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1 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:14:30pm

Repost from previous thread:

2 Cap'n Magic  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:15:01pm

Gaah. These kind of statements makes me wish that some huge fscking asteroid comes and wipes us all out, and we'd be powerless to stop it.

3 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:15:54pm

He should go visit the girls and tell them and their families this in person.

4 Dancing along the light of day  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:16:36pm

re: #3 Obdicut

Or they should go visit him!

5 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:17:27pm

Does the bilious prat care to define worthy?

What a dick.

6 jaunte  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:17:54pm

What sort of justify-your-life cult does Taranto belong to?

7 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:18:08pm

Because really, while you're grieving your loved one, that's what you want to hear somebody say, "I hope you were worth it."

What a disgusting human being.

8 dragonath  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:19:37pm

Wow, and he's trying to defend his tweet.

re: #6 jaunte

The Wall Street Journal.

9 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:19:54pm

This kind of excrement is why I don't bother with twitter. I have a better life without it.

10 Gus  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:21:49pm

re: #6 jaunte

What sort of justify-your-life cult does Taranto belong to?

Image: 20050719-james-taranto-with-flag.jpg

11 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:23:08pm

WTF is he saying?

It's like he is asking if the guys got to have enough sex with the girl to warrant such a sacrifice.

As if a female human life isn't worth it otherwise.

12 SanFranciscoZionist  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:23:52pm

Really, an innocent person sitting in a movie theater when a man who thinks he's the Joker opens fire can't win, can they?

First, we're going to criticize you for not shooting him.

Then we're going to suggest that you might not have been worth your boyfriend saving your life.

Of course, if you are a boyfriend, and you fail in the throwing-yourself-in-front-of-a-bullet department, we'll say that you and your lack of masculinity are what's wrong with America today.

These folks have been through an awful trauma. Could the Twitterati maybe leave them the hell alone?

13 The Ghost of a Flea  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:24:13pm

Why do I suspect that "they were loved, therefore it was worth it" won't resonate with Mr. Taranto?

14 jaunte  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:24:47pm

re: #10 Gus

He could be a lasagna worshipper.

15 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:25:06pm

It's like the Captain's last words in Saving Private Ryan, only dickish...

16 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:25:09pm

re: #13 The Ghost of a Flea

Why do I suspect that "they were loved, therefore it was worth it" won't resonate with Mr. Taranto?

or even more basic --they were "creatures of of G-d" as my Dear Ole' Dad used to say.

Just being human isn't enough, I guess for this asswipe.

17 SanFranciscoZionist  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:27:25pm

re: #11 ggt

WTF is he saying?

It's like he is asking if the guys got to have enough sex with the girl to warrant such a sacrifice.

As if a female human life isn't worth it otherwise.

I'm actually not familiar enough with this guy to know if he thinks the girl is worth more or less if she does or doesn't put out.

I do know that one nineteen-year-old boy got shot in the leg helping a woman with two children who he had never met before he saw her struggling to save her family in that theater.

He didn't stop to think "I haven't had sex with her,", or "Kids! She's had sex with someone else, the dirty hoor!" He just saw a woman with kids trying to get away from a killer, and he went to her aid.

To quote the movie "Dogma", Mr. Taranto, that's why he's the King, and you're a schmuck.

18 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:27:37pm

re: #16 ggt

or even more basic --they were "creatures of of G-d" as my Dear Ole' Dad used to say.

Just being human isn't enough, I guess for this asswipe.

They were women, so unless they were saving themselves for marriage, dressed modestly, and subservient to their men, the guys should've just saved themselves.

19 Daniel Ballard  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:27:38pm

Spoken like a man that Can... Not... Get A Date

20 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:28:05pm

re: #8 Fred Galt

Wow, and he's trying to defend his tweet.

I think that what he is trying to get people to believe is that he meant said ladies should prove themselves worthy in the sense of a dying Capt. Miller telling Pvt. Ryan "Earn this." in Saving Private Ryan. I don't buy it; He believed the line far too flippantly to have meant it on that deem a level. He wasn't trying to be profound, he was just being an ass.

21 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:28:18pm

re: #12 SanFranciscoZionist

Really, an innocent person sitting in a movie theater when a man who thinks he's the Joker opens fire can't win, can they?

First, we're going to criticize you for not shooting him.

Then we're going to suggest that you might not have been worth your boyfriend saving your life.

Of course, if you are a boyfriend, and you fail in the throwing-yourself-in-front-of-a-bullet department, we'll say that you and your lack of masculinity are what's wrong with America today.

These folks have been through an awful trauma. Could the Twitterati maybe leave them the hell alone?

And, of course, the theater managers/owners get accused of being a bunch of liberals for barring patrons from carrying concealed in the theater, because of some fantasy about John Rambo standing up and shooting and killing the gunman with the first shot.

22 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:28:57pm

re: #15 Mocking Jay

It's like the Captain's last words in Saving Private Ryan, only dickish...

re: #20 Dark_Falcon

I think that what he is trying to get people to believe is that he meant said ladies should prove themselves worthy in the sense of a dying Capt. Miller telling Pvt. Ryan "Earn this." in Saving Private Ryan. I don't buy it; He believed the line far too flippantly to have meant it on that deem a level. He wasn't trying to be profound, he was just being an ass.

GMTA

23 jaunte  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:29:16pm

re: #20 Dark_Falcon

Even in that sense, if Taranto wsn't the one making the sacrifice and asking the person he saved to live a good life, it's being hugely dickish.

24 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:31:05pm

re: #20 Dark_Falcon

I think that what he is trying to get people to believe is that he meant said ladies should prove themselves worthy in the sense of a dying Capt. Miller telling Pvt. Ryan "Earn this." in Saving Private Ryan. I don't buy it; He believed the line far too flippantly to have meant it on that deem a level. He wasn't trying to be profound, he was just being an ass.

To be fair, earlier in the film, Miller also says:

"This Ryan better be worth it. He'd better go home and cure some disease or invent a longer-lasting lightbulb or something. 'Cause the truth is, I wouldn't trade 10 Ryans for one Vecchio or one Caparzo."

25 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:31:17pm

I wasn't there, so I don't make comments.

I can't imagine what it was like, I have NO frame of reference.

I can't, for the life of me, think why anyone would attempt to pass judgement on the victims for their actions.

26 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:31:49pm

Your boyfriend died because you touch yourself.

27 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:32:24pm

Personal choice: I would never find Taranto worthy.

28 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:33:13pm

what incredibly poor taste

29 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:34:30pm

re: #28 engineer cat

what incredibly poor taste

Honestly, it's beyond poor taste. Poor taste is Hustler Magazine.

I don't know the vocabulary word for this.

30 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:35:33pm

re: #29 ggt

Honestly, it's beyond poor taste. Poor taste is Hustler Magazine.

I don't know the vocabulary word for this.

Odious.

31 Digital Display  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:35:53pm

Here is what Taranto is missing with his clumsy stupid post and world view.
For instance..The main plot line from Saving Private Ryan was when Ryan was saved he vowed to live his life to it's fullest and make the sacrifice of an other life mean something. It is Man's greatest achievement and lofty spiritual goal. 'There is no greater love than giving your life for another..'
This is why when I was leaving the Theater there were so many older people weeping in their seats.. This is who we are James T. You bring ugliness to new levels with such a stupid post

32 R.M, Ramallo  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:36:22pm

The battle to stay relevant has made people uncompromisingly stupid.

Am I the only one who gets a peeping tom vibe from this guy?

33 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:36:30pm

re: #30 Kragar

Odious.

What a great word!

Makes him sound like he has open, festering boils.

34 The Ghost of a Flea  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:38:19pm

re: #30 Kragar

Odious.

Odious Fucknuttery.

And Douchebagging.

35 Charles Johnson  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:38:42pm

Mountain Lion. Tomorrow.

Don't bother me. I'm updating the OS.

36 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:38:42pm

The whole point of Saving Private Ryan is that they died needlessly in the hopeless defense of a stupid bridge they were going to blow up anyway. They should have retreated to the other side, blown it up, dropped their pants and shown the Germans their asses.

37 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:39:17pm
38 Digital Display  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:40:06pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

The whole point of Saving Private Ryan is that they died needlessly in the hopeless defense of a stupid bridge they were going to blow up anyway. They should have retreated to the other side, blown it up, dropped their pants and shown the Germans their asses.

Hamburger Hill..
Vietnam..'nuff said brother

39 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:40:28pm

re: #34 The Ghost of a Flea

Odious Fucknuttery.

And Douchebagging.

I'm just going to follow you around with a pencil and paper.

40 Cap'n Magic  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:40:38pm

@jamestaranto is an example of what happens when you lose all sense of honor and morality-like the GOP and other conservatives he fellates.

41 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:40:59pm

re: #37 Kragar

Fuck it, I'm going bowling to bed.

42 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:41:21pm

re: #37 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Well, since America is a collective term meaning HUMAN BEINGs --AND human beings have intrinsic value . . . . .

43 Gretchen G.Tiger  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:42:10pm

I'm going to go make some t-shirts. . . .

bbl

44 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:43:25pm

Stop criticizing this man now! And leave poor Mitt Romney and his surrogates alone. Politics ain't beanbag, so that means racism, xenophobia, sexism, etc. are all legitimate and on the table.

Go Team Reactionary.

45 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:43:29pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

The whole point of Saving Private Ryan is that they died needlessly in the hopeless defense of a stupid bridge they were going to blow up anyway. They should have retreated to the other side, blown it up, dropped their pants and shown the Germans their asses.

That "stupid bridge" was like a lot of them, namely the difference between crossing that point in the river or diverting men and material hours or days away to the next closest bridge.

46 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:43:46pm

re: #37 Kragar

[Embedded content]

I just saw that. I was thinking he was just being a douche to get attention. A Playboy model made some horrifying "joke" the other day (?) and I thought the same thing.

Until I read that about the soldiers. All I can say, he has just about the same understanding about women as he does about these United States. Not a whole lot.

47 blueraven  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:44:11pm

re: #37 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Seriously?

Lets see here. We send soldiers off to a war. These days they are all volunteers...in other words, eyes wide open to the danger they face. They sacrifice for the rest of us.

Now on the other hand, enter a theater and crazed gunman starts firing.

Seriously?

48 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:44:22pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

The whole point of Saving Private Ryan is that they died needlessly in the hopeless defense of a stupid bridge they were going to blow up anyway. They should have retreated to the other side, blown it up, dropped their pants and shown the Germans their asses.

Orders were to hold bridges if at all possible to aid in the advance. Maybe the orders did not make sense in this case, but Spielberg was right to show his characters following standing orders.

"Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the Six Hundred."

49 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:46:23pm

re: #46 What, me worry?

I just saw that. I was thinking he was just being a douche to get attention. A Playboy model made some horrifying "joke" the other day (?) and I thought the same thing.

Until I read that about the soldiers. All I can say, he has just about the same understanding about women as he does about these United States. Not a whole lot.

This one?

Deadmau5 blasts Playboy model over callous tweet about Colorado shooting; model defends ‘joke’

Playboy model Tricia Evans is catching heat over a recent tweet about last week’s movie theater bloodbath in Aurora, Colo.

“I hear the new Batman movie is really ‘to die for’! Too soon?” the blond bombshell wrote on Twitter Friday, the same day 12 people were killed in a shooting at a midnight showing of “Dark Knight Rises.”

For many followers, it was indeed “too soon.”

Electronic dance music artist Deadmau5 is among those who balked at Evan’s insensitive comment.

“I seriously had no idea how big of a piece of s--- you are. unfollowed,” he replied on Twitter.

50 Digital Display  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:46:24pm

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Sorry..I have only one ding to give you..Beautiful reference to wars

51 The Ghost of a Flea  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:46:58pm
I hope America is worthy of the sacrifice of the soldiers who die defending it. Does anybody think that's in bad taste?

— James Taranto (@jamestaranto) July 25, 2012

Since that statement implicitly requires the US to live up to your standard of worthiness...yes, Mr. Taranto, it's in bad fucking taste.

52 SanFranciscoZionist  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:47:20pm

re: #37 Kragar

[Embedded content]

It's a different thing to say "I hope that we will be worthy", than it is to say "I sure hope those girls were worthy."

If you can't see the difference, tough.

Those boys didn't go in harm's way so that you could fret aloud about whether their girlfriends were good enough for them.

53 SanFranciscoZionist  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:48:19pm

re: #47 blueraven

Seriously?

Lets see here. We send soldiers off to a war. These days they are all volunteers...in other words, eyes wide open to the danger they face. They sacrifice for the rest of us.

Now on the other hand, enter a theater and crazed gunman starts firing.

Seriously?

That's the other thing. We send soldiers to face danger. We had damn well better be worth it.

Those young women did not tell Holmes to go on a killing spree.

54 SteveMcG  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:49:05pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

The whole point of Saving Private Ryan is that they died needlessly in the hopeless defense of a stupid bridge they were going to blow up anyway. They should have retreated to the other side, blown it up, dropped their pants and shown the Germans their asses.

Not quite. You don't just abandon a bridgehead. Otherwise somebody else is going to get killed recrossing that river you just gave up. Blowing that bridge is a last resort. Even the Germans waited as long as possible to blow bridges, and they were retreating.

55 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:51:04pm
56 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:51:31pm

re: #54 SteveMcG

Not quite. You don't just abandon a bridgehead. Otherwise somebody else is going to get killed recrossing that river you just gave up. Blowing that bridge is a last resort. Even the Germans waited as long as possible to blow bridges, and they were retreating.

They blew the bridges as a last resort, even towards the end. It might slow the oncoming enemy, but it also meant that those bridges would have to be rebuilt or a new crossing found should they go back on the attack or simply for convenience in the post-war era.

57 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:52:38pm

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Orders were to hold bridges if at all possible to aid in the advance. Maybe the orders did not make sense in this case, but Spielberg was right to show his characters following standing orders.

"Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the Six Hundred."

Yes, that mentality worked so well in northern France in World War I. And at Gallipoli and elsewhere.

Honor the men who died, needless or not. But don't honor the moronic decisions made by the people who sent them to their death; people who couldn't think of anything else to do but continue to supply a steady stream of machine gun fodder.

58 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:54:30pm

How come I get the nagging feeling that Mr. Taranto would have been the fellow leaping over seats, knocking over grannies and kids to get to the exit?

59 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:55:18pm

re: #45 Targetpractice

That "stupid bridge" was like a lot of them, namely the difference between crossing that point in the river or diverting men and material hours or days away to the next closest bridge.

As an audience member this falls into the category of not my fucking problem. If you're going to dick over the protagonist at the very end of the film that's fine, but do it classy and out of the blue like Das Boot.

Twenty minutes of grinding carnage, watching the good guys get decimated piecemeal, having the released nazi soldier come back to intimately, almost sexually kill the Jewish GI slowly with a knife, and then everybody die when the bridge was wired from the get go was a giant donkey punch to the viewer. If they were buying time for the engineers to set up the detonation charges then the defense might have made sense, but the charges were already set and it was pretty clear from the very beginning of the engagement that they were hopelessly outnumbered and overmatched.

60 Cap'n Magic  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:55:24pm

re: #58 What, me worry?

Bingo.

61 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:56:10pm

re: #51 The Ghost of a Flea

Since that statement implicitly requires the US to live up to your standard of worthiness...yes, Mr. Taranto, it's in bad fucking taste.

I think the statement is offensive on its face, whether this douchebag (or some other) was the one who tweeted it. It suggests that America may not be worthy of an armed forces willing to lay down their lives. Does that sound like a pro-American thing to say? To even consider that America's citizenry and economic interests aren't worth protecting seems, well, kinda un-American.

62 Digital Display  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:56:22pm

re: #53 SanFranciscoZionist

Hi You! I'll be spending the weekend in the City..I'm pretty jacked to see my friend again and be back in Cali..I got a list going...
1. Tommy's Joint
2. Hamburger Marys for a bluebird burger
3. a Nation's Apple Pie
4. Some artsy fartsy street fair that I know for a fact that Dianne is going to make me go to.. :)
hope you are well

63 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:56:33pm

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Orders were to hold bridges if at all possible to aid in the advance. Maybe the orders did not make sense in this case, but Spielberg was right to show his characters following standing orders.

"Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the Six Hundred."

"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre. C'est de la folie" I prefer to quote the whole thing and it's what I'm reminded of here. Almost all of war is folie. Sometimes necessary folie, but folie nonetheless as the young men die. But that's the NCO in me coming through...

64 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:56:44pm

re: #58 What, me worry?

How come I get the nagging feeling that Mr. Taranto would have been the fellow leaping over seats, knocking over grannies and kids to get to the exit?

Remember Greg Stillson at the end of "The Dead Zone"?

65 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:58:13pm

re: #64 Kragar

Remember Greg Stillson at the end of "The Dead Zone"?

Refresh my memory. I had George Castanza in mind, but then it was just funny.

66 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:58:20pm

re: #64 Kragar

Remember Greg Stillson at the end of "The Dead Zone"?

Always thought that one was one of King's better works.

67 Shiplord Kirel  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:58:33pm

Taranto has never read Joseph Campbell or he wasn't paying attention when he did. He knows nothing about the mythos of the sacrificial hero. The question is not whether the beneficiary is worthy of the sacrifice, in the sense of having a value equal to or greater than that of the sacrificed hero. It is whether the hero is worthy of making the sacrifice. That is, does he pass the test by being both willing and able to make the sacrifice?

68 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:58:42pm

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Orders were to hold bridges if at all possible to aid in the advance. Maybe the orders did not make sense in this case, but Spielberg was right to show his characters following standing orders.

"Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the Six Hundred."

In a foreign field, he lay
Lonely soldier, unknown grave
On his dying words, he prays
Tell the world of Paschendale

69 freetoken  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:59:28pm

Swaine is sticking to his guns:

70 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:59:38pm

re: #65 What, me worry?

Refresh my memory. I had George Castanza in mind, but then it was just funny.

Martin Sheen plays Stillson

71 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 8:59:39pm

re: #68 Kragar

Suddenly...

72 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:00:19pm

re: #57 palomino

Yes, that mentality worked so well in northern France in World War I. And at Gallipoli and elsewhere.

Honor the men who died, needless or not. But don't honor the moronic decisions made by the people who sent them to their death; people who couldn't think of anything else to do but continue to supply a steady stream of machine gun fodder.

I know, palomino, I know. I was just saying that Steven Spielberg was right to show the characters following what the orders they historically would have been under. I was not praising the wisdom of those orders.

73 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:00:46pm

I mean, we can't all be heroes (and, you know, we won't), but I don't think that's something anyone would wish to gloat over. SFZ said the same upthread.

74 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:00:52pm

re: #59 goddamnedfrank

As an audience member this falls into the category of not my fucking problem. If you're going to dick over the protagonist at the very end of the film that's fine, but do it classy and out of the blue like Das Boot.

Twenty minutes of grinding carnage, watching the good guys get decimated piecemeal, having the released nazi soldier come back to intimately, almost sexually kill the Jewish GI slowly with a knife, and then everybody die when the bridge was wired from the get go was a giant donkey punch to the viewer. If they were buying time for the engineers to set up the detonation charges then the defense might have made sense, but the charges were already set and it was pretty clear from the very beginning of the engagement that they were hopelessly outnumbered and overmatched.

Believe it or not, that's pretty much what the real Major Winters (of Band of Brothers fame) said he'd have done, namely blow the bridge and let engineers replace it. Spielberg's response was classic Hollywood, namely that that wouldn't have made for a dramatic movie.

75 SanFranciscoZionist  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:00:54pm

re: #62 Digital Display

Hi You! I'll be spending the weekend in the City..I'm pretty jacked to see my friend again and be back in Cali..I got a list going...
1. Tommy's Joint
2. Hamburger Marys for a bluebird burger
3. a Nation's Apple Pie
4. Some artsy fartsy street fair that I know for a fact that Dianne is going to make me go to.. :)
hope you are well

:)

76 What, me worry?  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:01:44pm

re: #70 Kragar

Martin Sheen plays Stillson

[Embedded content]

Oh yes, great scene!

77 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:02:34pm

re: #74 Targetpractice

Believe it or not, that's pretty much what the real Major Winters (of Band of Brothers fame) he'd have done, namely blow the bridge and let engineers replace it. Spielberg's response was classic Hollywood, namely that that wouldn't have made for a dramatic movie.

Yeah, at some point you have to decide not to throw lives away.

78 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:02:57pm

re: #68 Kragar

In a foreign field, he lay
Lonely soldier, unknown grave
On his dying words, he prays
Tell the world of Paschendale

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

79 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:04:14pm

re: #77 Mocking Jay

Yeah, at some point you have to decide not to throw lives away.

That's what got Montgomery so much flak with Market Garden, that there were too few men trying to take and hold too many objectives.

80 engineer cat  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:04:20pm

re: #62 Digital Display

hey! i finally found a picture of tommy's joynt before the late 60s era paint job:

[Link: www.flickr.com...]

81 aagcobb  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:05:08pm

re: #59 goddamnedfrank

As an audience member this falls into the category of not my fucking problem. If you're going to dick over the protagonist at the very end of the film that's fine, but do it classy and out of the blue like Das Boot.

Twenty minutes of grinding carnage, watching the good guys get decimated piecemeal, having the released nazi soldier come back to intimately, almost sexually kill the Jewish GI slowly with a knife, and then everybody die when the bridge was wired from the get go was a giant donkey punch to the viewer. If they were buying time for the engineers to set up the detonation charges then the defense might have made sense, but the charges were already set and it was pretty clear from the very beginning of the engagement that they were hopelessly outnumbered and overmatched.

But the opening of the movie of the Normandy Invasion is, I think, the greatest war scene ever filmed.

82 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:06:22pm

re: #81 aagcobb

But the opening of the movie of the Normandy Invasion is, I think, the greatest war scene ever filmed.

I think the initial scene of Enemy at the Gates rivals it-- the river-crossing and advance.

83 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:06:53pm

re: #81 aagcobb

But the opening of the movie of the Normandy Invasion is, I think, the greatest war scene ever filmed.

The final charge from the Light Horsmen is really good.

84 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:07:17pm

re: #82 Obdicut

I think the initial scene of Enemy at the Gates rivals it-- the river-crossing and advance.

Yeah, that was good.

85 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:07:39pm

re: #81 aagcobb

But the opening of the movie of the Normandy Invasion is, I think, the greatest war scene ever filmed.

Oh yeah, the cinematography, editing and battle choreography is fantastic there. The ending however is like watching E.T. end up on the autopsy table.

86 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:08:53pm

re: #85 goddamnedfrank

The ending however is like watching E.T. end up on the autopsy table.

Thanks for making my childhood memories scream, Frank.

87 BryanS  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:09:24pm

re: #85 goddamnedfrank

Oh yeah, the cinematography, editing and battle choreography is fantastic there. The ending however is like watching E.T. end up on the autopsy table.

Agreed on all counts. That was also probably the point, though. War sucks.

88 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:10:03pm

re: #86 Obdicut

Thanks for making my childhood memories scream, Frank.

Huh. And here I am thinking he might be on to something.

89 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:12:22pm

Did anyone else read that book about ET when he goes home to his home planet and... does some stuff?

I liked it, as a kid.

90 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:13:37pm

[Link: www.amazon.com...]

It's got this whole subplot about Eliot getting a crush on a girl.

91 BryanS  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:13:50pm

re: #89 Obdicut

Did anyone else read that book about ET when he goes home to his home planet and... does some stuff?

I liked it, as a kid.

I was more into the ET video game on my Atari 2600 :) It was such a bad game, but hey, it was ET.

92 prairiefire  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:14:35pm

re: #89 Obdicut

re: #91 BryanS

I've got a couple of action figures.

93 Digital Display  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:14:50pm

re: #80 engineer cat

hey! i finally found a picture of tommy's joynt before the late 60s era paint job:

[Link: www.flickr.com...]

One day a bunch of us guys went to Tommys and they had beer stocked from every country in the world.. Our Goal was to drink ourselves around the world.. Of course we didn't get close..But it sure was fun.. Those were fun days going to the City.. We used to play Pool at a small little hole in the wall called the Black Magic..Great times

94 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:18:02pm

The fuk?

More reports emerge of potential plans for a third 'Hobbit' film from Peter Jackson

I loved LotR as much as I could. Can't wait for the Hobbit. But is this really necessary?

95 jaunte  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:19:00pm

re: #94 Mocking Jay

It's hard to let go of The Precious.

96 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:21:08pm

re: #94 Mocking Jay

The fuk?

More reports emerge of potential plans for a third 'Hobbit' film from Peter Jackson

I loved LotR as much as I could. Can't wait for the Hobbit. But is this really necessary?

What, did the studio ask Peter if he could pad it out into three movies?

97 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:21:15pm

And BP better not make a dime off of this....

Lionsgate and Participant Media Will Bring Us ‘Deepwater Horizon’

“The rig, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast, blew up and the explosion killed 11 workers and injured 16 others. The drama will focus on the courage of those who worked on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the final minutes up to the disaster, and the attempt of more than 100 others to stay alive.”

98 R.M, Ramallo  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:21:54pm

re: #94 Mocking Jay

Sounds like he's been talking to George Lucas.

99 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:22:43pm

re: #78 Obdicut

God yes, best war poem ever written.

100 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:22:46pm

re: #96 Targetpractice

What, did the studio ask Peter if he could pad it out into three movies?

They want to expand it using Tolkien's notes, including stuff he wrote later to make it mesh with the LOTR series.

101 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:23:17pm

re: #82 Obdicut

I think the initial scene of Enemy at the Gates rivals it-- the river-crossing and advance.

Epic scene and a truly frightening vision of what it would have looked like to be attacked by Stukas.

102 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:23:33pm

re: #98 OhNoZombies!

Sounds like he's been talking to George Lucas.

"2 words, Peter. Action. Figures. You with me?"

103 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:23:33pm

re: #100 Kragar

They want to expand it using Tolkien's notes, including stuff he wrote later to make it mesh with the LOTR series.

Well, I guess I could see that. But then I'm not a die-hard fan of the books, so I'm a poor judge on how they're gonna react.

104 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:23:47pm

re: #85 goddamnedfrank

Oh yeah, the cinematography, editing and battle choreography is fantastic there. The ending however is like watching E.T. end up on the autopsy table.

That's the problem with nearly every Speilberg movie after Jaws.

He has to find a way to tack on a corny "Hollywood ending" no matter what. He's still a very smart and gifted filmmaker, but if he didn't have that simplistic desire to always push audience's buttons with tearjerking endings, he could have been one of the all-time greats. (I know there are some exceptions to what I've said, but that's primarily because Speilberg has directed like 900 movies, so no rule will apply to all of them).

105 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:23:54pm

re: #98 OhNoZombies!

Sounds like he's been talking to George Lucas.

Eh. Jackson still has cred with me. I trust him. It's just mind-boggling to me that he thinks there's enough material for it and that it justifies dragging this story out.

106 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:26:09pm

Now I'm in the mood to watch The Frighteners again.

107 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:26:16pm

re: #105 Mocking Jay

Eh. Jackson still has cred with me. I trust him. It's just mind-boggling to me that he thinks there's enough material for it and that it justifies dragging this story out.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Hobbit wasn't all that epic, know what I mean?

108 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:26:50pm

re: #106 Kragar

Now I'm in the mood to watch The Frighteners again.

Totally had a crush on that woman when I first saw that film.

109 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:27:47pm

re: #83 Kragar

The final charge from the Light Horsmen is really good.

[Embedded content]

I love that this one was historical. Those troops always dismounted, fought as infantry & died like infantry as a result. That day at Beersheeba they changed the result by being cavalry instead. They caught that better in this film than movies usually do.

110 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:27:53pm

re: #106 Kragar

Now I'm in the mood to watch The Frighteners again.

God, haven't seen that movie in years.

111 Obdicut  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:27:54pm

re: #107 Mocking Jay

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Hobbit wasn't all that epic, know what I mean?

I support this only as long as he released three movies, called "The Ho", "Bb", and "It". (May have to fight with Stephen King for that one.)

112 R.M, Ramallo  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:34:50pm

re: #111 Obdicut

I refuse to watch anything called "The Ho".
Especially if it's about Shirefolk!
LOL

113 aagcobb  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:35:20pm

re: #111 Obdicut

I support this only as long as he released three movies, called "The Ho", "Bb", and "It". (May have to fight with Stephen King for that one.)

Financially, it makes all the sense in the world. Another movie, another billion dollar box office.

114 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:37:20pm
Well, it’s obvious that John McCain didn’t even read the letter because of what he said in accusing Michele and us of making these horrible accusations,” Gohmert told conservative radio host Dennis Miller on Tuesday.

“And I wish some of these numbnuts would go out and read the letter before they make these horrible allegations about the horrible accusations we’re making.”

115 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:37:23pm

re: #109 William Barnett-Lewis

I love that this one was historical. Those troops always dismounted, fought as infantry & died like infantry as a result. That day at Beersheeba they changed the result by being cavalry instead. They caught better than movies usually do.

Only thing they could do. Taking Beersheeba before the Turks were able to demolish its wells meant an emphasis on speed, not firepower.Attacking mounted was the only viable option.

116 prairiefire  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:38:09pm

re: #100 Kragar

From what I remember, I think those notes were mostly background color and did not expand the narrative. geek/

117 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:38:56pm

re: #114 goddamnedfrank

As he sometimes does, John McCain is making the right enemies.

118 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:43:05pm

re: #112 OhNoZombies!

I refuse to watch anything called "The Ho".
Especially if it's about Shirefolk!
LOL

Why did the Elf slap the Hobbit?

He kept saying how nice her hair smelled.

119 BryanS  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:44:32pm

re: #114 goddamnedfrank

Followed some of the links...so this idiot is upset McCain called him out over the ridiculous public accusation that a Clinton aid and spouse of former Congressman was a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood? McCain was right to call this a "specious and degrading attack".

120 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:44:52pm

re: #115 Dark_Falcon

Only thing they could do. Taking Beersheeba before the Turks were able to demolish its wells meant an emphasis on speed, not firepower.Attacking mounted was the only viable option.

DF, you and I have both probably studied nearly the same amount of military history. This was not an especially great field commander but that day he called it correctly and the troops were able to do what they needed to.

Still, the big irony is that the world might well have been better off if Britain had failed during WWI in the middle east... :eek:

121 andres  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:44:57pm

What. The. F**k??? First Romney's Adviser's "Anglo-Saxon Heritage" and now this?

There's out of bounds, and then there's this.

122 R.M, Ramallo  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:46:10pm

re: #118 Kragar

Ha!
Ewww. Mental picture...

123 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:47:32pm

re: #3 Obdicut

He should go visit the girls and tell them and their families this in person.

That'd mean that he'd have to stop playing armchair pundit, get off his ass and get it on a plane, and face these people in person.

He wouldn't do it, because Taranto is a prime example of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

Image: GIFT.jpg

124 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:48:31pm

re: #7 Targetpractice

Because really, while you're grieving your loved one, that's what you want to hear somebody say, "I hope you were worth it."

What a disgusting human being.

What a shithead.

125 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:51:03pm

re: #119 BryanS

Followed some of the links...so this idiot is upset McCain called him out over the ridiculous public accusation that a Clinton aid and spouse of former Congressman was a spy for the Muslim Brotherhood? McCain was right to call this a "specious and degrading attack".

In his speech McCain also called Frank Gaffney, the guy behind everything a long time friend of his, then edited that part out of the Senate record.

126 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:51:14pm

re: #114 goddamnedfrank

I take back the one nice thing I ever said about Rep. Gohmert.

Funny thing about Dennis Miller interviewing him--Miller, for 20 years, made a career out of viciously lampooning reactionary yokels like Gohmert and Bachmann. Now he defends them and kisses their asses.

Oh, well, gotta make a living. And Miller did make a witty observation, albeit a play on CSNY lyrics, on the Iraq War and why he supported it from the start: "If you can't be with the one you hate [bin Laden], then hate the one you're with [Saddam]." A perfect assessment of his own cynicism regarding the war.

127 goddamnedfrank  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:54:13pm

re: #125 goddamnedfrank

In his speech McCain also called Frank Gaffney, the guy behind everything a long time friend of his, then edited that part out of the Senate record.

Go 56 seconds into the video for the excised section:

128 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:56:43pm

re: #126 palomino

I take back the one nice thing I ever said about Rep. Gohmert.

Funny thing about Dennis Miller interviewing him--Miller, for 20 years, made a career out of viciously lampooning reactionary yokels like Gohmert and Bachmann. Now he defends them and kisses their asses.

Oh, well, gotta make a living. And Miller did make a witty observation, albeit a play on CSNY lyrics, on the Iraq War and why he supported it from the start: "If you can't be with the one you hate [bin Laden], then hate the one you're with [Saddam]." A perfect assessment of his own cynicism regarding the war.

It's about Bush, mostly. Dennis Miller refused to hate on George W. Bush the way a number of liberals he had on his HBO show did, especially Alfrie Woodard, whose claim that AG John Ashcroft represented "separatism" , a charge for which she offered no evidence. While 9/11 completed Miller's move to the right, he had been on his way there for months already..

129 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:56:45pm

re: #86 Obdicut

Thanks for making my childhood memories scream, Frank.

If there ever is a remake of E.T. in the future, that just might happen, if just for the abhorrent shock factor.

Hollywood has been skullfucking our childhood cinematic memories for at least the past 15-20 years, because most of the studio heads, producers, directors, and screenwriters are unoriginal bastards.

130 R.M, Ramallo  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 9:56:49pm

Have a good night all.

131 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:00:36pm

re: #129 TedStriker

If there ever is a remake of E.T. in the future, that just might happen, if just for the abhorrent shock factor.

Hollywood has been skullfucking our childhood cinematic memories for at least the past 15-20 years, because most of the studio heads, producers, directors, and screenwriters are unoriginal bastards.

From 21 Jump Street:

Deputy Chief Hardy: We're reviving a canceled undercover project from the '80s and revamping it for modern times. The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice.

132 BryanS  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:04:21pm

re: #125 goddamnedfrank

In his speech McCain also called Frank Gaffney, the guy behind everything a long time friend of his, then edited that part out of the Senate record.

Were you saying Gaffney was behind the accusation of treason, McCain called him out, then McCain backed off? I suppose if it is no longer in the record, it's no longer in the record. But unringing a bell doesn't work very well.

133 Mich-again  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:04:23pm

This quote from the WSJ's Taranto shows his conspiracy theorist DNA .. Because as soon as they drop their guard, their guns will get sucked into the gun control tractor beam and disappear.

Now, there's a very good reason why coastal elites' arguments for gun control fall on deaf ears in most of Middle America. Those who value the Second Amendment suspect that people like Dionne and Bloomberg advocate "reasonable" gun restrictions as a camel's nose to a total or near-total ban on private ownership of firearms and their use for self-defense.

The entire basis for the NRA's existence is a conspiracy theory, something like... Unless you join and donate to the NRA, someday very soon, President Fill-in-the-blank is going to enact Marshall Law and send soldiers to pound down your door to confiscate your rifle and ammo!!

134 BryanS  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:06:00pm

re: #132 BryanS

Just viewed the video. Not a wise thing for McCain to draw more attention to it by removing comments from the record.

135 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:07:47pm

re: #133 Mich-again

This quote from the WSJ's Taranto shows his conspiracy theorist DNA .. Because as soon as they drop their guard, their guns will get sucked into the gun control tractor beam and disappear.

The entire basis for the NRA's existence is a conspiracy theory, something like... Unless you join and donate to the NRA, someday very soon, President Fill-in-the-blank is going to enact Marshall Law and send soldiers to pound down your door to confiscate your rifle and ammo!!

Thing is, I've heard more than one wingnut use that same argument since Friday. "It's high-capacity magazines today, but it'll be all the guns tomorrow!"

136 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:11:27pm

re: #135 Targetpractice

Thing is, I've heard more than one wingnut use that same argument since Friday. "It's high-capacity magazines today, but it'll be all the guns tomorrow!"

The RWNJs really, really want Red Dawn, don't they?

137 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:14:42pm

re: #136 TedStriker

The RWNJs really, really want Red Dawn, don't they?

They're absolutely convinced that scene where the Cuban Col. orders the KGB officers to go grab the Form 4473s is gonna one day be a reality, only it's gonna be the ATF knocking down their door and dragging them away.

138 Mich-again  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:16:02pm

re: #135 Targetpractice

Thing is, I've heard more than one wingnut use that same argument since Friday. "It's high-capacity magazines today, but it'll be all the guns tomorrow!"

It is the entire basis for the NRA. The conspiracy theory that any government monitoring of weapon and ammunition sales will ultimately lead to mass confiscation of all arms and weapons once they know who has what.

139 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:16:03pm

re: #136 TedStriker

The RWNJs really, really want Red Dawn, don't they?

WULBEREEEENS!

140 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:17:49pm

Youtube someone put together combining SPR clips with an Iron Maiden song on the same subject.

141 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:20:13pm

Speaking of people who believe their own bullshit:

Arizona sheriff denies targeting illegal immigrants by skin color

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Veteran Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, self-described as "America's toughest sheriff," denied on Tuesday that his deputies targeted people because of the color of their skin in a controversial crackdown on illegal immigration.

Arpaio, sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County, was testifying in a class-action lawsuit that will test whether police can target illegal immigrants without racially profiling Hispanic citizens and legal residents.

"I am against anyone racial profiling ... today, as in my 50 years in law enforcement," Arpaio, a veteran lawman who recently turned 80, told the court during cross-examination.

142 Mich-again  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:20:14pm

re: #136 TedStriker

The RWNJs really, really want Red Dawn, don't they?

exactly.. ooh ooh can I be an extra!

143 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:21:12pm

re: #128 Dark_Falcon

It's about Bush, mostly. Dennis Miller refused to hate on George W. Bush the way a number of liberals he had on his HBO show did, especially Alfrie Woodard, whose claim that AG John Ashcroft represented "separatism" , a charge for which she offered no evidence. While 9/11 completed Miller's move to the right, he had been on his way there for months already..

My recollection was that Miller was always more libertarian than liberal back in the old days. But he certainly had a special fondness in his heart for calling out far right reactionary kooks like Bachmann and Gohmert. Now he kisses up to them, by choice. Sad, don't you think?

It's one thing to evolve ideologically, another entirely to go full right wing Limbaugh...a simplistic overreaction to 9/11 and its aftermath.

As for Ms. Woodard, she may have had a point:

Southern Partisan: "Setting the Record Straight"
Attorney general nominee praised white supremacist magazine

1/12/01

"Your magazine also helps set the record straight. You've got a heritage of doing that, of defending Southern patriots like [Robert E.] Lee, [Stonewall] Jackson and [Confederate President Jefferson] Davis. Traditionalists must do more. I've got to do more. We've all got to stand up and speak in this respect, or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda."

--John Ashcroft, Southern Partisan magazine interview (Second Quarter/1998)

144 Mich-again  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:23:53pm

re: #141 Targetpractice

"I am against anyone racial profiling ... today, as in my 50 years in law enforcement," Arpaio, a veteran lawman who recently turned 80, told the court during cross-examination.

his comment was followed by a short awkward moment of silence after which the entire court room including the judge, jury, lawyers for both sides and Arpaio himself erupted into laughter.

145 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:26:36pm

re: #143 palomino

My recollection was that Miller was always more libertarian than liberal back in the old days. But he certainly had a special fondness in his heart for calling out far right reactionary kooks like Bachmann and Gohmert. Now he kisses up to them, by choice. Sad, don't you think.

It's one thing to evolve ideologically, another entirely to go full right wing Limbaugh...a simplistic overreaction to 9/11 and its aftermath.

As for Ms. Woodard, she may have had a point:

Holy fucking shit on that Ashcroft quote; to think that this panderer to white supremacists and those who would love to have their own Confederacy was the Attorney General of the United States...in this century.

146 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:30:30pm

re: #141 Targetpractice

Speaking of people who believe their own bullshit:

Arizona sheriff denies targeting illegal immigrants by skin color

Uhh, yeah, Joe, sure your department didn't and doesn't engage in racial profiling.

Just like an inordinate amount of Latino prisoners didn't wind up on a slab in the Maricopa County morgue after being in the care of your employees in the jail that you run.

147 freetoken  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:30:36pm

re: #144 Mich-again

I just wished somehow the prosecutor could work in Arpaio's birtherism quest and his nutty ventures to Hawaii to prove the birth certificate was fake. I think it would go a long way to show that Arpaio isn't a credible witness.

148 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:31:34pm

re: #147 freetoken

I just wished somehow the prosecutor could work in Arpaio's birtherism quest and his nutty ventures to Hawaii to prove the birth certificate was fake. I think it would go a long way to show that Arpaio isn't a credible witness.

I still love the latest press conference, where they tried to assert that refusal to go along with their witch hunt was itself proof that there's some truth to the witch hunt.

149 Cheechako  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:32:44pm
They're absolutely convinced that scene where the Cuban Col. orders the KGB officers to go grab the Form 4473s is gonna one day be a reality, only it's gonna be the ATF knocking down their door and dragging them away.

I wonder just how many ATF Agents, soldiers, or police officers will want to voluntarily go door to door collecting weapons? Could be very hazardous to their health. There's just too many firearms out there to even think about collecting more than a very small portion. Most firearm owners will just hide them for a later day.

150 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:36:10pm

re: #145 TedStriker

Holy fucking shit on that Ashcroft quote; to think that this panderer to white supremacists and those who would love to have their own Confederacy was the Attorney General of the United States...in this century.

I was born and raised in TX, didn't move away til I was 22. Above all else, the thing that bothered me most about the dead-enders like Ashcroft was their unwillingness to admit that the southern agenda was indeed perverted. Or even that slavery was a major cause of the war. Or even have the decency to accept some responsibility for it...strange that the party of personal responsibility can't take any responsibility for owning persons.

Yeah, there were many reasons for the war, but each state made it clear in its Articles of Secession that slavery was one of, if not the, most important reason for leaving the Union.

151 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:36:32pm

re: #149 Cheechako

I wonder just how many ATF Agents, soldiers, or police officers will want to voluntarily go door to door collecting weapons? Could be very hazardous to their health. There's just too many firearms out there to even think about collecting more than a very small portion. Most firearm owners will just hide them for a later day.

Many of these RWNJs are bereft of logic and divorced from reality; they want something like the Red Dawn scenario to come to pass, just so they can be free of the social shackles that proscribes them from shooting willy-nilly at people they feel are a threat.

152 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:44:21pm

I've done pretty well this thread and its after midnight here, so I'm going to sign off while I'm ahead.

153 ozbloke  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:45:22pm

re: #152 Dark_Falcon

I've done pretty well this thread and its after midnight here, so I'm going to sign off while I'm ahead.

Gnite DF

154 palomino  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:46:25pm

re: #152 Dark_Falcon

I've done pretty well this thread and its after midnight here, so I'm going to sign off while I'm ahead.

You're not ahead. You were wrong about Alfre Woodard, so you lose. Hahaha.
///

155 Mocking Jay  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 10:53:09pm

Hey, LGF made the top of Kos' Rec list tonight...

[Link: www.dailykos.com...]

156 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:07:51pm

re: #155 Mocking Jay

OY! KT will be spluttering madly in the morning...!

157 Mich-again  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:15:00pm
I hope the girls whose boyfriends died to save them were worthy of the sacrifice.

Pretzel logic meets double helix.

158 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:16:07pm

What the hell is the point of even tweeting that? What an asshat.

159 freetoken  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:16:32pm

re: #155 Mocking Jay

160 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:17:13pm

re: #151 TedStriker

Many of these RWNJs are bereft of logic and divorced from reality; they want something like the Red Dawn scenario to come to pass, just so they can be free of the social shackles that proscribes them from shooting willy-nilly at people they feel are a threat.

Just came back quick for one last thought: Those who would like to emulate Red Dawn should remember this: Most of the Wolverines in Red Dawn die. Of the six boys who initially flee into the mountains, only one of them, Danny (played by Brad Savage), actually survives the war, along with one of the two girls whose safety the Wolverines were entrusted with. In this, if in little else, Red Dawn reflects reality. Insurgent forces tend to take heavy casualties once an occupying force decides to make a major effort to eliminate them. As soon as the Red Army sends Col. Strelnikov after the Wolverines and gives him enough force for a major anti-partisan sweep, their fate as insurgents is sealed. The two who survive only do so by escaping Soviet-held territory.

So wingnuts looking to being a guerrilla war against those they hate should really think again, because the odds and their beloved movie say that if they got their wish it would kill them.

Good Night for real this time.

161 MittDoesNotCompute  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:26:39pm

re: #160 Dark_Falcon

Just came back quick for one last thought: Those who would like to emulate Red Dawn should remember this: Most of the Wolverines in Red Dawn die. Of the six boys who initially flee into the mountains, only one of them, Danny (played by Brad Savage), actually survives the war, along with one of the two girls whose safety the Wolverines were entrusted with. In this, if in little else, Red Dawn reflects reality. Insurgent forces tend to take heavy casualties once an occupying force decides to make a major effort to eliminate them. As soon as the Red Army sends Col. Strelnikov after the Wolverines and gives him enough force for a major anti-partisan sweep, their fate as insurgents is sealed. The two who survive only do so by escaping Soviet-held territory.

So wingnuts looking to being a guerrilla war against those they hate should really think again, because the odds and their beloved movie say that if they got their wish it would kill them.

Good Night for real this time.

These are points that escape gun-crazy RWNJs...

162 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:31:10pm

5 Reasons 'Red Dawn' Is Secretly a Subversive Anti-War Film

Ah, Red Dawn. It's easy to make fun of a movie about a high school football team led by Patrick Swayze single-handedly defeating the Soviet army. And we have done just that in the past. But what looks ridiculous in 2010 looked like prophecy to millions of teenagers in 1984.

Kids who grew up in the Reagan era did monthly "duck and cover" nuclear war drills in the classroom. A movie about them and their classmates fighting the Russians wasn't science fiction -- it's what they fully expected to be doing in a few years. And Red Dawn embodied Reagan's "we'll kill the commies with our awesomeness" spirit better than any movie except maybe Rocky IV (which is why National Review ranked it among the best conservative films).

That is, as long as you don't think about it too hard. If you dig into the details of this action epic you find a pretty damning indictment of Reagan, the U.S. military and even America itself. In fact, it might be the most anti-American movie made outside of the Middle East.

163 HappyWarrior  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:33:43pm

I think the point of the Red Dawn fantasy is not just imagining one's self fighting an invading enemy but also "liberal traitors." I think many of the RWNJ have this fantasy that if we got invaded by Islamists or Communists that the left would be eager collaborators. I've never seen the film but given the American right's tendency to believe that American liberals hate the country, I think it's a fair assumption that's an as part of the fantasy. It's fun to pretend I guess but sooner than later we have to realize we're all Americans. Too often we hear from a right wing politician about how liberals don't live or understand "real America." Left wing enclaves on the coasts or in the big cities are as American as the small towns. Anyhow, rant over but as someone who lives in a suburban small town but also spends a lot of time in an urban environment, words can't really express how much I resent it when politicians play that game to cause resentment.

164 freetoken  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:34:51pm

re: #162 Kragar

I realize that Cracked is a humor site, but:

Kids who grew up in the Reagan era did monthly "duck and cover" nuclear war drills in the classroom.

... is just ahistorical. "duck and cover" was 20 years before the Reagan presidency.

165 boredtechindenver  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:42:43pm

re: #164 freetoken

I realize that Cracked is a humor site, but:

... is just ahistorical. "duck and cover" was 20 years before the Reagan presidency.

I did "duck and cover" as late as 1975 as a 6th grader. I still don't know what hiding under our desks was supposed to save us from.

166 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:44:17pm

re: #165 boredtechindenver

I did "duck and cover" as late as 1975 as a 6th grader. I still don't know what hiding under our desks was supposed to save us from.

I remember my schools in the 80s still having them on the books at least.

167 Kragar  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:51:49pm

Distant Undersea Eruptions Help Rebuild Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef's amazing diversity of life gets a helping hand from distant underwater volcanic eruptions, a new study has found.

Submarine volcanoes can spit out trillions of pieces of floating rock upon which corals and other organisms hitch a ride to the world's largest reef, where they can thrive and multiply, according to research published this month in the journal PLoS One.

Study co-author Scott Bryan, a researcher at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, said these types of eruptions are rather frequent, occurring about once a decade or more, and helped form the reef in the first place, bringing in potentially billions of plants and animals.

168 freetoken  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:54:34pm

re: #165 boredtechindenver

re: #166 Kragar

Even though I was in school during the time when "duck and cover" was all the rage, supposedly, I can't remember ever doing it. Oh, we had fire drills and tornado drills, but not duck n' cover.

169 Targetpractice  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:55:09pm

re: #165 boredtechindenver

I did "duck and cover" as late as 1975 as a 6th grader. I still don't know what hiding under our desks was supposed to save us from.

It was supposed to give you time to kiss your ass goodbye.

//

170 dragonath  Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:56:44pm

This whole "Anglo-Saxon heritage" thing reminds me of a Furry Freak Brothers comic where Phineas Freak's father accidentally takes his son's LSD and mixes it in with the punch at a John Birch society meeting. It culminates in a sequence where the JBS members go off on an ancestral history tangent:

"Hey look at me, I'm a NORSEMAN!"
"That's nothing punk! I'm a SPARTAN!"
"I'm a DRUID walking among my holy TREES!"

Phineas's father: Well I am a TONKAWA INDIAN and I'd like to know what you guys are doing on MY property! (Where's my hatchet?!)

171 freetoken  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 12:13:59am
172 freetoken  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 12:48:16am

Looks like someone agrees with KT:

The Romney “Anglo-saxon” story doesn’t pass the smell test

In the last couple of hours, the leftist blogosphere and Twitter have exploded with stories charging Mitt Romney of racism. The claims originate from a UK Daily Mail piece titled “Mitt Romney would restore ‘Anglo-saxon’ relations between Britain and America.”

[...]

Oh... wait... "Daily Mail"?

Um, no. It's the Telegraph. And the blogger even links to the Telegraph.

The blog, "Poor Richard's News", is just another Obama-hating site that looks like it gets damn few comments. And I can see why.

173 freetoken  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 12:55:53am
174 researchok  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:05:26am

Morning, all

175 researchok  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:08:59am

Nice!

I'm a sucker for the guitar pieces. Favorited this as well.

176 researchok  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:30:56am

By the FT, here's one of my absolute favorites you posted

177 freetoken  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:42:49am

re: #176 researchok

That one is good for dancing what in American partner circles would be called "bolero" or and English style (misnomered) "rumba". That particular piece sounds a bit too... studio-ish for my tastes, but it is a very easy on the ears.

178 freetoken  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:43:29am
179 researchok  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 1:47:07am

re: #177 freetoken

It's 4AM- I'm not quite ready for Allegro Nervosa
/

You're right it is studio- ish but it does work

180 RadicalModerate  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 2:05:12am

Oh HELL NO.

The adsense link that came up with this article for me is a really vile NRA-associated organization's advertisement to "Trigger the Vote", with a helpful image of WND loonie Chuck Norris, and featuring a graphic of a voter checkbox centered in a gunsight's crosshairs.

Pic here:
Trigger the Vote

Unfortunately, lost the adsense referrer link due to a page reload.

181 Digital Display  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 3:56:02am

re: #179 researchok

It's 4AM- I'm not quite ready for Allegro Nervosa
/

You're right it is studio- ish but it does work

Almost 6am Oklahoma time.. I'm packed ready for another trip..
need more coffee..

182 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 4:15:10am

So many vicious Tweets and retarded blog posts, so much short term memory loss the day after.

Last week the entire Twitterverse was all aghast at Anna Breslaw's horrible, horrible fail of a "Breaking Bad" review that referred to Holocaust survivors as "Jew Shit" but she's back to posting articles at Jezebel like that never happened.

183 Decatur Deb  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 4:24:03am

re: #180 RadicalModerate

Oh HELL NO.

The adsense link that came up with this article for me is a really vile NRA-associated organization's advertisement to "Trigger the Vote", with a helpful image of WND loonie Chuck Norris, and featuring a graphic of a voter checkbox centered in a gunsight's crosshairs.

Pic here:
Trigger the Vote

Unfortunately, lost the adsense referrer link due to a page reload.

Catchy slogan--Gabby Giffords can use it for her comeback campaign.

184 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 4:39:06am

re: #180 RadicalModerate

Oh HELL NO.

The adsense link that came up with this article for me is a really vile NRA-associated organization's advertisement to "Trigger the Vote", with a helpful image of WND loonie Chuck Norris, and featuring a graphic of a voter checkbox centered in a gunsight's crosshairs.

Pic here:
Trigger the Vote

Unfortunately, lost the adsense referrer link due to a page reload.

Buy a subscription and you won't have to see that shit.

185 Shiplord Kirel  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:38:49am

Speaking of conservative family values types, I posted this PSA on a local blog:

Attention Texas parents, especially those in the wilds of darkest suburbia!
Please don't send any more of your litter to Texas Tech until they are house-broken and understand some of the other basic rules of society, ie, that people will fine them or throw them in jail if they get violent or otherwise break the law by driving drunk, assaulting residents, breaking windows, stealing beer from c-stores, parking in handicap spaces etc.
We probably do have privileged classes in this country but even then, they are not composed of clueless suburban pissants.

In my experience, much of this bad behavior is related not to a lack of moral instruction, but to a lack of credible moral instruction. Jesus Camp is just not all that convincing to many young people but it does encourage a systematic disregard for the rights, feelings, and basic humanity of a whole range of "others." In the absence of anything else, it is no surprise that the youngsters will act like savages when they escape from the nest.

186 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:40:58am

re: #185 Shiplord Kirel

To play on that preacher's tweet from the other day, if you teach kids that the only thing stopping them from acting like animals is their religion, if their faith falters why be surprised that they act like animals?

187 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:42:42am

re: #118 Kragar

Why did the Elf slap the Hobbit?

He kept saying how nice her hair smelled.

Crowded elevators smell different to midgets.

188 Romantic Heretic  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:50:41am

re: #31 Digital Display

It is Man's greatest achievement and lofty spiritual goal. 'There is no greater love than giving your life for another..'

Or as it's put in the Quran, "In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful, if you save the live of one man it as if you have saved the life of all mankind."

189 Romantic Heretic  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:54:53am

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

TOMMY by Rudyard Kipling

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

190 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 5:55:32am

Texan accidentally fires shot at Walmart

Dallas police said they arrested a man whose gun accidentally went off inside a Walmart store, injuring two other customers.

Todd Canady, 23, of Waco had allegedly bolted from the store in the Lake Highlands district Monday night when he was confronted by an off-duty police officer about the shooting, which left a woman and a 5-year-old child wounded.

Police told the Dallas Morning News they grabbed Canady after a short foot pursuit and booked him on charges of injuring a child and evading arrest.

KDFW-TV, Dallas/Fort Worth, said Canady, who has a concealed-weapons permit, was reportedly reaching for his wallet in the checkout line but grabbed the pistol he was carrying instead. The gun went off, wounding Canady in the buttocks. The bullet then hit the floor and sent fragments into the other two victims.

An off-duty officer saw the incident and confronted Canady, who allegedly ran off.

191 Romantic Heretic  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:00:47am

re: #68 Kragar

In a foreign field, he lay
Lonely soldier, unknown grave
On his dying words, he prays
Tell the world of Paschendale

Brrrr. Two dead Allied soldiers and one dead German for every square meter of ground taken.

When a member of the senior British staff, who finally got to the front and saw where the battle was fought, he broke down crying and exclaimed, "My God! My God! We sent men into that!

192 A Mom Anon  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:07:18am

I have to wonder,had the gender roles been reversed, if this Taranto person would have had the same need to let us all know his wonderous opinion.

Just because the internet allows for 24/7 expression of every little thought that scampers through your head doesn't mean you actually HAVE to share it.

What a bag of douche.

193 Romantic Heretic  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:10:01am

re: #81 aagcobb

But the opening of the movie of the Normandy Invasion is, I think, the greatest war scene ever filmed.

Me? The outpost battle form Stalingrad

194 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:25:56am

re: #165 boredtechindenver

I did "duck and cover" as late as 1975 as a 6th grader. I still don't know what hiding under our desks was supposed to save us from.

Saved you from making even more of a mess. They could clean up the ashes from you and the desk much easier if you were all together. In the 60's they used to make us march into the auditorium and crouch against the walls. Cleanup would be much easier that way too since most of the human mess would be confined to that one large room :-)

195 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:26:35am

Heh, this is familiar.

Mitt Romney’s ’02 Olympics short on transparency

But some who worked with Romney describe a close-to-the-vest chief executive unwilling to share so much as a budget with a state board responsible for spending oversight. Archivists now say most key records about the Games’ internal workings were destroyed under the supervision of a staff member shortly after the flame was extinguished at Olympic Cauldron Park, after Romney had returned to Massachusetts.

According to Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul, “Mitt Romney resigned from SLOC in early 2002 to run for governor of Massachusetts and was not involved in the decision-making regarding the final disposition of records.”

Because of course it would have been impossible for Romney, while head of the SLOC, to make archival copies or leave instructions for preservation of records.

All of the documents inside our organization are available to the public,” Romney said in a speech to the National Press Club in 2000. “Simply submit a form saying which documents you want. For instance: ‘I want to see all the letters written by Mr. Romney to [then-IOC President Juan Antonio] Samaranch.’ You’ll get ’em all.”

But letters between journalists and the organizing committee obtained by the Globe show reporters were sometimes denied access to records they believed were covered by the committee’s open documents policy. Only a week after Romney spoke to the National Press Club, the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists wrote a complaint to the committee.

The committee charged news outlets $25 per hour to research records requests, even if the requests were eventually denied.

Even within the organizing committee, access to information was sometimes restricted, according to Bullock, the committee member.

“Everything should have been accessible to the board, but it wasn’t because that’s not what Mitt wanted,” he said.

A decade later, the Games’ official records, housed at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library, still have not been made available to the public. ABC News reported Monday on the unpublished archive and the destruction of documents.

When the collection is finally unveiled next month, the public should not expect any major insights into the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s leadership of the Games, archivists say. Instead of executive office memoranda, budgets, and correspondence, the 1,100 cartons of records contain only previously published brochures, manuals, and some general guidance on how to run an Olympics.

“It’s not about the inner workings of anything,’’ said Elizabeth Rogers, the library’s curator of manuscripts. “I haven’t seen anything particular to Mitt Romney.”

Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials confirmed to the Globe that most administrative records were destroyed in the months after the Games concluded.

196 Interesting Times  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:31:07am

Apropos to the topic of this thread and the one prior:

197 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:37:52am

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Orders were to hold bridges if at all possible to aid in the advance. Maybe the orders did not make sense in this case, but Spielberg was right to show his characters following standing orders.

"Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the Six Hundred."

I prefer:

Good morning, good morning, the general said,
As we passed him last week on our way to the line.
Now the lads that he greeted are most of 'em dead,
And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
"He's a cheery old card", grunted Harry to Jack,
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

But he did for them both by his plan of attack.

198 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:39:43am

re: #190 Varek Raith

Texan accidentally fires shot at Walmart

Concealed carry makes everyone safer! Except people who get shot by accident.

But that doesn't count because mumble mumble head shot through tear gas in crowded cinema.

199 Shropshire_Slasher  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:46:12am

re: #190 Varek Raith
This retired State Police officer just shot himself:
[Link: www.timesunion.com...]
I wonder if he had to pay for the new pants?
Do these jeans make my ass look big? BANG!
What ass?

.22's prolly the most dangerous round in America.

200 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:47:48am

Yeah, I wouldn't want a gun anywhere near my nether regions.
Nope.

201 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:48:39am

Though, why did they have a round chambered to begin with?
Or am I misunderstanding guns?

202 Shropshire_Slasher  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:49:19am

re: #200 Varek Raith

Why worry? its a small target
BADDA BING OH!
Sorry

203 Romantic Heretic  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:51:37am

re: #196 Interesting Times

Apropos to the topic of this thread and the one prior:

[Embedded content]

I know Canadian Cynic. Nice guy and whip smart.

204 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:53:35am

re: #12 SanFranciscoZionist

Really, an innocent person sitting in a movie theater when a man who thinks he's the Joker opens fire can't win, can they?

First, we're going to criticize you for not shooting him.

Then we're going to suggest that you might not have been worth your boyfriend saving your life.

Of course, if you are a boyfriend, and you fail in the throwing-yourself-in-front-of-a-bullet department, we'll say that you and your lack of masculinity are what's wrong with America today.

These folks have been through an awful trauma. Could the Twitterati maybe leave them the hell alone?

Quoted for truth. Everyone's busy trying to figure out the intentions of the shooter, and then dissecting what those at the theater could or couldn't have done differently as if everyone in the theater who was injured or saw someone they were with killed or injured isn't wondering what they could have done differently and will have to live with their actions. That's plenty bad without the armchair brigades to make their pronouncements from afar.

205 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 6:57:34am

re: #201 Varek Raith

Though, why did they have a round chambered to begin with?
Or am I misunderstanding guns?

It does imply not very safe gun handling skills and concealed carry. Would have to know more facts on the actual weapon to know what sort of safety features (or failures) it has unto itself.

206 Bulworth  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:21:33am
I hope the girls whose boyfriends died to save them were nice, conservative Christian women who don't use birth control worthy of the sacrifice.

//

207 Claudia  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:22:08am

I'm disappointed in James Taranto, as I read his blog daily. It was a crass thing to say... Are children worthy of their parents' sacrifices? Are the people worthy of soldiers' sacrifices? No matter the reason for placing oneself in harm's way for another... loved one, weaker one, total stranger... ours is not to measure the worth of the "saved" ones. But I certainly can understand having such thoughts if your loved one is killed.

208 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:22:11am

re: #206 Bulworth

The sad part is now he's trying to pretend he was writing a 'challenging' tweet instead of just being a douchebag.

209 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:25:59am

Morning all!

I hear there was an earthquake.

Everyone ok?

210 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:27:49am

re: #185 Shiplord Kirel

Speaking of conservative family values types, I posted this PSA on a local blog:

In my experience, much of this bad behavior is related not to a lack of moral instruction, but to a lack of credible moral instruction. Jesus Camp is just not all that convincing to many young people but it does encourage a systematic disregard for the rights, feelings, and basic humanity of a whole range of "others." In the absence of anything else, it is no surprise that the youngsters will act like savages when they escape from the nest.

Repression is a terrible thing.

211 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:28:35am

re: #208 Obdicut

The sad part is now he's trying to pretend he was writing a 'challenging' tweet instead of just being a douchebag.

It was just a "literary device."

212 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:31:54am

Constitutional amendment required to undo Citizens United, Senate panel told

New laws alone will not be enough to counter the impact of the 2010 high court decision establishing that corporations have a First Amendment right to make independent political expenditures during election season, witnesses told the panel.

213 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:34:33am

Did Mitt Romney get a ‘bailout’ for Bain & Company?

Cutter treads very close to the line here. She implies, but never really says, that Romney, on behalf of “Bain,” got a taxpayer-funded bailout.

But in reality, Romney rescued his former firm, including restructuring its bank loans, in a deal in which his former partners were given the toughest medicine. Bain & Company survives to this day, which certainly suggests Romney’s solution was a better outcome than letting the firm collapse.

We wavered between one and two Pinocchios here. Calling a loan-restructuring a “bailout” is a real stretch, especially since there does not appear to be an unusual transaction. But Cutter can reasonably claim that Bain & Company benefited from government procedures, already in place, to help it deal with its financial troubles. It’s too bad she did not phrase it that way.

214 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:39:01am

Six dumb arguments about the Aurora massacre.

1. What happened in Aurora, Colorado, is an aberrancy.
2. "This can't be terrorism! This is a troubled individual."
3. "We can't politicize this!"
4. "Arming everyone in the theater would have prevented this!"
5. "The fact that these shootings happen only rarely shows that our existing laws work just fine."

As they say, read it all.

215 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:39:04am

re: #213 Killgore Trout

Did Mitt Romney get a ‘bailout’ for Bain & Company?

I think letting Bain go bankrupt would have been better for the country, as they wouldn't have been around to date-rape companies, steal their assets and fire their workers. And yes, taxpayer dollars saved Romney's ass. He didn't build that. In fact, he took over Bain after its actual founder, a guy named Bain, pretty much left it to him.

Mornin' everyone.

216 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:41:18am

re: #214 lawhawk

Six dumb arguments about the Aurora massacre.

1. What happened in Aurora, Colorado, is an aberrancy.
2. "This can't be terrorism! This is a troubled individual."
3. "We can't politicize this!"
4. "Arming everyone in the theater would have prevented this!"
5. "The fact that these shootings happen only rarely shows that our existing laws work just fine."

As they say, read it all.

You gotta love the 'doveish' talk about gun control from those who fear the NRA..."It's not the time to engage in bitter debate." No, let's wait a few weeks until someone really sexy gets thrown out of the Big Brother house and gun violence returns to the back burner of the American conscience.

217 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:42:48am

re: #214 lawhawk

Six dumb arguments about the Aurora massacre.

1. What happened in Aurora, Colorado, is an aberrancy.
2. "This can't be terrorism! This is a troubled individual."
3. "We can't politicize this!"
4. "Arming everyone in the theater would have prevented this!"
5. "The fact that these shootings happen only rarely shows that our existing laws work just fine."

As they say, read it all.

I'm not sure if #2 is "dumb." Yes, it could perhaps be seen as form of existential terrorism but it does not meet the characteristics of real terrorism. Promoting this kind of "thought exercise" also delegitimizes the equally important work against terrorism.

218 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:46:25am

re: #213 Killgore Trout

“To say what he said is to say that Steve Jobs didn’t build Apple Computer or that Bill Gates didn’t build Microsoft or that Henry Ford didn’t build Ford Motor Company or that Ray Croc didn’t build McDonald’s or that Papa John’s didn’t build Papa John’s Pizza. This is the height of foolishness. It shows how out of touch he is with the character of America. It’s one more reason his policies have failed. It’s one more reason why we have to replace him in November.”...Mitt Romney

[Link: www.washingtonpost.com...]

219 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:48:40am

re: #218 blueraven

[Link: www.washingtonpost.com...]

Yup, politicians lie. It's unwise to uncritically believe what they say.

220 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:49:04am
221 Bulworth  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:51:25am

re: #208 Obdicut

The sad part is now he's trying to pretend he was writing a 'challenging' tweet instead of just being a douchebag.

Ah yes, just "puting it out there" for discussion.

222 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:52:27am

re: #219 Killgore Trout

Yup, politicians lie. It's unwise to uncritically believe what they say.

Mitt Romney lies every time he opens his mouth (and some times when he doesn't, for example in his book No Apology). It is, at this point, absolutely perverse to believe anything he says.

223 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:55:00am

re: #219 Killgore Trout

Yup, politicians lie. It's unwise to uncritically believe what they say.

Says the guy who routinely posts Romney press releases as fact.

224 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:55:24am

re: #222 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Mitt Romney lies every time he opens his mouth (and some times when he doesn't, for example in his book No Apology). It is, at this point, absolutely perverse to believe anything he says.

I wouldn't believe Mitt if he told me he just saved money on his car insurance.

225 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:56:22am

re: #224 darthstar

I wouldn't believe Mitt if he told me he just saved money on his car insurance.

I wouldn't believe Mitt if he told me he had one great trick to reduce cellulite, and that doctors hated him as a result.

226 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:56:34am

re: #219 Killgore Trout

Yup, politicians lie. It's unwise to uncritically believe what they say.

There is quite a bit of difference in that a campaign adviser suggested something and a bald faced lie by the actual candidate. One among many I might add.

227 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:57:20am

Hey! It's the 25th. That means only two more days before the blue helmets land on our shores to take away "are" guns.

//

228 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:58:28am

re: #219 Killgore Trout

Yup, politicians lie. It's unwise to uncritically believe what they say.

No Kilgore

Only the 'other" politician lies

"My" guy is as pure as driven snow!

229 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:58:35am

vote for your 10 favorite young adult novels.

My all time fav wasn't listed. :(

230 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 7:59:43am

re: #228 sattv4u2

No Kilgore

Only the 'other" politician lies

"My" guy is as pure as driven snow!

If you follow KT's posts; it is only Obama that is a liar.

231 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:00:26am

re: #229 ggt

vote for your 10 favorite young adult novels.

My all time fav wasn't listed. :(

Mine aren't on there

I'm so old when I was a "young adult" all the literature was on cave walls

232 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:01:47am

re: #230 blueraven

If you follow KT's posts; it is only Obama that is a liar.

I have followed his posts

he has called out both sides and not just today/ this election season

SEE Tea Party

SEE OWS

Equal opportunity caller outter, he

233 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:01:52am

re: #229 ggt

vote for your 10 favorite young adult novels.

My all time fav wasn't listed. :(

The last "young adult" novel I read was "Island of the Blue Dolphins" when I was 11.

234 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:03:31am

"Island of the Blue Dolphins" is not even on the list, WTF??

235 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:05:00am

re: #232 sattv4u2

I have followed his posts

he has called out both sides and not just today/ this election season

SEE Tea Party

SEE OWS

Equal opportunity caller outter, he

Very true, except for the part where he made shit up about OWS.

236 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:07:38am

Good morning lizards!

Say a prayer for one of my friends that I work with. Still mourning the loss of her son who died on his 21st birthday in a 4 wheeler accident last November, today her husband was admitted into the hospital with kidney failure.

237 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:08:18am

re: #229 ggt

vote for your 10 favorite young adult novels.

My all time fav wasn't listed. :(

The ones I re-read the most are not on there, such as _Rifles for Watie_. I also don't recognize probably 75-80% of the listed books in any case. So I ended up voting for classics, or the better SF/fantasy on the list. Skipped _The Lord of the Rings_ actually. _The Hobbit_ is a good YA read, I think LOTR doesn't move as well as a plot and that one might need to be a bit older to appreciate it more.

238 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:08:55am

re: #232 sattv4u2

I have followed his posts

he has called out both sides and not just today/ this election season

SEE Tea Party

SEE OWS

Equal opportunity caller outter, he

I try. In the past I've been misled by both sides. I'm trying to be smarter these days.

239 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:09:13am

re: #233 Learned Mother of Zion

The last "young adult" novel I read was "Island of the Blue Dolphins" when I was 11.

I remember that book!!! I really liked it.

My fav is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I actually couldn't believe it was a YA novel. Zafon is a seriously talented writer.

240 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:11:26am

re: #238 Killgore Trout

I try. In the past I've been misled by both sides. I'm trying to be smarter these days.

We've all been there.

241 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:12:25am

re: #228 sattv4u2

No Kilgore

Only the 'other" politician lies

"My" guy is as pure as driven snow!

All politicians lie sometimes, all across the political spectrum. Romney is the only politician in my lifetime (> 50 years) who lies so egregiously, constantly and shamelessly. If you're not disgusted by his absolute dishonesty, you should be.

242 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:12:38am

re: #239 ggt

I remember that book!!! I really liked it.

My fav is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I actually couldn't believe it was a YA novel. Zafon is a seriously talented writer.

I think "YA" is a pretty nebulous category. And from what I've seen my niece read it contains a lot of poorly written junk. Thus my contamination of her reading pile by gifting her with SF stuff written by Bujold or Heinlein. Expose her to good writing and I think I can get her to abandon junk books.

243 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:13:03am

re: #236 NJDhockeyfan
Prayers to the family. Any prognosis? Transplant??

244 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:13:30am

Romney camp denies "Anglo-Saxon heritage" comment

Andrea Saul, Romney's press secretary, disputed the comments and emphasized that they did not reflect the beliefs of the former Massachusetts governor.

"It's not true. If anyone said that, they weren't reflecting the views of Governor Romney or anyone inside the campaign," she told CBSNews.com in an email. Saul did not comment on what specifically was not true.

245 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:14:13am

re: #229 ggt

vote for your 10 favorite young adult novels.

My all time fav wasn't listed. :(

But where are the Tom Swift novels?

246 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:14:27am

re: #244 Killgore Trout

247 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:14:37am

That's nice.

The Republican Party and Mitt Romney still suck.

248 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:16:15am

re: #243 sattv4u2

Prayers to the family. Any prognosis? Transplant??

Haven't heard yet. She just left for the hospital an hour ago.

249 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:17:13am

re: #245 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

But where are the Tom Swift novels?

3RD aisle,, right past science fiction!!

250 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:17:21am

re: #244 Killgore Trout

Romney camp denies "Anglo-Saxon heritage" comment

251 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:18:21am

re: #244 Killgore Trout

Romney camp denies "Anglo-Saxon heritage" comment

Thanks, KT...I was about to post that. What's not true? Oh, we don't know...whatever you said about our campaign isn't true, whatever that was, but we can't say it out loud because when we do we nod our heads in the affirmative...it's a natural tick...lots of mercury in our diets as kids.

252 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:18:46am

re: #244 Killgore Trout

Romney camp denies "Anglo-Saxon heritage" comment

MORE LIESSSSSS!!!!

253 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:18:50am

re: #250 Gus

[Embedded content]

Can be applied to every statement from the Romney campaign.

254 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:19:35am
255 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:19:45am

re: #241 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

All politicians lie sometimes, all across the political spectrum. Romney is the only politician in my lifetime (> 50 years) who lies so egregiously, constantly and shamelessly. If you're not disgusted by his absolute dishonesty, you should be.

BTW, just to keep your pet MBF happy, the last major politician I reflexively distrusted was Bill Clinton. But on a distrust scale of 1 to 10, Clinton was only about a 7 for me. Romney approaches 11.

256 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:19:50am

re: #222 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

By the way:


All the episodes of the Goon Show

257 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:21:45am

re: #256 Obdicut

By the way:

All the episodes of the Goon Show

Thanks. Have a gorilla.

258 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:22:24am

Heh.

"It's not true. If anyone said that, they weren't reflecting the views of Governor Romney or anyone inside the campaign," she told CBSNews.com in an email. Saul did not comment on what specifically was not true.

It's not true, and if it is, it didn't reflect anyone's views.

When asked specifically how policy toward the U.K. would differ under Romney "the advisers could not give detailed examples," according to the Telegraph. "One conceded that on the European crisis: 'I'm not sure what our policy response is.'"

So what the fuck are they doing over there?

259 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:22:26am

re: #253 darthstar

Can be applied to every statement from the Romney campaign.

Plausible deniability. He probably understands that the majority of his base is made up of people who agree with the concept of a strong "Anglo-Saxon" heritage in these here United States. More to the point is the concept of a strong relationship with the "anglosphere" as mentioned during Hannan's speech at CPAC 2012. It's all "right" there in National Review, Vdare (who was at CPAC). The same CPAC to which Romney also made a speech. So deny but don't criticize. Perhaps it was not true but the idea of this "Anglo-Saxon" heritage and how it applies to both their own sub-culture and their attacks against Obama is real.

260 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:22:39am

re: #257 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Thanks. Have a gorilla.

No thanks, they make my throat hurt.

261 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:24:32am

re: #244 Killgore Trout

Romney camp denies "Anglo-Saxon heritage" comment

Dude, are you, in fact, posting a Romney press release as fact?

262 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:24:56am
263 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:25:27am

re: #238 Killgore Trout

I try. In the past I've been misled by both sides. I'm trying to be smarter these days.

You may be applying the exact same skepticism to "both sides", but maybe the mistake is seeing things as "sides" and not discrete phenomena to be evaluated on their own terms. To take the example of the Democratic and Republican parties, it's hard not to see them as two equivalent, opposed sides of one thing, but that doesn't mean they are equivalent. This would be more clear if we had more than two viable parties.

There is a real difference between the Democratic and Republican parties in terms of their relationship to the truth, and not just in the presidential race. The difference is one of scale, as implied in H G-T's #255. If you don't recognize it, you don't get smarter.

264 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:25:51am

re: #261 iossarian

Dude, are you, in fact, posting a Romney press release as fact?

again

265 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:27:23am

re: #242 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

I think "YA" is a pretty nebulous category. And from what I've seen my niece read it contains a lot of poorly written junk. Thus my contamination of her reading pile by gifting her with SF stuff written by Bujold or Heinlein. Expose her to good writing and I think I can get her to abandon junk books.

Strangely enough, the YA category has some of the best authors. I think the problem is that kids get hooked on a series like (gag) Twilight and miss-out on the really good writing out there.

266 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:27:37am

Gotta love the ideological denial and revisionism. Yeah. Birtherism and the hoopla about the Churchill bust in the White House being removed also didn't happen.

You lie!

267 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:28:12am

re: #261 iossarian

It's CBS.

268 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:28:47am

It's unreal.

"Politicians lie" we are told. "No-one can be trusted."

And yet, when a RIGHT-WING newspaper in the UK reports what a Romney campaign insider said, using quotes and everything, we are treated to a damage-control pseudo-denial straight from the campaign mouthpiece, which transparently fails to actually contradict the fact that the insider really did say "anglo-saxon heritage" and that the White House "doesn't fully appreciate" said heritage.

And I get downdinged for pointing this out.

269 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:29:38am

re: #263 wrenchwench

You may be applying the exact same skepticism to "both sides", but maybe the mistake is seeing things as "sides" and not discrete phenomena to be evaluated on their own terms. To take the example of the Democratic and Republican parties, it's hard not to see them as two equivalent, opposed sides of one thing, but that doesn't mean they are equivalent. This would be more clear if we had more than two viable parties.

There is a real difference between the Democratic and Republican parties in terms of their relationship to the truth, and not just in the presidential race. The difference is one of scale, as implied in H G-T's #255. If you don't recognize it, you don't get smarter.

I don't see both sides as equal. I'm a pretty strong Dem leaner these days but that doesn't mean I have to believe every misleading claim the put in a campaign ad.

270 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:29:50am

Okay, okay, this makes Mitt's comment (or the comment by one of his people that can't be mentioned, whatever it was) seem less offensive...

Wait...maybe that isn't all that helpful after all.

271 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:30:27am

re: #267 Killgore Trout

It's CBS.

Dude, you got the press release from CBS, but that doesn't mean it's not a press release.

The clue is in the word: "press". That means information that the campaign releases to be reported by... the "press". Which includes CBS.

272 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:31:01am

CBS. Home of the "throbbing memo."

Irony.

273 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:31:12am

Oops...

[Smiley face.]

274 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:31:15am

re: #258 Obdicut

Heh.

So what the fuck are they doing over there?

in a word...Dressage.

275 Interesting Times  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:31:38am

re: #271 iossarian

276 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:31:50am

Heh...Wonkette...

277 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:33:18am

re: #262 darthstar

No, he'd be a Bear. Couldn't be a Viking in Chicago. /

278 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:33:24am

Yeah, and John "I Love Pam Geller" Bolton isn't really a Romney adviser either.

//

279 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:33:38am

The purpose of rhetoric is to persuade. Not truth.

Aristotle:

"Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." . . . .And it might be ogjected that one who uses such power of speech unjustly might do great harm, that iss a charge which may be made in common against all good things except virtue, and above all against the things that are most useful, as strength, health, wealth, generalship."

from Sister Miriam Joseph --The Trivium

280 Interesting Times  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:33:47am
281 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:34:30am
282 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:35:51am

re: #277 lawhawk

No, he'd be a Bear. Couldn't be a Viking in Chicago. /

Better than a feral camel!

283 Interesting Times  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:36:58am
284 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:37:32am

Go for the gold!

285 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:38:52am

re: #278 Gus

Yeah, and John "I Love Pam Geller" Bolton isn't really a Romney adviser either.

//

And Romney didn't come dangerously close to accusing Obama of treason in his speech to the VFW yesterday. He would never...

/

286 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:40:01am

re: #282 ggt

Better than a feral camel!

I preffered Lucky Strikes

LSMFTF!!!

(double upding for anyone who knows those initials)

(damn, I'm old)

288 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:41:57am
289 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:42:04am

Update: My friend's husband is going to be OK :)

290 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:42:09am

Now you know:

To answer the question on everyone's mind, scientists have actually found that periods don't attract all bears. Black bears, for example, couldn't care less if you're riding the tiny cotton pony. The groundbreaking 1991 study's called "Reactions of black bears to human menstrual odors," and you can find it in vintage editions of The Journal of Wildlife Management. But there hasn't been much research into whether periods attract bigger, scarier grizzly bears. Spending the last several minutes raptly perusing the Wikipedia page on fatal bear attacks (don't even click unless you have like half an hour to descend into an Internet Spiral) has led me to believe that most people killed by grizzlies in North America in recent years were dudes, who I presume weren't menstruating at the time of their death.

continuing the bear theme . . .

291 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:43:38am

re: #290 ggt

Then why is it called MENstruating?

292 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:44:06am

Hmm, NPR books did a vote on SF/fantasy books as well.

[Link: www.npr.org...]

Sort of haphazard in some entries being single books vs others being entire series. In any case, I've read 43 of the first 50, and 74 of the hundred listed. Top ranked one I have not read is Wheel of Time - and I don't plan on touching it.

Only Bujold on it is _Shards of Honor_ and the summary line is more for the entire Vorkosigan series than the book listed.

293 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:45:11am

I think this guy kinda like the honey badger:

CBS News reports that Jersey City police caught up with Verdelli at Jersey City's Grove Street Station as he was trying to board a Manhattan-bound PATH train back on July 16. He has been accused of groping a 28-year-old woman on two separate occasions. Verdelli was identified by a picture his accuser took of him after the second incident, and when police showed him his apparent likeness, he said, "It could be me." Though Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said that this was the first time that he knew of Verdelli allegedly groping someone on a PATH train (because, hey, all those other offenses just start to run together after a while), he admitted that most of Verdelli's previous 168 arrests had been for sexually-related crimes.

294 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:45:30am
295 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:46:33am

re: #294 blueraven

Stoners

Pot leads to harder drugs like heroin, cocaine and crack! //

*It really was at 420. Might still be.

296 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:47:34am
297 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:47:42am
298 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:47:50am
299 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:48:20am
300 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:49:08am

re: #292 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Hmm, NPR books did a vote on SF/fantasy books as well.

[Link: www.npr.org...]

Sort of haphazard in some entries being single books vs others being entire series. In any case, I've read 43 of the first 50, and 74 of the hundred listed. Top ranked one I have not read is Wheel of Time - and I don't plan on touching it.

Only Bujold on it is _Shards of Honor_ and the summary line is more for the entire Vorkosigan series than the book listed.

I remember that. What I don't get is Conan the Barbarian being considered SF. I hate when the line between SF and Fantasy become blurred.

301 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:49:17am

ROFLMAO

Lewis Black on Romney's lies

302 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:50:15am

Conn Carrol. Yeah. Last I saw he was working for the Heritage Foundation. Yep. Heritage whose founder includes Paul Weyrich.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

//

303 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:51:26am

More on the demise of the football god:

She cites research that found that adult pedophiles tended to have been subjected to more childhood brain trauma than their non-pedophiliac counterparts. In addition, more research has found that hypersexuality can develop after adult konks on the head, which can include pedophilia. One researcher surmised that head injuries don't change sexuality, but rather unlock aspects of a person's sexuality that were otherwise kept under control. A third study found that some men exhibit pedophiliac behavior after experiencing symptoms of brain disease

304 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:51:39am

re: #286 sattv4u2

I preffered Lucky Strikes

LSMFTF!!!

(double upding for anyone who knows those initials)

(damn, I'm old)

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco.

I know this because I used to have a ton of LIFE magazines from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

305 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:53:09am

re: #291 darthstar

Menses --or Monthly -- IIRC

Has to do with the Moon.

306 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:53:49am

re: #304 Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco.

I know this because I used to have a ton of LIFE magazines from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

DING DING DING

We have a winner!

(post something else so I can give you a second upper)

307 sattv4u2  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:54:47am

re: #304 Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco.

I know this because I used to have a ton of LIFE magazines from the 40s, 50s, and 60s.

And I knew this because I LIVED a lot of life in the 50's and 60's

308 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:55:02am

More Republican news...

309 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:55:39am

Even more Republican news...

310 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 8:57:34am

re: #306 sattv4u2

(post something else so I can give you a second upper)

311 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:01:12am

Ahead Of Voter ID Trial, Pennsylvania Admits There’s No In-Person Voter Fraud

As the Justice Department investigates Pennsylvania’s voter ID law on the federal level, a coalition of civil rights groups is gearing up for a state trial starting Wednesday examining whether the law is allowable under Pennsylvania’s constitution.

In that case, Pennsylvania might have handed those groups and their clients (including 93-year-old Viviette Applewhite) a bit of an advantage: They’ve formally acknowledged that there’s been no reported in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania and there isn’t likely to be in November.

The state signed a stipulation agreement with lawyers for the plaintiffs which acknowledges there “have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania; and the parties do not have direct personal knowledge of any such investigations or prosecutions in other states.”

Additionally, the agreement states Pennsylvania “will not offer any evidence in this action that in-person voter fraud has in fact occurred in Pennsylvania and elsewhere” or even argue “that in person voter fraud is likely to occur in November 2012 in the absense of the Photo ID law.”

312 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:01:22am

There was ACORN and there are still community organizers.

The Republican Party is the community disorganizer.

313 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:01:33am

re: #310 Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire

The Yodel-meister!

314 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:05:10am

Air Force Sex Scandal Continued --first of accused sentenced to 20 years.

315 danarchy  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:05:52am

This is why I don't trust polls:

Michigan: Romney vs. Obama Mitchell Research Obama 44, Romney 45 Romney +1

Michigan: Romney vs. Obama PPP (D) Obama 53, Romney 39 Obama +14

316 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:09:08am

Kentucky Voter Fraud Allegedly Funded By Drug Money

Kentucky voter fraud may have been funded by “major cocaine and marijuana dealers.” Voter fraud in eastern Kentucky allegedly involved the use of drug dealers to buy votes, Fox News reports. U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District Kerry B. Harvey told the media that he believes money from drug trafficking was used to purchase votes in Kentucky, The Lexington Herald-Leader notes.

The Kentucky U.S. Attorney went on to describe an “extensive” scheme which allegedly involved “hundreds of thousands” of dollars to develop an “organized criminal activity” system for the purpose of buying voters in Kentucky. Harvey was the leader of a series of federal prosecutions which exposed the alleged “widespread” practice of buying votes in Kentucky.

Kentucky’s vote buying scandal is “rooted in economic woes,” according to Harvey and his team of federal prosecutors. The alleged “generational” practice of buying votes in Kentucky is prompted by high poverty and a desire to control local government jobs, according to federal prosecutor remarks during recent court cases.

In the Eastern District of Kentucky more than 20 politicians and related defendants have plead guilty or been convicted in voter fraud court cases over the past two years. One politician convicted of voter fraud admitted to purchasing his first voter with half a pint of liquor.

“These folks go out and hijack the local elections for their own purposes and then they use those jobs to enrich themselves and their confederates. It really is a terrible problem and it has to be stopped,” Harvey stated.

Kentucky voter fraud court testimony in Clay County maintains money to purchase votes stemmed from marijuana and cocaine drug trafficking. The Kentucky federal prosecutor claims more than $400,000 was “pooled” by both Democratic and Republican politicians over multiple decades to buy approximately 8,000 votes. Part of the proceeds to purchase votes in Kentucky at $50 a pop allegedly came from drug trafficking.

Bipartisan voter fraud!

317 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:09:32am

re: #315 danarchy

This is why I don't trust polls:

Michigan: Romney vs. Obama Mitchell Research Obama 44, Romney 45 Romney +1

Michigan: Romney vs. Obama PPP (D) Obama 53, Romney 39 Obama +14

Some people find your lack of trust offensive.

Image: 220px-Lech_Walesa_-_2009.jpg

318 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:09:41am
319 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:10:13am

re: #318 Gus

[Embedded content]

Retroactive, proactive leadership!

320 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:10:31am

Washington Post Romney Press release
Romney camp: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ report false

An unnamed “adviser” to Mitt Romney who told the London Telegraph that the candidate appreciates “Anglo-Saxon heritage” better than President Obama has no actual connection to the campaign, a spokeswoman for the former Massachusetts governor said Wednesday.
...
Romney does have a team of 22 foreign policy and national security advisers. But British papers have looser guidelines on anonymous quotes than most of the American press. An “adviser” could have no actual role in the campaign; the Republican’s staff rarely talks to the foreign press.

The Telegraph in particular prints many rumors, often infuriating Democrats. “They use anonymous sources to a degree that makes you wonder if they actually have them,” consultant Bob Shrum told Dave Weigel in 2009.

321 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:10:36am

re: #316 NJDhockeyfan

Kentucky Voter Fraud Allegedly Funded By Drug Money

Bipartisan voter fraud!

LOL

322 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:10:53am

re: #320 Killgore Trout

Washington Post Romney Press release
Romney camp: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ report false

Zzzzzz.

323 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:12:02am

re: #316 NJDhockeyfan

Kentucky Voter Fraud Allegedly Funded By Drug Money

Bipartisan voter fraud!

Fifty bucks for a vote? In Kentucky, that'd by a week's sexual favors from your cousin.

324 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:12:29am

re: #320 Killgore Trout

Washington Post Romney Press release
Romney camp: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ report false

Retroactively.

325 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:13:05am

re: #316 NJDhockeyfan

KENTUCKY! It's all about vice --bourbon, tobacco and weed.

326 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:13:41am
327 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:13:50am

re: #305 ggt

Menses --or Monthly -- IIRC

Has to do with the Moon.

menstruation (n.)
1680s, from L.L. menstruare, from menstruus "monthly" + -ation. Old English equivalent was monaðblot "month-blood." Middle English had menstrue (n.), late 14c., from O.Fr. menstrue, from L. menstruum.

Can't recommend Etymonline.com too highly.

328 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:14:40am

re: #305 ggt

Menses --or Monthly -- IIRC

Has to do with the Moon.

I know...hence the wingnut tagging. :)

329 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:15:59am

re: #326 darthstar

[Embedded content]

More lies from the lefty partisan Think Progress!!

330 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:16:02am

re: #327 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Can't recommend Etymonline.com too highly.

One of my favorite sites!!!

331 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:16:33am

re: #318 Gus

Ah, I see you saw that too, whatever it was, though officially the Romney campaign would like to deny it, if it was ever at all something that was mentioned.

332 Big Steve  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:16:53am

To bring us back to the original thread.......sister of Big Steve's is always railing away at the "Patriarchy". That men fuck everything up by trying to run it and this is bad for all and us men are total douches. Well no doubt some of that is true but I believe the same genes/culture that causes men to be "patriarchal" are also the same genes/culture that cause us to dive on top of our girlfriends or wives and take the bullet for them.

333 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:17:25am

re: #331 darthstar

Ah, I see you saw that too, whatever it was, though officially the Romney campaign would like to deny it, if it was ever at all something that was mentioned.

Yep. It's actually an AP story. Of course the 101st Fighting Keyboards think the AP is "lefty." Derp.

334 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:18:46am

I've still got that freakin' yodeling stuck in my head.

336 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:20:45am

re: #334 darthstar

I've still got that freakin' yodeling stuck in my head.

I can fix that.

337 garhighway  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:21:08am

re: #269 Killgore Trout

I don't see both sides as equal. I'm a pretty strong Dem leaner these days but that doesn't mean I have to believe every misleading claim the put in a campaign ad.

This just in....

Republicans say the world is flat. Some Democrats disagree.

338 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:21:38am

re: #336 ggt

I can fix that.

Damn you!

339 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:23:17am
340 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:24:02am
341 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:25:29am

re: #332 Big Steve

To bring us back to the original thread...sister of Big Steve's is always railing away at the "Patriarchy". That men fuck everything up by trying to run it and this is bad for all and us men are total douches. Well no doubt some of that is true but I believe the same genes/culture that causes men to be "patriarchal" are also the same genes/culture that cause us to dive on top of our girlfriends or wives and take the bullet for them.

Is it the same thing that causes mothers to dive on top of their children or husbands?

You're not excused for the patriarchy. Go make me a sammich.

342 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:26:06am

Blech.

343 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:26:13am

re: #335 NJDhockeyfan

In the runup to Gulf War I (1991), Israelis bought gas masks in droves, put together secure rooms, etc., and more Israelis died (4) as a result of improper use of masks/suffocation than they did from the SCUDs fired by Saddam (2) (see here). That experience will inform Israeli defense policy, as does the ability to field the newest generation of Patriot air defense systems, plus the Iron Dome system. It's something that they take seriously, but Assad would be foolish to draw Israel into the fighting - it would effectively neutralize Assad's air capabilities, which are a major reason his regime has been able to hold off the rebel forces.

344 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:26:29am

re: #340 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Mitt's secret TV indulgence: Saxon violence.

345 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:27:02am

re: #344 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Mitt's secret TV indulgence: Saxon violence.

346 Big Steve  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:27:02am

re: #341 wrenchwench

Will a Reuben do?

347 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:28:01am

re: #346 Big Steve

Will a Reuben do?

That's so funny it almost made me Croque Monsieur.

348 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:28:43am

I bet Obama never went sculling.

//

349 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:29:30am

re: #334 darthstar

I've still got that freakin' yodeling stuck in my head.

I'm probably not the only one cursed with "Movin' On Up" at this time.

350 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:29:46am

I bet Obama never wore tennis whites.

//

Romney fund raiser. ;)

351 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:29:58am

re: #346 Big Steve

Will a Reuben do?

Since you spelled it correctly, yes. Don't ever get one from a place that spells it "Rueben".

352 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:31:32am

And now for something completely different.

353 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:31:57am

re: #346 Big Steve

Will a Reuben do?

make sandwiches?

354 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:32:06am

re: #348 Gus

I bet Obama never went sculling.

//

Via Google:

Did you mean:

obama cycling

obama schooling

obama scolding

obama spelling

355 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:32:20am

re: #351 wrenchwench

Since you spelled it correctly, yes. Don't ever get one from a place that spells it "Rueben".

So, you never order Fried Lice?

356 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:32:44am

re: #343 lawhawk

In the runup to Gulf War I (1991), Israelis bought gas masks in droves, put together secure rooms, etc., and more Israelis died (4) as a result of improper use of masks/suffocation than they did from the SCUDs fired by Saddam (2) (see here). That experience will inform Israeli defense policy, as does the ability to field the newest generation of Patriot air defense systems, plus the Iron Dome system. It's something that they take seriously, but Assad would be foolish to draw Israel into the fighting - it would effectively neutralize Assad's air capabilities, which are a major reason his regime has been able to hold off the rebel forces.

I can understand why the Israelis are preparing for the worst. If Assad has his back against the wall and feels like he has nothing to lose he might go ahead and use WMDs.

357 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:33:13am
358 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:33:42am

re: #341 wrenchwench

Is it the same thing that causes mothers to dive on top of their children or husbands?

You're not excused for the patriarchy. Go make me a sammich.

Doncha know? it's that .000025 diluted drop of testosterone women have . . .

359 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:33:43am

re: #355 ggt

So, you never order Fried Lice?

"That's 'fried rice', you plick.

--old joke

360 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:34:32am

re: #356 NJDhockeyfan

I can understand why the Israelis are preparing for the worst. If Assad has his back against the wall and feels like he has nothing to lose he might go ahead and use WMDs.

Yeah, because nothing makes more sense than inviting an Israeli nuclear retaliation.

361 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:34:47am

re: #354 wrenchwench

Via Google:

I bet Obama never went on a fox hunt.

//

362 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:34:59am

Huma Abedin Conspiracies Get Weirder

Walid Shoebat, who according to the Center for American Progress [pdf] is a “former purported Islamic terrorist turned apocalyptic Christian,” recently told David Horowitz’s FrontPageMag that Abedin’s marriage to Weiner, who is Jewish, is either part of her Muslim Brotherhood espionage or shows that Weiner converted to Islam, or both:

It is extremely rare to have Muslim women marry non-Muslims, much less to have conservative Muslims look the other way, unless Huma has a “higher calling” and a unique exception was made for her, since she is an ear into top U.S. sensitive information, or Anthony Weiner has converted to Islam or even both.

On Monday, Shoebat told the American Family Association’s Sandy Rios that the rise of Muslim Brotherhood is all part of biblical prophecy and we are witnessing the birth pangs of the End Times:

He also claimed that Obama is assisting the Muslim Brotherhood and is “in bed with terrorists,” and that Michele Bachmann and Louie Gohmert, two of the five Republican congressmen who have accused Abedin of cooperating with the Muslim Brotherhood, are acting like modern day John the Baptist fighting today’s Herod:

363 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:35:06am

LOL "LITERALLY" FAIL

364 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:35:15am

Every frickin' day this bird starts whistling outside. I don't know what type of bird, not a cardinal--I know their call.

Sounds like a human version of the "cat call" whistle. over and over and over and over.

I'm just not a bird lover.

365 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:36:43am

re: #364 ggt

Every frickin' day this bird starts whistling outside. I don't know what type of bird, not a cardinal--I know their call.

Sounds like a human version of the "cat call" whistle. over and over and over and over.

I'm just not a bird lover.

366 wrenchwench  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:37:11am

re: #361 Gus

I bet Obama never went on a fox hunt.

//

Except when he caught Michelle.

/wild and crazy guy

367 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:38:18am

re: #360 darthstar

Yeah, because nothing makes more sense than inviting an Israeli nuclear retaliation.

Yeah. Not gonna happen. For some reason they're trying to hype the chemical weapons story as some kind of of Saddam/SCUD missile analogy of sorts.

368 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:38:51am
369 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:39:06am

Biden's statement on Romney campaign's "Anglo-Saxon" dog whistle.

“Despite his promises that politics stops at the water’s edge, Governor Romney’s wheels hadn’t even touched down in London before his advisors were reportedly playing politics with international diplomacy, attempting to create daylight between the United States and the United Kingdom where none exists. Our special relationship with the British is stronger than ever and we are proud to work hand-in-hand with Prime Minister Cameron to confront every major national security challenge we face today. On every major issue — from Afghanistan to missile defense, from the fight against international terrorism to our success in isolating countries like Iran whose nuclear programs threaten peace and stability — we’ve never been more in sync. The comments reported this morning are a disturbing start to a trip designed to demonstrate Governor Romney’s readiness to represent the United States on the world’s stage. Not surprisingly, this is just another feeble attempt by the Romney campaign to score political points at the expense of this critical partnership. This assertion is beneath a presidential campaign.”

370 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:39:23am

re: #338 darthstar

Damn you!

already been done. I have nothing to lose!!!!

371 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:39:48am

Romney's having a Bolton moment because Bolton = wingnut.

372 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:40:48am

re: #359 wrenchwench

"That's 'fried rice', you plick.

--old joke

What's all this I hear about flea elections in China?

373 Kronocide  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:40:54am

John Bolton is the wingnut's Michael Bolton.

374 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:41:06am

Putting tolerance for leaks to the test

When President Obama's critics on the right accuse him of constitutional excesses they consider "outrageous," I tend to ask a simple question: did these same critics express any concerns at all when Dick Cheney said the Office of the Vice President isn't part of the executive branch? If not, I'm inclined to take their cries less seriously.

Similarly, when conservatives say they're incensed about leaks related to national security, I tend to ask another simple question: were they at all bothered by the Valarie Plame scandal?

Yesterday, Mitt Romney based a large portion of his VFW speech, ostensibly about his foreign policy vision, to complaining about leaks. The Republican candidate called the leaks "contemptible," adding, "It betrays our national interest. It compromises our men and women in the field. And it demands a full and prompt investigation by a special counsel, with explanation and consequence."

And yet, five years ago, Romney defended Scooter Libby, and condemned the investigation into the Plame leak as a "political vendetta." And this year, the connection is even more dramatic.

...

375 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:41:42am

Google's predictive search has heard it all before...
Image: PHmEo.png

376 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:41:43am

re: #363 Learned Mother of Zion

LOL "LITERALLY" FAIL

[Embedded content]

I literally died laughing when I read that. Oh, wait.

377 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:43:04am

re: #376 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

I literally died laughing when I read that. Oh, wait.

TheOatmeal has a cartoon about incorrect use of the word "literally" with some hilarious examples.

378 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:45:01am

FRC Strategy Memo: ‘We Must Go On Offense,’ Target Secular Research And Young People

I thought they were offensive enough already.

GO ON OFFENSE: FRC has consistently played great defense. But at this “moment of critical mass” for this and the next generation, we must go on the offense to advance the Christian worldview as America’s only hope. We must double our impact!

GENERATE BIASED RESEARCH: Society listens to academic research, so we must use the language the secular world understands to prove that marriage and worship are foundational to a healthy society and economy. The left has many large institutes manufacturing faulty research to support their anti-family agenda, pro-family conservatives need a social science research powerhouse.

TARGET YOUNG PEOPLE: We have an aggressive plan to engage high school and college students, equip young leaders, and find new ways to communicate truth to the internet generation… we must flood the public debate with fresh, new pro-family activists. FRC must expand our development of materials and video curriculum to equip pastors and laypeople to effectively engage the culture… To expand our reach, we must expand our team that works directly with pastors and their congregations.

FUND ASTROTURF MOVEMENT: Many battles happen on the state and local level where grassroots activsits need FRC’s expertise, and where it is easier to be proactive… we can do unlimited lobbying and more political activity through our affiliated 501(c)(4), FRC Action.

380 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:45:54am

re: #377 Learned Mother of Zion

TheOatmeal has a cartoon about incorrect use of the word "literally" with some hilarious examples.

My favorite real-life example was a co-worker enthusiastically describing how well-attended a presentation of his had been: "People were literally hanging from the ceiling!" Oh, really?

381 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:46:22am
382 erik_t  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:47:13am
383 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:47:52am

re: #367 Gus

Assad threatening Israel with chemical weapons doesn't make a lot of sense from a tactical or strategic angle. It would give Israel a reason to carry out massive retaliation against Syrian forces - using all the weapons at Israel's disposal. But even if Israel retaliated with less than nuclear weapons, it would still destroy Assad's air capabilities.

Assad's barely able to hold off the rebel forces, so pulling in Israel (or Turkey) would be a death warrant.

Does that mean that Assad could irrationally believe that the threats will stave off the demise of his regime or put UN/Arab League/NATO plans on hold because of the threat? The latter might hold off if they think that Assad would do so, but it wont stave off the demise of his regime; he's already lost territory to the rebels, and is fighting to hold on to major cities.

Another dynamic at play is this: say Assad did fire WMD at Israel. Israel's retaliation would be a liberating moment for Syrians who have known of nothing but Assad's totalitarian regime for decades. It would undermine longstanding Arab/Islamic beliefs about Israel since any retaliation by Israel would likely result in aiding the toppling of the Assad regime, though it would also open the door for Hizbullah/Iran to expand its influence in the ensuing vacuum of power.

Gaming things out like this is one of the reasons that so many countries - both inside the Middle East and outside - prefer the status quo to changes/upheavals such as the Arab League. They'd rather take the devil they know to a complete unknown, even if the ultimate outcome is likely to be better than the existing situation.

384 erik_t  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:48:42am

re: #363 Learned Mother of Zion

LOL "LITERALLY" FAIL

[Embedded content]

But when Bain had to shutter a company, it's just because they were innovative capitalist risk-takers or whatever.

385 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:48:59am

Anarchist douchebag turns on his friends....

Bridge bomb plot suspect pleads guilty

AKRON, OH (WOIO) - The five men accused of trying to blow up a Cleveland-area bridge went before a judge Wednesday morning.

26-year-old Douglas L. Wright, 20-year-old Brandon L. Baxter, 35-year-old Anthony Hayne, 20-year-old Connor C. Stevens and Joshua S. Stafford are facing federal charges for plotting to blow up the Brecksville bridge.

Anthony Hayne pleaded guilty to three counts during the hearing.

About a dozen protestors - who claim the men were framed - picketed outside the courthouse.

386 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:49:04am

re: #382 erik_t

I wouldn't wipe my ass with that rag.

Made this a while back.

387 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:49:36am

911 Call Revealed NYPD Surveillance Den In New Jersey

The Associated Press has released the tape of the 911 call that revealed the NYPD’s extensive surveillance program of peaceful Muslims far beyond its jurisdiction. A building superintendent in New Brunswick, New Jersey called 911 in June 2009 to report what he thought was a terrorist hideout: an apartment containing nothing but NYPD radios and computers. “There’s pictures of terrorists. There’s literature on the Muslim religion,” he said to the 911 operator. In March, the NYPD endured harsh criticism for the secret surveillance, which compiled files on Muslim students and mosques from New Jersey to New Orleans. An NYPD deputy defended the operation in February by claiming that the detectives can operate outside New York because they aren’t conducting official police duties. The Associated Press, which broke the story earlier this year, won access to the 911 call after suing New Brunswick.

388 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:49:43am

re: #374 Varek Raith

It's all about the right sort making the right kinds of leaks. If you aren't the right sort, then you're wrong.

389 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:49:46am

re: #340 darthstar

Can't King Canute just appear and order the dirt to retreat from the floor?
//

390 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:50:25am

re: #383 lawhawk

Assad threatening Israel with chemical weapons doesn't make a lot of sense from a tactical or strategic angle. It would give Israel a reason to carry out massive retaliation against Syrian forces - using all the weapons at Israel's disposal. But even if Israel retaliated with less than nuclear weapons, it would still destroy Assad's air capabilities.

Assad's barely able to hold off the rebel forces, so pulling in Israel (or Turkey) would be a death warrant.

Does that mean that Assad could irrationally believe that the threats will stave off the demise of his regime or put UN/Arab League/NATO plans on hold because of the threat? The latter might hold off if they think that Assad would do so, but it wont stave off the demise of his regime; he's already lost territory to the rebels, and is fighting to hold on to major cities.

Another dynamic at play is this: say Assad did fire WMD at Israel. Israel's retaliation would be a liberating moment for Syrians who have known of nothing but Assad's totalitarian regime for decades. It would undermine longstanding Arab/Islamic beliefs about Israel since any retaliation by Israel would likely result in aiding the toppling of the Assad regime, though it would also open the door for Hizbullah/Iran to expand its influence in the ensuing vacuum of power.

Gaming things out like this is one of the reasons that so many countries - both inside the Middle East and outside - prefer the status quo to changes/upheavals such as the Arab League. They'd rather take the devil they know to a complete unknown, even if the ultimate outcome is likely to be better than the existing situation.

The delusion of power some of these "leaders" are under, IMHO, makes it difficult to know WHAT they will do. We can only hope some of his handlers have some sense.

391 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:50:49am

re: #383 lawhawk

Assad threatening Israel with chemical weapons doesn't make a lot of sense from a tactical or strategic angle. It would give Israel a reason to carry out massive retaliation against Syrian forces - using all the weapons at Israel's disposal. But even if Israel retaliated with less than nuclear weapons, it would still destroy Assad's air capabilities.

Assad's barely able to hold off the rebel forces, so pulling in Israel (or Turkey) would be a death warrant.

Does that mean that Assad could irrationally believe that the threats will stave off the demise of his regime or put UN/Arab League/NATO plans on hold because of the threat? The latter might hold off if they think that Assad would do so, but it wont stave off the demise of his regime; he's already lost territory to the rebels, and is fighting to hold on to major cities.

Another dynamic at play is this: say Assad did fire WMD at Israel. Israel's retaliation would be a liberating moment for Syrians who have known of nothing but Assad's totalitarian regime for decades. It would undermine longstanding Arab/Islamic beliefs about Israel since any retaliation by Israel would likely result in aiding the toppling of the Assad regime, though it would also open the door for Hizbullah/Iran to expand its influence in the ensuing vacuum of power.

Gaming things out like this is one of the reasons that so many countries - both inside the Middle East and outside - prefer the status quo to changes/upheavals such as the Arab League. They'd rather take the devil they know to a complete unknown, even if the ultimate outcome is likely to be better than the existing situation.

I think in a nutshell that Assad is crazy but he isn't that crazy.

392 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:51:38am

More Republican news...

393 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:52:33am

re: #385 NJDhockeyfan

About a dozen protestors - who claim the men were framed - picketed outside the courthouse.

lol

394 Varek Raith  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:53:59am

re: #392 Gus

More Republican news...

[Embedded content]

OCCUPYLOOKITMUSLIMS!

395 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:55:20am
396 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:56:50am

re: #390 ggt

Not sure about his handlers, but his top level defense/intel officials were gutted as a result of that bombing last week. That could end up meaning that their successors will be far more brutal in their handling of the crackdown.

Syria's neighbors have to be wary of whatever Assad's doing. Turkey's already closed off its border to trade traffic. That's one less avenue that Assad can travel to renew diplomatic ties, leaving Assad with Iran as the one predictable ally in the region. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Gulf States, and Jordan are all working towards containing Iran's ambitions, and that's another instance of where Israel's interests and those of other Arab countries are in sync.

Gus:
That's probably correct, though seeing how his top defense officials got killed last week, he might see the need to throw even more firepower at the rebels (and I'd say that's the mode he's gone in since the air force is now carrying out airstrikes in addition to the helicopter gunships that had coordinated strikes against rebel strongholds in Aleppo and other areas).

When facing such an unpredictable foe, prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

397 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:57:08am

re: #359 wrenchwench

"That's 'fried rice', you plick.

--old joke

Fluctuations, well fluck you white people too.

- Another old joke

398 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:57:28am

re: #392 Gus

More Republican news...

[Embedded content]

We must always be looking for creeping Sharia, so we won't notice when they do this kind of shit.

399 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 9:58:34am

re: #393 Killgore Trout

lol

400 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:04:45am

The Olympics are barely underway (soccer started today) and there's already a bunch of athletes disqualified for failing drug tests, but one athlete was booted because of racist twitter comments. A Greek triple-jumper was booted for the comments today.

With a 140 character message, triple jumper Voula Papachristou leaped her way out of the London Olympics and into an international spotlight she did not anticipate.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee expelled Papachristou from the team after the 23-year-old Greek mocked African immigrants on her Twitter account. The committee said that Papachristou was "placed outside the Olympic team for statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic Movement."

While gearing up for her first Olympic games on Sunday, Papachristou commented on the reported influx of West Nile mosquitos in Athens. She tweeted in Greek, "With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!" Her tweet provoked a bevy of ill responses, and many Greeks called for her dismissal from the Olympic team.

Papachristou also retweeted messages from the extreme right Golden Dawn party, which has criticized Greek's prime minister and his stance on immigration.

Racist is racist.

West Nile is prevalent around much of the world, including the NYC metro area. It is prevalent among migratory birds, which are a spreading vector.

402 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:09:26am

Romney Made Repeated Trips To Bain, Weighed In On Business Decisions After 1999

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he had no active role in Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded, after he exited in February 1999 to take over Salt Lake City's Winter Olympics bid. But according to Bain associates and others familiar with Romney's actions at the time, he stayed in regular contact with his partners over the following months, tending to his partnership interests and negotiating his separation from the company.

Those familiar with Romney's discussions with his Bain partners said the contacts included several meetings in Boston, the company's home base, but were limited to matters that did not affect the firm's investments or other management decisions. Yet Romney continued to oversee his partnership stakes even as he disengaged from the firm, personally signing or approving a series of corporate and legal documents through the spring of 2001, according to financial reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

The details of Romney's contacts with his Bain partners between his 1999 departure and his separation from the company in mid-2001 could show how involved he was - either as CEO or passive investor - in several multimillion-dollar investment deals, bankruptcies and a spate of layoffs and overseas job shifts at Bain-owned companies that reportedly occurred during that span. Romney's role became a campaign issue in recent weeks because corporate records from the time showed his interests in some of those deals - despite his insistence that he gave up any decision-making authority once he left Bain.

403 erik_t  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:10:35am

re: #402 Kragar

Romney Made Repeated Trips To Bain, Weighed In On Business Decisions After 1999

Mitt Romney retroactively redefined 'active'.

(whoooh, just got the recursion-dizzies)

404 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:10:39am

re: #400 lawhawk

The Olympics are barely underway (soccer started today) and there's already a bunch of athletes disqualified for failing drug tests, but one athlete was booted because of racist twitter comments. A Greek triple-jumper was booted for the comments today.

Racist is racist.

West Nile is prevalent around much of the world, including the NYC metro area. It is prevalent among migratory birds, which are a spreading vector.

On the media front BBC Sport is being boneheaded about Israel in their Olympics "countries site" -- as made aware to me by ADL. It's this...

[Israel] Seat of government

Jerusalem, though most foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv.

405 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:13:09am

re: #404 Gus

On the media front BBC Sport is being boneheaded about Israel in their Olympics "countries site" -- as made aware to me by ADL. It's this...

ADL response here.

406 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:13:50am

re: #402 Kragar

Romney Made Repeated Trips To Bain, Weighed In On Business Decisions After 1999

Yeah, that's being touted as the latest bombshell revelation by Think progress, TPM, Dkos, etc. I don't think it tells us anything we didn't already know.

407 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:13:50am

Although the BBC Sport page does include a story about "Black September."

408 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:14:12am

re: #406 Killgore Trout

Yeah, that's being touted as the latest bombshell revelation by Think progress, TPM, Dkos, etc. I don't think it tells us anything we didn't already know.

Uh. That's actually an AP story.

409 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:15:45am

re: #400 lawhawk

West Nile is prevalent around much of the world, including the NYC metro area. It is prevalent among migratory birds, which are a spreading vector.

Is it a bad thing that at first glance I read that as minority birds?

410 Interesting Times  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:16:11am
411 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:16:59am

re: #404 Gus

Yeah, the BBC is trying to avoid controversy by applying the term "seat of government" rather than capital to describe Jerusalem.

It isn't Tel Aviv - it never has been Israel's capital. Israel's capital has been Jerusalem (West Jerusalem from 1948 until 1967) and Jerusalem in toto since. Palestinians have likewise claimed Jerusalem as their capital but Israel has made it clear they refuse to repartition the city. Tel Aviv may be where most countries place their embassies or consulates to avoid appearing to give Israel's claims to Jerusalem more backing, but Jerusalem is the capital.

By singling Israel out for the "seat of government" treatment, they are holding Israel to a completely different standard than every other country in the world.

412 Killgore Trout  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:17:18am

re: #408 Gus

Uh. That's actually an AP story.

It is, and it confirms what we already knew. There aren't any revelations here that I can see.

413 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:19:39am
414 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:20:02am

re: #412 Killgore Trout

It is, and it confirms what we already knew. There aren't any revelations here that I can see.

So additional confirmation of "what we already knew" which has essentially been denied from the Romney camp isn't anything new?

415 szilard  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:20:21am

re: #229 ggt

Neither are mine. But then again I am from a different continent, and different age.

416 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:22:44am

Uh oh. Here we go. Get ready for the gun nuts...

417 erik_t  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:23:05am

re: #414 Gus

So additional confirmation of "what we already knew" which has essentially been denied from the Romney camp isn't anything new?

It's funny, because I swear the usual suspects have been harping on lack of traceable confirmation on all sorts of stories recently.

418 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:23:35am

Just two days before Barack HUSSEIN Obama signs the United Nations gun ban!!11ty

419 Sheila Broflovski  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:25:26am

Holmes mailed notebook describing his plans to shrink, who ignored it!

Source is Fox, so the 24-hour rule is in effect.

420 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:28:39am

re: #419 Learned Mother of Zion

Holmes mailed notebook describing his plans to shrink, who ignored it!

Source is Fox, so the 24-hour rule is in effect.

Yikes!

...“Inside the package was a notebook full of details about how he was going to kill people,” the source told FoxNews.com. “There were drawings of what he was going to do in it -- drawings and illustrations of the massacre."

Among the images shown in the spiral-bound notebook’s pages were gun-wielding stick figures blowing away other stick figures.

The source said the package had been in the mailroom since July 12, though another source who confirmed the discovery to FoxNews.com could not say if the package arrived prior to Friday's massacre. It was not clear why it had not been delivered to the psychiatrist. The notebook is now in possession of the FBI, sources told FoxNews.com.

421 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:30:14am

So he was in treatment --had a shrink.

?????????

422 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:31:35am

re: #421 ggt

So he was in treatment --had a shrink.

???

Obviously there was no question that he should be able to buy a whole bunch of guns.

423 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:31:43am

re: #420 NJDhockeyfan

This bit is weird:

Police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora on Monday morning after the psychiatrist, who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect. Although that package turned out to be from someone else and harmless, a search of the Campus Services' mailroom turned up another package sent to the psychiatrist with Holmes’ name in the return address, the source told FoxNews.com.

So the guy thought he got a package from Holmes, but what he thought was from Holmes wasn't from him, but by a complete coincidence there really was a package from Holmes in the mailroom to the psychiatrist?

424 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:32:26am

re: #421 ggt

So he was in treatment --had a shrink.

???

The article says:

It could not be verified that the psychiatrist had had previous contact with Holmes, who was a dropout from the school’s neuroscience doctoral program and had studied various mental health issues and ailments as part of his curriculum.

425 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:32:56am

re: #419 Learned Mother of Zion

Holmes mailed notebook describing his plans to shrink, who ignored it!

Source is Fox, so the 24-hour rule is in effect.

...

AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THE FATHER OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY, SIGMUND FREUD, WAS FRIENDS WITH KARL MARX WHICH MEANS THE FAULT LIES SQUARELY WITH SOCIALISTS, LIBERALS AND DEMOCRATS!!11TY

426 iossarian  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:33:28am

re: #424 Obdicut

The article says:

Good point. They presumably wouldn't be able to confirm/deny whether he had had treatment, at this point, anyway.

Let the speculation commence!

427 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:33:41am

re: #423 Obdicut

This bit is weird:

So the guy thought he got a package from Holmes, but what he thought was from Holmes wasn't from him, but by a complete coincidence there really was a package from Holmes in the mailroom to the psychiatrist?

Police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora on Monday morning after the psychiatrist, who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect.

Was the psychiatrist his doctor or just one of his professors?

428 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:34:39am

re: #426 iossarian

Good point. They presumably wouldn't be able to confirm/deny whether he had had treatment, at this point, anyway.

Let the speculation commence!

See #425.

//

429 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:35:14am

re: #427 NJDhockeyfan

Was the psychiatrist his doctor or just one of his professors?

Very unlikely to have been his doctor. Most academic psychiatrists don't practice much, since they have to teach classes.

430 HappyWarrior  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:35:17am

re: #427 NJDhockeyfan

Was the psychiatrist his doctor or just one of his professors?

Sounds like both by the way the article is phrased.

431 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:35:41am

re: #422 iossarian

Obviously there was no question that he should be able to buy a whole bunch of guns.

One has to be adjudicated mentally unstable in order for the law to prevent one from purchasing firearms. Just being in treatment isn't a determining factor. There are lots of people WHO SHOULD be in treatment that aren't--and they can get guns too!!! They, usually, are the problem, not the person who wants to be healthy. Also realize the vast majority of mental illness does not produce violence towards others.

I agree the 24 hour rule needs to apply to this story as the law and procedure, IIRC, is different if the practitioner is a PHd or an MD. They may say Psychiatrist when they mean Psychologist or vice versa. I can't imagine an MD ignoring signs of violence in a mental patient.

432 lawhawk  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:36:40am

RT:
The assault weapons ban - did it actually reduce the amount of crime during the period in which it was effective? I'm wondering whether it was actually effective in its goal, or was it more of a feel-good move as enacted. I'm leaning towards the latter due to the way the law was worded and the loopholes available.

I've been struggling to figure out how to address this since I don't own firearms and don't foresee myself ever owning one, but I wouldn't want to prevent someone who is law-abiding from obtaining firearms for recreational purposes or self defense.

There are rules in place to deal with certain kinds of internet sales of the weapons, such as having to pick up the firearms from a registered dealer (even if it isn't the one that sold you the weapon). Can those be strengthened further, but would that have made a difference with Aurora (nope, the shooter was not on police radar with at most a traffic violation to his name). Waiting periods wouldn't have mattered here either (again - the shooter wasn't on any watch lists).

Then, there's the issue of ammunition. Should there be a limitation on such sales (online or in-store)? A complete ban on ammo sales online? I'm leaning towards a ban on online purchases - you should have to buy ammo from a bricks and mortar location so that they can see who is actually buying instead of a blind buy via the Internet. Would a major purchase of ammo have sent off warning bells, because is it really within the realm of normal purchases to obtain thousands of rounds in short order? I'm thinking that isn't a normal series of transactions, and would have raised warning flags.

433 HappyWarrior  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:36:47am

I dunno. My psychiatrist was teaching while he was seeing me. I've since stopped seeing him but I even ended up seeing him at the graduation ceremony since psychology is also in the College of the Humanities.

434 dragonfire1981  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:36:52am
435 Obdicut  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:37:06am

So is what happened that this guy thought there was a package for him from Holmes, it turned out not to be, but the FBI decided to sweep the whole mailroom anyway and found a package from Holmes for this guy?

I think this is probably bad reporting, because that seems wildly coincidental to me-- unless the psychiatrist had some reason to think he had gotten a package from Holmes.

436 blueraven  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:38:11am

re: #430 HappyWarrior

Sounds like both by the way the article is phrased.

Not really

It could not be verified that the psychiatrist had had previous contact with Holmes, who was a dropout from the school’s neuroscience doctoral program and had studied various mental health issues and ailments as part of his curriculum.

Read more: [Link: www.foxnews.com...]

437 dragonfire1981  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:38:49am

re: #392 Gus

More Republican news...

[Embedded content]

“These student-centered reforms will completely transform Louisiana and its students,” said Dr. Tony Bennett, Chairman of Chiefs for Change and Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Students will no longer have to settle for failing schools. Countless families will be able to select the best education option for their unique student’s needs. And superintendents and principals will be empowered to hone faculties of talented, dynamic, and effective educators. Armed with these bold reforms, Louisiana will soon lead our country in quality public K-12 education.”

“Louisiana is the first state in the nation to move public education towards a marketplace approach, where parents and students are able to choose from effective, quality education providers and the dollars follow the student,” said Paul Pastorek, Member Emeritus of Chiefs for Change and Former Louisiana State Superintendent of Education. “The nation will be watching as Louisiana continues to transform traditional education rules and lead its students towards untold achievement.”

Wow...

That's all I got at the moment.

438 HappyWarrior  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:39:12am

re: #436 blueraven

Not really

Read more: [Link: www.foxnews.com...]

Ah my bad then. Then it sounds like no he was not Holmes' shrink then.

439 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:39:35am

REPOSTING FOR EMPHASIS:

Just being in treatment isn't a determining factor. There are lots of people WHO SHOULD be in treatment that aren't--and they can get guns too!!! They, usually, are the problem, not the person who wants to be healthy. Also realize the vast majority of mental illness does not produce violence towards others.

We have to remove the stigma of mental illness. "Being in Treatment" alone is not a reason to deny a person the right to self-defense with a legal firearm.

440 HappyWarrior  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:41:22am

Re: The Obama you didn't build that comment. If one really looks at what he said, then it makes a lot of sense but if you choose to believe that Obama dissed small business owners by what he did. Romney himself later agreed with the crux of Obama's argument later but still decided to distort Obama's words in an ad. Trust me as the son of a former small business owner, success and failure are based on many factors.

441 Shiplord Kirel  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:44:39am

re: #379 Varek Raith

Wash Times Columnist Labels Batman Director, Hollywood The "Osama Bin Laden" Of The Aurora Shooting

Classy.

I would call this creep an asshole but that would be an insult to assholes. Ditto for baboons. Maybe a rabid baboon, but sick monkeys can't help being vicious while this creature can.

442 Kragar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:44:46am

Michele Bachmann Is On Her Way to Becoming an Official Right-Wing Martyr

Praising Bachmann as a hero and comparing her to John the Baptist and Margaret Thatcher, right-wing activists as well as radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Bryan Fischer have rushed to her defense. Yesterday on The Janet Mefferd Show, Gaffney, whose work is cited by Bachmann in her letters concerning Muslim government officials, expressed his “horror” and “anger” about criticism of Bachmann and her Republican allies . “They have been subjected to the most egregious and in some cases just flat out uninformed criticism that I’ve experienced in these thirty-six years in Washington and I find it appalling,” Gaffney said, warning that the Muslim Brotherhood is using “pre-violent” means and its allies in government “to shut down the investigations we need into this kind of subversive activity within our wire.”

443 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:46:28am

My friend just called. The hospital is keeping him over night to monitor him. They don't like his kidney numbers, whatever that means.

444 Gus  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:46:30am

He sent the package to A psychiatrist and it was discovered after the shooting took place.

445 HappyWarrior  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:46:40am

re: #442 Kragar

Michele Bachmann Is On Her Way to Becoming an Official Right-Wing Martyr

Only to the right does one become a martyr for not being able to persecute enough. I feel so bad for Ms. Abedin getting treated like this because of the "sin" of being a Muslim-American and one that works for the Obama State department to boot.

446 Shiplord Kirel  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:47:15am

re: #442 Kragar

Michele Bachmann Is On Her Way to Becoming an Official Right-Wing Martyr

Who decided that the criminally insane needed representation in Congress? The dim bulb voters obviously, with a lot of help from talk radio, corporate astro-turfing, and garden-variety religious quacks.

447 Shiplord Kirel  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:48:37am

re: #437 dragonfire1981

Wow...

That's all I got at the moment.

Serf's up!

448 Gretchen G.Tiger  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 10:52:09am

re: #442 Kragar

Michele Bachmann Is On Her Way to Becoming an Official Right-Wing Martyr

Classic example of someone who needs to be in treatment, but isn't. Ok, maybe a de-programming clinic.

449 Lidane  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 11:06:17am

re: #3 Obdicut

He should go visit the girls and tell them and their families this in person.

He's too much of a spineless coward to do that.

Typical macho posturing, right-wing Keyboard Commando. Pfft.

450 darthstar  Wed, Jul 25, 2012 11:56:25am

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