keith
@Keith: Good grief, TPM replaced the headline with something about the governor of Michigan, but apparently Paula Deen apologizing was enough to vault her back to the top spot again. That site is getting ever closer to having its bookmark erased from my browser. Too much damn fluff.
Forum Transmitted Disease
@Ted & Hellen: You gotta be one-handing it while reading and daydreaming about the 8-month boner story. I applaud your abilities. Of course, you’re quite old, so you probably aren’t doing it that much, or for that long.
TaMara (BHF)
@Cassidy: My rides offer their own challenges – I told this story the other night on FB:
Photos of the culprits here.
piratedan
@TaMara (BHF): second that, my muchbetterhalf uses it quite a bit
Mnemosyne
@Cassidy:
In addition to what TaMara said, you may be able to pick up a good used bike for much less than $800. Bikes go fast on Craigslist (and quite a few are stolen merchandise), but there may be a used bike dealer in your town, or your LBS (local bike shop) make take trade-ins and sell them.
G bought a cheapo Schwinn bike at Target and it’s been adequate to get him into the basics. He does pretty long rides on it — 20 or 30 miles at a time. The only downside so far is that the cheap bike comes with cheap tires, so he keeps getting flats.
Mnemosyne
@burnspbesq:
I think I missed any talk about my yeasty ladyparts. For a purportedly gay man, Timmy certainly seems obsessed with them.
burnspbesq
USA 1-4 Spain. Not a real surprise.
Soonergrunt
@Seanly: No I won’t mock you. I won’t make fun of you. I promise. I will, however try to determine whether or not your
impotenceinability is because of something on your end or on the server side.See, no mocking at all.
Randy P
@TaMara (BHF): It’s goose chick season around here. The geese could have decided to chase YOU off the path.
My employer is in the middle of a non-lethal war with geese right now. People tolerated the poop all over the sidewalk till nesting season but then, man! Those little babies can poop! There was no sidewalk left to walk on.
The dog silhouettes scared the flock off for a couple of weeks, but apparently they’ve figured out those dogs never move and they’re back.
A Humble Lurker
@Ted & Hellen:
You consider yourself no-nonsense? Really? There are a lot of things you can probably consider yourself, but no-nonsense ain’t one of them.