A Gorilla Is Born at Lincoln Park Zoo

Zookeepers cautiously optimistic
Images • Views: 39,731

All Eyes Are on Newborn Gorilla at Lincoln Park Zoo.

On October 11, a healthy baby Western Lowland Gorilla was born at the Lincoln Park Zoo — an important addition to this critically endangered species.

The baby has yet to be sexed or named and appears to be doing well. Mother Bana, 17, is showing appropriate maternal instincts, while dad Kwan, a 23-year-old silverback, is watchful over the mom and baby pair.

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348 comments
1 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 7:46:13pm

So cute!

2 b_sharp  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 7:46:26pm

Look at the intelligence in those eyes.

3 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 7:51:04pm

Cute little one. I'll try to get over to see him this coming week.

4 efuseakay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 7:57:32pm

I'm going to go see it as soon as possible. :)

5 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:02:00pm

Looks like a little old man.

6 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:02:36pm

re: #3 Dark_Falcon

Cute little one. I'll try to get over to see him this coming week.

Say hi for us.

7 Romantic Heretic  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:03:54pm

Awwww.

8 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:06:54pm

Have a gorilla.

9 ReamWorks SKG  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:08:19pm

You can see the smile on mom's face!

10 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:08:48pm

re: #9 ReamWorks SKG

You can see the smile on mom's face!

Well, she has every right to be proud. It's adorable.

11 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:08:58pm

re: #6 SanFranciscoZionist

Say hi for us.

I'll try to get a picture. Easier to do in the current, far better lit Great Ape House. I'm glad LPZ got rid of the underground bunker that was the previous home of the Zoo's gorillas. That building was well intentioned and an improvment for the apes, but it reminded me irresistibly of a bunker on France's Maginot Line.

12 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:08:58pm

re: #8 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Have a gorilla.

No thanks, they make my throat hurt.

13 b_sharp  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:17:57pm

re: #12 Obdicut

No thanks, they make my throat hurt.

Don't take such big bites.

14 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:21:09pm

re: #12 Obdicut

No thanks, they make my throat hurt.

Try our new gorillas with the patented Micronite™ filter.

15 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:24:01pm

All babies are cute.
That's why I stay away from them.

16 prairiefire  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:24:09pm

There was a baby gorilla when we visited this zoo several years ago. It is a bit old school with the animals under a more acute observation. The mama gorilla was shielding her baby from viewing with the way she was holding him.

It's a beautiful park and zoo right on the great lake Michigan.

17 Only The Lurker Knows  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:24:41pm

Night Lizards.

As always, May The Deity Of Your Choice Smile Down Upon You.

And yeah, the kid is cute. Reminds me of my brother. :-)

18 CriticalDragon1177  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:25:58pm

Charles Johnson,

That's so cute. There's something about that baby chimp that looks rather human, maybe its because they're so closely related to us.

19 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:28:14pm

As stated, on last thread, my page on the Inter-City War in Libya is now up.

20 prairiefire  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:37:20pm

re: #19 ProGunLiberal

As stated, on last thread, my page on the Inter-City War in Libya is now up.

How ya been?

21 ProGunLiberal  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:39:38pm

re: #20 prairiefire

Better. Head on straighter. Took me 45+ minutes to write that thing though.

Right now, got a full time job in Colorado Springs, working to get money to move.

Where? OKC. Many of the people from college who did not abandon me want me to come back. So, I feel I should, as most of my moral support is there.

22 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:48:45pm

re: #21 ProGunLiberal

You sound better. Good going.

23 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:52:45pm

Copy.

24 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:53:56pm

Paste.

25 Mr. Crankypants  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 8:56:30pm

evening all...what's the buzz?

26 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:02:13pm

17? Since when do we celebrate becoming a mother at 17?

She needs to go to college, and travel the world, and learn to have her own apartment and utilities...

Oops. Nevermind.

27 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:02:39pm

To be serious, is there a factor for gorilla ages, like there is for dogs?

28 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:02:47pm

I always look out for my flock.

29 prairiefire  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:04:24pm

It is a beautiful Fall weekend here in KC. We!ve had enough rain to have Fall colors.

30 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:08:30pm
31 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:14:58pm

re: #27 Mostly sane, most of the time.

To be serious, is there a factor for gorilla ages, like there is for dogs?

They live about 35 years in the wild, and up to 55 or so in zoo, according to a quick Google. Gorillas reach sexual maturity at about ten, so seventeen is quite respectable...actually, it would be quite respectable for humans in most societies, we just encourage folks to, you know, see Paris and get a master's degree.

32 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:17:27pm

re: #25 Mr. Crankypants

evening all...what's the buzz?

Bit of skirmishing on a Page Destro posted, but otherwise all is serene.

33 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:18:46pm

re: #32 Dark_Falcon

Bit of skirmishing on a Page Destro posted, but otherwise all is serene.

91 comments. The usual.

34 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:24:34pm

I could get 91 comments on a page. I would just have to be willing to purposefully pick a fight.

35 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:26:06pm

10th Doctor, 4th Doctor, or 11th Doctor?

36 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:28:40pm
37 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:28:43pm

re: #35 Mostly sane, most of the time.

10th Doctor, 4th Doctor, or 11th Doctor?

10th, although the 11th is starting to grow on me a little.

I want the next doctor to be a redheaded woman. I want her to get incredibly excited about finally being a ginger, and only casualy notice the female part perhaps a couple of episodes in.

38 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:29:23pm

re: #35 Mostly sane, most of the time.

10th Doctor, 4th Doctor, or 11th Doctor?

I have a better idea.

MST3K sucked balls.

39 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:31:14pm

re: #38 Mocking Jay

I have a better idea.

MST3K sucked balls.

We could go old school and ask who the best Star Trek captain was.

(Obviously, it was Picard.)

40 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:31:22pm

re: #37 SanFranciscoZionist

10th, although the 11th is starting to grow on me a little.

I want the next doctor to be a redheaded woman. I want her to get incredibly excited about finally being a ginger, and only casualy notice the female part perhaps a couple of episodes in.

THESE DISNEY DOCTORS WILL VANQUISH EVIL, SING WHILE DOING IT

41 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:31:50pm

re: #39 Mostly sane, most of the time.

We could go old school and ask who the best Star Trek captain was.

(Obviously, it was Picard.)

Sisko had the stones to do what needed to be done!

42 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:32:34pm

re: #39 Mostly sane, most of the time.

We could go old school and ask who the best Star Trek captain was.

(Obviously, it was Picard.)

Only question I ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?

43 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:32:49pm

re: #38 Mocking Jay

I have a better idea.

MST3K sucked balls.

Just demonstrably false.

44 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:33:37pm

re: #39 Mostly sane, most of the time.

We could go old school and ask who the best Star Trek captain was.

(Obviously, it was Picard.)

Janeway.

45 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:33:49pm
46 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:33:51pm

re: #43 Obdicut

47 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:34:24pm

re: #44 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Janeway.

Evil Alternative Universe Kirk...

48 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:34:27pm

Over.

49 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:34:47pm

re: #48 Gus

Over.

But we just started.

50 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:34:59pm

Really dark and creepy...I like it!

Beware, the Undertaker is coming!

51 Gus  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:35:23pm

re: #49 Mocking Jay

But we just started.

Semper Fi.

52 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:35:57pm

re: #51 Gus

Semper Fi.

I know an all-Marine-veteran bluegrass band that's called "Semper Fiddles".

Actually, they let their kids jam with them too. And a lot of the Marines are hippies now. Ah, Northern California. I miss you.

53 Mich-again  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:36:55pm

Beautiful photos, I hope the baby gorilla thrives..

And I grew up in Lincoln Park too, so he's like my homey. OK, it was Lincoln Park Michigan. but close enough.

54 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:37:14pm

re: #51 Gus

Semper Fi.

Simmons: Hey.

Grif: Yeah?

Simmons: You ever wonder why we're here?

Grif: No. I never, ever, wonder why we're here. Semper Fi, bitch.

55 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:37:50pm

re: #54 SanFranciscoZionist

Simmons: Hey.

Grif: Yeah?

Simmons: You ever wonder why we're here?

Grif: No. I never, ever, wonder why we're here. Semper Fi, bitch.

Wait, did you just quote RvB?

56 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:38:16pm

re: #38 Mocking Jay

I have a better idea.

MST3K sucked balls.

YOU WILL DIE A PEASANT'S DEATH!!!

57 Dancing along the light of day  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:38:37pm

re: #52 Obdicut

I'm in So. Cal, but we miss you too!

58 SanFranciscoZionist  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:38:54pm

re: #55 Mocking Jay

Wait, did you just quote RvB?

Why yes. Yes I did.

59 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:40:09pm

re: #58 SanFranciscoZionist

Why yes. Yes I did.

Kewl.

60 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:44:43pm

Who wants to touch the Llama?

61 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:45:09pm

re: #34 Mostly sane, most of the time.

I could get 91 comments on a page. I would just have to be willing to purposefully pick a fight.

Or come up with a really good topic of discussion. But if you did that, Charles would simply promote your Page to the front page.

62 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:45:39pm

I bear all responsibility for the flinging of MST3K all over this thread.

63 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:47:29pm

re: #50 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You

Really dark and creepy...I like it!

Beware, the Undertaker is coming!

[Embedded content]

What sort of event is Vince McMahon hyping this time?

/WWE humor.

64 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:48:44pm

re: #44 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Janeway.

SMACK!

65 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:51:58pm

THEY TOOK OUT THE HITLER BUILDING!

66 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:52:23pm

re: #62 Mocking Jay

I bear all responsibility for the flinging of MST3K all over this thread.

67 Obdicut  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:53:21pm

re: #65 Kragar

Yeah, what the fuck was up with that?

68 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:53:56pm

re: #67 Obdicut

Yeah, what the fuck was up with that?

69 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:54:35pm

re: #64 Dark_Falcon

SMACK!

Pizza with pineapple.

70 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:57:16pm

re: #69 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Pizza with pineapple.

WHAM!
POW!
THUMP!
[crunch]

///

71 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 9:57:49pm

re: #64 Dark_Falcon

SMACK!

Janeway?

72 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:03:29pm

re: #71 Kragar

Janeway?

[Embedded content]

Heh.

73 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:15:51pm

I just wasted 30 minutes of my life reading someone's full page rant.
I had to make sure I wasn't a college freshman...retroactively.

74 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:21:04pm

re: #73 Reverend Mother Ramallo

I just wasted 30 minutes of my life reading someone's full page rant.
I had to make sure I wasn't a college freshman...retroactively.

Well, reading some of the ravings that exist on the net does make you question how lunatics like that came into being. I could see that leading to freshman-level existenialism.

/Kidding

75 goddamnedfrank  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:34:08pm

I hope this gets some coverage at the next debate:

The United States and Iran have agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.

Iranian officials have insisted that the talks wait until after the presidential election, a senior administration official said, telling their American counterparts that they want to know with whom they would be negotiating.

...

Beyond that, how Mr. Romney responds could signal how he would act if he becomes commander in chief. The danger of opposing such a diplomatic initiative is that it could make him look as if he is willing to risk another American war in the Middle East without exhausting alternatives.

“It would be unconscionable to go to war if we haven’t had such discussions,” said R. Nicholas Burns, who led negotiations with Iran as under secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration.

76 MittDoesNotCompute  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:36:02pm

re: #75 goddamnedfrank

I hope this gets some coverage at the next debate:

That has been denied by the WH; there's a Page on it and some comments a thread or two back.

77 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:36:19pm

I have this idea about why Iran is focusing on Isreal, but I guess everyone is gone.

78 Mentis Fugit  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:37:24pm

re: #12 Obdicut

No thanks, they make my throat hurt.

Try one of my monkeys. They're milder.

79 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:37:39pm

Oh wait...
Maybe I'm not alone.

80 Mich-again  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:49:21pm

re: #77 Reverend Mother Ramallo

I have this idea about why Iran is focusing on Isreal, but I guess everyone is gone.

I think for the Islamic Republic to survive as a political entity much longer it needs to be attacked from the outside.

81 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 10:49:33pm

re: #79 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Oh wait...
Maybe I'm not alone.

Or it's worse than you thought and you're now imagining comments...

82 Mocking Jay  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:01:33pm

re: #80 Mich-again

I think for the Islamic Republic to survive as a political entity much longer it needs to be attacked from the outside.

No shortage of people working to make that happen.

83 darthstar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:44:03pm

Cute little ape. For the record, I've never been to the Lincoln Zoo. So don't even think I'm the father.

84 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:48:15pm

re: #75 goddamnedfrank

I hope this gets some coverage at the next debate:

Except that the White House has already denied it. So who knows...

85 goddamnedfrank  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:56:59pm

re: #84 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You

Except that the White House has already denied it. So who knows...

They denied the "one on one" language, which seems to be the crux of the issue.

There's reason to believe that the 5+1 talks won't go anywhere though. Russia wants to continue selling Iran advanced weapons systems and China is mostly concerned about disruptions to the Gulf oil supply. There has to be a third option between that and ceding control over foreign policy to Netanyahu.

86 prairiefire  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:57:50pm

re: #39 Mostly sane, most of the time.

We could go old school and ask who the best Star Trek captain was.

(Obviously, it was Picard.)

I duuno.

87 Kragar  Sat, Oct 20, 2012 11:59:24pm

re: #86 prairiefire

I duuno.

Every Starfleet Officer was killed and replaced with an exact duplicate. None of them can be trusted.

88 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:03:53am

re: #36 Gus

Thank god for the Intenet, I was finally able to find the "missing verses", to AWSoP. I remember seeing them ages ago and kicking myself for not making a copy.

"She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,'
though in truth we were at sea
so I took her by the looking glass
and forced her to agree
saying, 'You must be the mermaid
who took Neptune for a ride.'
But she smiled at me so sadly
that my anger straightway died

If music be the food of love
then laughter is its queen
and likewise if behind is in front
then dirt in truth is clean
My mouth by then like cardboard
seemed to slip straight through my head
So we crash-dived straightway quickly
and attacked the ocean bed "

89 prairiefire  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:07:28am

re: #87 Kragar

Every Starfleet Officer was killed and replaced with an exact duplicate. None of them can be trusted.

There's something about that glassy eyed passion in Captain Kirk. James Kirk.

90 Kragar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:12:22am

re: #89 prairiefire

There's something about that glassy eyed passion in Captain Kirk. James Kirk.

The original Kirk was disintegrated the first time he ever stepped on a transporter. All we've ever seen is a copy of a copy of a copy.

91 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:14:11am

Absolutely the stupidest thing I have read all week...

As soon as Mitt Romney is elected he should initiate back channel discussions with the Israeli government to pave the way for Israel to become the 51st state of the United States of America.

This is the only way to prevent the coming Israeli-Islamist War, which threatens to engulf the entire world.

Once political union with the US is achieved, Jerusalem should be proclaimed an open city, albeit a weapons and privacy free zone for security purposes.

This will allow freedom of worship for all.

Statehood should include all occupied and disputed territories and citizenship and the full rights as enumerated in the Constitution would be bestowed upon all people dwelling there.

I would encourage everyone here to support this solution to the world's foremost security problem.
Linky Thingy

To their credit the other people on the forum basically laughed him out of the room.

92 prairiefire  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:16:48am

re: #90 Kragar

The original Kirk was disintegrated the first time he ever stepped on a transporter. All we've ever seen is a copy of a copy of a copy.

That must account for the extra emoting.

93 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:18:10am

Obama's one-to-one negotiation initiative with Iran over nuclear weapons is a brilliant political maneoeuver, regardless of whether it bears fruit or not: Romney has to embrace it (thereby making Obama look good) or renounce it (thereby making himself look like a warmonger).

94 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:31:55am

re: #76 MittDoesNotCompute

That has been denied by the WH; there's a Page on it and some comments a thread or two back.

Did they deny it because it's not true, or did they deny it because it's supposed to be a secret?

95 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:41:46am

re: #93 AK-47%

..... Romney has to embrace it (thereby making Obama look good) or renounce it (thereby making himself look like a warmonger).

But... we like war, don't we?

Seriously, expect Romney to take the standard line from the Republican nomination debates: we are to be afraid, very afraid.

96 prairiefire  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:45:31am

For the record, the guy who cuts my hair thinks it will be Obama in a landside.

97 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:47:05am

Morning, all

98 goddamnedfrank  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:47:31am

re: #94 sagehen

Did they deny it because it's not true, or did they deny it because it's supposed to be a secret?

Well there's not much point to agreeing to a meeting that can't occur until after the election if Obama wins or after Inauguration Day if Romney wins and even agrees to it. The only point in negotiating the meeting would be if Romney's team agreed to it in principal and as far as I can tell that hasn't happened.

Putting the feeler out now though and denying the specifics now simply to get such a meeting discussed in principal at the debate might have benefits. Like I said 5+1 isn't working and most of the country is weary of war so ceding total control over our participation in an Iran strike to Netanyahu isn't super popular either. At least Obama can point out that calling Russia our #1 foe and threatening a tariff war with China dramatically undermines the 5+1 strategy at a time when we most need their cooperation.

99 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:53:11am

Spin seems to be going the other way: willingness to negotiate as a sign of weakness on the part of the WH. Real men don't negotiate, they dictate terms and draw a line in the sand.

100 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:53:21am
101 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:53:30am

While I'm rifling through requiems, here's a little bit of pretty for your morning - the overture to Gounod's Romeo and Juliette. We probably don't play enough Gounod in our day and age:

102 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:54:43am

re: #100 researchok

It was denied that an agreement was made, very shortly after the NYT published that.

103 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:55:30am

re: #99 AK-47%

Let's be candid here- negotiating with Iran is not like negotiating with Canada,Belgium or France.

The Iranians have used 'negotiations' as a stalling tactic for decades.

There is no reason to believe this time will be different.

104 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:57:00am

re: #102 freetoken

I saw that.

I don't know who to believe. It all seems pretty uncoordinated to me.

105 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:02:31am

It all sounds like posturing to me at this point. Curious to see how this is handled in the debates.

106 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:05:52am

re: #101 freetoken

Nice!

The beginning really got may attention- but the piece subsides into 'peaceful' quite nicely.

TY

107 researchok  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:10:00am

re: #105 AK-47%

I agree.

There's a good chance the Iranians are trying to take control of the narrative even before talks start.

Overall though, I'd say Obama is too smart to get roped in by Tehran.

I have my issues with the President's fiscal policies but on national security he has been aces- and Libya notwithstanding (I'm beginning to believe the CIA tried to cover their own asses and tried to screw the WH in the process), he has been flawless.

Obama takes a back seat to no one on national security.

108 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:28:07am

re: #99 AK-47%

Spin seems to be going the other way: willingness to negotiate as a sign of weakness on the part of the WH. Real men don't negotiate, they dictate terms and draw a line in the sand.

Or in the Gulf of Sitre?

109 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:32:09am

Foreign policy is going to be a real minefield for Obama: this is a case where he again has to run on his record. Objectively seen, it is a damn good one, but through the distorted lens of GOP spinmaking, it will be made out as a "disaster" and a "threat to our existence as a nation" etc.

And all Romney has to do is explain in vague terms how he would do everything different (and, of course, better), regardless of the consequences.

110 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:57:36am

"I have not seen meteorites burning off the shoulder of Orion".

'Morning, all.

Here is live feed of a NASA chat and videocamera at Huntsville:

[Link: www.nasa.gov...]

111 goddamnedfrank  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:57:55am

re: #109 AK-47%

Foreign policy is going to be a real minefield for Obama: this is a case where he again has to run on his record. Objectively seen, it is a damn good one, but through the distorted lens of GOP spinmaking, it will be made out as a "disaster" and a "threat to our existence as a nation" etc.

And all Romney has to do is explain in vague terms how he would do everything different (and, of course, better), regardless of the consequences.

The problem Romney faces is that he only speaks in belligerent terms, Russia as #1 geopolitical foe, China labeled currency manipulator, tariff war with China, etc. He said leaving Iraq was Obama's signature failure, opposed the end of DADT and seems creepily eager for war with Iran. There's a reason he's getting almost half as many donations from active duty military and Pentagon employees.

The consensus of analysis has alway been that foreign policy is Romney's weakest subject, I see no reason to reassess this simply because Republicans are stupid and easily sold on bigotry and war. The important thing isn't how things are viewed through the lens of GOP spin making, but how they sell to independents.

112 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 1:58:30am

re: #111 goddamnedfrank

The problem Romney faces is that he only speaks in belligerent terms, Russia as #1 geopolitical foe, China labeled currency manipulator, tariff war with China, etc.

Real Americans hate those commies.

113 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:15:41am

re: #109 AK-47%

Don't forget about all the apologizing for America Obama has done and how much time he spends sucking up to radical Islam!

114 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:18:36am

Don't forget that "turban" and "turbo" came from the same Latin root for "to spin"...

115 Kragar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:31:48am

re: #110 Decatur Deb

"I have not seen meteorites burning off the shoulder of Orion".

'Morning, all.

Here is live feed of a NASA chat and videocamera at Huntsville:

[Link: www.nasa.gov...]

We went out to watch the meteor shower, but for the first time in months, we had cloud cover and rain.

116 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:39:19am

re: #115 Kragar

Yes, very drizzly tonight, first water from the sky in a long time.

117 Kragar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:42:42am

re: #116 freetoken

Yes, very drizzly tonight, first water from the sky in a long time.

Yeah, kids were disappointed.

118 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:44:29am

re: #115 Kragar

We went out to watch the meteor shower, but for the first time in months, we had cloud cover and rain.

We watched for a bit at 0300, saw nothing. Orion and the Pleiades were bright, but street lights were on. The NASA chat showed little to see, except in New Mexico.

119 freetoken  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 2:55:49am

With this water from the sky, it seems appropriate for me to post the following, which I had intended to do before the makeover, but forgot.

Here is Saint-Saens' opus 45, "The Deluge", a work very rarely heard in the whole, though the overture is played now and then. Supposedly some musicologists have expounded that it is one of his better works, but there is only one recording currently available on the market, and it's not even available on a physical CD.

However, here it is, the whole work in one place, special to LGF:


120 Kragar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 3:13:15am

Muse - Madness

121 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 3:33:16am

Morning Honcos.

122 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 3:39:00am

Noon here, getting out to enjoy the splendid (68° and sunny) weather and the vineyards and woods all turning color here in Oberheimbach

Headed up to the spot where they took this photo...just imagine it in fall colors.

later

123 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 3:55:40am

Off-duty deputy and officer shoot armed naked woman in Spring Hill
SPRING HILL — A naked woman was shot to death Saturday in Spring Hill after she walked up to an off-duty Hernando sheriff's deputy and an off-duty Tampa police officer and showed a weapon, sheriff's officials said.

This is where a C/C permit could actually hurt.

124 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:07:54am

Frontline Rules!!!
[Link: www.facebook.com...]

125 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:15:02am

re: #123 Cannadian Club Akbar

Did the officers say that she was armed with a pair of bazookas?

/

126 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:18:19am

Oklahoma Girl Shoots Home Intruder: 12-Year-Old Uses Family's Gun To Protect Self, Home
[Link: www.huffingtonpost.com...]

OH NOES!! A 12 YEAR OLD WITH A GUN!!

127 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:26:42am

re: #126 Cannadian Club Akbar

While the story I posted doesn't mention where she was when she shot, this one does.
A sixth-grade girl hid from a home intruder in her bathroom closet, clenching a pistol. When she saw the handle turn, the 12-year-old fired a hole through the door into the suspect's chest.
[Link: www.nydailynews.com...]

Good for her.

128 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:30:04am

Former Senator George McGovern aged 90 has passed away according to his family.

R.I.P. George.

129 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:12:52am

re: #127 Cannadian Club Akbar

While the story I posted doesn't mention where she was when she shot, this one does.
A sixth-grade girl hid from a home intruder in her bathroom closet, clenching a pistol. When she saw the handle turn, the 12-year-old fired a hole through the door into the suspect's chest.
[Link: www.nydailynews.com...]

Good for her.

This is just the sort of anecdote the NRA lives to relate. But for every incidence of that, we have several incidences of young children shooting themselves or others accidentally or maliciously.

130 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:15:56am

re: #129 AK-47%

This is what the NRA lives to relate. But for every incidence of that, we have several incidences of young children shooting themselves or others accidentally or maliciously.

Responsible gun ownership.

131 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:22:31am

re: #129 AK-47%

This is what the NRA lives to relate. But for every incidence of that, we have several incidences of young children shooting themselves or others accidentally or maliciously.

Plus, it was a "family gun". I will assume to protect the family. The girl was taught proper.

132 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:22:39am

natural selection

133 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:23:22am

I couldn't log in last night. Kept getting an error message.
Anyhow,
Before the Arab spring, I remember Iran cracking down on disgruntled youth. I also remember that Iyatollas and Ahmadinejad were bickering.
The idea is, that the Iyatollas fear the idea of losing power through another revolution, because they realize that this is the very reason they hold power right now. The crazy dinnerjacket is a mouthpiece that threatens Isreal, and rails against the West for denying their right to becoming a nuclear nation, and so the citizenry focuses on the evil US/Isreal instead of the shitty conditions in Iran.
I think socially and economically, Iran is worse off than we think.
Just a guess though.

134 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:24:02am

re: #132 AK-47%

natural selection

"I have a chest wound and now I'm in jail. This sucks"!!!
*snort*

135 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:26:19am

Good Morning. The baby gorilla is soo cute. Honor Harrington is the best starship captain. Any one who gets the intruder in their home with any weapon (guns, knives, cast iron frying pans) get my support.

136 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:31:37am

re: #133 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Remember Neda? The youth are on our side. We just to eliminate the bastard rulers. Neda Video (nsfw) [Link: www.forbezdvd.com...]

137 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:38:57am

re: #136 Cannadian Club Akbar

Remember Neda? The youth are on our side. We just to eliminate the bastard rulers. Neda Video (nsfw) [Link: www.forbezdvd.com...]

That's what I'm thinking.
I have a feeling that they're trying to put off their own revolution by inspiring nationalism.

138 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:45:05am

re: #137 Reverend Mother Ramallo

That's what I'm thinking.
I have a feeling that they're trying to put off their own revolution by inspiring nationalism.

Iran is the problem. Many in the middle east worry about them.
"Iran is, I think, the central predictable issue," Alterman says. "The problem is in the Middle East, there are a whole range of unpredictable issues, and it's unclear both how they will unfold, and how they might relate to our security concerns with Iran."
[Link: www.npr.org...]

139 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:52:25am

re: #131 Cannadian Club Akbar

I have neighbors who are armed to the teeth. When I say neighbors,I don't mean one household,I mean an entire extended family, in 6 separate houses on about 20 acres. The kids all get their own guns,shotguns and handguns,as gifts for various occasions. Been taught all the rules,gone hunting,go to the gun range,all that.

When my son was around 10 he came home from over there one day giving me a complete and detailed description of a shotgun,the shells,how to load it and shoot it. One of the many kids over there is about a year younger than he is,got the key to the gun locker and took the gun out to show off to my son(most likely to scare him,this kid is a nasty little shit,always has given my kid a hard time). Where the adults were I had no idea,I had always let him play over there precisely because the large family ensured that adults were always around. This is a kid who supposedly knows better and was taught better. A nine yr. old shouldn't have unsupervised access to a freaking hunting or kitchen knife let alone a selection of guns. Needless to say this didn't foster good neighborly relationships. I was pissed. I'm not scared of guns,I'm scared of assholes with guns.

140 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:53:17am

re: #133 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Remember that Akhmedijihad came out of the Iranian student movement of the 70's, one that helped topple the Shah's regime. he should know darn well what young people can accomplish if they put their energies behind it.

And the USA has to remember in dealing with the concept of "regime change" in Iran that every attempt to exert influence from outside is used to bolster the position of the established powers, as they can present themselves as protecting Iran from outside forces "threatening" Iran.

141 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 5:55:51am

re: #139 A Mom Anon

Correct. Which is why I said "responsible gun ownership". But the girl was 12 and prolly got lessons in using a firearm.

142 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:04:35am

re: #140 AK-47%

Remember that Akhmedijihad came out of the Iranian student movement of the 70's, one that helped topple the Shah's regime. he should know darn well what young people can accomplish if they put their energies behind it.

And the USA has to remember in dealing with the concept of "regime change" in Iran that every attempt to exert influence from outside is used to bolster the position of the established powers, as they can present themselves as protecting Iran from outside forces "threatening" Iran.

Exactly. Which is why you can't just run in there, guns blazing.

143 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:04:56am

re: #141 Cannadian Club Akbar

No argument there,but alot of people claim to be responsible and aren't. This poor girl,besides being traumatized by this entire experience,did do the right thing,but still what an awful thing for a kid to have to deal with. That kind of puts an end to her childhood. I'm not anti gun at all,but I think we're kidding ourselves when we think that the numbers of irresponsible people are lower than they are. We do have more deaths by firearms than alot of other first world countries do. Like the thing that happened with my son,yes,this family is pretty responsible,but not as much as they assured me that they were. It wouldn't have taken much for my son's experience to have a much different ending than it did.

144 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:05:52am

re: #142 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Exactly. Which is why you can't just run in there, guns blazing.

But you can arm the citizenry. Covert, if needed.

145 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:06:24am

re: #142 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Exactly. Which is why you can't just run in there, guns blazing.

But that's how John Wayne does it, dammit! Why do you hate America?

146 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:08:57am

re: #145 AK-47%

Sometimes when announcing "I am armed" is enough to scare an intruder off.

147 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:09:57am

re: #146 PhillyPretzel

Sometimes when announcing "I am armed" is enough to scare an intruder off

That and the sound of someone pumping a shotgun.

148 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:10:34am

re: #147 Cannadian Club Akbar

That helps. :)

149 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:11:00am

re: #143 A Mom Anon

I honestly get your point. You should'a seen the rednecks that lived next to me in Florida. Idiots.

150 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:13:41am

re: #148 PhillyPretzel

That helps. :)

Did I ever tell the story of how I raised a rifle to my BIL and didn't shoot? Maybe later....(it did actually happen)

151 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:14:31am

re: #150 Cannadian Club Akbar

No you did not. I do believe you that it happened.

152 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:15:25am

re: #142 Reverend Mother Ramallo

My son has a friend from Tehran,a kid he hangs out with at the heavy metal venue they both like. He says that most of the population of Iran is under 30 now,and that the young people love western culture and the freedom our young people have. The kind of music he loves here could get him in pretty big trouble in many parts of Iran.There's a really active underground culture in Iran,which kind of gives me hope that eventually there can be a more sane government there.The younger generations want a more secular government. I think the young people are the key to this,but if we go in there all cowboy and shit,it's not going to work.

It's complex,above my pay grade,but "bomb,bomb,bomb,bomb,bomb Iran"doesn't seem like a great plan.

153 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:19:10am

BBL,dog,kid,house,errands,you know the drill....

154 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:21:02am

re: #152 A Mom Anon

"Bomb Iran" won't work (full disclouser: I was for that at one point). We need to work with intel inside of them. And we are. We have the young, we just need to apply the proper techniques to drive a revolution.

155 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:25:00am

re: #154 Cannadian Club Akbar

"Bomb Iran" won't work (full disclouser: I was for that at one point). We need to work with intel inside of them. And we are. We have the young, we just need to apply the proper techniques to drive a revolution.

And FWIW, if you think we aren't doing Psyops trying to get an overthrow, you're crazy. This is textbook.

156 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:28:03am

re: #146 PhillyPretzel

Sometimes when announcing "I am armed" is enough to scare an intruder off.

My mom did that once, holding a length of curved pipe at the end of a darkened hallway...

157 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:28:53am

re: #156 AK-47%

My mom did that once, holding a length of curved pipe at the end of a darkened hallway...

Did she live?

158 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:29:10am

re: #155 Cannadian Club Akbar

And FWIW, if you think we aren't doing Psyops trying to get an overthrow, you're crazy. This is textbook.

Point is that anything we attempt has to be undetectable and untraceable. Which means that nobody gets to take credit for it if it works...frustrating.

159 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:30:12am

re: #141 Cannadian Club Akbar

Correct. Which is why I said "responsible gun ownership". But the girl was 12 and prolly got lessons in using a firearm.

Glad it turned out good for her, but 'responsible gun ownership' doesn't include shooting a target you can't see. Returning parent, rescuing cop etc...

Nevertheless, a happy ending, in this case.

160 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:30:19am

re: #157 Cannadian Club Akbar

Did she live?

Yes, but she was terribly shaken by the experience. Says the fellow had a German shepherd with him, too...in Gary, Indiana ca 1969...

161 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:31:18am

re: #158 AK-47%

Point is that anything we attempt has to be undetectable and untraceable. Which means that nobody gets to take credit for it if it works...frustrating.

And Heaven forbid anyone gets to do that. At least in DC.

162 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:33:00am

re: #159 Decatur Deb

Glad it turned out good for her, but 'responsible gun ownership' doesn't include shooting a target you can't see. Returning parent, rescuing cop etc...

Nevertheless, a happy ending, in this case.

I have to disagree. Anyone else would have called out her name or made themselves know.

163 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:33:26am

re: #155 Cannadian Club Akbar

And FWIW, if you think we aren't doing Psyops trying to get an overthrow, you're crazy. This is textbook.

I'm all for psy-ops.
Brains over brawn.

164 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:33:44am

re: #162 Cannadian Club Akbar

I have to disagree. Anyone else would have called out her name or made themselves know.

Not a cop sent there with sketchy info after the parent's 911.

165 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:34:08am

re: #163 Reverend Mother Ramallo

I'm all for psy-ops.
Brains over brawn.

I have neither. D'oh!!!

166 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:34:56am

re: #164 Decatur Deb

Not a cop sent there with sketchy info after the parent's 911.

IIRC, the cops weren't called until after the deed was done.

167 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:35:47am

re: #159 Decatur Deb

Yeah. A friend of mine's kid shot the Sheriff (but he did not shoot the deputy) because he thought he was a bad man coming to rob the place. Shot him in the dark, at night. luckily just a flesh wound. My friend got a long long lecture about teaching target identification as part of gun safety.

168 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:37:36am

re: #166 Cannadian Club Akbar

IIRC, the cops weren't called until after the deed was done.

Mom didn't call the cops after she got the cell call from the kid? Like I said, a good outcome this time, not the NRA psychodrama we're getting on the web.

(We've got more guns than hands in this house. All locked away from their ammo until things get a lot worse.)

169 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:38:07am

Another anecdote from Gary, Indiana, summer of 1969, I was ten years old...met a black kid there who took me out in the woods and showed me a shotgun he had stashed out there srapped up in plastic foil.

Don't know how he got it. But we were walking down the alley, he levelled it and let off a shot.

In any case, that was also the day my bike got stolen, and in the course of looking into it, another neighbor kid related how he had gotten zinged in the ear by a stray shotgun pellet in the alley, and the whole story of the shotgun came out.

We both gut our butts whooped and I never saw that kid again...

170 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:39:03am

re: #167 Obdicut

Yeah. A friend of mine's kid shot the Sheriff (but he did not shoot the deputy) because he thought he was a bad man coming to rob the place. Shot him in the dark, at night. luckily just a flesh wound. My friend got a long long lecture about teaching target identification as part of gun safety.

1: Why did the deputy not ID himself and...
2: Bob Marley....

171 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:41:23am

re: #166 Cannadian Club Akbar

Read the story, man, she was the one that called 911. Anyway, I'm glad it turned out alright.

Unlike this story:

[Link: www.iol.co.za...]

A single shot fired by a Centurion father who thought he was protecting his family during a housebreaking ended in tragedy when he accidentally shot his seven-year-old daughter in the head.

The girl was rushed to the Life Unitas Hospital in a critical condition in the early hours of Friday but later died from her injury.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the man was woken up by dogs barking and heard a noise outside his Glover Avenue house.

He apparently went upstairs to fetch his firearm and heard a noise at the bedroom door. Apparently his daughter had woken up – from the commotion – and was on her way to her parents’ room when he shot.

Target identification. It's a good idea.

Anyway, anecdotes like this are just that, anecdotes.

172 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:42:20am

re: #168 Decatur Deb

My BIL has a collection that would make BATF run. But he is a collector.

173 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:45:23am

re: #170 Cannadian Club Akbar

1: Why did the deputy not ID himself and...
2: Bob Marley....

The sheriff thought the family was out of town-- their car was gone, there was an unfamiliar pickup-truck in their driveway, and they'd mentioned going on vacation (small town, he knew them personally). He called the father's cell phone and got no response. Since he was alone, and backup (in the middle of nowhere) was twenty miles away and was a slightly stupid man named Elmer, he went in on his own, and didn't identify himself since he thought he needed the element of surprise.

What had happened was that their flight was canceled, they'd already checked their car into the long-term parking lot and their friend who they were going with gave them a ride back and spent the night. He was actually on the sofa in the room where the guy got shot.

Life serves up coincidences sometimes. Target identification is a good thing.

174 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:48:16am

re: #171 Obdicut

I posted 2 stories. Sorry. But I am sure we have all heard about the recent stories as well.

175 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:50:08am

re: #174 Cannadian Club Akbar

Stories are fine, I'm just saying we shouldn't set gun policy based on anecdotes.

I'm pretty defeatist on the gun situation in the US. There's so many fucking guns out there, floating around, legal and illegal, that I don't see restrictions on ownership as a very good step. I do think that requiring rigorous licensing is a good idea, though.

176 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:51:38am

Got two kids n' guns anecdeotes:

When we first lived in the country I borrowed a little Ithica .410 from my FIL for varmits. He was of the old school, said I was at a disadvantge because everything was locked away (3 kids then). I field-stripped the simple shotgun, put it on the carpet, and called the 5-yr-old over. It took him less than 10 minutes to fit it back together.

Told this one before:

Our college age daughter drove home from school after midnight. Wife knew she was coming, didn't tell me. When I woke and heard the rustling an banging in the front, I got out of bed and charged yelling and flipping on lights down the hall at the intruder. Unarmed (locked away) and totally naked. Just as glad they were locked away.

177 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:53:58am

re: #173 Obdicut

K. If we can go back to the OP, I mentioned a girl with a gun. In this case it was a cop. And you did identify the need for Target ID. But once again I'll go to the whole shouting out thingy.

178 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:57:11am

re: #176 Decatur Deb

Got two kids n' guns anecdeotes:

When we first lived in the country I borrowed a little Ithica .410 from my FIL for varmits. He was of the old school, said I was at a disadvantge because everything was locked away (3 kids then). I field-stripped the simple shotgun, put it on the carpet, and called the 5-yr-old over. It took him less than 10 minutes to fit it back together.

Told this one before:

Our college age daughter drove home from school after midnight. Wife knew she was coming, didn't tell me. When I woke and heard the rustling an banging in the front, I got out of bed and charged yelling and flipping on lights down the hall at the intruder. Unarmed (locked away) and totally naked. Just as glad they were locked away.

This would have prolly made me stop.
/

179 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:57:43am

re: #178 Cannadian Club Akbar

This would have prolly made me stop.
/

Had the advantage of surprise.

180 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 6:58:49am

re: #179 Decatur Deb

Had the advantage of surprise.

If you say, "And a big Gun", I'm outta here!!!
//

181 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:00:00am

re: #180 Cannadian Club Akbar

If you say, "And a big Gun", I'm outta here!!!
//

Don't remember, but everything was probably in defensive defilade.

182 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:02:57am

Beirut funeral for Wissam al-Hassan followed by clashes

Clashes have erupted outside government offices in the Lebanese capital Beirut after thousands attended the funeral of security chief Wissam al-Hassan who was killed in a car bomb on Friday.

Protesters have been trying to storm the HQ, after a new call for Prime Minister Najib Mikat to resign. Police have fired warning shots and tear gas.

183 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:03:55am

re: #181 Decatur Deb

Don't remember, but everything was probably in defensive defilade.

There's a yearly naked run at U of C. I got to see a great lesson in anatomy in physics, when one guy took too long a stride, the pendulum swayed, and basically he got his testicles caught between his thighs on his next stride and it was nutcracker time. The look on his face was, I'm sorry to admit, hilarious to me.

184 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:05:01am

re: #183 Obdicut

There's a yearly naked run at U of C. I got to see a great lesson in anatomy in physics, when one guy took too long a stride, the pendulum swayed, and basically he got his testicles caught between his thighs on his next stride and it was nutcracker time. The look on his face was, I'm sorry to admit, hilarious to me.

So much for Intelligent Design.

185 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:06:16am

re: #183 Obdicut

There's a yearly naked run at U of C. I got to see a great lesson in anatomy in physics, when one guy took too long a stride, the pendulum swayed, and basically he got his testicles caught between his thighs on his next stride and it was nutcracker time. The look on his face was, I'm sorry to admit, hilarious to me.

ROTFLOL

186 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:06:17am

re: #184 Decatur Deb

So much for Intelligent Design.

Thisis why we intelligently designed the jockstrap.

187 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:07:24am

re: #185 Reverend Mother Ramallo

ROTFLOL

Can I second this?!?!?!?!?!

188 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:09:04am

re: #186 AK-47%

Thisis why we intelligently designed the jockstrap.

Even the greeks, who loved being naked, had this little tie-up arrangement.

Image: kynodesme1.jpg

Don't look at that picture if naked representations of men in classical art bugs you.

Also, did you know that the Greek ideal of a body included a small penis? They thought smaller than average was the physical ideal.

189 Cannadian Club Akbar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:11:36am

outtie for a bittie....

190 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:17:12am

re: #188 Obdicut

Even the greeks, who loved being naked, had this little tie-up arrangement.

Image: kynodesme1.jpg

Don't look at that picture if naked representations of men in classical art bugs you.

Also, did you know that the Greek ideal of a body included a small penis? They thought smaller than average was the physical ideal.

191 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:19:49am

re: #190 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Whoops!
I was gonna say that it was often a hit or miss with Greek ideals.
Heh...

192 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:28:13am

Off to weed 'n feed. That's not a hippie banquet. BBL

193 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:33:14am

Why is it that on school days, kids are impossible to wake up, but on the weekend, they wake up with the sun?
Little heathens.
Must get coffee...

195 darthstar  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:47:08am

re: #188 Obdicut

Also, did you know that the Greek ideal of a body included a small penis? They thought smaller than average was the physical ideal.

Whoo-hoo. I'd be a hit in Greece. Good morning fuckers.

196 Sionainn  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:47:39am

re: #193 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Why is it that on school days, kids are impossible to wake up, but on the weekend, they wake up with the sun?
Little heathens.
Must get coffee...

Mine do the same thing. I don't get it.

197 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:51:48am

re: #196 Sionainn

Mine do the same thing. I don't get it.

They hate school. Mystery solved.

198 Sionainn  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 7:57:52am

re: #197 Mocking Jay

They hate school. Mystery solved.

No, mine love school.

199 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:00:26am

re: #198 Sionainn

No, mine love school.

In every species you will find some mutations...

200 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:08:40am

re: #198 Sionainn

No, mine love school.

Mine love it once they get there.
I think it's stressful for them though.

201 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:09:25am

I ws one of those wierd mutants who liked learning and liked most of his teachers, just hated the rest of school. I was a total book nerd and got picked on mercilessly for it.

202 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:09:38am

re: #201 AK-47%

Bullies suck.

203 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:11:08am

Ugh. People piss me off.

Saw a room this weekend in a house that would allow me to get to work and get a bit of money saved and some bills paid before I move back into a place of my own. Granted, this means that I won't have my boyfriend or my cat with me, since the rules for the house say no pets and no boyfriends sleeping over at all, but as a short-term solution it would have been manageable. The rent and the bills are low and it's month to month, which is perfect.

I saw the room late Friday afternoon and committed to it Saturday morning. Another girl saw it Friday morning and didn't call the landlady to say she wanted it until last night, after the landlady had already agreed the room was mine. Now the landlady is saying that the other girl saw it first so she should get priority. I'm arguing that because I gave her a commitment to move in first, that means far more.

Now I'm stuck in limbo waiting for her to "think about things" and call me back. This is bullshit. I made a firm commitment to move in. We even made arrangements for paying the deposit and the rent. I was hoping to move in today or tomorrow because I start my job Tuesday. I've got one week of training here in Austin, and then next week I'm flying out to California for more training. I don't have any other options but this room or blowing all my money on a hotel. I don't have time to deal with this nonsense.

204 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:13:41am

re: #203 Lidane

Unfortunately, until she actually takes the deposit there's no real obligation, even though it's shitty of her.

Austin is a pretty cool town; if you're just there for a week before training, you might be able to find someone non-sketchy to crash at short-term, or sublet from for a week.

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

205 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:16:21am

re: #202 Obdicut

Bullies suck.

Funny, 'cause when we went to a school which was mostly black (I was one of about a dozen white kids attending) there were kids who picked on me, but others who stood up for me, because they were taught that education was a good thing and were on my side.

But when we moved to a nearly all-white working class neighborhood, I just got picked on and nobody stood up for me

206 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:21:04am

Navy contractors rarely crack me up.
But this sure did...

The robot did better that Britney when she tried it...

207 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:21:27am

re: #202 Obdicut

Bullies suck.

True that.

208 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:22:48am

re: #205 AK-47%

I first went to a really shitty public school with burned out teachers who didn't give a fuck, where bullies ruled the halls and would push and trip and punch kids with absolutely no fallout for them whatsoever. After too many fights there, my parents transferred me to a private preppy-ass school where they were too apathetic to punch people but were otherwise just like the assholes from the public school-- but they thought they were so much better 'cuz they had money.

The funniest part was graduation/senior day speeches, and listening to all these assholes who I'd heard brag about stealing from their parents and talk about how their parents were assholes and they hated them and fuck them suddenly get all teary-eyed and talk about how they couldn't have made it without them.

Oh yeah, and one of the only two black kids at the school got ejected for starting a fight with a guy who called him a n*****, and the guy who called him that had failed four classes-- supposedly more than one failure meant you got expelled, but his dad was on the board of trustees, so...

Thank god for the couple of bright teachers at that school who hadn't given up, though I don't know why they hadn't when faced with wave after wave of apathetic, entitled preppies.

209 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:25:52am

re: #128 Tiny Alien Kitties are Watching You

Former Senator George McGovern aged 90 has passed away according to his family.

R.I.P. George.

210 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:28:44am

Good morning, fellow weirdos.

211 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:29:00am

re: #210 Varek Raith

212 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:30:57am

re: #209 Gus

[Embedded content]

Well, he did what he thought was right, never acted from malice, and he lived a long, full life. In the end, Death comes for us all, but those who who live a righteous life it is not to be feared. For I have no doubt that God has received George McGovern unto His mercy.

213 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:34:04am

re: #212 Dark_Falcon

Well, he did what he thought was right, never acted from malice, and he lived a long, full life. In the end, Death comes for us all, but those who who live a righteous life it is not to be feared. For I have no doubt that God has received George McGovern unto His mercy.

I thought that all liberals were all bound for the deepest pits of hell...

/

214 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:39:35am

re: #213 AK-47%

I thought that all liberals were all bound for the deepest pits of hell...

/

That's what I right-wing version of Ted Rall might say, but I am not ruled by such hate. Though George McGovern was politically wrong in many ways, those ways were still born of honest conviction and a desire to act with charity towards all and malice towards none. That seems to me the crucial bit of what the Lord demands of us.

215 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:41:40am

Needless to say, that sort of gracious attitude about people one disagrees with is rapidly disappearing from the political discourse.

Damn shame, too.

216 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:44:56am

re: #214 Dark_Falcon

That's what I right-wing version of Ted Rall might say, but I am not ruled by such hate. Though George McGovern was politically wrong in many ways, those ways were still born of honest conviction and a desire to act with charity towards all and malice towards none. That seems to me the crucial bit of what the Lord demands of us.

And that kind of conduct is what holds off the hell of our own making right here where mortals live.

217 dragonfire1981  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:44:56am

re: #214 Dark_Falcon

That's what I right-wing version of Ted Rall might say, but I am not ruled by such hate. Though George McGovern was politically wrong in many ways, those ways were still born of honest conviction and a desire to act with charity towards all and malice towards none. That seems to me the crucial bit of what the Lord demands of us.

So why do so few believers seem to be actually capable of following through with that?

(Not referring to you here DF, I'm asking a general question)

218 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:47:42am

Ooops had a hiccup in my connection and double posted..
If any monitors are online feel free to delete this one.

219 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:51:16am

re: #215 AK-47%

One salient example-Look how those that disagree more than a little get treated at political blogs. (Present company excepted of course)

220 blueraven  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:55:06am

re: #203 Lidane

Lidane, my daughter has an extra room in her apt that she has considered renting out short term. It is a 2BR/2 bath apt.

It is South Austin. Don't know if you would be interested but I could ask her if she is still considering it.

221 Decatur Deb  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:56:45am

re: #208 Obdicut

I first went to a really shitty public school with burned out teachers who didn't give a fuck, where bullies ruled the halls and would push and trip and punch kids with absolutely no fallout for them whatsoever. After too many fights there, my parents transferred me to a private preppy-ass school where they were too apathetic to punch people but were otherwise just like the assholes from the public school-- but they thought they were so much better 'cuz they had money.

The funniest part was graduation/senior day speeches, and listening to all these assholes who I'd heard brag about stealing from their parents and talk about how their parents were assholes and they hated them and fuck them suddenly get all teary-eyed and talk about how they couldn't have made it without them.

Oh yeah, and one of the only two black kids at the school got ejected for starting a fight with a guy who called him a n*****, and the guy who called him that had failed four classes-- supposedly more than one failure meant you got expelled, but his dad was on the board of trustees, so...

Thank god for the couple of bright teachers at that school who hadn't given up, though I don't know why they hadn't when faced with wave after wave of apathetic, entitled preppies.

The nuns maintained the monopoly on violence at my grade school, and they used it judiciously. I think someone got punched once (by a kid) at my monastery-based highschool. The only official punishment was to be kicked out.

222 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:58:04am

Oh lord,
Just saw John Lewis dancing Gangam Style.
I...umm...

223 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 8:59:42am

re: #222 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Oh lord,
Just saw John Lewis dancing Gangam Style.
I...umm...

Heh.

224 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:01:04am

re: #222 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Oh lord,
Just saw John Lewis dancing Gangam Style.
I...umm...

Have you seen the Gangnam-Ghostbusters mashup? Too cool.

225 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:03:08am

I don't get fads.
:P

226 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:03:38am

re: #225 Varek Raith

I don't get fads.
:P

Just try to enjoy the ride.

227 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:04:11am

I am missing out on this one, could make the slight effort to, but don't see the point

228 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:04:32am

re: #225 Varek Raith

I don't get fads.
:P

I had to Google "Gangnam Style". I like it that way.

229 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:04:52am

awesome mashup -- Gangnam Style/Ghostbusters

230 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:05:20am

re: #229 sagehen

awesome mashup -- Gangnam Style/Ghostbusters

[Embedded content]

Uhhh...

Look up five posts. :P

231 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:06:19am

re: #224 Mocking Jay

Have you seen the Gangnam-Ghostbusters mashup? Too cool.

[Embedded content]

beat me by 3 minutes.

232 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:06:55am

this is what happens when I try to cook and post at the same time.

233 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:07:16am

It's an advantage of being an American expat: our culture is so all-pervasive that you rarely miss out on major trends, but being physically separated from it, means that you do not get bombarded by it...

I am vaguely aware of what it is, I just missed out all the details...

234 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:08:24am

I atone by offering another vid:

Walking Dead - the Musical

235 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:10:13am

re: #217 dragonfire1981

So why do so few believers seem to be actually capable of following through with that?

(Not referring to you here DF, I'm asking a general question)

It's a hard lesson that people have been failing to learn for longer than the time that Jesus lived:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8, NRSV

236 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:11:36am

re: #220 blueraven

Lidane, my daughter has an extra room in her apt that she has considered renting out short term. It is a 2BR/2 bath apt.

It is South Austin. Don't know if you would be interested but I could ask her if she is still considering it.

Sure, that would be great. Let me know what she says.

237 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:14:56am

Rowan Atkinson's speech at Reform Section 5 Parliamentary reception

238 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:15:29am

re: #235 William Barnett-Lewis

It's a hard lesson that people have been failing to learn for longer than the time that Jesus lived:

Micah 6:8, NRSV

Excellent Bible citation, Sir.

239 blueraven  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:20:52am

re: #236 Lidane

Sure, that would be great. Let me know what she says.

OK I will try to talk with her this afternoon. How can I get in touch with you if she is interested? I clicked your nic but it just took me to the LGF home page.

240 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:21:17am

re: #167 Obdicut

Yeah. A friend of mine's kid shot the Sheriff (but he did not shoot the deputy) because he thought he was a bad man coming to rob the place. Shot him in the dark, at night. luckily just a flesh wound. My friend got a long long lecture about teaching target identification as part of gun safety.

Well, everyone survived. What the heck was the sheriff doing around there that made the kid nervous enough to open fire?

241 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:21:19am

re: #237 Killgore Trout

Rowan Atkinson's speech at Reform Section 5 Parliamentary reception

[Embedded content]

Nice soundbite at 5:00 on the "not tolerating intolerance" meme.

242 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:21:40am

re: #235 William Barnett-Lewis

I looked up the Bible translation you used. Seems a good one, being gender neutral towards humanity when that is called for but avoiding overly PC pitfalls such as having Jesus referred to as "The Child" instead of "The Son".

243 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:22:19am

Voting machine was an inside job man!

OK. Count me out of that one.

245 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:24:06am

re: #184 Decatur Deb

So much for Intelligent Design.

I cannot recall who it is, but there's some author who describes God getting a report card...physics, A, astronomy, A, geology, A (very good work on the fjords), botany, A, anatomy, D+ (design of human penis poor. See me.)

246 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:24:26am

re: #244 Varek Raith

Fox News Sunday Dishonestly Cuts Up Obama's "Acts Of Terror" Speech

Ministry of Truth strikes again.

247 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:24:26am

re: #240 SanFranciscoZionist

Well, everyone survived. What the heck was the sheriff doing around there that made the kid nervous enough to open fire?

Flashing a flashlight around at first, and then coming into the house. Apparently the first woke him up, and then he wanted to be hero.

Adolescence is a tricky time.

248 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:26:26am

re: #188 Obdicut

Even the greeks, who loved being naked, had this little tie-up arrangement.

Image: kynodesme1.jpg

Don't look at that picture if naked representations of men in classical art bugs you.

Also, did you know that the Greek ideal of a body included a small penis? They thought smaller than average was the physical ideal.

What is it tied to? It looks as though he just has a bow around it.

And in a society in which naked athletics was an important part of civic and religious life, you can sort of see that being hung like a horse would not be super-convenient, or comfortable.

249 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:26:28am

Stupid Design.

250 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:27:32am

re: #244 Varek Raith

Fox News Sunday Dishonestly Cuts Up Obama's "Acts Of Terror" Speech

The Breitbart is strong in those ones. Best to deal with it. Permission to send a flight of Scimitars out? One of their thermal detonators right on top of FNC's building ought to attend to matters.

///Stay on Target!

251 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:28:20am

re: #217 dragonfire1981

So why do so few believers seem to be actually capable of following through with that?

(Not referring to you here DF, I'm asking a general question)

It's hard.

252 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:28:28am

re: #247 Obdicut

Flashing a flashlight around at first, and then coming into the house. Apparently the first woke him up, and then he wanted to be hero.

Adolescence is a tricky time.

He's lucky he didn't get sent to prison. That sheriff must be a really good Joe to cut the kid a break like that.

253 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:28:49am

re: #222 Reverend Mother Ramallo

Oh lord,
Just saw John Lewis dancing Gangam Style.
I...umm...

Where? Where?

254 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:29:46am

re: #253 SanFranciscoZionist

255 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:29:59am

re: #248 SanFranciscoZionist

It's tied to itself. Just using the rod to tie the bag to, as it were.

I think the small penis may also have been prized because of the anal sex thing, but we don't really know. It's funny-- when studying cultures and histories, there's what one of my friends whose a history dude calls "The problem of the obvious". Some things don't get mentioned because they're just too fucking obvious, too bound up in what society is as a whole.

His modern example of this is 'sense of humor', which is written down on nearly every internet personals ad as something they want, but nobody ever really explains why. It's obvious to us, we're a very comedy-centered culture, but the Romans would find it bizarre and think these people were the exception, not the norm.

256 ReamWorks SKG  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:30:10am

re: #109 AK-47%

Foreign policy is going to be a real minefield for Obama: this is a case where he again has to run on his record. Objectively seen, it is a damn good one, but through the distorted lens of GOP spinmaking, it will be made out as a "disaster" and a "threat to our existence as a nation" etc.

And all Romney has to do is explain in vague terms how he would do everything different (and, of course, better), regardless of the consequences.

Plus, Romney has his record of Service to our Nation during the Vietnam War to be proud of! He talks about it all the time.

257 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:31:03am

re: #252 Dark_Falcon

He's lucky he didn't get sent to prison. That sheriff must be a really good Joe to cut the kid a break like that.

Flesh wound, and like I said, he knew the family. He wouldn't screw over a kid for a mistake. He rightly mostly blamed the parents for the laxity in gun safety.

258 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:31:06am
"What is going on between our legs? It's like an entertainment complex in a sewage system; no engineer would design that.. At all."

Neil deGrasse Tyson

259 ReamWorks SKG  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:31:09am

re: #252 Dark_Falcon

Or the sheriff's hands weren't clean, either.

260 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:31:12am

re: #244 Varek Raith

Fox News Sunday Dishonestly Cuts Up Obama's "Acts Of Terror" Speech

W's first words on 9/11 was "apparent terrorist attack." Apparent? How dare he?!

//

261 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:31:27am

re: #239 blueraven

How can I get in touch with you if she is interested? I clicked your nic but it just took me to the LGF home page.

If you click on my profile now an e-mail address for me should pop up. I'll leave it up for a bit until I know you have it.

262 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:33:52am

re: #248 SanFranciscoZionist

What is it tied to? It looks as though he just has a bow around it.

And in a society in which naked athletics was an important part of civic and religious life, you can sort of see that being hung like a horse would not be super-convenient, or comfortable.

Wikipedia is your friend.

A kynodesme (Greek: κυνοδέσμη, English translation: "dog tie") was a thin leather strip worn by some athletes in Ancient Greece to restrain the penis such as to prevent the exposure of the glans. It was tied tightly around the akroposthion, the part of the foreskin that extended beyond the glans. The kynodesme could then either be attached to a waist band to expose the scrotum, or tied to the base of the penis so that the penis appeared to curl upwards.

263 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:34:26am

re: #256 ReamWorks SKG

Plus, Romney has his record of Service to our Nation during the Vietnam War to be proud of! He talks about it all the time.

Though to be fair, the last two losing presidential candidates both served in Vietnam. So it may not be that much of a presidential resume booster, not as much as it should, anyway.

264 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:34:57am

re: #255 Obdicut

It's tied to itself. Just using the rod to tie the bag to, as it were.

His modern example of this is 'sense of humor', which is written down on nearly every internet personals ad as something they want, but nobody ever really explains why. It's obvious to us, we're a very comedy-centered culture, but the Romans would find it bizarre and think these people were the exception, not the norm.

It's a lie. Otherwise I would have to beat them off with a stick...

265 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:35:55am

re: #243 Gus

Voting machine was an inside job man!

OK. Count me out of that one.

The "Romney buying voting machines to steal the election" thing? I've seen mentions of it but it doesn't seem even credible enough to investigate.

266 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:36:02am

We talk about the weirdest things...

267 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:36:22am

re: #264 Mocking Jay

It's a lie. Otherwise I would have to beat them off with a stick...

Well, it's all subjective. There are people who find Dane Cook funny and people who think The Big Bang Theory is edgy humor.

268 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:36:34am

re: #266 Varek Raith

We talk about the weirdest things...

Why do you think I choose to stay anonymous?

/

269 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:37:11am

re: #253 SanFranciscoZionist

Where? Where?

On Melissa Harris Perry's show this morning.
I bet it's on YouTube somewhere.

270 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:37:17am

re: #263 Dark_Falcon

Though to be fair, the last two losing presidential candidates both served in Vietnam. So it may not be that much of a presidential resume booster, not as much as it should, anyway.

Key difference: neither of the two losing candidates that served in Vietnam protested in favor of the draft only to run and hide in a French castle. Both Kerry and McCain saw combat, and McCain had an extended stay in the Hanoi Hilton.

271 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:37:35am

re: #267 Obdicut

Well, it's all subjective. There are people who find Dane Cook funny and people who think The Big Bang Theory is edgy humor.

Dane Cook... you know, he has good comedic instincts. His delivery is excellent. All he needs is better material, and that's the easy part. What a waste.

272 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:39:27am

re: #271 Mocking Jay

He should have good material, he steals from everyone else. But I think that's part of the problem; he doesn't own it, doesn't love it. Seems like just a job to him.

273 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:39:36am

re: #270 Lidane

Key difference: neither of the two losing candidates that served in Vietnam protested in favor of the draft only to run and hide in a French castle. Both Kerry and McCain saw combat, and McCain had an extended stay in the Hanoi Hilton.

True that.

BBL

274 Mocking Jay  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:41:43am

re: #272 Obdicut

He should have good material, he steals from everyone else. But I think that's part of the problem; he doesn't own it, doesn't love it. Seems like just a job to him.

It's creepy how much cannibalism goes on in comedy. They used to hate Robin Williams with a passion when he walked into the clubs.

275 blueraven  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:42:14am

re: #261 Lidane

If you click on my profile now an e-mail address for me should pop up. I'll leave it up for a bit until I know you have it.

Got it!

276 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:42:54am

re: #256 ReamWorks SKG

I am a little puzzled. I just read on Wikipedia that Mitt got a deferment as a student then again as a missionary. [Link: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com...]

277 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:43:09am

re: #274 Mocking Jay

It's creepy how much cannibalism goes on in comedy. They used to hate Robin Williams with a passion when he walked into the clubs.

There's some club that had a special light that would go on if Williams came in to let the performers know he was there, so not to use new material 'cuz he'd steal it.

It's really hard to get legal about this kind of stuff, too. A friend of mine was a writer for a TV show, and another writer on another show blatantly stole his jokes. It was really, really plagiarism, but he found it nearly impossible to prove in court and so settled with just shit-talking the guy at parties.

278 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:44:53am

re: #270 Lidane

Key difference: neither of the two losing candidates that served in Vietnam protested in favor of the draft only to run and hide in a French castle. Both Kerry and McCain saw combat, and McCain had an extended stay in the Hanoi Hilton.

McCain caused the USS Forestall fire!!11ty

Derp.

//

279 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:45:23am

re: #275 blueraven

Got it!

OK, cool.

280 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:46:15am

Grr. Friend of mine has PCOS, and is in Texas. She has no health insurance and no clue what she's going to do once Texas manages to push out Planned Parenthood and defund all the women's health clinics.

I think she should move the fuck out of Texas, but it's not that easy when you have an art degree and a retail job.

Fucking GOP war on women bullshit asshattery.

281 MittDoesNotCompute  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:46:35am

re: #277 Obdicut

There's some club that had a special light that would go on if Williams came in to let the performers know he was there, so not to use new material 'cuz he'd steal it.

It's really hard to get legal about this kind of stuff, too. A friend of mine was a writer for a TV show, and another writer on another show blatantly stole his jokes. It was really, really plagiarism, but he found it nearly impossible to prove in court and so settled with just shit-talking the guy at parties.

It's the whole "good artists create, great artists steal" thing that's been going on in just about every creative field since the dawn of man, IMO, though some are more blatant about it and still suck (I'm looking at you, "Carlos" Mencia).

282 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:47:08am

re: #222 Reverend Mother Ramallo

I saw that last night,I loved it. He was a good sport for doing it I think,Voting Gangnam Style,lol.

283 Obdicut  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:48:23am

re: #281 MittDoesNotCompute

It's the whole "good artists create, great artists steal" thing that's been going on in just about every creative field since the dawn of man, IMO, though some are more blatant about it and still suck (I'm looking at you, "Carlos" Mencia).

Two funny things about that: 1. that was said by a lot of artists and writers, stealing the phrase from each other. 2. The most famous people it was said by are Picasso and T.S. Elliott, but amazingly inventive and original artists.

284 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:48:41am

re: #255 Obdicut

It's tied to itself. Just using the rod to tie the bag to, as it were.

I think the small penis may also have been prized because of the anal sex thing, but we don't really know. It's funny-- when studying cultures and histories, there's what one of my friends whose a history dude calls "The problem of the obvious". Some things don't get mentioned because they're just too fucking obvious, too bound up in what society is as a whole.

His modern example of this is 'sense of humor', which is written down on nearly every internet personals ad as something they want, but nobody ever really explains why. It's obvious to us, we're a very comedy-centered culture, but the Romans would find it bizarre and think these people were the exception, not the norm.

It's always interesting. Ideals of beauty and fashion are fascinating. I did a lot of research at one point on Ottoman women's clothing, and noticed that everyone seemed to wear their coats a little too small. I realized after a while that this serves two purposes, first, you can see all the layers of the fabric underneath, and two, it emphasizes how pleasingly plump the lady is, since she's busting out of her enteri.

285 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:49:49am

re: #262 Hercules Grytpype-Thynne

Wikipedia is your friend.

Would that be...comfortable?

286 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:50:27am

re: #285 SanFranciscoZionist

Would that be...comfortable?

I don't want to know.

:P

287 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:50:32am

HELP me out here Lizards. Aren't all these "agencys" privatized?

288 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:50:44am

and how is everyone this am?

289 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:50:50am

re: #283 Obdicut

Two funny things about that: 1. that was said by a lot of artists and writers, stealing the phrase from each other. 2. The most famous people it was said by are Picasso and T.S. Elliott, but amazingly inventive and original artists.

James Whistler to Oscar Wilde : "I wish I'd said that!"
Wilde to Whistler: "Don't worry James, you will."

290 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:51:44am

re: #280 Obdicut

Grr. Friend of mine has PCOS, and is in Texas. She has no health insurance and no clue what she's going to do once Texas manages to push out Planned Parenthood and defund all the women's health clinics.

I think she should move the fuck out of Texas, but it's not that easy when you have an art degree and a retail job.

Fucking GOP war on women bullshit asshattery.

I hear Texas ladies are going to Mexico for health care.

291 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:51:50am

re: #280 Obdicut

Grr. Friend of mine has PCOS, and is in Texas. She has no health insurance and no clue what she's going to do once Texas manages to push out Planned Parenthood and defund all the women's health clinics.

I think she should move the fuck out of Texas, but it's not that easy when you have an art degree and a retail job.

Fucking GOP war on women bullshit asshattery.

Tell her not to worry. Science has overcome PCOS. Also, women don't actually have any problems down there, unless they were caused by abortions. Once Planned Parenthood is gone, she'll feel a lot better.

///Crap, I'm sorry.

292 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:53:28am

re: #289 AK-47%

James Whistler to Oscar Wilde : "I wish I'd said that!"
Wilde to Whistler, "Don't worry James, you will."

Love your change of nic!

293 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:53:53am

Note to Charles: site still hangs up on me when I try to use the "edit" function

294 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:58:41am

Sure looks curious though. Here's a link to HIG Capital political contribution. They're linked to Hart Interactive voting machines.

295 Mich-again  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:58:41am

I thought the Hatch Act made it illegal for a policeman in uniform and badge to shill for a political campaign (if the police department he worked for accepted any Federal grants). I'm getting sick of seeing this cop in uniform on TV yapping right wing bullshit about how if teachers in Michigan are allowed to have collective bargaining rights back, than students across the State will be endangered by the evil sex offenders who will be allowed to teach children in public schools. That's bullshit and this sellout of a cop knows that. They just haven't come to take away his union yet.

Pathteacher: Cop in uniform advocating political campaign in TV commercial.

296 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:59:08am

re: #287 ggt

I think most of them use private contractors or have some other such arrangement. The USPS is having problems because our idiot congress decided they needed to fund their pension fund for the next 50 yrs or something RIGHT NOW. So most of their money is tied up in that. Wonder what possible reason congress would have for doing such a thing when there was nothing wrong with the post office in the first place? Hmm..

Medicaid,at least in Ohio(the only state I'm familiar with)has farmed theirs out to a private insurance carrier,whose name escapes me at the moment,but it's not one that's a household name. The care my daughter and her kids get sucks,and since the damned system went to the new insurance company the last of the doctors,except for a few general practitioners have left. If you are pregnant,you have no OB/GYN closer than 60 miles away. They all left between the area becoming part of the rust belt and then this switch to private insurance drove the rest away.Don't even get me started on the so called "hospital" in that area,you'd be better off with your own power tools,some old towels and a staple gun if you get hurt.

297 Lidane  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 9:59:34am

re: #288 ggt

and how is everyone this am?

Irritated, but getting better.

298 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:03:31am

re: #296 A Mom Anon

To clarify: the post office also has subcontractors who aren't postal employees to do mail delivery and stuff. I also probably overstated that there was "nothing wrong"with the post office,but come on,even at nearly 50 cents an envelope,you can send something nearly anywhere and it gets there pretty quickly most of the time.

Can anyone point to privatization actually saving money for the taxpayers? I'd love to see some actual numbers on that.

299 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:05:37am

re: #298 A Mom Anon

To clarify: the post office also has subcontractors who aren't postal employees to do mail delivery and stuff. I also probably overstated that there was "nothing wrong"with the post office,but come on,even at nearly 50 cents an envelope,you can send something nearly anywhere and it gets there pretty quickly most of the time.

Can anyone point to privatization actually saving money for the taxpayers? I'd love to see some actual numbers on that.

I seem to remember from my Dodd-Frank Research that Fannie and Freddie or one of them is on the Stock Exchange.

Not as much Privatized as Fascist-ized.

300 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:05:56am

A Manufactured ‘Crisis’: Congress Can Let The Post Office Save Itself Without Mass Layoffs Or Service Reductions

But what has been lost in the political debate over the Post Office is why it is losing this money. Major media coverage points to the rise of email or Internet services and the inefficiency of the post model as the major culprits. While these factors may cause some fiscal pain, almost all of the postal service’s losses over the last four years can be traced back to a single, artificial restriction forced onto the Post Office by the Republican-led Congress in 2006.

At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span” — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do.”

301 dragonath  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:06:06am

re: #298 A Mom Anon

It DOES open up a nice new field for cronyism, if anything. A public government job has to adhere to certain regulations.

302 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:09:35am

re: #298 A Mom Anon

Can anyone point to privatization actually saving money for the taxpayers? I'd love to see some actual numbers on that.

Space X for an easy one.
[Link: behindtheblack.com...]

Orbital Sciences: $28,901 per kilogram on the Minotaur 4 rocket.
Lockheed Martin: $37,967 per kilogram on the Athena 2 rocket.
SpaceX: $5,694 per kilogram on the Falcon 9 rocket to go to an equatorial orbit.
SpaceX: $6,951 per kilogram on the Falcon 9 rocket to go to a polar orbit.

303 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:11:50am

re: #298 A Mom Anon

Can anyone point to privatization actually saving money for the taxpayers? I'd love to see some actual numbers on that.

I don't think it's as cut-and-dry as private vs. public. There are lots of ways to set such endeavors up for failure for political reasons.

Currently, my personal pet-peeve is the prison system.

304 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:15:05am

On September 7, 2008, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director James B. Lockhart III announced he had put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the conservatorship of the FHFA (see Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). The action has been described as "one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in decades".[4][5][6]

305 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:16:46am

Private enterprise vs Government run and operated

Which of these services should I wish the government ran instead of private enterprise? With regulations of course

Air travel
Home construction
Actual medical care and construction of facilities
The construction of infrastructure like highways and bridges
Retail food distribution or manufacture

I would say none of the above. Broad brush attacks on private enterprise just don't hold up. Taking traditional government functions and privatising them is problematic, like the above mentioned prison system.

306 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:17:51am

What I could find seem to be a plea for petition signatures. No real facts.

No sooner than a day (hours even) after this comedian/columnist posted an article regarding Captain Capitalist Jr. (Tagg Romney) and his ill-gotten ownership of Ohio’s voter machines–and in which I pleaded for a DOJ investigation–there now seems to be a petition on change.org demanding that very action. If I did play any role in inspiring it, maybe I should start demanding that the transportation department provide me with Porsches for life to better democracy. All kidding aside, the clicktivist efforts to garner enough online support to effectuate a potential investigation is gaining much steam. It seems that a little more than 5,000 signatures are needed. So go ahead and sign the petition and help put them over the top.

Propaganda cloud?

307 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:18:48am

re: #300 Varek Raith

Are those guaranteed amount pensions like those that are breaking the California budget or the more sensible kind like we see in private companies, 401k etc?

308 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:25:11am

After reading The Power Broker by Robert Caro. I've been disgusted with the whole process of human involvement in public affairs.

Now that Romney say's he donate his POTUS salary to charity, I'm reminded even more of Robert Moses.

309 Pip's Squeak  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:26:49am

re: #119 freetoken

With this water from the sky, it seems appropriate for me to post the following, which I had intended to do before the makeover, but forgot.

Here is Saint-Saens' opus 45, "The Deluge", a work very rarely heard in the whole, though the overture is played now and then. Supposedly some musicologists have expounded that it is one of his better works, but there is only one recording currently available on the market, and it's not even available on a physical CD.

However, here it is, the whole work in one place, special to LGF:

[Embedded content]

On this first hearing, very nice. His wilted reputation notwithstanding, many of Saint-Saens's pieces are "of his better works". Thanks.

310 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:27:11am

Mass shooting in Wisconsin.

311 Amory Blaine  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:27:37am

State's pension is strongest in nation, study finds

Strong. Fully funded. Guaranteed. The only thing irresponsible are promises to taxpayers of free rides.

312 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:28:51am

re: #288 ggt

and how is everyone this am?

Quiet day so far. Breakfast done, tea being drunk, football on the Tube, and the Feline Overlord off somewhere napping.

313 Amory Blaine  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:30:32am

re: #310 Gus

Mass shooting in Wisconsin.

Brookfield Square mall. By a spa.

314 Amory Blaine  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:31:04am

Flight for life and 6 ambulances on scene.

315 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:32:15am

Shooting reported near Brookfield Square Mall
UPDATED 12:15 PM CDT Oct 21, 2012

BROOKFIELD, Wis. —

WISN 12 News has learned that a mass shooting has taken place near the Brookfield Square Mall.

WISN 12 News has been told that this is a "mass casualty" situation and that the scene is not secured.

Read more: [Link: www.wisn.com...]

316 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:33:11am

Live feed.

[Link: livewire.wisn.com...]

317 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:43:23am

Has Obama denounced it as an "act of terror" yet?

318 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:45:03am

re: #307 Daniel Ballard

Are those guaranteed amount pensions like those that are breaking the California budget or the more sensible kind like we see in private companies, 401k etc?

I don't know.
Issue being that the USPS is required to pay for 75 years worth of current and future employee pensions/hc in a 10 year span.
It's ridiculous.

319 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:49:29am

The problem with "privatisation" is that it is not the purpose of things like prisons, national parks or post offices to turn a profit.

Which does not mean that they should not operate as efficiently as possible, but they are not there to generate "shareholder value", they exist in order to provide necessary services to society, ones that we have deemed important enough to keep out of the hands of the Free Market.

320 Amory Blaine  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:52:39am

re: #318 Varek Raith

I don't know.
Issue being that the USPS is required to pay for 75 years worth of current and future employee pensions/hc in a 10 year span.
It's ridiculous.

If only the so called "reformers" were interested in all the private pensions that are underfunded.

321 Daniel Ballard  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 10:58:47am

re: #318 Varek Raith

Just wondering 'cause those guaranteed amount pensions are far and away more costly.

322 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:04:29am

This could have been a disaster.

Bad Day for the AWACS

Screen shot.

Image: AWACS.jpg

323 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:07:40am

Damn hamsters.

324 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:09:43am

elderberries!

325 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:11:05am

re: #323 Gus

Damn hamsters.

Yeah, me too.

Just lost a word document due to some microsoft error. It recovered the disappeared again.

Seems the hamster situation has gone system-wide for me.

326 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:11:13am

re: #322 Gus

I think the boom operator would need his brown pants that day...

327 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:11:22am

Ann Romney thought it would be cool to march in a Breast Cancer walk wearing a Team Romney shirt.

[Link: www.balloon-juice.com...]

I guess money can't buy you class.

328 A Mom Anon  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:11:24am

OK,I'm back out to the garden again for more weeding and mulching. BBL.

Oh crap,another damned mass shooting. Shit.

329 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:12:19am

re: #327 moderatelyradicalliberal

Ann Romney thought it would be cool to march in a Breast Cancer walk wearing a Team Romney shirt.

[Link: www.balloon-juice.com...]

I guess money can't buy you class.

Would it suprise you if Ann Romney walked out on a balcony and said "Let them eat cake."?

330 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:15:15am

re: #327 moderatelyradicalliberal

Ann Romney thought it would be cool to march in a Breast Cancer walk wearing a Team Romney shirt.

[Link: www.balloon-juice.com...]

I guess money can't buy you class.

Big Fish, IMHO

331 allegro  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:15:15am

re: #329 ggt

Would it suprise you if Ann Romney walked out on a balcony and said "Let them eat cake."?

None of that would surprise me. What does freak me out is that twice now, that I know of, Ann has made references to Mitt's emotional instability. Seriously, this is a major deal for a guy with nukes.

332 Varek Raith  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:19:30am

re: #322 Gus

This could have been a disaster.

Bad Day for the AWACS

[Embedded content]

Screen shot.

Image: AWACS.jpg

Whoa.

333 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:19:54am

re: #331 allegro

None of that would surprise me. What does freak me out is that twice now, that I know of, Ann has made references to Mitt's emotional instability. Seriously, this is a major deal for a guy with nukes.

She is doing what Mormon wives do: looking out for her hubby's interests as best as she can...they are just not designed for the rigors and scrutiny of the campaign trail.

334 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:23:15am

re: #276 PhillyPretzel

I am a little puzzled. I just read on Wikipedia that Mitt got a deferment as a student then again as a missionary. [Link: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com...]

What is the confusion?

While on a student deferment, he protested *in favor* of the draft. Then he got his missionary deferment and spent his time in the South of France. And when Ann was on the View last week, and asked why in a family so eager for war none of her five sons have served in the military, she said they served their church as missionaries and that's the same thing.

Nobody else seems to think it's the same thing, but y'know. You people.

335 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:27:43am

Nobody really bugged Clinton or Cheney for their draft deferments...but they never went out and protested in favor of the war, either.

What a douche.

336 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:30:08am

re: #335 AK-47%

Nobody really bugged Clinton or Cheney for their draft deferments...but they never went out and protested in favor of the war, either.

What a douche.

Not only that, but neither Willard nor his sons did any of their missionary work in poor countries. Always wealthy advanced nations.

337 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:30:09am

Jordan foils major terror plot, officials say

The terrorists called their plan "9/11 (2)," suggesting it was set to happen on the seventh anniversary of the last al Qaeda attack in Jordan when suicide bombs exploded in an Amman hotel November 9, 2005, the report said.

The plot, which was in the preliminary stages, involved "a group of 11 terrorists associated with the ideology of al Qaeda," Petra reported.

All 11 suspects are Jordanian citizens who moved in and out of Syria, government spokesman Samih al-Maaytah said on state television Sunday.

"The group had intended to take advantage of what they believed was the Intelligence 'preoccupation' with other files, to carry out their plans," Petra reported.

The plans included "using explosives, booby-trapped cars as well as submachine guns and mortars," it said.

338 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:33:36am

re: #336 moderatelyradicalliberal

Not only that, but neither Willard nor his sons did any of their missionary work in poor countries. Always wealthy advanced nations.

You mean like the Mormon equivalent of getting your son into the Air National Guard?

339 Big Joe  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:34:53am

re: #335 AK-47%

Nobody really bugged Clinton or Cheney for their draft deferments...but they never went out and protested in favor of the war, either.

What a douche.

You must be too young to remember...

Bush calls Clinton a draft dodger

Clinton's draft avoidance

Clinton draft dodger plane banner, "dirty trick"

etc...

340 sagehen  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:35:07am

re: #287 ggt

HELP me out here Lizards. Aren't all these "agencys" privatized?

The postal service is "broke" because when the Republicans held both houses they passed a law that said it had to pre-fund everybody's retirement. Entirely. They have to set aside enough *right now* to pay 30 years of pensions for people who aren't even close to retirement age. That's truckloads of money, and they're having a hard time pulling it together. Other than that, the postal service is on very solid financial footing.

Social Security -- Not even close to broke. At current revenue, there's enough to pay all benefits in full for the next 40 years, then 75% after that. It only needs a slight tweak.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both got into the same mortgage trouble (but to a lesser extent) as Chase and Wells Fargo and Citibank and BofA and everybody else. They also needed some bailing out, but at a *much* lower cost than the fully private banks.

Medicaid and Medicare -- are entirely separate things. There's some overlap in beneficiaries (elderly indigent who need nursing homes; the Medicare fee-for-service model doesn't support that), but the needed fixes aren't the same. And neither of them is broke, although they're looking to become broke relatively soonish if we don't get a handle on rising healthcare costs.

341 Killgore Trout  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:36:39am

Why Lebanon violence might not spiral, despite funeral protests

The leadership of the anti-Syrian and Western-backed March 14 parliamentary coalition has shown little appetite for confrontations on the street which will only aggravate rising tensions between Lebanese Shiites and Sunnis. Furthermore, the militant Shiite Hezbollah is the strongest political and military force in the country and there is no other faction in Lebanon that that can successfully confront it.
...
For many Sunnis, General Hassan’s death has left them feeling vulnerable.

“He represented security for all of us. He caught traitors, Israeli spies, [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s spies,” says Maher Anadouli, a Sunni from the Tarek Jdeide neighborhood of Beirut who attended the funeral. “I don’t want to sound pessimistic about the situation, but his death has left us feeling afraid.”

342 Gus  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:36:44am

re: #335 AK-47%

Nobody really bugged Clinton or Cheney for their draft deferments...but they never went out and protested in favor of the war, either.

What a douche.

Didn't he also protest against the anti-war protesters?

343 AK-47%  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:42:52am

re: #339 Big Joe

You must be too young to remember...

Bush calls Clinton a draft dodger

Clinton's draft avoidance

Clinton draft dodger plane banner, "dirty trick"

etc...

I mean that it was obviously not enough of an issue to keep him from the Presidency, and aside from a few douchebags, nobody took him to task for keeping out of a war that nobody really wanted.

And as someone noted earlier, look at all the good it did for Kerry and McCain...

344 philosophus invidius  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 11:58:45am
345 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:01:49pm

re: #329 ggt

Would it suprise you if Ann Romney walked out on a balcony and said "Let them eat cake."?

She would be more likely to unleash the cossacks I think. Horses and all that.

And from the lazy afternoon side of things...

Image: I_iz_in_the_Zone.JPG

346 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:09:16pm

re: #345 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

She would be more likely to unleash the cossacks I think. Horses and all that.

And from the lazy afternoon side of things...

Image: I_iz_in_the_Zone.JPG

I think your Feline Overlord has a great idea!!! I shall follow the example.

Have a great afternoon all!

347 Digital Display  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:09:25pm

So it has come down to this. I had been running an old version of Firefox cause I liked it. This weekend FF disabled all my plugins and forced me to upgrade versions. Firefox you are getting on my last nerve.

348 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Oct 21, 2012 12:09:46pm

re: #340 sagehen

The postal service is "broke" because when the Republicans held both houses they passed a law that said it had to pre-fund everybody's retirement. Entirely. They have to set aside enough *right now* to pay 30 years of pensions for people who aren't even close to retirement age. That's truckloads of money, and they're having a hard time pulling it together. Other than that, the postal service is on very solid financial footing.

Social Security -- Not even close to broke. At current revenue, there's enough to pay all benefits in full for the next 40 years, then 75% after that. It only needs a slight tweak.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both got into the same mortgage trouble (but to a lesser extent) as Chase and Wells Fargo and Citibank and BofA and everybody else. They also needed some bailing out, but at a *much* lower cost than the fully private banks.

Medicaid and Medicare -- are entirely separate things. There's some overlap in beneficiaries (elderly indigent who need nursing homes; the Medicare fee-for-service model doesn't support that), but the needed fixes aren't the same. And neither of them is broke, although they're looking to become broke relatively soonish if we don't get a handle on rising healthcare costs.

Thanks!


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