CPAC Moment of Zen: Ben Shapiro Calls on Empty Room to Destroy the Media

These people are weird
Wingnuts • Views: 27,002

breitbart.com star reporter Ben “Friends of Hamas” Shapiro was featured today at a CPAC panel titled, “Stop THIS: Threats, Harassment, Intimidation, Slander & Bullying from the Obama Administration,” possibly the whiniest right wing panel title ever devised, and uttered these memorable words:

“It’s really that simple. The media has to be destroyed where it stands.”

Sounds like a big job. Probably need a whole lot of angry right wingers to destroy the media, where it stands or anywhere else. When cornered, the media can be incredibly vicious. It won’t be easy.

That “invincible wingnut army” part of Ben’s master plan still needs a little work, though. Here’s a shot from the audience (via @existentialfish):

Jump to bottom

391 comments
1 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 5:53:48pm

This moron can’t even construct an acronym properly.

Ben Shapiro really is unusually stupid, even for a hawker of RW agitprop.

2 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 5:54:04pm

Are we sure that photo is legit? I wouldn’t want LGF to fall into the same trap as numbnut Shapiro did.

Gus, time for your Google-Fu.

3 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 5:55:24pm

re: #2 b_sharp

Are we sure that photo is legit? I wouldn’t want LGF to fall into the same trap as numbnut Shapiro did.

Gus, time for your Google-Fu.

Oh yeah, it’s definitely legit.

4 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:01:06pm

The media has to be destroyed where it stands

if it was destroyed at least we wouldn’t have to hear about your stupid threats

5 darthstar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:01:41pm

If Ben gives a speech and nobody’s there to listen to him, is he still fucked in the head?

6 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:04:33pm

re: #3 Charles Johnson

Oh yeah, it’s definitely legit.

I kind of meant, is it taken during the talk rather than after or before?

7 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:06:53pm

re: #1 EPR-radar

This moron can’t even construct an acronym properly.

Ben Shapiro really is unusually stupid, even for a hawker of RW agitprop.

It’s actually spelled “Stop THISB”, but the B is silent.

8 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:11:06pm

re: #2 b_sharp

Are we sure that photo is legit? I wouldn’t want LGF to fall into the same trap as numbnut Shapiro did.

Gus, time for your Google-Fu.

Look fer reals to me.

9 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:11:20pm

re: #6 b_sharp

I kind of meant, is it taken during the talk rather than after or before?

Ah.

10 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:14:27pm
11 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:16:21pm

re: #10 Charles Johnson

Conservative intelligentsia flocks to Ben Shapiro’s talk at CPAC.

12 Professor Chaos  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:18:02pm

Those tricksy media people went and actually checked to see if Friends of Hamas existed…THEY MUST BE DESTROYED!

Where does the media stand? Is there like a cloak room in the National Press Club or something?

13 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:18:41pm

re: #11 EPR-radar

Conservative intelligentsia flocks to Ben Shapiro’s talk at CPAC.

Far too many for that. Some of them must have been Fox News journalists.

14 JeffFX  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:19:52pm

Looks like poor little Ben is a joke even to wingnuts.

15 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:20:43pm

I see that Kach and Kahane Chai guy from the UK is not commenting at Breitbart.

16 Professor Chaos  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:20:49pm

re: #11 EPR-radar

Conservative intelligentsia flocks to Ben Shapiro’s talk at CPAC.

Error: File Not Found

17 Cap'n Magic  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:20:54pm

We’ll have to see what the other organizations attending say about this ‘panel’ and if this was indeed the case.

18 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:21:17pm

re: #14 JeffFX

Looks like poor little Ben is a joke even to wingnuts.

IIRC, CPAC has parallel sessions, and there was a bigger wingnut draw at the same time in a different session.

19 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:23:52pm

re: #17 Cap’n Magic

We’ll have to see what the other organizations attending say about this ‘panel’ and if this was indeed the case.

“particleboard”

that’s what i’d say, anyway…

20 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:26:43pm

re: #15 Gus

I see that Kach and Kahane Chai guy from the UK is not commenting at Breitbart.

Oh look. Amren like… Ben Shapiro Demolishes Ivy League Professor on Ethnic Studies | American Renaissance

Warning. The idiots have the VIDEO ON AUTOPLAY.

21 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:27:01pm

Fascinating segment on Rachel Maddow’s show on the new Pope Francis and his record in Argentina.

22 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:28:12pm

re: #5 darthstar

If Ben gives a speech and nobody’s there to listen to him, is he still fucked in the head?

Yes.

At this time of day, I can still answer the really easy questions.

23 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:31:27pm

re: #20 Gus

The Breitbart message is specifically designed to appeal to people like this. Race-baiting is an integral part of what they do.

24 bernie4356  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:32:25pm

Blogger JoeMyGod posted the same photo earlier today but the photo was reported to be Brian Brown’s NOM (National Organization for Marriage) panel. Tough to tell but I embiggened the photo and the big guy in the dark suit on the right does appear to Brian Brown. An update to Joe’s posting confirms with the same photo, but cropped, coming from the NOM Twitter account. In any case, whether its NOM or Ben Shapiro, attendance is lackluster, to put it mildly, at this event.

25 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:37:09pm

re: #24 bernie4356

Blogger JoeMyGod posted the same photo earlier today but the photo was reported to be Brian Brown’s NOM (National Organization for Marriage) panel. Tough to tell but I embiggened the photo and the big guy in the dark suit on the right does appear to Brian Brown. An update to Joe’s posting confirms with the same photo, but cropped, coming from the NOM Twitter account. In any case, whether its NOM or Ben Shapiro, attendance is lackluster, to put it mildly, at this event.

Um, no … it’s the panel I described above. Brian Brown was on this panel. See the CPAC schedule at 5:00 today:

26 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:38:43pm

re: #18 EPR-radar

IIRC, CPAC has parallel sessions, and there was a bigger wingnut draw at the same time in a different session.

Rand Paul?

27 BongCrodny  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:41:04pm

re: #24 bernie4356

Blogger JoeMyGod posted the same photo earlier today but the photo was reported to be Brian Brown’s NOM (National Organization for Marriage) panel. Tough to tell but I embiggened the photo and the big guy in the dark suit on the right does appear to Brian Brown. An update to Joe’s posting confirms with the same photo, but cropped, coming from the NOM Twitter account. In any case, whether its NOM or Ben Shapiro, attendance is lackluster, to put it mildly, at this event.

Hola, hatchling!

28 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:41:20pm

I found a funny collage of the Republican Youth

Image: JamesOKeefeBenShapiroJoelPollack.jpg

29 jamesfirecat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:41:20pm

Why oh why oh why does the Daily show have to be on break when the easiest targets line themselves up?

30 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:44:22pm

re: #28 dragonath

I found a funny collage of the Republican Youth

Image: JamesOKeefeBenShapiroJoelPollack.jpg

You know you’re in trouble as a movement when O’Keefe in his pimp costume looks like the most respectable of the three.

31 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:45:15pm

re: #28 dragonath

I found funny collage of the Republican Youth

Image: JamesOKeefeBenShapiroJoelPollack.jpg

doing a fine job of upholding the the Young Republican tradition of geekiness according to the exacting standard set by teenage mormon missionaries

32 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:45:32pm

Another CPAC FAIL:
CPAC Uses Stock Photos of Random Black People as Backdrop

33 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:45:38pm

re: #30 EPR-radar

I’m surprised no one has referred to them as the Three Stooges yet.

34 BongCrodny  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:48:53pm

re: #28 dragonath

I found a funny collage of the Republican Youth

Image: JamesOKeefeBenShapiroJoelPollack.jpg

AKA “Sex, Lies and Videotape”

35 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:49:23pm

re: #33 dragonath

I’m surprised no one has referred to them as the Three Stooges yet.

Because the Stooges don’t emanate creepiness and untrustworthiness.

36 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:49:44pm

re: #25 Charles Johnson

Um, no … it’s the panel I described above. Brian Brown was on this panel. See the CPAC schedule at 5:00 today:

[Embedded content]

To be fair it looks like that panel was competing with five or six other similarly timed events, including the Allen West Guardian Fund Happy Hour, which after 9 hours of continuous DERP is probably where all the action was. Lord knows I’d need a drink at that point.

37 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:51:39pm
38 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:52:06pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

To be fair it looks like that panel was competing with five or six other similarly timed events, including the Allen West Guardian Fund Happy Hour, which after 9 hours of continuous DERP is probably where all the action was. Lord knows I’d need a drink at that point.

39 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:53:39pm

re: #26 Vicious Babushka

Rand Paul?

Looks like I was wrong. The Stop THIS panel (Brian Brown, Ben Shapiro et al.) was at the same time (5 PM) as a UN vs. US panel discussion, but there don’t appear to be any wingnut rock stars on the UN vs. US panel.

These panels also had to compete with the Reed Irvine accuracy in media award ceremony, a Tea Party patriots event, and, most significantly, the Allan West Guardian Fund Happy Hour.

Who on earth would name a happy hour like this?

40 Charles Johnson  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:54:31pm

re: #36 goddamnedfrank

To be fair it looks like that panel was competing with five or six other similarly timed events, including the Allen West Guardian Fund Happy Hour, which after 9 hours of continuous DERP is probably where all the action was. Lord knows I’d need a drink at that point.

Let’s see… destroy the media and ensure the victory of right wing ideology, or go to happy hour?

Fuck it, I need a drink after that.

41 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:55:31pm

re: #39 EPR-radar

These panels also had to compete with the Reed Irvine accuracy in media award ceremony, a Tea Party patriots event, and, most significantly, the Allan West Guardian Fund Happy Hour.

Who on earth would name a happy hour like this?

Because it makes you want to drink…

42 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:55:58pm

Looks like the wingnuts want a Rand/Rubio or a Rand/West ticket for 2016. Hillary is sure hoping for that.

43 Blue Point  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:56:49pm

“It’s really that simple. The media has to be destroyed where it stands.” Thank you Mr Shapiro. We will now take questions from the audience. Yes? You, in the back? “Offstage voice….Uh, there is nobody there, can’t he see there is no one there? Tell him!” Muffled voices……”Uh, thank you for your support.” Muffled voices….

44 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:58:16pm

re: #37 Vicious Babushka

How does #CPAC reconcile their HATE for the poor with their alleged Christian principals? Would they have screamed “let him die!” to Jesus?

Only a tramp was Lazarus’ fate
when he lay down at the rich man’s gate
begging for crumbs from the rich man to eat
But they left him to die like a tramp on the street

He was some mother’s darlin’, he was some mother’s son
Once he was happy, once he was young
Some mother once rocked him, her darlin’ to sleep
But they left him to die like a tramp on the street

If Jesus should come and knock on your door
For a place to come in, or bread from your store
Would you welcome Him in, or turn Him away
How will you explain it on the Great Judgement Day

45 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 6:59:13pm

re: #38 Vicious Babushka

Having your soul scraped out like a hollow gourd is exhausting.

46 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:00:15pm

re: #45 goddamnedfrank

Having your soul scraped out like a hollow gourd is exhausting.

Which is why it is so much easier to be conservative if one starts off without that handicap.

47 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:02:15pm

Ben Shapiro was actually taking the Clint Eastwood Empty Chair Schtick one step further by having a conversation with enough empty chairs to represent all of Congress.

49 bubba zanetti  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:06:34pm

Marty: The last time Tap toured America, they where, uh, booked into 10,000 seat arenas, and 15,000 seat venues, and it seems that now, on their current tour they’re being booked into 1,200 seat arenas, 1,500 seat arenas, and uh I was just wondering, does this mean uh…the popularity of the group is waning?

Ian: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no…no, no, not at all. I, I, I just think that the.. uh.. their appeal is becoming more selective.

50 jaunte  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:06:53pm

re: #7 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

It’s actually spelled “Stop THISB”, but the B is silent.

Pyramus and Thisbe. en.wikipedia.org

Maybe Ben is Thisbe, and the media is the lion, but after that I’m lost.

51 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:07:41pm

Christie steals away another endorsement from Democrat-friendly union

A union representing 10,000 laborers endorsed Gov. Chris Christie today, another boost for his effort to garner support from the traditionally Democrat-friendly trades council.

The New Jersey State Association of Pipe Trades said its members were “proudly” backing the popular Republican in his re-election bid.

Huh

52 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:08:37pm

possibly the whiniest right wing panel title ever devised

Challenge accepted. Other panels from CPAC 2013 should provide ample material.

“Trump the race card: Are you sick and tired of being called a racist and you know you’re not one” is definitely a contender.

53 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:11:04pm

re: #50 jaunte

Pyramus and Thisbe. [Link: en.wikipedia.org…]

Maybe Ben is Thisbe, and the media is the lion, but after that I’m lost.

Looks like Pollak in this picture

Image: Gregorio_Pagani_P%C3%ADramo_y_Tisbe_Óleo_sobre_lienzo._239_x_180_cm._Galer%C3%ADa_de_los_Uffizi._Florencia.jpeg

54 Killgore Trout  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:11:10pm

re: #51 dragonath

Christie steals away another endorsement from Democrat-friendly union

Huh

“Gov. Christie has displayed a steadfast commitment to retaining and attracting business to New Jersey,” Eric Boyce, the union’s legislative chairman, said in a statement on behalf of members. “He has stimulated private investment and development which has provided a greater opportunity for our membership. His leadership and commitment continues to move New Jersey in the right direction.”

Would you have preferred “arrest our employers, shut them down and confiscate their wealth”?

55 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:13:50pm

so now that mitt romney is no longer running for public office and presumably could be working in the private sector again as a self described “job creator”…


IS HE CREATING ANY DAMN JOBS???

56 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:16:19pm

re: #55 engineer cat

so now that mitt romney is no longer running for public office and presumably could be working in the private sector again as a self described “job creator”…

IS HE CREATING ANY DAMN JOBS???

‘Job Creator’ Mitt Romney Has Created 1.33% as Many Jobs as Obama

I can state with complete confidence that I am employed today because of jobs created by President Obama when he bailed out GM, even though I do not work at GM.

57 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:18:31pm

re: #56 Vicious Babushka

‘Job Creator’ Mitt Romney Has Created 1.33% as Many Jobs as Obama

I can state with complete confidence that I am employed today because of jobs created by President Obama when he bailed out GM, even though I do not work at GM.

Right here:

The stimulus was not the only job creation success for the President because the auto industry bailout added 36,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2011, and 11,000 jobs were in December. In total, since June of 2009 after Chrysler and GM emerged from bankruptcy, the industry added more than 170,000 jobs eclipsing Romney’s alleged numbers during his tenure at Bain and as governor of Massachusetts.

58 HappyWarrior  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:18:53pm

re: #55 engineer cat

so now that mitt romney is no longer running for public office and presumably could be working in the private sector again as a self described “job creator”…

IS HE CREATING ANY DAMN JOBS???

The government shouldn’t be creating jobs. Why doesn’t Obama do more to create jobs? You’re going to get one of the two.

59 Vicious Babushka  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:20:24pm

DERP

60 CarleeCork  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:20:52pm

re: #58 HappyWarrior

The government shouldn’t be creating jobs. Why doesn’t Obama do more to create jobs? You’re going to get one of the two.

So, does the government create jobs or not?

61 bubba zanetti  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:21:28pm

re: #59 Vicious Babushka

Judging by party demographics, preservatives are going to be needed, stat.

62 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:21:40pm

Proservative

i hear ‘preservatives’ with uncomfortable overtones of ‘prostate’

63 HappyWarrior  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:22:17pm

re: #60 CarleeCork

So, does the government create jobs or not?

Depends on how you want to attack Obama. Okay, smartassery aside. Yeah I think it can and does.

64 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:22:52pm

re: #58 HappyWarrior

The government shouldn’t be creating jobs. Why doesn’t Obama do more to create jobs? You’re going to get one of the two.

but nao that mitt is not the government, how’s about somma that job creatin’ he’s supposed to be so good at? can we get a demonstration, mitt?

65 HappyWarrior  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:23:23pm

re: #59 Vicious Babushka

DERP

Truly is out of the dictionary. It is true that she’s not a conservative but rather a reactionary.

66 bubba zanetti  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:23:39pm

re: #62 engineer cat

Proservative

i hear ‘preservatives’ with uncomfortable overtones of ‘prostate’

It’s strange how no one heard this in their echo chamber.

67 HappyWarrior  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:24:10pm

re: #64 engineer cat

but nao that mitt is not the government, how’s about somma that job creatin’ he’s supposed to be so good at? can we get a demonstration, mitt?

You got me. I assume Mitt’s not done with working outside the occasional speech like the one he’s giving at CPAC this weekend.

68 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:24:16pm

re: #54 Killgore Trout

Would you have preferred “arrest our employers, shut them down and confiscate their wealth”?

What is this confusion between US Democrats and communist revolutionaries?

Given prevailing GOP attitudes toward unions, it seems reasonable to be skeptical of any union endorsement of a GOP politician.

69 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:25:17pm

re: #54 Killgore Trout

Would you have preferred “arrest our employers, shut them down and confiscate their wealth”?

I don’t hold any special opprobrium for Christie, but his new budget cuts hospital funds, drug prevention, and sets aside nothing for expanded medicare enrollment.

Don’t put words in my mouth. You were linking articles critical of “special interests” earlier, and it seems awful convenient for you to stand up for them now.

70 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:25:35pm

re: #60 CarleeCork

So, does the government create jobs or not?

The Government does not creat jobs per se. What the Government does is create conditions for businesses to make a profit. A typical wingnut adage is that the Government can do nothing to create jobs. OK then, so what if the government turned off the power to all of the traffic signals in town and every intersection became a free-for-all? Would that be good for businesses? Of course, not, it would be a disaster.

71 HappyWarrior  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:26:24pm

re: #70 Mich-again

The Government does not creat jobs per se. What the Government does is create conditions for businesses to make a profit. A typical wingnut adage is that the Government can do nothing to create jobs. OK then, so what if the government turned off the power to all of the traffic signals in town and every intersection became a free-for-all? Would that be good for businesses? Of course, not, it would be a disaster.

Right, government may not create jobs in itself but it can create jobs through creating conditions.

72 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:26:44pm

Governments create jobs in countless ways. One of the most obvious ways would be basic infrastructure such as bridges and road construction and maintenance. They set aside funds, announce the project, then different companies would put in bids for parts of the project. Those companies would need supplies, have over head they need to meet to achieve the project, so on and so forth.

Its so simple even a conservative should be able to understand it.

73 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:26:53pm

re: #62 engineer cat

Proservative

i hear ‘preservatives’ with uncomfortable overtones of ‘prostate’

Man is made in God’s image as a result of intelligent design. Men have prostates. God is benevolent. Something is wrong with this combination of propositions.

74 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:30:08pm

What can Government do to create an environment where the economy will grow?

Provide an efficient infrastructure for transportation, utilities and information technology, provide a stable efficient transparent legal and regulatory system, protect intellectual property, provide an excellent public education system to train future employees, ensure that the banking system is ethical and transparent.. these are a few things. Only a profoundly stupid person would go around espousing the notion that the government can do nothing to create jobs.

75 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:30:50pm

re: #72 Kragar (Antichrist )

Governments create jobs in countless ways. One of the most obvious ways would be basic infrastructure such as bridges and road construction and maintenance. They set aside funds, announce the project, then different companies would put in bids for parts of the project. Those companies would need supplies, have over head they need to meet to achieve the project, so on and so forth.

Its so simple even a conservative should be able to understand it.

i agree - every dollar that government spends in country contributes to job creation

the federal government employs many thousands of military, construction, medical, and military equipment manufacturing workers. especially medical

entire companies exist mostly on government contracts (i’ve worked for one, and they contracted me out to write computer programs for the army. the most government contract oriented ones have three-letter-acronyms for company names)

76 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:32:00pm

re: #73 EPR-radar

Man is made in God’s image as a result of intelligent design. Men have prostates. God is benevolent. Something is wrong with this combination of propositions.

g-d has created the prostate as an organ of contrition to punish you for having impure thoughts when you are over 50

77 Dark_Falcon  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:32:04pm

re: #29 jamesfirecat

Why oh why oh why does the Daily show have to be on break when the easiest targets line themselves up?

Because Ben Shapiro is just too easy a target, James. Letting Jon Stewart loose on him would be like sandblasting a soup cracker.

78 jamesfirecat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:32:34pm

re: #73 EPR-radar

Man is made in God’s image as a result of intelligent design. Men have prostates. God is benevolent. Something is wrong with this combination of propositions.

Also male nipples.. I can’t figure out what mine do yet and it has been over 20 years, and of you guys figured it out yet?

79 jamesfirecat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:33:17pm

re: #77 Dark_Falcon

Because Ben Shapiro is just too easy a target, James. Letting Jon Stewart loose on him would be like sandblasting a soup cracker.

Upding for the Dilbert reference.

80 Dark_Falcon  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:35:24pm

re: #79 jamesfirecat

Upding for the Dilbert reference.

I use it because it’s one of the more memorable and less vulgar metaphors for ‘massive overkill’.

81 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:35:31pm

The other stupid wingnut theory is that environmental regulations are bad for business and when they get in office they are going to relax those durn regulations. Here’s the problem with the idea of YoYo regulations. Business A just invested $100 million to abide by a federal regulation to reduce stack emissions. Business B said fuck that, we’ll wait for the GOP to take over. Then the polluters take charge and change the regulations. Now Business A just lost their ability to compete in the market and pay off their investment and goes bankrupt while Business B goes on polluting. Simplified example sure, but this is the outcome of shit-canning regulations to “help” business.

82 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:36:04pm

re: #78 jamesfirecat

Also male nipples.. I can’t figure out what mine do yet and it has been over 20 years, and of you guys figured it out yet?

Nipples are vital. Comic strip characters look really weird without them.

Image: Where%20are%20my%20nipples.jpg

83 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:37:30pm

re: #78 jamesfirecat

Also male nipples.. I can’t figure out what mine do yet and it has been over 20 years, and of you guys figured it out yet?

God having fun with his erector set obviously. Now Evil on the other hand would probably fit right in as a CPAC speaker.

84 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:38:11pm

re: #81 Mich-again

The other stupid wingnut theory is that environmental regulations are bad for business and when they get in office they are going to relax those durn regulations. Here’s the problem with the idea of YoYo regulations. Business A just invested $100 million to abide by a federal regulation to reduce stack emissions. Business B said fuck that, we’ll wait for the GOP to take over. Then the polluters take charge and change the regulations. Now Business A just lost their ability to compete in the market and pay off their investment and goes bankrupt while Business B goes on polluting. Simplified example sure, but this is the outcome of shit-canning regulations to “help” business.

But business B gets a bang up return on its investment in GOP mouthpieces.

It is a marvel that the GOP has the nerve to complain about government ‘picking winners and losers’.

85 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:39:32pm

re: #82 dragonath

Nipples are vital. Comic strip characters look really weird without them.

Image: Where%20are%20my%20nipples.jpg

true story: at the religious high school i went to, the cross behind the altar in the chapel was basically a cross-shaped oil painting of a loin-cloth clad jesus

it freaked us out that he had no nipples. it’s unnatural

86 Romantic Heretic  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:40:48pm

re: #60 CarleeCork

So, does the government create jobs or not?

It depends on which one they think will do the most damage to Obama’s reputation.

87 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:41:58pm

re: #80 Dark_Falcon

I use it because it’s one of the more memorable and less vulgar metaphors for ‘massive overkill’.

For this, I like the oldie from Harlan Ellison —- sunbathing in a cyclotron.

88 Dark_Falcon  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:45:40pm

re: #87 EPR-radar

For this, I like the oldie from Harlan Ellison —- sunbathing in a cyclotron.

That works well, too.

89 CarleeCork  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:46:01pm

re: #86 Romantic Heretic

It depends on which one they think will do the most damage to Obama’s reputation.

On the nose, thank you.

90 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:47:16pm

I can’t wait until they start sticking these on drones.

91 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:48:15pm

re: #80 Dark_Falcon

I use it because it’s one of the more memorable and less vulgar metaphors for ‘massive overkill’.

There is no “overkill.” There’s only “open fire” and “I need to reload.”

92 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:48:39pm

re: #82 dragonath

Nipples are vital.

Of course they are. Without them boobs would have no point.

/ducks and runs

93 Dark_Falcon  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:49:44pm

re: #91 Targetpractice

There is no “overkill.” There’s only “open fire” and “I need to reload.”

Spoken like someone who wastes ammo.

///

94 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:53:31pm

re: #91 Targetpractice

There is no “overkill.” There’s only “open fire” and “I need to reload.”

MORE DAKKA!

95 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 7:59:15pm

re: #94 Kragar (Antichrist )

MORE DAKKA!

Never enough dakka.

96 The Ghost of a Flea  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:04:34pm

I just slightly hate you all for the quantity of 40K lore I’ve osmosed since joining this board.

Note: I’m kidding about the hate part, but not the 40K part.

97 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:05:27pm

re: #96 The Ghost of a Flea

I just slightly hate you all for the quantity of 40K lore I’ve osmosed since joining this board.

Note: I’m kidding about the hate part, but not the 40K part.

Nothing beats 40k lore.

98 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:06:13pm
99 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:12:05pm

Brilliant!

Well maybe not.

100 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:15:17pm

re: #59 Vicious Babushka

DERP

Proservative?

Is this woman nuts?

101 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:16:09pm

re: #99 NJDhockeyfan

Brilliant!

Well maybe not.

At first I misread the headline as referring somehow to Speaker Boehner.

102 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:23:08pm

re: #101 EPR-radar

At first I misread the headline as referring somehow to Speaker Boehner.

speaker boehner is a shining example of how orange people can escape the vicious cycle of poverty and crime, as well as the scourge of orange-on-orange violence

103 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:24:54pm

re: #102 engineer cat

speaker boehner is a shining example of how orange people can escape the vicious cycle of poverty and crime, as well as the scourge of orange-on-orange violence

The only problem I have with orange people is the thickness of their skin and how difficult they are to peel.

104 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:26:28pm

re: #98 Gus

Image: Button.png

Nice RSS.

What’cha gonna do with it?

105 Bubblehead II  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:27:36pm

Night Lizards. May the Deity of Your Choice Smile Down Upon You.

106 chadu  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:28:36pm

re: #78 jamesfirecat

Also male nipples.. I can’t figure out what mine do yet and it has been over 20 years, and of you guys figured it out yet?

Antigravity.

107 b_sharp  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:29:29pm

re: #106 chadu

Antigravity.

I thought radio tuning.

108 chadu  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:31:20pm

re: #102 engineer cat

speaker boehner is a shining example of how orange people can escape the vicious cycle of poverty and crime, as well as the scourge of orange-on-orange violence

Discrimination versus Oompa-Loopma-Americans is wrong, and I am against it.

109 chadu  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:32:12pm

re: #107 b_sharp

I thought radio tuning.

Yeah, in my experience, that technique is suboptimal.

110 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:35:04pm

re: #104 b_sharp

Nice RSS.

What’cha gonna do with it?

Nada. Just practicing. Learning news things I’ve never used before.

111 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:35:41pm

Consequences of stupidity:

When the Supreme Court last year upheld the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, they ruled that states could decide whether or not to adopt President Obama’s expanded Medicaid program. So far, 22 states have either opposed it, spoken out against it or remain undecided.

All that’s at stake for U.S. employers? Something around $1 billion dollars, according to a new study conducted by Jackson Hewitt.

The controversial provision allows more people to qualify for Medicaid, but also penalizes any insurance-providing company with more than 50 full-time workers whose own workers can’t afford insurance. If workers are able to qualify for Medicaid, however, companies can avoid fines of up to $3,000 per individual. So by rejecting the provision, states are making it harder for companies to avoid the penalty.

112 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:38:03pm
113 bubba zanetti  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:38:06pm

re: #102 engineer cat

speaker boehner is a shining example of how orange people can escape the vicious cycle of poverty and crime, as well as the scourge of orange-on-orange violence

Were oompa-loompas unionized?

114 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:38:24pm

re: #111 goddamnedfrank

Consequences of stupidity:

Not so much stupidity as a self-fulfilling prophecy. See all the predictions that companies will start firing people until they get under the 50 person limit so as to avoid the penalties.

115 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:39:47pm

re: #114 Targetpractice

Not so much stupidity as a self-fulfilling prophecy. See all the predictions that companies will start firing people until they get under the 50 person limit so as to avoid the penalties.

Political theater at the expense of working people.

How very surprising. //

116 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:42:13pm

This is a special announcement:

DO NOT eat tofu made Seattle right now.

State shuts down South Seattle tofu company

A South Seattle factory that makes tofu products was shut down by the state, and the owner of the company is apologizing to customers.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture inspected Chu Minh Tofu, and inspectors found rodent droppings, pigeons and insects near where fresh tofu was made.

117 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:42:56pm
118 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:42:58pm

re: #112 Gus

Thoughtcrime.

119 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:43:05pm

re: #112 Gus

Was that pastry loaded?

120 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:43:37pm

Basically the entire approach at the state level to Obamacare has been about proving the predictions of its failure “right,” from refusing to accept the Medicaid expansions and thus forcing companies to either pay the fines or dump workers, to refusing to set up insurance exchanges and thus ensuring that the federal government will have to do so and raise the overall cost while allowing them to bitch about “government overreach.”

121 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:45:47pm

re: #112 Gus

In the Anne Arundel case, the son of William “B.J.” Welch was suspended March 1 for two days after chewing his breakfast bar, akin to a Pop-Tart, and yelling, “Look I made a gun,” according to the appeal. He aimed the pastry at students in a hallway and those at nearby desks, the appeal said.

This was during class.

A two-day suspension is not a big deal.

122 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:46:58pm

re: #118 goddamnedfrank

Thoughtcrime.

Yes, it will be really helpful for schools to have such zero-tolerance policies. //dripping

It will be even more helpful for legislatures to get into the circus and start legislating what the schools can and cannot do. // even more dripping

123 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:47:52pm

re: #118 goddamnedfrank

Thoughtcrime.

They should probably intervene and start counseling and possibly medication because he’s clearly showing signs of a future spree killer. Think of the children!!!

//

124 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:48:43pm

re: #113 bubba zanetti

Were oompa-loompas unionized?

no - oompa loompas were clearly loompen proletariat

125 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:48:49pm

re: #121 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

This was during class.

A two-day suspension is not a big deal.

He aimed the pastry at students in a hallway and those at nearby desks.

126 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:49:03pm

re: #121 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

This was during class.

“In the appeal, Ficker wrote that the boy was accused of classroom disruption, although it was during a breakfast period with no teaching.”

127 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:51:35pm
128 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:52:34pm
129 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:52:47pm

re: #126 goddamnedfrank

“In the appeal, Ficker wrote that the boy was accused of classroom disruption, although it was during a breakfast period with no teaching.”

Oh. Well, it’s still not a big deal. The kid was being disruptive, got suspended. A lot of kids are being suspended and sent to detention by teachers all over this great country, and nobody cares unless they’re making a gun out of a biscuit or wearing a god hates fags t-shirt.

2 day suspension. And they’re suing to have his ‘record’ wiped clean? Yeah, because making a gigantic news story about it is definitely the best way to make this not impact this kid’s life any more.

130 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:54:02pm

BANG! You’re dead.

[Grabs heart and falls to the ground while exhaling “they got me.”]

131 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:55:05pm

re: #129 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Oh. Well, it’s still not a big deal. The kid was being disruptive, got suspended. A lot of kids are being suspended and sent to detention by teachers all over this great country, and nobody cares unless they’re making a gun out of a biscuit or wearing a god hates fags t-shirt.

2 day suspension. And they’re suing to have his ‘record’ wiped clean? Yeah, because making a gigantic news story about it is definitely the best way to make this not impact this kid’s life any more.

Oh come on. You know this zero tolerance stuff is practically an epidemic. Sure glad I’m not a kid today.

132 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:56:04pm

re: #129 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Oh. Well, it’s still not a big deal. The kid was being disruptive, got suspended. A lot of kids are being suspended and sent to detention by teachers all over this great country, and nobody cares unless they’re making a gun out of a biscuit or wearing a god hates fags t-shirt.

2 day suspension. And they’re suing to have his ‘record’ wiped clean? Yeah, because making a gigantic news story about it is definitely the best way to make this not impact this kid’s life any more.

It’s like every other one of these cases we ever hear, it’s the parents and their lawyer going to the court of public opinion, where they know that the public is more likely to take the side of the “poor, innocent child.”

133 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:56:44pm

“The child was found to be in possession of a 1 inch long pen knife.”

EVIDENCE PHOTO

135 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:59:00pm

re: #131 Gus

Oh come on. You know this zero tolerance stuff is practically an epidemic. Sure glad I’m not a kid today.

I’m glad I wasn’t a kid back when the teachers were allowed to smack the shit out of you, actually. I’d much rather be a kid today.

I bet if this kid had chewed the pastry and said “Look, I made a fart machine!” and started making fart noises while pointing at other students, he’d have gotten the suspension too. And nobody would ever hear about it, because the magic word ‘gun’ wasn’t there.

Back when I was in high school, we had some teachers that’d suspend you for passing notes in class, for crissake.

Mrs. Archibald, my Latin teacher, when I got into the class, asked me if I had two brothers. I said “Yes,” and she said, “They were horrible, and your’e going to be horrible too.” Ah, Mrs. Archibald. She handed out detention for forgetting to bring a pen.

I had a lot of detention.

Our schools discipline systems are a complete joke, I’ll agree with that, but I don’t think freaking out about guns is the problem.

136 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 8:59:32pm

re: #131 Gus

Oh come on. You know this zero tolerance stuff is practically an epidemic. Sure glad I’m not a kid today.

What irks me about the zero-tolerance stuff is that it is all about appearances.

Bullies that are above moron-grade are probably pretty good at getting their victims to lash out in ways that get the victims in trouble with zero tolerance.

137 freetoken  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:01:03pm

Judge: U.S. can’t make Domino’s Farms offer contraceptives

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction to Ann Arbor Township-based Domino’s Farms and its owner, Tom Monaghan, that halts enforcement of a federal mandate in the national health care reform law, an Ann Arbor law firm announced Thursday.

The mandate requires that employers provide insurance coverage for a host of services — including abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception — or face penalties.

“(It) forces our clients to provide abortion-causing drugs to their employees when doing so is a direct violation of the teachings of the Catholic church and our clients’ sincerely held religious beliefs,” Erin Mersino, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, said in a statement.

Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the Eastern District of Michigan granted the motion.

“The court’s decision today upholds everyone’s freedom of religion and rights protected by the Constitution.” Mersino said.

The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Well…

138 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:01:40pm

re: #136 EPR-radar

What irks me about the zero-tolerance stuff is that it isall about appearances.

Bullies that are above moron-grade are probably pretty good at getting their victims to lash out in ways that get the victims in trouble with zero tolerance.

That’s because before, when teacher was told that the bully started the fight and punished the bully, the parents didn’t run to a lawyer and then to the press about how their kid is the victim.

139 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:02:04pm

Alright. I’m going to bed. Imagine being on your first cup of coffee and having to deal with the same kid that disrupts class every day pulling yet another stunt. So you give him a two-day suspension. Is it an overreaction that won’t help anything? Yeah. Does it make the teacher a horrible person for doing it? No.

Edit: And maybe the kid’s an angel and the teacher is a dick. Maybe lots of stuff. But a 2-day suspension isn’t a big deal, and you don’t really have a ‘record’ at age 7.

140 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:03:03pm

re: #137 freetoken

Judge: U.S. can’t make Domino’s Farms offer contraceptives

Well…

Oh horseshit, it does not require them to do anything, it simply says they can’t refuse to offer insurance that covers birth control to their employees.

141 Dark_Falcon  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:03:59pm

A “LGBTQ Youth of Color” group in New York that calls itself FIERCE posted the following on Tumblr:

The NYPD has declared a portion of Flatbush a “Frozen Zone”, meaning media are not allowed in and people can be subjected to arrest for not following police orders. It basically means the area is under temporary martial law. The last times the NYPD declared a Frozen Zone was on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and during the beginning of OWS.

Please call 311 to demand that everyone in connection to tonight’s Kimani vigil/march be released from the 71st precinct in Brooklyn. There’s one Malcolm X Grassroots Movement member arrested & two Justice Committee (JC) members arrested. A ton of community members who were at the vigil/march were also arrested. If you have friends/family in NYC please tell them to call 311. If you live in NYC please call 311. Let’s get them free! Please share!

NYPD decided not to release community members and Cop Watchers arrested at the vigil for Kimani “Kiki” Gray. Please call 7182502001 to demand NO charges be brought against all arrested

Left Wing and not friendly to the NYPD: Yes. Within bounds of decency and sanity: Also, yes.

This reply to that post from “Free Citizen” is Right Wing, also unfriendly to the NYPD, but outside the bounds of decency and sanity:

Here’s a quaint idea.

Acquire firearms
March on police station
Demand release of political prisoners
Finally understand what the 2nd Amendment is for

FIERCE, thankfully, is smart enough to know how dumb that idea would be and how badly it would end. But for some pro-gun people going marching on the NYPD with guns actually seems like a good idea.

[headdesk]

142 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:04:31pm

re: #129 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Oh. Well, it’s still not a big deal. The kid was being disruptive, got suspended. A lot of kids are being suspended and sent to detention by teachers all over this great country, and nobody cares unless they’re making a gun out of a biscuit or wearing a god hates fags t-shirt.

2 day suspension. And they’re suing to have his ‘record’ wiped clean? Yeah, because making a gigantic news story about it is definitely the best way to make this not impact this kid’s life any more.

I think the parents are right, in this environment with regard to any reference to the word “gun,” to ask for the record to be expunged. Any references to gun in the kid’s disciplinary file will make transfer to a private school more difficult. There’s also no references to any prior incidents, so if this was the kid’s first offense I think an official suspension is an inexcusably disproportionate response to the situation. In the long run I think it also has the opposite effect of what’s intended, it breeds contempt for administrators who can’t, or won’t gauge proportionality. And unless he was trying to intimidate the other children or was spewing profanities it’s not comparable to wearing a God Hates Fags t-shirt.

143 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:05:46pm

re: #142 goddamnedfrank

Well, they kind of shat the bed by going to the media if they wanted to keep this quiet, didn’t they?

144 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:08:56pm

re: #138 Targetpractice

That’s because before, when teacher was told that the bully started the fight and punished the bully, the parents didn’t run to a lawyer and then to the press about how their kid is the victim.

It is usually difficult to convince school authorities that a bully is in fact a bully, even without litigious parents hovering in the background.

145 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:09:09pm

Cripes I used to draw guns, tanks, airplanes, you name it. I probably would have been kicked out of school by the 4th grade in this environment. I also grew up around bullying. I’ve seen all kinds of bullies from gay bullies to straight. I also got back at 3 bullies during my childhood. One I made pick up a paper airplane with dog poop under it. Another I punched in the stomach while he was talking to a teacher and ran off. That was hilarious because the principle wanted to know who did it and a bunch of kids in class knew I did but didn’t snitch. The last one I clocked in the eye while riding the bus and he burst into tear. He stopped bothering me after that. One notorious bully that never bothered me ended up killing his father with a hammer. Soon after that he shot himself.

146 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:09:56pm

Good times. We didn’t try to kill each other but I know what a sore nose or jaw feels like. :D

147 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:13:09pm

re: #144 EPR-radar

It is usually difficult to convince school authorities that a bully is in fact a bully, even without litigious parents hovering in the background.

But the parents are there, and so the school has to operate on damage control mode almost constantly. We like to believe that schools have the breathing room to take every instance on a case-by-case basis, but the reality is they don’t because all it takes is one kid who gets stabbed or shot or beat to death because the school thought it was “just kids being kids” and they’re facing a multimillion dollar lawsuit.

148 Joanne  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:14:33pm

re: #137 freetoken

So much for my freedom from religion.

149 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:17:58pm

re: #147 Targetpractice

But the parents are there, and so the school has to operate on damage control mode almost constantly. We like to believe that schools have the breathing room to take every instance on a case-by-case basis, but the reality is they don’t because all it takes is one kid who gets stabbed or shot or beat to death because the school thought it was “just kids being kids” and they’re facing a multimillion dollar lawsuit.

We might be talking past each other to some extent. Bullies usually do what they do without leaving evidence. With zero tolerance and fear of law suits, schools come down like a ton of bricks on any visible incident, no matter how minor.

This is much like seeing only the part of an iceberg that sticks above the water, and believing that blowing away that part of the iceberg is a complete removal process.

150 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:20:01pm

re: #148 Joanne

So much for my freedom from religion.

Nice to know someone can block the benefits you’ve signed a contract to receive based on their religious nonsense.

151 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:20:39pm

re: #149 EPR-radar

We might be talking past each other to some extent. Bullies usually do what they do without leaving evidence. With zero tolerance and fear of law suits, schools come down like a ton of bricks on any visible incident, no matter how minor.

This is much like seeing only the part of an iceberg that sticks above the water, and believing that blowing away that part of the iceberg is a complete removal process.

Thing is, when you act on something you didn’t see, then you’re playing into the sort of gray area that lawyers love to exploit. Bully starts a fight, his victim fights back, but the teacher only arrives to see the victim throwing punches. If the teacher gets told that the bully started the fight and punishes him, then the bully’s parents hire a lawyer who puts the teacher on the stand and asks “Did you see him start the fight?”

152 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:20:57pm

Awesome scene from Forrest Gump.

153 Lidane  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:23:33pm

Just in time for CPAC:

Sen. Rob Portman comes out in favor of gay marriage after son comes out as gay

Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman on Thursday announced he has reversed his longtime opposition to same-sex marriage after reconsidering the issue because his 21-year-old son, Will, is gay.

Portman said his son, a junior at Yale University, told him and his wife, Jane, that he’s gay and “it was not a choice, it was who he is and that he had been that way since he could remember.”

“It allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective, and that’s of a Dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have — to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years,” Portman told reporters in an interview at his office.

The conversation the Portmans had with their son two years ago led to him to evolve on the issue after he consulted clergy members, friends including former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Bible.

“The overriding message of love and compassion that I take from the Bible, and certainly the Golden Rule, and the fact that I believe we are all created by our maker, that has all influenced me in terms of my change on this issue,” Portman said, adding that he feels that “in a way, this strengthens the institution of marriage.”

154 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:23:58pm

re: #151 Targetpractice

Thing is, when you act on something you didn’t see, then you’re playing into the sort of gray area that lawyers love to exploit. Bully starts a fight, his victim fights back, but the teacher only arrives to see the victim throwing punches. If the teacher gets told that the bully started the fight and punishes him, then the bully’s parents hire a lawyer who puts the teacher on the stand and asks “Did you see him start the fight?”

Another good example is when bullies are emotionally abusive. There aren’t any good answers for this, so my main point is just that zero-tolerance is hardly a complete answer.

155 goddamnedfrank  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:24:47pm

The thing about children is that they’re hardwired to clue in on hypocrisy. It’s basically impossible for them not to notice that the media environment they’re saturated in is replete with references, at nearly all marketed age levels, to weapons, firearms, conflict, and violence - with copious examples of each. They know that this is what’s being marketed not only to them, but to the adults that surround them. No matter how hard we try to stifle certain expressions, they are going to talk about it, play off and react to it. You can convince them that there are consequences, but it’s a lot more difficult to convince them that zero tolerance policies, the willful disengaging of an adult’s ability to rationally compare and contrast actual harm, is rational or something to be respected.

156 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:26:34pm

re: #155 goddamnedfrank

The thing about children is that they’re hardwired to clue in on hypocrisy. It’s basically impossible for them not to notice that the media environment they’re saturated in, is replete with references, at nearly all marketed age levels, to guns, firearms, conflict, and violence - with copious examples of each. They know that this is what’s being marketed not only to them, but to the adults that surround them. No matter how hard we try to stifle certain expressions, they are going to talk about it, play off and react to it. You can convince them that there are consequences, but it’s a lot more difficult to convince them that zero tolerance policies, the willful disengaging of an adult’s ability to rationally compare and contrast actual harm, is rational or something to be respected.

Agreed. Children are not stupid, and will see and/or exploit the stupidity inherent in mindless form of zero tolerance.

157 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:32:00pm

Regarding the HHS ruling, I can’t find a whole lot on this judge, but he’s been around for a while. Reagan appointee. Some whackos were blaming him for upholding “sharia law” a few years back:

Kevin Murray v. U.S. Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner, et al.
In 2008, Muise, along with co-counsel David Yerushalmi, filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, challenging a portion of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund the federal government’s majority ownership interest in AIG. The lawsuit claimed that the federal government, through its ownership of AIG, engages in Sharia-based Islamic religious activities. The lawsuit further claimed the use of taxpayer dollars to fund Shariah-based Islamic religious activities violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. While federal Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, at the request by the Department of Justice, dismissed the lawsuit in 2009,[16] he reached a summary judgment in January 2011, noting that the religious involvement did not achieve the “excessive entanglement” required under a precedential ruling.[17] The case is currently on appeal.

158 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:32:44pm

re: #154 EPR-radar

Another good example is when bullies are emotionally abusive. There aren’t any good answers for this, so my main point is just that zero-tolerance is hardly a complete answer.

I was the subject of emotional and physical bullying throughout middle school, and I can’t ever remember thinking that I should have just had my folks get me a lawyer and appeal my detentions for punching another student as being their fault for bullying me.

159 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:36:16pm
160 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:38:41pm

re: #137 freetoken

“The court’s decision today upholds everyone’s freedom of religion and rights protected by the Constitution.” Mersino said.

That opens the door for a Jehovah’s Witness employer to refuse to cover blood transfusions. Where does it stop? I thought the 1st Amendment said something about make no law respecting an establishment of religion..

161 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:43:01pm

re: #160 Mich-again

That opens the door for a Jehovah’s Witness employer to refuse to cover blood transfusions. Where does it stop? I thought the 1st Amendment said something about make no law respecting an establishment of religion..

I’m beginning to think that many judges see the Bill of Rights much like Barbarossa saw the pirate’s code in Pirates of the Caribbean, namely as “guidelines” than actual rules.

162 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:44:03pm

re: #158 Targetpractice

I was the subject of emotional and physical bullying throughout middle school, and I can’t ever remember thinking that I should have just had my folks get me a lawyer and appeal my detentions for punching another student as being their fault for bullying me.

Lawyering up for something like that would have been foolish.

However, it must have been disappointing that you ended up getting punished for something that was started by the bullies.

I would like to see school environments where the adults are more clueful about what actually goes on, which would go a long way toward reducing bullying.

163 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:44:42pm

re: #161 Targetpractice

I’m beginning to think that many judges see the Bill of Rights much like Barbarossa saw the pirate’s code in Pirates of the Caribbean, namely as “guidelines” than actual rules.

Scalia is already there with regard to voting rights.

164 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:46:39pm

re: #162 EPR-radar

Lawyering up for something like that would have been foolish.

However, it must have been disappointing that you ended up getting punished for something that was started by the bullies.

I would like to see school environments where the adults are more clueful about what actually goes on, which would go a long way toward reducing bullying.

Replace “adults” with “parents” and you’d be closer to a mutually agreeable situation. As is, not all parents are willing to believe that their child is a bully or is capable of hurting other children and so punishing their little angel is just going to bring lawyers knocking on the door. So like I said, teacher punishes the bully, lawyer puts teacher on the stand and presses them to explain why the victim was let go and the bully was punished when the teacher only saw the victim throwing punches.

165 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:51:13pm

Never got into that preachy, in your face, shouting out in sheer terror activism.

166 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:53:17pm

re: #161 Targetpractice

I’m beginning to think that many judges see the Bill of Rights much like Barbarossa saw the pirate’s code in Pirates of the Caribbean, namely as “guidelines” than actual rules.

Well its funny how the self-proclaimed Strict Constructionists like Rand Paul like to read the exact wording of the Constitution from 1789 to interpret the words.. for some clauses only. But then for other clauses, they think we should divine for the hidden meaning that the writers actually intended to say.

167 Targetpractice  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:57:55pm

re: #166 Mich-again

Well its funny how the self-proclaimed Strict Constructionists like Rand Paul like to read the exact wording of the Constitution from 1789 to interpret the words.. for some clauses only. But then for other clauses, they think we should divine for the hidden meaning that the writers actually intended to say.

And, of course, their reading of the tea leaves always consults their interpretation of the founders, which almost always uptight, intolerant uber-religious assholes.

168 EPR-radar  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 9:59:56pm

re: #167 Targetpractice

And, of course, their reading of the tea leaves always consults their interpretation of the founders, which almost always uptight, intolerant uber-religious assholes.

They treat the US Constitution the same way they treat any other sacred text. Project their own positions into the text, and then read these positions back out as divinely ordained.

169 AlexRogan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:02:21pm

re: #137 freetoken

Judge: U.S. can’t make Domino’s Farms offer contraceptives

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction to Ann Arbor Township-based Domino’s Farms and its owner, Tom Monaghan, that halts enforcement of a federal mandate in the national health care reform law, an Ann Arbor law firm announced Thursday.

The mandate requires that employers provide insurance coverage for a host of services — including abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception — or face penalties.

“(It) forces our clients to provide abortion-causing drugs to their employees when doing so is a direct violation of the teachings of the Catholic church and our clients’ sincerely held religious beliefs,” Erin Mersino, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, said in a statement.

Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the Eastern District of Michigan granted the motion.

“The court’s decision today upholds everyone’s freedom of religion and rights protected by the Constitution.” Mersino said.

The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Well…

If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Monaghan founded Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s Farms is the property management company he currently owns.

IMO, he’s more hardcore conservative Catholic than Paul Ryan…and that’s saying a lot, mainly because Monaghan has the bucks to back it up and fight the ACA in court, rather than go through the Capitol Hill routine.

170 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:03:57pm

I love how people walk on eggshells about religion. Apparently, Christianity is the greatest threat to the survival of man.

171 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:09:06pm

re: #167 Targetpractice

And, of course, their reading of the tea leaves always consults their interpretation of the founders, which almost always uptight, intolerant uber-religious assholes.

Yeah I love it when they try to tell me that Thomas Jefferson was a Christian.

172 AlexRogan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:13:08pm

re: #170 Gus

I love how people walk on eggshells about religion. Apparently, Christianity is the greatest threat to the survival of man.

No eggshells here, but I have to agree with the quote that’s often reworded and attributed to Gandhi, but was apparently said by someone by the name of Bara Dada: “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians — you are not like him.”

Even as a nominal Christian, I certainly understand the sentiment; too many people who call themselves Christians take that label, use it, and abuse it to their own twisted, misanthropic ends to lord over others and take what they want, acting nothing close to Christ-like.

173 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:13:18pm

re: #171 Mich-again

Yeah I love it when they try to tell me that Thomas Jefferson was a Christian.

Yep. He was just your run of the mill Diest SLAVE OWNER.

174 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:14:05pm

re: #172 AlexRogan

No eggshells here, but I have to agree with the quote that’s often reworded and attributed to Gandhi, but was apparently said by someone by the name of Bara Dada: “Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians — you are not like him.”

Even as a nominal Christian, I certainly understand the sentiment; too many people who call themselves Christians take that label, use it, and abuse it to their own twisted, misanthropic ends, acting nothing close to Christ-like.

No. I know what’s going on here and I will let it remain as something that should probably remain unsaid.

175 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:15:15pm

re: #169 AlexRogan

If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Monaghan founded Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s Farms is the property management company he currently owns.

IMO, he’s more hardcore conservative Catholic than Paul Ryan…and that’s saying a lot, mainly because Monaghan has the bucks to back it up and fight the ACA in court, rather than go through the Capitol Hill routine.

He wanted to build an entire faith-based community in Florida called Ave Maria where it would have been illegal to sell or use condoms. Not sure why he gave up on that one…

176 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:15:57pm


177 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:16:25pm

re: #170 Gus

I love how people walk on eggshells about religion. Apparently, Christianity is the greatest threat to the survival of man.

Seems that way some days.

178 dragonath  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:19:08pm

re: #175 Mich-again

He wanted to build an entire faith-based community in Florida called Ave Maria where it would have been illegal to sell or use condoms. Not sure why he gave up on that one…

I wonder if this guy tried enrolling there

Image: tumblr_m1syclKVJe1rndlzho1_500.jpg

179 AlexRogan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:19:32pm

re: #174 Gus

No. I know what’s going on here and I will let it remain as something that should probably remain unsaid.

You disagree with something that I said or is it something else upthread, if you don’t mind me asking?

180 AlexRogan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:20:03pm

re: #178 dragonath

I wonder if this guy tried enrolling there

Image: tumblr_m1syclKVJe1rndlzho1_500.jpg

Tell me that’s a chop…

181 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:20:35pm

re: #179 AlexRogan

You disagree with something I said or is it something else, if you don’t mind me asking?

It’s just that we dance around religion. We pick and choose.

182 Gus  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:22:00pm

re: #177 Kragar (Antichrist )

Seems that way some days.

But Bryan Fischer would want that too! //

183 Mich-again  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:22:09pm

re: #170 Gus

I love how people walk on eggshells about religion. Apparently, Christianity is the greatest threat to the survival of man.

I spent 10 years volunteering at my parish teaching Religious Ed to 8th graders. I am a huge critic of the pedo shuffling that went on. just disgusting.. Anyone involved should have been broomed out of church into the court system. I don’t care if the Pope himself thinks I’m wrong to criticize the church for that. They can all get in a big line behind him and KMA.

184 AlexRogan  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:23:55pm

re: #181 Gus

It’s just that we dance around religion. We pick and choose.

Nothing new there…everyone, even atheists and agnostics, I’ll venture to say, have their own sacred cows that they don’t like to have gored, so to speak.

Religion is just that way; when you mix it with politics, it’s just that much more awkward and uncomfortable for a lot of people, because most sane, reasonable people will trying to couch their arguments in ways to be as inoffensive and as accommodating as possible.

The hardcore, whether they are religious or atheistic, typically just don’t give a fuck.

185 prairiefire  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 10:54:04pm

OMG, there is nooooobody in that meeting room.

186 wheat-dogghazi  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:03:56pm

re: #112 Gus

I’m happy Kristof picked up on this story, but he’s about one or two weeks behind the times. The pastry-gun kid is old news, unless this is a copycat “criminal.”

If it’s the same kid, he supposedly has ADHD or “acting-out” issues and the Pop-Tart Caper violated his b-mod plan or something. So, the teacher shut him down.

I’m a teacher, so I have no problem with the kid getting a suspension. On the other hand, this kid’s teacher needs to lighten up a little bit. He’s only 7 years old, ferchrissakes.

187 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:24:04pm

re: #185 prairiefire

OMG, there is nooooobody in that meeting room.

Its full of Obamas.

188 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:35:12pm

I LOOK LIKE AN EGG,
BUT I IDENTIFY AS A COOKIE
with Heather Gold

that’s a fun title

189 freetoken  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:39:11pm

The following, I propose, underlies much of what we discuss around here regarding politics and society:


Census shows record 1 in 3 US counties are dying

A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere.

[…]

Also seeing big declines now are rural and exurban areas, along with industrial sections of the Rust Belt.

Census data show that 1,135 of the nation’s 3,143 counties are now experiencing “natural decrease,” where deaths exceed births. That’s up from roughly 880 U.S. counties, or 1 in 4, in 2009. Already apparent in Japan and many European nations, natural decrease is now increasingly evident in large swaths of the U.S.

Despite increasing deaths, the U.S. population as a whole continues to grow, boosted by immigration and relatively higher births among the mostly younger migrants from Mexico, Latin America and Asia.

[…]

Of those 1135 counties that are in natural decline, I wonder how many show up as “red” in those maps posted at twitter that supposedly show America is a “red state” nation?

190 Kragar (Antichrist )  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:41:14pm

re: #189 freetoken

The following, I propose, underlies much of what we discuss around here regarding politics and society:

Census shows record 1 in 3 US counties are dying

Of those 1135 counties that are in natural decline, I wonder how many show up as “red” in those maps posted at twitter that supposedly show America is a “red state” nation?

Well, at the beginning of the article they also talk about how young adults are leaving large cities as well, but yeah, overall, rural America is getting older and not being replaced.

No wonder the South loves teen pregnancy so much.

191 engineer cat  Thu, Mar 14, 2013 11:49:12pm

Census shows record 1 in 3 US counties are

maybe when they empty out completely we can pick up a few nice counties cheap for hippie hog farms & suchlike

192 engineer cat  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 12:02:26am

imma hafta rewrite my dating profile

eccentric, logorrheic, intense, peculiar, well heeled bohemian engineer, loves pre-indo-european substrates, ars nova composers, elegant dynamic programming algorithms, obscure and poorly documented historical periods, and neurotic curvacious sex obsessed literary misplaced hyperbolic women who know the difference between ibid and ovid and don’t give me a blank look when i say the word ‘proust’

that outta bring em in

193 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 12:15:43am

re: #153 Lidane

Just in time for CPAC:

Sen. Rob Portman comes out in favor of gay marriage after son comes out as gay

I wonder if people like Portman ever go through an introspective phase after such reversals, examining what it is about themselves that required the coming out of a close family member before they supported basic equality under the law. At this stage of the game it’s simply impossible for me to believe that Portman wasn’t aware of all the arguments in favor of equality, it’s just that none of that mattered against holding a position required by his political identity until maintaining that position threatened his relationship with his son.

Social conservatives who finally are able to terms with gay marriage really should examine what it was about themselves that caused them to get something so basic so wrong for so long, because it’s the same thing at the root of much of conservative social and economic ideology, an inability or unwillingness to empathize. They can sympathize to a degree, so have feelings for people going through experiences they already have, or people they see as like them, but it takes a serious threat to someone they have an established, loving relationship with before they will examine the damaging effects their self centeredness has on others.

I guess he should be praised on some level though, since many people simply cut their gay children out of their lives entirely, never accepting them or coming to terms with their right to equal treatment under the law. Still, it’s like requiring help to clear an incredibly low hurdle.

194 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 12:40:07am

A good night for a little Schubert:

195 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 1:00:45am

Our main event for tonight, Tchaikovsky’s op. 50, his “Piano Trio”, first section (“Pezzo elegiaco”), with Jascha Heifetz on violin, Artur Rubinstein on piano, and Gregor Piatigorsky on cello:

196 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 2:43:17am
197 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 3:39:43am

This is America:

[Oklahoma] House passes religious speech bill

Citing the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal, Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, persuaded his Oklahoma House of Representatives colleagues to pass a bill Thursday morning he said guarantees the right of school students to talk about God and other religious subjects at school.

Bennett acknowledged House Bill merely codifies rights already guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions and by Supreme Court decisions, but said it is necessary because many school administrators are unclear about permissible policy.

[…]

Opponents said they were concerned additional law on the subject will actually lead to more lawsuits and open the door for “demonics, Muslims and Buddha.”

Rep. Ben Sherrer, D-Chouteau, said the bill is really a thinly disguised attack on a non-existent “urban legend” that there is an “anti-God, anti-Christian atmosphere pervading public education.”

But Bennett and his supporters seemed to be in at least partial disagreement.

“We are a Christian nation, maybe not formally, but we are a Christian nation,” said Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, debating in favor of the bill.

[…]

BUDDHISTS!!

198 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 3:42:02am
199 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:26:18am

What could possibly go wrong?

200 BongCrodny  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:32:14am

re: #197 freetoken

This is America:

[Oklahoma] House passes religious speech bill

BUDDHISTS!!

I thought Republicans were always arguing that we didn’t need additional laws because existing laws were already strong enough.

Apparently existing laws are not strong enough, except when it comes to pesky things like women and minorities. Then they are strong enough.

201 BongCrodny  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:33:19am

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

What could possibly go wrong?

Boom, indeed.

202 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:41:36am

re: #199 Vicious Babushka

A few small clarifications:

Methane clathrates don’t necessarily lie “under the seabed” as many are literally (yes, literally) on the seabed, as part of the ooze. Methane is the end product of decomposition by some once cell organisms, and at the pressure and temperature at the ocean bottom methane will combine with water to form a stable solid… but as it is heated or brought to lower pressures the methane and water let go of each other.

Methane clathrates have been dangled in front of resource prospectors for years, in a hope of developing a method of producing a natural gas supply from them. It’s been elusive, and with natural gas so cheap in the US these days there is no incentive to really try.

For the Japanese this effort takes on a different dimension, though, when looked at geo-politically. Japan disputes several islands with Korea and with China, and one goal of the Japanese is to find a way to make profitable a way to exploit these ocean resources to help given them a reason why they ought to care about these little pieces of rock, other than just for national pride.

203 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:42:22am

re: #197 freetoken

open the door for “demonics, Muslims and Buddha.”

Demonics must be the pinch harmonics employed by heavy metal guitarists.

On the other hand, “Open the door for Buddha” sounds like the title of some poppy, jangly hipster indie college bullshit, and we’re probably better off without it. “There’s something I don’t like about a band that always smiles…”

I’ve never really experienced door-to-door Muslims, but from past experience I don’t open the door for Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses, either.

204 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:47:16am

Dear Ms. Veronica (White Racist on Twitter): THAT TOTALLY IS Michelle’s body. U jealous? (Look at Veronica’s profile pic)

206 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:51:25am

Iraq war killed 120,000 and cost $800 billion, study estimates

Hmmm… dividing here… that’s $6.7 million/corpse.

Did we get a good deal or what?

207 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:55:17am

Texas lawmaker wants to stop plastic grocery bag bans

Texas State Rep. Drew Springer embraces freedom.

Even for plastic bags.

The Republican from Muenster recently filed “The Shopping Bag Freedom Act,” a bill intended to block plastic-bag bans in Austin and other Texas cities.

Such bans are designed to push customers into buying reusable bags at the checkout stand or bringing some to the store.

Supporters praise the bans as a boost for the environment.

Critics deride them as unwarranted government intrusion that could increase costs for consumers.

“At a time of economic recession and with food prices at an all-time high, this hidden social tax on the poor will cause many to have to choose between necessary items such as milk and bread or having a reusable bag to carry their groceries,” Springer said. “This type of government overreach must be stopped here and now.

“If a municipality can ban bags, what is to say they won’t mandate how large a soda can be or how much salt one can put on their food.”

[…]

Gee, the next thing you know municipalities will want to ban things like selling porn. I wonder how Rep. Springer would feel about that?

208 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:57:16am
209 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:57:54am
210 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 4:59:35am

re: #207 freetoken

The next big commie conspiracy after water fluoridation: plastic bag bans.

/

211 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:00:20am

Nice false dichotomy wingnuts. Now if GOP congress had a choice between Feeding Hungry Children and Lowering Taxes on the 1% So They Can Give Themselves Million Dollar Bonuses, which would they choose?

212 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:02:33am

The GOP: Rushing headlong into the 1950s:

The GOP Keeps Getting Whiter

After Republicans won only 48 percent of all votes cast for the House in 2012 but 54 percent of the seats, it’s no secret that the party enjoys the huge built-in structural advantages in the chamber that Democrats had going for them decades ago. In a January memo, veteran GOP pollster Bill McInturff observed, “If you began your career as a Republican trying to win the House in the 1970s and 1980s, you would adopt, as I do, the borrowed adage, ‘There’s no crying in redistricting.’ ” The current unprecedented geographic concentration of Democratic voters was compounded by the 2010 wave election that gave Republicans unprecedented power in state legislatures to redraw political boundaries. Combined, these two demographic developments cast doubt on whether even a 2006-size wave would enable Democrats to win control of the House at any point this decade.

But could the Republicans’ arguably rigged House majority actually be a curse disguised as a blessing? It’s an interesting question. They clearly did everything they could to purge Democratic voters from their districts ahead of 2012, no matter whether those voters were white, black, Hispanic, left-handed, or right-minded—just as Democrats would have done had the roles been reversed. But in the process of quarantining Democrats, Republicans effectively purged millions of minority voters from their own districts, and that should raise a warning flag. By drawing themselves into safe, lily-white strongholds, have Republicans inadvertently boxed themselves into an alternate universe that bears little resemblance to the rest of the country?

[…]

213 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:10:04am

Could spell problems for the GOP if they try to sell doom and gloom:

U.S. economy improving faster than expected, data show

214 freetoken  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:29:00am

India’s analog to the GOP, and someone born to what would have been a high caste in the old days, want’s to make sure India doesn’t spread the dole around very widely:

India has too many labour regulations: Rajan

[…]


On growth and equity, Rajan said, “We currently have programmes like food, education health and pensions but the key question is how much should we do, who should be target.

Rajan, a former chief economist of IMF, predicted that welfare state in Europe and the US is unsustainable.

“Who should be the target”? Really? Even with all the poor English evident in that article, do you really have to ask that question about food, education, and health?

To me, India is among the most suicidal nations on the planet. They refuse to accept the idea that there must be limits on population growth, or that they need to live sustainably.

215 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:46:20am

Coming up today at CPAC: The Parade of Derp

8:45 AM Donald Trump
9:00 AM Mitch McConnell
9:30 AM Paul Ryan
10:45 AM Wayne LaPierre
11:00 AM “How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Plastic Water Bottles, Fracking, Genetically Modified Food & Big Gulp Sodas”
12:00 PM Rick Santorum
1:00 PM Mitt Romney
2:25 PM Bobby Jindal
3:00 PM “Fatherless America: The Headwaters of Poverty, Crime & Social Dysfunction”
6:15 PM VIP Ronald Reagan Dinner Reception Sponsored by Koch Industries

216 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:48:06am

DERP

217 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:50:51am
218 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:56:49am

Car decorated with wingnut bumper stickers.

(It used to be LIBRULZ that had all the crazxy bumper stickers. But now we don’t want to deface our NICE NEW CARS.)

219 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:58:04am
220 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 5:58:32am
221 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:02:16am

Looks like we have ourselves a little nazi in the Pages.

222 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:05:39am

re: #221 Vicious Babushka

Looks like we have ourselves a little nazi in the Pages.

I suppose you mean LGF pages and not Congressional pages, but ya never know.

Where’s the little bugger at?

223 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:06:45am

re: #222 wheat-dogghazi

I suppose you mean LGF pages and not Congressional pages, but ya never know.

LGF pages. Thanos caught it linking to some nazi youtube channel.

224 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:08:27am

DERP

225 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:10:14am

re: #223 Vicious Babushka

Charming.

226 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:11:27am

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Sen. Rob Portman’s change of heart on gay marriage is illuminating and instructive. While he has known of his son’s orientation for a couple of years, the Senator from Ohio who previously was involved securing passage of the Defense of Marriage Act now understands that his former position was wrong.

Two years ago, my son Will, then a college freshman, told my wife, Jane, and me that he is gay. He said he’d known for some time, and that his sexual orientation wasn’t something he chose; it was simply a part of who he is. Jane and I were proud of him for his honesty and courage. We were surprised to learn he is gay but knew he was still the same person he’d always been. The only difference was that now we had a more complete picture of the son we love.

At the time, my position on marriage for same-sex couples was rooted in my faith tradition that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman. Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective: that of a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love, a blessing Jane and I have shared for 26 years.

I wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister. Ultimately, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.

Well-intentioned people can disagree on the question of marriage for gay couples, and maintaining religious freedom is as important as pursuing civil marriage rights. For example, I believe that no law should force religious institutions to perform weddings or recognize marriages they don’t approve of.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he supports allowing gay couples to marry because he is a conservative, not in spite of it. I feel the same way. We conservatives believe in personal liberty and minimal government interference in people’s lives. We also consider the family unit to be the fundamental building block of society. We should encourage people to make long-term commitments to each other and build families, so as to foster strong, stable communities and promote personal responsibility.

One way to look at it is that gay couples’ desire to marry doesn’t amount to a threat but rather a tribute to marriage, and a potential source of renewed strength for the institution.

He’s now talking about how the church preaches love and tolerance, and yet ignores those tenets when it comes to dealing with the gay community.

No one is forcing any religious group to sanctify gay marriage or to require gay marriages be held in church. That’s up to each religious group to determine on their own. But it shouldn’t stop civil marriage rights from being bestowed on those who seek to be married.

Will Portman’s change of heart lead to wider acceptance? I don’t doubt that it will - eventually. But he’s been struggling to address this himself for the past two years.

It’s good to see that more and more people are realizing that gay marriage doesn’t undermine already existing marriages, doesn’t destroy church doctrine, and doesn’t diminish the importance of family. If anything it strengthens civil rights protections for all. [edited and clarified]

227 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:15:10am

re: #223 Vicious Babushka

LGF pages. Thanos caught it linking to some nazi youtube channel.

Probably something weird with the hygiene expert, as well.

228 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:17:04am

re: #227 Decatur Deb

Stinky’s already been busy.

229 Lidane  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:20:12am

re: #207 freetoken

Texas lawmaker wants to stop plastic grocery bag bans

As someone who lives in Austin, it sounds to me like this guy just forgot his resuable bags when he went to the grocery store, so he wants to overturn the law. Pfft.

230 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:29:13am

re: #166 Mich-again

Well its funny how the self-proclaimed Strict Constructionists like Rand Paul like to read the exact wording of the Constitution from 1789 to interpret the words.. for some clauses only. But then for other clauses, they think we should divine for the hidden meaning that the writers actually intended to say.

Well, it’s the same way many of them treat the Bible. So I’m not surprised in the least.

231 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:29:18am

It’s morning. How is life, all?

232 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:29:54am

re: #192 engineer cat

imma hafta rewrite my dating profile

eccentric, logorrheic, intense, peculiar, well heeled bohemian engineer, loves pre-indo-european substrates, ars nova composers, elegant dynamic programming algorithms, obscure and poorly documented historical periods, and neurotic curvacious sex obsessed literary misplaced hyperbolic women who know the difference between ibid and ovid and don’t give me a blank look when i say the word ‘proust’

that outta bring em in

Lost me at “imma hafta”. But the rest sounded pretty good. :-)

233 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:35:33am

re: #204 Vicious Babushka

Dear Ms. Veronica (White Racist on Twitter): THAT TOTALLY IS Michelle’s body. U jealous? (Look at Veronica’s profile pic)

I don’t understand this obsession with the idea that Michelle Obama is fat. The only way she is “fat” is if you put her next to Victoria Beckam, who virtually disappears when she turns sideways.

234 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:36:38am

re: #215 Vicious Babushka

Coming up today at CPAC: The Parade of Derp

8:45 AM Donald Trump
9:00 AM Mitch McConnell
9:30 AM Paul Ryan
10:45 AM Wayne LaPierre
11:00 AM “How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Plastic Water Bottles, Fracking, Genetically Modified Food & Big Gulp Sodas”
12:00 PM Rick Santorum
1:00 PM Mitt Romney
2:25 PM Bobby Jindal
3:00 PM “Fatherless America: The Headwaters of Poverty, Crime & Social Dysfunction”
6:15 PM VIP Ronald Reagan Dinner Reception Sponsored by Koch Industries

I’m sure the 3pm talk will specify that being adopted by two gay men does *not* qualify you as being raised twice as good as a standard two-gender nuclear family.
/// :p

235 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:39:09am

re: #234 Feline Fearless Leader

I’m sure the 3pm talk will specify that being adopted by two gay men does *not* qualify you as being raised twice as good as a standard two-gender nuclear family.
/// :p

They will blame all crime on

“SLUTZ who couldn’t keep the aspirin pressed between her legs and didn’t have an AR-15 to fight off the guy who raped her.”

236 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:39:35am
237 Varek Raith  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:40:29am
“How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Plastic Water Bottles, Fracking, Genetically Modified Food & Big Gulp Sodas”

Lol.

238 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:40:34am

re: #233 Joanne

I don’t understand this obsession with the idea that Michelle Obama is fat. The only way she is “fat” is if you put her next to Victoria Beckam, who virtually disappears when she turns sideways.

Part of it is just that - Hollywood has presented an ideal of beauty that is nearly impossible to achieve sans anorexia. Women who look like women rather than starved boys with breasts scare a lot of these people. Especially the men who are terrified that “someone” will learn that they do know that Michelle is absolutely beautiful.

Shrug. I’d rather thick over scrawny any day.

239 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:40:47am

koro is a mental illness.

240 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:40:52am

What’s the difference between the Carnival Triumph and CPAC?

One is full of shit and hopelessly adrift, the other is an oceangoing vessel.

241 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:42:24am

re: #236 FemNaziBitch

Why?

Imaginary—old witchcraft shtick.

242 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:44:05am

re: #238 William Barnett-Lewis

Part of it is just that - Hollywood has presented an ideal of beauty that is nearly impossible to achieve sans anorexia. Women who look like women rather than starved boys with breasts scare a lot of these people. Especially the men who are terrified that “someone” will learn that they do know that Michelle is absolutely beautiful.

Shrug. I’d rather thick over scrawny any day.

It’s cool that you support a positive body image for women who aren’t thin, but there are a lot of women who are naturally really thin or ‘scrawny’. Body dysmorphia his them hard too. There’s no reason to denigrate skinny girls to uplift the zaftig.

Hollywood has a lot of weird shit in it. In a lot of Hollywood movies, a twenty year age gap between the male lead and his female love interest is no big deal. This is mostly just a factor of careerism in Hollywood— the older male actors have a lot of power in picking roles, wheareas older women don’t. But it leads to a very odd universe where gigantic age gaps are not even considered noteworthy.

243 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:44:09am

re: #236 FemNaziBitch

Why?

Well, that was…interesting.

244 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:45:26am

re: #238 William Barnett-Lewis

Shrug. I’d rather thick over scrawny any day.

As do the majority of men I know.

245 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:46:11am

BIG CHEERS FOR THE GRANNY KILLER

246 S'latch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:46:33am

Always one step ahead, the vicious media obviously has photo-shopped this picture of Ben “Friends of Hamas” Shapiro’s presentation.

247 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:46:58am

re: #231 FemNaziBitch

It’s morning. How is life, all?

Cranky morning today.

Got in and 3-4 of the emails in my box are annoying user issues. Mainly people locking themselves out of systems due to forgetting passwords. One person in particular is a chronic password forgetter who generates one of these at least once a month. One of them has already emailed back complaining about the “fix” I mailed them.*

Time for another cup of coffee.

* - Said fix being going to a particular place in our intranet and resetting their network and application passwords themselves. I *used* to be able to unlock accounts and reset passwords on the one application, but that access was rescinded after the last application audit. Guess they did not trust me enough to not potentially abuse that level of power.

248 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:48:25am

It is alot easier to design an article of female clothing to fit an adolescent girl than a full-grown women. Much more opportunity for the OOH-AH effect at the Runway Shows.

249 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:48:51am

re: #247 Feline Fearless Leader

Cranky morning today.

Got in and 3-4 of the emails in my box are annoying user issues. Mainly people locking themselves out of systems due to forgetting passwords. One person in particular is a chronic password forgetter who generates one of these at least once a month. One of them has already emailed back complaining about the “fix” I mailed them.*

Time for another cup of coffee.

* - Said fix being going to a particular place in our intranet and resetting their network and application passwords themselves. I *used* to be able to unlock accounts and reset passwords on the one application, but that access was rescinded after the last application audit. Guess they did not trust me enough to not potentially abuse that level of power.

(((FFL)))

250 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:49:19am

re: #242 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Obdi, I’ve known truly thin women. They are not the ones I’m talking about. Skinny is one thing but I’ve also known way too many women (nearly a dozen at last count) with serious eating disorders. One of whom died from it (cardiac issues cause by the anorexia). She was 5’10” & 87 pounds at her death. She had been below that prior. I have little patience for giving Hollyweird or the culture at large any slack on the issue.

251 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:49:48am

re: #242 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I think that, no matter what you look like, you’re simply not good enough in your own eyes. Thin women want curves. Curvy women want to be a size 00. Women with straight hair want curls. Those with curly hair own a flat iron.

It is getting the same way with men. Men now dye their hair and buy wrinkle cream. The old ad where a buff guy is kicking sand into the face of some scrawny guy and his girlfriend goes back to when I was a kid.

No one is happy with their lot.

But that’s a different animal than seeing someone who is truly lovely as Chewbacca because they hate her.

252 FemNaziBitch  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:52:24am

I have to go—puppy training time.

bbl

253 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:53:09am

re: #242 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

It’s cool that you support a positive body image for women who aren’t thin, but there are a lot of women who are naturally really thin or ‘scrawny’. Body dysmorphia his them hard too. There’s no reason to denigrate skinny girls to uplift the zaftig.

Those “naturally skinny” women are the 1% but they are being held up as the ideal of perfection that the 99% must always strive for. It’s like saying “Don’t tax the 1%.”

254 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:53:24am

re: #251 Joanne

It’s something that Lena Dunham touched on recently when she was asked in an interview whether she’d want to be a Victoria’s Secret model for a day.

She emphatically answered no - that she’d still be subject to external mores and demands on physical appearance - different than the ones she currently endures but still demanding nonetheless. Body policing in just a different shape/form.

255 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:55:06am

re: #254 lawhawk

It’s something that Lena Dunham touched on recently when she was asked in an interview whether she’d want to be a Victoria’s Secret model for a day.

She emphatically answered no - that she’d still be subject to external mores and demands on physical appearance - different than the ones she currently endures but still demanding nonetheless. Body policing in just a different shape/form.

Victoria’s Secret used to have very classy products and appealed to women of every body size. Now they have become totally trashy and more like Frederick’s of Hollywood.

It creeps me out every time I walk past their store at the mall with the 8-ft cardboard cutout of the underwear model.

256 Varek Raith  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:55:29am

FLotUS is hot.

257 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:56:20am

re: #256 Varek Raith

FLotUS is hot.

That is why POTUS has never strayed, like Clinton or JFK. The wingnuts see this and they call him gay.

258 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:56:35am

re: #253 Vicious Babushka

Those “naturally skinny” women are the 1% but they are being held up as the ideal of perfection that the 99% must always strive for. It’s like saying “Don’t tax the 1%.”

I think it was one of the Desperate Housewives (I never saw that show so I can’t, offhand, recall which one) said that she was paid not to eat. In essence, that was her job.

259 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:57:04am

IIRC there was a frivolous survey that asked a set of women whether they would rater have an increase of 10 IQ points or a bra size. Results were discouraging.

260 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:58:16am

What a moran.

261 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:58:30am

re: #254 lawhawk

I really like that Girl. I saw a few minutes of her show once and didn’t think much of it, but the more I read about her, the more I like her.

262 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:58:44am

Body image is a thing here in China, too. There is apparently an “ideal” Chinese standard of beauty for a girl/woman: generally a heart-shaped face, long silken hair, and well proportioned shape, but nothing too big on top or bottom. While we in the West think Lucy Liu, Zhang Ziyi or Shu Qi are simply gorgeous, for one reason or another, Chinese think they are just so-so in the looks department.

So, predictably there are large numbers of my female students at the university who feel they are just not pretty enough, because they don’t match the ideal standard, but who are in fact really pretty.

263 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 6:59:42am

Dianne Feinstein slams Ted Cruz over “First Amendment” gun control comments

At one point Thursday, Feinstein responded angrily after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked if she would also support limiting the First Amendment’s freedom of speech by denying its protection to some books.

“I’m not a sixth grader. Senator, I’ve been on this committee for 20 years” and studied the issue for a long time, she told Cruz. She later added: “It’s fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I’ve been here a long time.”

Cruz, an outspoken conservative freshman, answered, “Nobody doubts her sincerity and her passion and yet at the same time, I’d note she chose not to answer the question.”

“The answer is obvious — no,” Feinstein said later.

Also…

Before the ban was approved, Democrats defeated Republican amendments seeking to exempt groups including sexual abuse victims and people who live near the Southwest border.

Evidently the GOP really, REALLY want rape victims to have easy access to assault weapons and high capacity clips.

264 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:00:00am

re: #257 Vicious Babushka

That is why POTUS has never strayed, like Clinton or JFK. The wingnuts see this and they call him gay.

I don’t know about the first line. Jackie O was pretty hot. A lot of powerful men think with their dick…no matter which way they go.

And wingnuts will be wingnuts. It’s what they do.

265 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:00:09am

BULLSHIT

266 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:00:41am

re: #259 Decatur Deb

IIRC there was a frivolous survey that asked a set of women whether they would rater have an increase of 10 IQ points or a bra size. Results were discouraging.

It’s a reflection of the society we live in. Is a woman more likely to advance her own interests with her intellect or with her body? Sadly, more times often than not it’s the latter.

267 Varek Raith  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:00:59am

re: #265 Vicious Babushka

BULLSHIT

And I’m the Head of Cabbage!

268 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:02:02am

Yeah equal opportunity for every white person in America.

269 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:02:47am

re: #263 Eclectic Cyborg

Feinstein’s slap in the fact to that ignoramus Cruz (which is pretty amazing considering his educational background, and who, like GWB, does little to dispel the notion that The Ivy’s are really All That) was brilliant.

I am not the biggest fan of DiFi but that was a thing of beauty.

270 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:02:54am

re: #268 Eclectic Cyborg

Yeah equal opportunity for every ALREADY RICH white person in America.

271 Joanne  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:04:10am

re: #268 Eclectic Cyborg

Yeah equal opportunity for every white person in America.

Every white person who started off no less than middle class…the same middle class they are working so hard to destroy.

272 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:05:51am

Ted Cruz - Duly elected Fox News puppet

273 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:05:58am

re: #263 Eclectic Cyborg

Cruz was patronizing Feinstein, and got what he deserved.

274 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:07:38am

Donald Trump spent all the time allotted to him at CPAC just bragging about how much money and stuff he has.

275 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:08:24am

Cruz is another of the Freeper Right’s short-term heros. He will peak and fade well before the 2016 election. Rand Paul might have more staying power if he inherits his father’s fan base. Best case is the TPGOP tears itself up again in the primaries.

276 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:10:13am

re: #274 Vicious Babushka

Donald Trump spent all the time allotted to him at CPAC just bragging about how much money and stuff he has.

Money and stuff pass for virtue in the CPAC world.

277 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:10:28am
278 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:14:23am

re: #274 Vicious Babushka

Donald Trump spent all the time allotted to him at CPAC just bragging about how much money and stuff he has.

Isn’t that the Republican way?

279 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:15:08am

I was sick of Cruz before he even got elected. Those “Cruz missile” campaign ads were just horrible.

280 Decatur Deb  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:15:39am

re: #278 Eclectic Cyborg

Isn’t that the Republican way?

The Elect of God and the GOP.

281 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:19:29am

re: #275 Decatur Deb

Cruz is another of the Freeper Right’s short-term heros. He will peak and fade well before the 2016 election. Rand Paul might have more staying power if he inherits his father’s fan base. Best case is the TPGOP tears itself up again in the primaries.

I disagree. I think Cruz has a strong chance of being the base candidate in 2016, running against the establishment candidate (who currently looks to be Jeb Bush).

In that audience, his tweaking of DiFi and the response he got were positives, not the negatives they were for us.

Point of clarification - candidate and even nomination for the GOP does not mean president. It just means the most likely to wear the red crown.

282 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:19:53am

re: #250 William Barnett-Lewis

Obdi, I’ve known truly thin women. They are not the ones I’m talking about. Skinny is one thing but I’ve also known way too many women (nearly a dozen at last count) with serious eating disorders. One of whom died from it (cardiac issues cause by the anorexia). She was 5’10” & 87 pounds at her death. She had been below that prior. I have little patience for giving Hollyweird or the culture at large any slack on the issue.

I know a lot of women with eating disorders too— most of whom are actually thin as hell. The problem mostly lies in self-perception; it keys off of the cultural body-image but that’s just what it’s keying off of.

What I am saying is that by describing thin women as ‘scrawny’ or like ‘starving boys with breasts’, you’re going to wind up increases the dysmorphia of women who look like that naturally.

In the past, we’ve had a society where plump women— unhealthily overweight— were the ideal. We don’t really have good social research from that time, but given it was still a patriarchal society, I bet that there were a lot of skinny women with body dysmoprhia during that time, hating the way they looked and overeating to compensate.

All I’m saying is that in order to attack ‘hollyweird’ and society at large for demanding that women look a certain way, it’s not necessary to attack that ‘ideal’, just the concept of their being an ‘ideal’ that women have to follow.

283 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:25:30am

re: #282 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I know a lot of women with eating disorders too— most of whom are actually thin as hell. The problem mostly lies in self-perception; it keys off of the cultural body-image but that’s just what it’s keying off of.

What I am saying is that by describing thin women as ‘scrawny’ or like ‘starving boys with breasts’, you’re going to wind up increases the dysmorphia of women who look like that naturally.

In the past, we’ve had a society where plump women— unhealthily overweight— were the ideal. We don’t really have good social research from that time, but given it was still a patriarchal society, I bet that there were a lot of skinny women with body dysmoprhia during that time, hating the way they looked and overeating to compensate.

All I’m saying is that in order to attack ‘hollyweird’ and society at large for demanding that women look a certain way, it’s not necessary to attack that ‘ideal’, just the concept of their being an ‘ideal’ that women have to follow.

I think during times when food was scarce, the plump body was the ideal because it was harder to achieve.

Our ancestors evolved the ability to survive famines by keeping and storing body fat. When there’s no famine, sux to be us.

284 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:27:02am

And now the pr0nbots have swarmed #CPAC.

285 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:27:58am

Good morning lizards!

286 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:30:38am

re: #284 Vicious Babushka

And now the pr0nbots have swarmed #CPAC.

Why do I suspect some of the other posters on that hashtag are thrilled by that?

287 iossarian  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:32:18am

re: #286 Eclectic Cyborg

Why do I suspect some of the other posters on that hashtag are thrilled by that?

Hey - don’t bash porn! To misquote Woody Allen, it’s sex with someone you’ll never have to deal with in real life!

288 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:33:36am
Breitbart.com star reporter Ben “Friends of Hamas” Shapiro was featured today at a CPAC panel titled, “Stop THIS: Threats, Harassment, Intimidation, Slander & Bullying from the Obama Administration,” possibly the whiniest right wing panel title ever devised, and uttered these memorable words:

“It’s really that simple. The media has to be destroyed where it stands.”

Sounds like a big job. Probably need a whole lot of angry right wingers to destroy the media, where it stands or anywhere else. When cornered, the media can be incredibly vicious. It won’t be easy.

That “invincible wingnut army” part of Ben’s master plan still needs a little work, though. Here’s a shot from the audience (via @existentialfish):

There is so much Win here I can’t even…

It’s just too bad conservatives aren’t allowed to own their own cable TV network or to have any input on talk radio. //

289 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:35:51am

Is it just me or is it funny when a right wing media outlet representative like Shapiro whines about the media. Dude you are the media. You’re an editor. Stop acting like you’re this grassroots guy. You’re just not.

290 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:37:31am

re: #288 Bulworth

Sounds like a big job. Probably need a whole lot of angry right wingers to destroy the media, where it stands or anywhere else. When cornered, the media can be incredibly vicious. It won’t be easy.

That “invincible wingnut army” part of Ben’s master plan still needs a little work, though. Here’s a shot from the audience (via @existentialfish):

There is so much Win here I can’t even…

It’s just too bad conservatives aren’t allowed to own their own cable TV network or to have any input on talk radio. //

Yeah it’s too bad that conservatives don’t have the market on political talk radio, political shows on the cable news, etc. Really the amount of whining that entails being a conservative these days is just sad. And someone from Breitbart.com shouldn’t be accusing anyone of bullying when they made their frigging name doing that.

291 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:39:52am
292 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:40:12am

re: #233 Joanne

I don’t understand this obsession with the idea that Michelle Obama is fat. The only way she is “fat” is if you put her next to Victoria Beckam, who virtually disappears when she turns sideways.

Well, it’s like the wingnut claim that more defense spending and more tax cuts = balanced budget. It has no basis in reality but it’s all they got.

293 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:44:03am

Another example of how guns and alcohol don’t mix. A man PA shot himself in the hand in an attempt to take off wedding ring.

According to court records, at 8:56 p.m. March 2, Bradford City Police were dispatched to the Edna Avenue residence for a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the hand. McKean County 911 dispatchers reported that a man had intentionally shot his finger off and was currently still inside the residence with the weapon. City police requested the assistance of Foster and Bradford township police officers to respond to the scene.

Upon arrival, police saw through a window that Malespini was inside the kitchen, and that he did not have possession of a weapon. Police entered the residence and confronted the man, who had a severe wound on his left hand and blood covering the floor around the area, the records read. Police found a gun on the counter and secured it before allowing the paramedics to enter the home.

Police interviewed Malespini, who they noted was highly intoxicated. He told police he was “trying to get rid of his wedding ring,” so he decided to “shoot it off.” He said he had gone out into the yard and shot into the ground. Police noted that while Malespini’s finger was nearly severed, the wedding ring was still on it, the records read.

Just add that to the daily tally of firearms injuries on a daily basis.

294 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:45:03am

re: #290 HappyWarrior

It’s also a crying shame that conservative evangelicals aren’t able to own TV and cable networks to broadcast their fundy-ism 24/7.

295 Varek Raith  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:45:45am

re: #291 Vicious Babushka

¿qué

296 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:46:26am

re: #294 Bulworth

It’s also a crying shame that conservative evangelicals aren’t able to own TV and cable networks to broadcast their fundy-ism 24/7.

What a shame.//

297 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:46:32am

re: #295 Varek Raith

¿qué

FEWER votes is what it should be.

298 Dr. Matt  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:48:33am

re: #289 HappyWarrior

Is it just me or is it funny when a right wing media outlet representative like Shapiro whines about the media. Dude you are the media. You’re an editor. Stop acting like you’re this grassroots guy. You’re just not.

Just like OSarah bin Palin pissing herself about the “lame-stream media” while getting a hefty pack check from FNC. F*cking Grade-A, FDA-certified Derp

299 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:49:13am

good morning fellow lizards, Happy Friday.

300 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:49:28am

re: #298 Dr. Matt

Just like OSarah bin Palin pissing herself about the “lame-stream media” while getting a hefty pack check from FNC. F*cking Grade-A, FDA-certified Derp

Ah but therein lies the rub. Fox News is NOT considered “mainstream media” by this people.

301 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:49:50am

re: #299 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

good morning fellow lizards, Happy Friday.

Now that I work plenty of weekends, Friday doesn’t have much meaning for me anymore.

302 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:50:13am

re: #298 Dr. Matt

Just like OSarah bin Palin pissing herself about the “lame-stream media” while getting a hefty pack check from FNC. F*cking Grade-A, FDA-certified Derp

Yeah that’s another good example. Her and the other people on FNC do it all the time. But then they brag that FNC is the most “popular” cable news channel in the country.

303 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:50:47am

My Twitter battery is being charged, so I hope yous people can keep me abreast of the derp explosion at CPAC for a while.

304 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:51:24am

Ramirez is a total asshole defender of the super-rich but when did he become an Anti-Semite?

305 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:52:13am
306 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:57:43am

re: #302 HappyWarrior

Yeah, Faux is so teh popular! But wingnuts have no media at all and everybody is so mean to them.

Speaking of which (via Balloon Juice), even Politico thinks CPAC is a carnival:

CPAC muddle mirrors GOP mess
It’s not hard to make fun of CPAC. From the presence of Donald Trump to a meaningless straw poll to a cavalcade of fringe-dwelling book merchants, the event has become more carnival than conservative salon.

What is more notable about this year’s rendition of the annual confab, which begins outside Washington on Thursday, is not the easy caricature but how thoroughly the Conservative Political Action Conference reflects the state of the Republican Party four months after yet another humbling presidential defeat. It is a muddle, but a muddle with meaning….

307 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:58:02am

Bryan Fischer repsonds to Rob Portman gay marriage flip flop with column and no less than SIX tweets

(not linking, you know where to find him if you want)

But public policy must be based on morality and reason rather than on emotion. As the Founders said, profound changes, such as the redefinition of marriage, should never be made for “light and transient causes.”

Regardless of how our heartstrings may be stretched and even torn by personal circumstances, our public policy on marriage must always be based on the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” The marriage of one man and one women is still the divinely ordained relationship in which sexual union is designed to take place, and a home with a mother and father who are married to each other will always be the optimal nurturing environment for children.

In the editorial piece in which he came out for same-sex marriage, Sen. Portman said, “I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married.”

But the reality here is that if two men would like to make a “lifetime commitment to love and care for each other,” no one will stop them. They don’t need to get “married” to be able to do that. Two members of the same sex can hold a “commitment ceremony” if they choose and no one will prevent them from doing so. But they do not have the right to insist that the rest of society call their union a “marriage.”

308 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:59:15am

re: #307 Eclectic Cyborg

Bryan Fischer repsonds to Rob Portman gay marriage flip flop with column and no less than SIX tweets

(not linking, you know where to find him if you want)

Fuck off Fischer.

309 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 7:59:40am

WOW. ONE WHOLE PERSON has noticed the white supremacist live-tweeting CPAC.

310 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:00:09am
As the Founders said, profound changes, such as the redefinition of marriage, should never be made for “light and transient causes.”

Ah, I remember when the Founders said this about marriage being between one man and woman, with the woman essentially being property, and this marriage of hierarchy can never be modified to allow teh gay. //

311 brennant  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:00:29am

Too bad the NRA decided to do crazy, vs. having a grown up discussion about firearms.

312 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:00:33am
313 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:00:56am
314 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:01:16am

re: #307 Eclectic Cyborg

Fischer has some seriously sexual id confusion stress.

315 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:01:40am

Ok lizards,I need some help.

I had a real estate agent over my house the other day and she believes I have a Sears catalog home. According to the county my house was built in 1930. After some research for the past 2 days the only house I see that is closest to looking like mine is called Sears Westly and was offered in 1919. I did find one from 1909 that in which the floor plan is almost exactly like mine except flipped (kitchen, living room, etc on left instead of right). If I can prove it’s a Sears house it will make my house a collectors item and increase the value. Do you suppose the builders or Sears changed the layout on that model and how did this one get built in 1930?

316 Interesting Times  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:02:40am

Just came across this story - how much do you want to bet wingnut authors do the same thing?

How to buy your way onto the bestseller list

The fastest way to get your book on a bestseller list? Buy your way on.

That’s according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal outlining the dark practice of buying bestselling status. According to the article, at least one marketing firm, ResultSource, charges client-authors thousands of dollars to buy up books en masse ahead of a book’s publication date, creating a sales spike that lands the title on coveted bestseller lists.

317 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:04:32am

re: #316 Interesting Times

Just came across this story - how much do you want to bet wingnut authors do the same thing?

How to buy your way onto the bestseller list

So what happens to all those books that aren’t really “sold”? They just get destroyed?

318 iossarian  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:05:11am

re: #315 NJDhockeyfan

Not going to be much help but certainly the “flipped” thing is pretty standard in building so I’d imagine that Sears homes would have been available in mirror images (but probably the brochure would just show them one way round).

319 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:06:24am

re: #316 Interesting Times

Just came across this story - how much do you want to bet wingnut authors do the same thing?

How to buy your way onto the bestseller list

This was always my grandfather’s theory on why writers like Coulter and others were “so” popular. It makes sense to me really.

320 brennant  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:06:26am

Question: If you go through a background check, and you pass… the record has to be destroyed correct?

321 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:06:54am

re: #316 Interesting Times

Just came across this story - how much do you want to bet wingnut authors do the same thing?

How to buy your way onto the bestseller list

Scientology has been doing this for decades.

322 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:08:05am

So is LaPierre scapegoating the “mentally deranged” for all acts of gun violence like I figured he would?

323 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:08:48am
324 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:09:23am
325 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:09:29am

re: #322 HappyWarrior

The mentally deranged (and video games) are to blame for gun violence but there can’t be any background checks to prevent the mentally deranged from obtaining high caliber weaponry. /

326 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:09:42am

re: #318 iossarian

Not going to be much help but certainly the “flipped” thing is pretty standard in building so I’d imagine that Sears homes would have been available in mirror images (but probably the brochure would just show them one way round).

What is interesting is a lot of the pictures I am finding are identical to parts of my house. What I have to do is crawl around my crawl space or attic to find stamps on the wood or better yet a shipping label attached with the name and address of the person who bought it.

327 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:10:41am

re: #324 Vicious Babushka

Ah a dosage of xenophobia from Wayne LaPierre. I wish I could say I was shocked.

328 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:11:04am

re: #318 iossarian

I believe those “kit homes” came with some variations in floor plans. My folks built one on Long Island — not a Sears, though. You chose the floor plan and the trucks deliver all the lumber precut and numbered for assembly.

329 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:11:40am

re: #325 Bulworth

The mentally deranged (and video games) are to blame for gun violence but there can’t be any background checks to prevent the mentally deranged from obtaining high caliber weaponry. /

Yeah, fuck Wayne KaPierre man. Damned liar wants to make it out like only the mentally ill are capable of acts of mass gun violence and scapegoat gamers as well. He’s scum as is the NRA.

330 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:13:32am

re: #324 Vicious Babushka

Like the Chinese and Mexicans don’t already have guns? Why do they care who owns a gun in the USA? They’d have bigger worries dealing with, say, the USMC or the USAF.

331 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:16:02am

Really if I were a conservative, I’d be embarrassed that this shit spoke for me.

332 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:16:10am

re: #315 NJDhockeyfan

A couple of things. You might want to see if the town has the building plans on file along with a list of permits pulled on the property since construction.

Original building plans would be an easy way to match to known examples of a Sears kit house. But if there were renovations done between the original construction and present, it would probably change the look and feel of the home - or try to make the home look like a Sears kit instead of another design.

Sears Westly homes shows the gamut from faithful restoration/upkeep and thorough trashing of the exterior design. If your home is in the former, you’d be in luck. If it’s the latter, it wont make a difference.

Westly appears to have been a model design sold from 1913 through 1929, so it’s possible that it could have been built with a design/plan sold in the late 1920s.

Alternatively, a local builder could have mimicked the design of a Westly (which itself was based on other similar designs).

333 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:16:13am

re: #315 NJDhockeyfan

Ok lizards,I need some help.

I had a real estate agent over my house the other day and she believes I have a Sears catalog home. According to the county my house was built in 1930. After some research for the past 2 days the only house I see that is closest to looking like mine is called Sears Westly and was offered in 1919. I did find one from 1909 that in which the floor plan is almost exactly like mine except flipped (kitchen, living room, etc on left instead of right). If I can prove it’s a Sears house it will make my house a collectors item and increase the value. Do you suppose the builders or Sears changed the layout on that model and how did this one get built in 1930?

It might be one of their competitors
en.wikipedia.org

Competitors in the kit home market included Aladdin, Gordon-Van Tine, Harris Brothers, Pacific Ready Cut Homes, Sterling and Wardway Homes. Because these competitors often copied plan elements or designs from each other, there are a number of kit models that look similar or identical to each other. Determining which company manufactured a particular kit home may require additional research to determine the origin of a particular kit home.
….
Sadly, “Sears Homes” has become a generic term for all manner of kit homes. More than 80% of the people who suspect that they have a Sears Home are incorrect. Often, these homeowners have a house that came from one of the many other kit home manufacturers, such as Aladdin, Lewis Manufacturing, Sterling Homes, Montgomery Ward, Gordon Van Tine or Harris Brothers.

There’s a great deal of misinformation online regarding Sears Homes, and most of the photos of “Sears Homes” you’ll find online are in fact, NOT Sears Homes.

Clusters of Sears Catalog homes can be found all across the United States. Communities with large concentrations of Sears Catalog Homes include:

You might have top get an expert to take a look at it.

334 Killgore Trout  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:20:23am

re: #326 NJDhockeyfan

What is interesting is a lot of the pictures I am finding are identical to parts of my house. What I have to do is crawl around my crawl space or attic to find stamps on the wood or better yet a shipping label attached with the name and address of the person who bought it.

Attics are good places to check. While replacing some insulation in my attic I found a 1911 newspaper stuffed between joists. Probably left behind by a carpenter. It was open to the “jobs for hire” section, maybe he was looking for a new gig. It was kind of interesting to see separate jobs listings for men, women, whites and non-whites.

335 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:20:55am

re: #326 NJDhockeyfan

What is interesting is a lot of the pictures I am finding are identical to parts of my house. What I have to do is crawl around my crawl space or attic to find stamps on the wood or better yet a shipping label attached with the name and address of the person who bought it.

Maybe the shipping box ended up buried in the backyard!
;)

336 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:21:47am

re: #324 Vicious Babushka

The most dangerous armed Mexicans are NOT in the government, they’re in the Cartels and they already have access to high powered weaponry without the need for any official U.S. “lists” or back room deals with the Chinese.

337 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:22:56am

re: #336 Eclectic Cyborg

The most dangerous armed Mexicans are NOT in the government, they’re in the Cartels and they already have access to high powered weaponry without the need for any official U.S. “lists” or back room deals with the Chinese.

The Mexicans and Chinese won’t invade. They won’t be able to buy any ammo at Walmart due to the shortages.
//

338 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:23:12am

re: #333 Killgore Trout

My folks built a Lewis Manufacturing Home. I’m pretty sure I remember seeing the brochure and invoices when I went through stuff after my mom died. They built it in ‘59 for about $25,000. They sold it ‘77 for about $100,000, bought a smaller home for about $36K and banked the rest. When my mom sold the second house after dad died in ‘92, she got over $350,000 for it.

Long Island. You gotta love it.

339 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:24:08am

re: #330 wheat-dogghazi

Like the Chinese and Mexicans don’t already have guns? Why do they care who owns a gun in the USA? They’d have bigger worries dealing with, say, the USMC or the USAF.

Becuz teh Mexicans are gonna get the Cubans and invade the U.S. Wolverines1!1!

340 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:25:06am

re: #330 wheat-dogghazi

Like the Chinese and Mexicans don’t already have guns? Why do they care who owns a gun in the USA? They’d have bigger worries dealing with, say, the USMC or the USAF.

FAST & FURIOUS!!!11111!! OBAMAZ FAULT!!!11!!TY

341 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:25:23am
342 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:25:30am

re: #324 Vicious Babushka

I’ll admit I’d not thought of this. For example, what happens if the Sharia law infiltrates Mexico and invades the U.S. ?? /////

343 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:26:13am

re: #342 Bulworth

I’ll admit I’d not thought of this. For example, what happens if the Sharia law infiltrates Mexico and invades the U.S. ?? /////

Sharia Sombreros!

344 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:27:36am

re: #343 Eclectic Cyborg

Halal burritos!

345 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:28:29am

re: #344 wheat-dogghazi

Halal burritos!

Burritos on naan bread? Actually……….

346 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:29:30am

re: #344 wheat-dogghazi

Halal burritos!

If they are anything like kosher burritos they are really lame.

347 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:29:36am

Of course now that RHINO Senator Portman has been infiltrated by Sharia law lovin gay marriages, it’s only a matter of time before sharia law rules the u.s. //

348 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:30:24am

re: #347 Bulworth

Of course now that RHINO Senator Portman has been infiltrated by Sharia law lovin gay marriages, it’s only a matter of time before sharia law rules the u.s. //

As I said yesterday, gay shariah, it’s faballahous.

349 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:30:32am

Oy. Fox News now raging at the fact that the Congressional Easter Egg hunt is still on this year but OMG! No White House tours!!

350 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:32:47am

re: #349 Eclectic Cyborg

But austerity caused furloughs and job losses are OK for Faux. The loss of WH tours is tyranny, however. /

351 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:33:32am

re: #332 lawhawk

A couple of things. You might want to see if the town has the building plans on file along with a list of permits pulled on the property since construction.

My RE agent is looking that up for us.

Original building plans would be an easy way to match to known examples of a Sears kit house. But if there were renovations done between the original construction and present, it would probably change the look and feel of the home - or try to make the home look like a Sears kit instead of another design.

Sears Westly homes shows the gamut from faithful restoration/upkeep and thorough trashing of the exterior design. If your home is in the former, you’d be in luck. If it’s the latter, it wont make a difference.

Nothing has been done as far as major renovations. The front porch was redone by her father which I wish he hadn’t done and it has a new roof and siding bot the main frame is still there with wonderful horsehair plastered walls.

Westly appears to have been a model design sold from 1913 through 1929, so it’s possible that it could have been built with a design/plan sold in the late 1920s.

Alternatively, a local builder could have mimicked the design of a Westly (which itself was based on other similar designs).

Cool! This may be what I need to help prove the house.

352 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:34:54am

re: #333 Killgore Trout

It might be one of their competitors
[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]

You might have top get an expert to take a look at it.

I looked up the other houses from those companies and cant find a house even close to mine. I thought maybe it would be a Montgomery Ward house but no dice.

353 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:35:58am

There are two openly racist white supremacists live-tweeting from CPAC, wonder if they are attending together.

354 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:35:59am

re: #350 Bulworth

But austerity caused furloughs and job losses are OK for Faux. The loss of WH tours is tyranny, however. /

Yeah, priorities Fox, get some. Bunch of maroons.

355 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:37:05am

re: #345 HappyWarrior

Burritos on naan bread? Actually……….

Falafel taco with hummus!!

356 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:37:39am

re: #334 Killgore Trout

Attics are good places to check. While replacing some insulation in my attic I found a 1911 newspaper stuffed between joists. Probably left behind by a carpenter. It was open to the “jobs for hire” section, maybe he was looking for a new gig. It was kind of interesting to see separate jobs listings for men, women, whites and non-whites.

I need to find stuff like this.

Image: Millwork_Label_red_88.JPG

Image: Marked_Lumber_563.jpg

If I do I’m good to go.

357 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:38:32am

re: #335 Feline Fearless Leader

Maybe the shipping box ended up buried in the backyard!
;)

You never know. They used to dump their trash at the end of my yard. I identically dug up some old Listerine bottles one day.

358 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:38:45am

re: #355 Feline Fearless Leader

Falafel taco with hummus!!

That doesn’t sound so crazy.

359 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:38:46am

The perniciousness of the Ryan tax plan. It’s a massive redistribution of wealth - favoring the wealthy by a huge margin that no amount of loophole closing could solve. It calls for $5.7 trillion in revenues lost over 10 years - an amount that simply can’t be made up by loophole closures.

It likely would take a major leap of faith on economic growth and a massive reduction in spending to bring balance to that plan.

It radically reshapes government spending and priorities.

360 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:41:33am

re: #351 NJDhockeyfan

Good luck and hope that you get good news from the realtor on the plans. If it turns out that it’s a true Sears Westly, it could add to its value and could be marketed towards those folks looking for a true Sears Honor Bilt home (adding extra value).

361 iossarian  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:42:23am

re: #359 lawhawk

The perniciousness of the Ryan tax plan. It’s a massive redistribution of wealth - favoring the wealthy by a huge margin that no amount of loophole closing could solve. It calls for $5.7 trillion in revenues lost over 10 years - an amount that simply can’t be made up by loophole closures.

It likely would take a major leap of faith on economic growth and a massive reduction in spending to bring balance to that plan.

It radically reshapes government spending and priorities.

Less spending on programs that support the poor, working and middle classes, and the cost of even that spending shifted more heavily onto those classes.

Standard right-wing class warfare.

362 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:42:39am

Well crap. My Yahoo email got hacked, and a ton of junk mail went. Inbox is full of failed message from maildaemon. A few Lizards got my email, so my apologies.

363 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:42:52am

re: #320 brennant

Question: If you go through a background check, and you pass… the record has to be destroyed correct?

Currently that is correct. It’s one of the biggest flaws in the system but the NRA & etc oppose keeping them because then the gub’ment would know who has the GUNZ to confiscate them. It’s like the fantasy in Red Dawn of using the 4473’s to track guns down and equally ridiculous.

364 lawhawk  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:46:09am

BWHAHAH:

365 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:46:42am

re: #362 Political Atheist

Well crap. My Yahoo email got hacked, and a ton of junk mail went. Inbox is full of failed message from maildaemon. A few Lizards got my email, so my apologies.

That happened with my gmail account, but only about 20 were sent out and half of those to Facebook’s reply-to mailbox. Can’t tell if it was hacked or if my email addy was spoofed, but I changed my password to be on the safe side.

366 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:47:59am

White supremacists at CPAC are tweeting up a storm(front).

I don’t feel like embedding their tweets here. Should I, as long as they don’t link to racist hate sites?

367 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:48:38am

re: #362 Political Atheist

Well crap. My Yahoo email got hacked, and a ton of junk mail went. Inbox is full of failed message from maildaemon. A few Lizards got my email, so my apologies.

That always sucks. I got a message from a former coworker asking about something after I had been away from my main computer all weekend once. Turned out that a bunch of spam was sent to some of my former coworkers. Real embarrassing. Changed the password and it hasn’t happened since.

368 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:49:23am

re: #364 lawhawk

BWHAHAH:

Wait I thought having a career in politics was bad.

369 iossarian  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:51:28am

re: #368 HappyWarrior

Wait I thought having a career in politics was bad.

It’s OK if you’re a Republican.

370 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:54:49am

re: #369 iossarian

It’s OK if you’re a Republican.

True that. Paul Ryan is the ultimate career politician.

371 Backwoods_Sleuth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:55:25am

re: #355 Feline Fearless Leader

Falafel taco with hummus!!

more likely Falafel taco with Hamas…

372 Political Atheist  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:56:39am

re: #365 wheat-dogghazi

I’m pretty sure my address got grabbed. But to be sure I’m changing lot’s of passwords. Maybe today I’ll start with a password manager program.

373 BongCrodny  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:58:17am

HuffPo: Donald Trump CPAC Speech: U.S. Is Run By “Very Stupid People”

I guess four bankruptcies doesn’t count as “very stupid.”

374 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:58:41am

re: #360 lawhawk

Good luck and hope that you get good news from the realtor on the plans. If it turns out that it’s a true Sears Westly, it could add to its value and could be marketed towards those folks looking for a true Sears Honor Bilt home (adding extra value).

She said people are out looking for these houses. I had no idea Sears sold them in catalogs or how valuable they are. I’m pretty excited about it.

375 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 8:59:13am

re: #373 BongCrodny

HuffPo: Donald Trump CPAC Speech: U.S. Is Run By “Very Stupid People”

I guess four bankruptcies doesn’t count as “very stupid.”

Yeah because you’re the example of intelligence, Donald. You who would be nothing if it wasn’t for your Dad. Contrast that with the POTUS who actually worked to where he is today.

376 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:01:40am

There are some “librul trollz” who think it’s funny to tweet gay pr0n to the CPAC hashtag, but it’s getting really annoying just like the straight pr0nbots.

377 Vicious Babushka  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:03:18am

alert: the nazi troll from early this morning just logged in.

378 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:04:16am

Fox just described Bobby Jindal as someone who, since the election has emerged as a “National leader of the GOP”.

379 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:04:58am

re: #377 Vicious Babushka

alert: the nazi troll from early this morning just logged in.

I will call Brad Pitt and company immediately.

380 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:05:49am

re: #378 Eclectic Cyborg

Fox just described Bobby Jindal as someone who, since the election has emerged as a “National leader of the GOP”.

Ha, really? What has he done? Outside some bullshit speeches that tell the Republicans that they need to be more smart. All the while he has policies that weakens education and puts the tax burden on the middle class and poor. Like Rubio, he’s a joke, just as bad if not worse than those he’s replacing but gets a pass because of his age.

381 Bulworth  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:11:47am
Ha, really? What has [Jindal] done?

Shown up on TV.

Not as often as President McCain. But he probably showed up on some TV somewhere. /

382 HappyWarrior  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:12:55am

re: #381 Bulworth

Shown up on TV.

Not as often as President McCain. But he probably showed up on some TV somewhere. /

Can’t wait for President Romney’s speech today at CPAC.// I’m sure it will be positive and not filled with disdain for people who aren’t awesome like him.

383 brennant  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:14:13am

Did I just hear support or e-cigarettes?

384 Mattand  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:17:41am

re: #1 EPR-radar

This moron can’t even construct an acronym properly.

Ben Shapiro really is unusually stupid, even for a hawker of RW agitprop.

I immediately thought of G.R.O.S.S. from Calvin and Hobbes:

Get Rid Of Slimy GirlS.

385 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:23:26am
386 Eclectic Cyborg  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:23:43am

Also OT, but “Leave this page” dialog boxes really, REALLY need to die.

387 William Barnett-Lewis  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:25:55am

Oh, interesting mail today. Jury duty summons. Five day trial scheduled according to it, which is interesting in itself as I can’t remember anything happening around here of late that would need 5 days at trial to deal with.

Funzies.

388 kirkspencer  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:34:48am

re: #387 William Barnett-Lewis

Oh, interesting mail today. Jury duty summons. Five day trial scheduled according to it, which is interesting in itself as I can’t remember anything happening around here of late that would need 5 days at trial to deal with.

Funzies.

If it’s like most places, they’re not telling you the trial will be five days. They’re telling you that for five days you’re part of a large pool from which any juries for trials beginning over that five day period will be selected.

So you may wind up just sitting in the waiting room for five days. Or you may get one the first day that lasts a couple of hours. Or get tagged on day five for one that turns out to go on and on and on. No real telling up front.

Also note that if it’s going to be longish it is for a crime in which arrests were probably made weeks if not months ago.

389 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:48:55am

re: #373 BongCrodny

HuffPo: Donald Trump CPAC Speech: U.S. Is Run By “Very Stupid People”

I guess four bankruptcies doesn’t count as “very stupid.”

Stupid as a fox since he got so big the banks can’t afford to foreclose on him.

390 NJDhockeyfan  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 9:52:21am

re: #389 Feline Fearless Leader

Stupid as a fox since he got so big the banks can’t afford to foreclose on him.

I really can’t argue with that. The US government has been run by stupid people as far as I can remember.

391 bernie4356  Fri, Mar 15, 2013 1:17:19pm

re: #27 BongCrodny

Thank you BongCrodny. :)


This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal
Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh
Why Did More Than 1,000 People Die After Police Subdued Them With Force That Isn’t Meant to Kill? An investigation led by The Associated Press has found that, over a decade, more than 1,000 people died after police subdued them through physical holds, stun guns, body blows and other force not intended to be lethal. More: Why ...
Cheechako
3 hours ago
Views: 30 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 0
A Closer Look at the Eastman State Bar DecisionTaking a few minutes away from work things to read through the Eastman decision. As I'm sure many of you know, Eastman was my law school con law professor. I knew him pretty well because I was also running in ...
KGxvi
7 hours ago
Views: 83 • Comments: 1 • Rating: 1