Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

The words do not have to be perfect.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Books are my comfort food!

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

When I was faster i was always behind.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

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

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

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

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Everybody saw this coming.

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Open Thread: Thursday Night Menu Edition

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Take it away, Bad Horse’s Filly:

Tonight’s menu is really in anticipation of fresh summer produce. We are not quite there yet, but you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the ingredients. While I lived in suburbia, there was a great farm stand a mile or so from my house. I passed it coming and going from work and errands. It was perfect for when I wanted something fresh for dinner that night. Farmers’ Markets are great, but nothing beats a farm stand you can shop at any day. I had in the back of my mind that since I moved, I needed to scout out a new one, but hadn’t given it a lot of thought or effort. And then came the lost wallet.
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One of the guys I work with found a wallet, stuffed with cash, cards…you know basically someone’s entire financial life. A bit of investigation and he tracked her down. Come to find out she lives a few miles from me, so I was the logical person to return the wallet. I knew from the address it was going to be a beautiful location, and it was, farmland on the river with a breathtaking mountain view. Very nice family and even better, they operate a farm stand with organic produce. Kismet. You never know how you’ll find what you’re looking for.
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And I must give a shout out to our wallet owner. Very kind, very appreciative, she handed me a wad of cash to give to my guy and then handed me a grocery card. I tried to refuse, because I really believed we were just doing the right thing. But she was a feisty 95lb woman in her 80’s that would brook no refusal and while I could have probably arm-wrestled her to the ground, it didn’t seem appropriate. I think I’m going to enjoy shopping their farm stand this summer.
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On the board tonight:

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1. Creamy Chicken & Pasta
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2. Fresh Garden Medley
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3. Sliced Melon

Recipes and shopping list, as ever, at the link.

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Interesting Case

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First I have heard of this:

A case testing the meaning of the so-called “innocent infringer’s” defense to the Copyright Act’s minimum $750-per-music-track fine has landed at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case the justices were asked to review Wednesday concerns a federal appeals court’s February decision ordering a university student to pay the Recording Industry Association of America $27,750 ($750 a track) for file sharing 37 songs when she was a high school cheerleader. That decision reversed a Texas federal judge who had ordered defendant Whitney Harper to pay $7,400 ($200 per song).

The lower court, without a trial, had granted her the innocent infringer’s exemption to the Copyright Act’s minimum fine, because the teen claimed she didn’t know she was violating copyrights. She said she thought file sharing was akin to internet radio streaming.

The appeals court, however, said she was not eligible for such a defense, even though she was between 14 and 16 years old when the infringing activity occurred on LimeWire. The reason, the court concluded, is that the Copyright Act precludes such a defense if the legitimate CDs of the music in question carry copyright notices.

“Harper cannot rely on her purported legal naivety,” the New Orleans–based appeals court ruled, 3-0.

Does anyone know more about this?

And in general, has the “I didn’t know it was illegal” defense ever worked in any case? I imagine it might be the kind of thing that would cause prosecutors to go for a lesser charge or for the court to apply leniency in sentencing, but has it ever been successfully used as a defense. Sorry if this is common knowledge among lawyers, but I just don’t know.

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Assaults on census workers

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There are a lot of census workers out there, so I don’t now how bad a number this is (via):

More than 113 census takers have been the victims of assaults or attacks this month, the U.S. Census Bureau said late Wednesday.

In response to inquiries by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Census Director Robert Groves said the bureau’s temporary workers knocking on doors to collect information have faced 29 threats involving a gun, four robberies and three instances of being held against their will or carjacked.

But given that crime is down nationwide since 2000, this is striking:

Bureau officials said the overall pattern and types of incidents are similar to the 2000 census, but cautioned this year’s figures are already much higher than ten years ago and include a mix of news accounts and formal reports to the bureau’s safety office.

What I do know is that this some of these attacks were perpetrated by liberal plants and those that weren’t were the natural consequence of a government that acts against the will of its citizens.

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Ipad, magazine articles, etc.

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I picked up an iPad yesterday and I have to say it is really great for reading long magazine articles.

Although I think the conclusions he draws are fundamentally wrong, this TNR piece on trials for political leaders was fantastic overall. I often find with pieces like this that, while the historical analysis is thorough and even brilliant, the “lessons” for today are almost invariably heavy-handed and simplistic. Still, very much worth a read.

Update. I forgot to mention that this is an open thread.

Update. Michael Walzer, who wrote the TNR piece I linked to, certainly wrote some batshit crazy “lefties are fifth columnists” type stuff after 9/11. It’s amazing how little that kind of idiocy affects anyone’s reputation.

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Open Thread

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Sadly, one mojito turned into two, and then things went south. Fortunately, I lived to tell the tale, and what a sad tale it was- the diviest of dive bars and lots of bad judgment were involved.

I’ve fed Tunch, and I’ve walked Lily, and I hope to FSM they let me sleep in until at least 8 am tomorrow.

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Wednesday Night Open Thread

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Somehow or another I really tweaked my shoulder today, so to ease the physical pain and the mental anguish I just created reading the stupidity at memeorandum, I’m drinking a mojito the size of Tunch. I do have to say that at memeorandum, I found myself in complete agreement with Greg Sargent– it is time for Sestak to shit or get off the pot in regards to the job offer controversy he created.

In other news, I picked up a “pineapple tomato” plant that I found intriguing and will add it to the garden, as well as a beautiful geranium that had not yet bloomed, which I think I will just put on Tunch’s ledge with the jade plant and the bird’s nest fern.

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