Tech Note: Hot Key Fever

They’re new, they’re keys, and they’re hot. They are hot keys.
LGF • Views: 32,102

Here’s one of those new feature announcements that serves double duty as an open thread: we now have some new “hot keys” available to all site visitors.

If you’re currently viewing a page that has a list of articles, you can now use the J and K keys to instantly jump to the top of the next or previous article.

J = next item
K = previous item

These keys also work with LGF comments.

The other new hot key: on any page with comments, you can now type N to activate the “New Comments” button.

N = New Comments

If you’re currently entering text into any kind of input field, these hot keys will be automatically disabled, to avoid confusion, mayhem, and/or recriminations.

Implemented via John Resig’s jQuery plugin.

Jump to bottom

389 comments
1 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:02:46pm

If you’ve always wanted to type a single key to activate an LGF feature, here’s your chance to make it happen. The suggestion box is open.

2 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:06:04pm

I used J and K for the navigation keys because they’re standard hot keys in the vi editor, and also because if you’re a touch typist they’re right under your index and middle fingers already.

3 wrenchwench  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:07:47pm

M to open the Master Spy in a new tab?

D to open my Dashboard?

4 RealityBasedSteve  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:08:01pm

You rock Charles, and I say that as someone who teaches programming for living. (More data-base / middleware stuff, you really don’t want me on anything with a UI) The feature I’d like would be to possibly “Lizard-Mail” other members a private message.

RBS
Who want’s to be Charles when he grows up. (Unless he’s already older than Charles, but it’s ok, since he’s still not really grown up, just grown older)

5 Amory Blaine  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:08:13pm

How about a single key that opens Pages in a new tab.

6 RealityBasedSteve  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:08:42pm

S to get a Sandwich?

RBS
Busy running and ducking for cover.

7 Political Atheist  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:09:27pm

I hope imitation will be taken as flattery. I keep sending this stuff to my web code lady and asking what it would take to add it to my new blog at PMWest. Charles, I wish you could have heard her voice when I sent her links to here and then called. Can we do this, can we do that…. Heh I need a bigger budget.

8 darthstar  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:12:04pm

“Nancy Grace is a poorly-medicated vengeance demon who’s always just a bad morning away from ending up on her own show.” Most accurate description ever.

happyplace.com

9 wrenchwench  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:12:18pm

L to post a lolcat with a

Later, lizards.

?

10 bratwurst  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:14:57pm
11 Decatur Deb  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:29:14pm

re: #3 wrenchwench

M to open the Master Spy in a new tab?

D to open my Dashboard?

‘B’ to switch to a boob-pun thread.

12 darthstar  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:40:50pm

B!
B!
B!

13 bubba zanetti  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:44:46pm

re: #6 RealityBasedSteve

You need to sudo for that.

14 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:50:38pm

re: #11 Decatur Deb

‘B’ to switch to a boob-pun thread.

A “boob thread” hot key would require some kind of artificial intelligence. Or, in this case, artificial dumbness.

15 PhillyPretzel  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:56:46pm

Thanks again for some really cool tools. Now if all of you will excuse me I got to go and get some sleep. Good Night to my fellow Lizards.

16 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Tue, May 7, 2013 6:57:46pm

re: #14 Charles Johnson

A “boob thread” hot key would require some kind of artificial intelligence. Or, in this case, artificial dumbness.

Why bother with the artificial kind when the real thing is more plentiful than hydrogen and cheaper than ramen noodles?

17 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:01:08pm

DERP

18 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:02:04pm

DERP

19 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:04:15pm

WTF is wrong with these people? They are acting all butthurt even when they win.

20 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:07:22pm

re: #19 Vicious Babushka

They need the butthurt to fuel their revanchism.

21 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:11:46pm

re: #19 Vicious Babushka

WTF is wrong with these people? They are acting all butthurt even when they win.

#SC01 And the Left had such hopes for #SC. Why, they were already drawing up plans for reeducation camps. #UniteBlue #p2 #TGDN #tcot

Don’t know about camps, but some education is probably in order.

22 Stanghazi  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:12:11pm

On a questionable blog I read about a really bad push poll that went out in SC. Not verified, need to see if reported elsewhere .

23 Stanghazi  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:14:11pm

Ah, found it on thinkprogress. From a few days ago.

thinkprogress.org

24 Bubblehead II  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:18:15pm

Night Lizards. May you rock and warren be warm.

25 RealityBasedSteve  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:23:56pm

re: #16 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

Why bother with the artificial kind when the real thing is more plentiful than hydrogen and cheaper than ramen noodles?

Are we talking about Intelligence, or Boobs?

RBS

26 Vicious Babushka  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:24:58pm
27 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:28:51pm

re: #26 Vicious Babushka

“It’s not enough to vote conservative. We need members of Congress to live the lives of conservatives. At a time when every aspect of our traditional American value system is under assault, we need strong leaders who can defend those values through word and deed.

What has long distinguished our party from the Democrats is that we don’t tolerate immorality among our ranks.”
— Noted Redstate Humorist Daniel Horowitz

28 Kragar  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:29:49pm

So does Sanford get sworn in before or after the hearing about him stalking his exwife?

Fucking scumball and the hypocrite “Family values” GOP.

South Carolina, you’re a fucking embarrassment.

29 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:36:30pm

re: #27 jaunte

“It’s not enough to vote conservative. We need members of Congress to live the lives of conservatives. At a time when every aspect of our traditional American value system is under assault, we need strong leaders who can defend those values through word and deed.

What has long distinguished our party from the Democrats is that we don’t tolerate immorality among our ranks.”
— Noted Redstate Humorist Daniel Horowitz

We don’t tolerate immorality? That explains former Senator Vitter.

30 thedopefishlives  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:36:45pm

Evening Lizardim. Won’t be around long, but wanted to check in with my favorite keyboard warriors and see how things were going in the war on derp.

31 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:37:34pm

re: #28 Kragar

So does Sanford get sworn in before or after the hearing about him stalking his exwife?

Fucking scumball and the hypocrite “Family values” GOP.

South Carolina, you’re a fucking embarrassment.

It’s annoying but I can’t say I’m surprised. The whole family values crap is annoying. It really wouldn’t bother me if they didn’t A) try to act like their morality made them better people than liberals and B) didn’t use those “morals” to scapegoat gays, unwed mothers, etc.

32 Mentis Fugit  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:37:56pm

re: #20 jaunte

They need the butthurt to fuel their revanchism.

The new GOP slogan: Graceless in Victory, Sullen in Defeat.

33 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:39:34pm

Yeah GOP you won a seat with a former governor in a bright red Republican district. Great job. Do you want a cookie with that victory?

34 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:40:16pm

re: #29 HappyWarrior

That idea about “staring too long into the abyss” has to be applied to people who are in the habit of uttering bullshit too often; they eventually lose track of reality.

35 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:42:29pm

“…voters felt that Mr. Sanford’s opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, did not have the lying experience necessary to serve in Congress.”
newyorker.com

36 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:42:42pm

re: #34 jaunte

That idea about “staring too long into the abyss” has to be applied to people who are in the habit of uttering bullshit too often; they eventually lose track of reality.

Yeah but if they’re going to be delusional about themselves, I say let them. This guy probably also believes that liberals are the real hateful ones and conservatives are usually fair and kind with those they disagree with.

37 Lidane  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:43:20pm
38 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:44:00pm

re: #35 jaunte

“…voters felt that Mr. Sanford’s opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, did not have the lying experience necessary to serve in Congress.”
newyorker.com

Ha. Andy’s right. After all Sanford is a known liar. Colbert-Busch on the other hand can only have been suspected of lying. SC-1 voters deserve what they get when Sanford is entangled in yet another scandal because he’s a creepy dick.

39 Kragar  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:44:04pm

re: #33 HappyWarrior

Yeah GOP you won a seat with a former governor in a bright red Republican district. Great job. Do you want a cookie with that victory?

“This proves conservative values still can win elections, just so long as you’re a white male running in the deep south pandering to a bunch of dumbass bible thumpers.”

40 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:44:44pm

re: #37 Lidane

Yeah so much for Republican rebranding. I guess Reagan should have added a new commandment for Republicans- “Thou shalt not think of homosexuals as human beings with rights.”

41 Kragar  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:46:23pm

Yeah Bryan, because none of those assaults were committed by Christian churchgoers.
///

42 thedopefishlives  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:47:12pm

re: #41 Kragar

Yeah, I don’t think he realizes what proportion of the military is comprised of young Christian men who have a repressed need to get their rocks off, in multiple senses of the term.

43 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:47:56pm

re: #41 Kragar

Yeah Bryan, because none of those assaults were committed by Christian churchgoers.
///

When I think back at our military history I’m reminded of all those Judeo values that were common back in the day.

44 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:48:16pm

re: #41 Kragar

Yeah Bryan, because none of those assaults were committed by Christian churchgoers.
///

Fischer should just admit that he’s a time traveler from the Dark Ages who got lost. Really, his pining for theocracy is beyond creepy. And yeah none of those rapes were committed by devout Christians. Only heathen Muslims, secularists, etc rape but never Christians.//

45 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:49:47pm

re: #41 Kragar

Fischer should start small, and try to clean up the behavior in Tupelo.

46 Kragar  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:51:34pm

re: #45 jaunte

Fischer should start small, and try to clean up the behavior in Tupelo.

Step 1) Stop the locals from picking up chicks at family reunions

47 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:54:44pm

re: #45 jaunte

Fischer should start small, and try to clean up the behavior in Tupelo.

What! We can’t look inward! We have to look outward and outside our groups. We have to blame THOSE OTHER PEOPLE! //

48 Amory Blaine  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:57:05pm

Maybe rebranding is more than they need. I mean come on Mark Sanford?

49 Kragar  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:59:42pm

No gays in the Boy Scouts, but if you want to hike the Appalachians to spend time with your Argentinian mistress, that’s cool.

50 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 7:59:52pm

re: #48 Amory Blaine

Maybe rebranding is more than they need. I mean come on Mark Sanford?

Yeah. Nothing says new and refreshed like a disgraced former governor. Of course, their idea of rebranding here in Virginia is Ken Cuccinnelli, a guy who wants sodomy laws to return and actually wanted to change the state’s official song to “Taxman.” I don’t take the Republican rebranding effort seriously at all because it’s just an effort to package shit as less smelly shit but shit is still shit.

51 blueraven  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:00:27pm

Dave Weigel live tweeting from the Sanford campaign event

Barf

52 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:01:39pm

re: #51 blueraven

We need to get Dave to Disney World now! He must be put somewhere relaxing and relatively non-crazy.

53 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:01:50pm

re: #51 blueraven

Dave Weigel live tweeting from the Sanford campaign event

Barf

Somehow I don’t think a romance that emerges from adultery qualifies as the great romance of all time. Hey if Sanford loves her, great, I won’t judge but the guy’s a hypocritical douche and a crook at that.

54 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:02:20pm

re: #52 ProBosniaLiberal

We need to get Dave to Disney World now! He must be put somewhere relaxing and relatively non-crazy.

I’d settle for a bar in Adams-Morgan. Yeah it’s still crazy but the worst it has is me doing karaoke.

55 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:02:35pm

re: #51 blueraven

Dave Weigel live tweeting from the Sanford campaign event

Barf

When I think of Mark Sanford I am reminded of the sanctity of marriage.

56 stabby  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:02:49pm

re: #6 RealityBasedSteve

S to get a Sandwich?

RBS
Busy running and ducking for cover.

That’s spelled “samwich”

57 Joanne  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:04:14pm

re: #21 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

Don’t know about camps, but some education is probably in order.

I’m thinking more along the lines of a mental intervention.

58 Joanne  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:05:18pm

re: #22 Stanley Sea

On a questionable blog I read about a really bad push poll that went out in SC. Not verified, need to see if reported elsewhere .

It’s been reported elsewhere. I can’t recall where but it wasn’t some looney site.

59 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:06:17pm

re: #58 Joanne

It’s been reported elsewhere. I can’t recall where but it wasn’t some looney site.

It wouldn’t surprise me. We are talking about the state of Lee Atwater here. Mr. Push Poll.

60 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:07:22pm

re: #58 Joanne

It’s been reported elsewhere. I can’t recall where but it wasn’t some looney site.

Oh I’m pretty sure who it was. PPP?

61 blueraven  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:08:16pm

re: #55 Gus

When I think of Mark Sanford I am reminded of the sanctity of marriage.

Yep, he will forever be known for his strength and support of traditional values. //

62 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:09:49pm

re: #49 Kragar

This is why the 50 States strategy is doomed to fail.

Instead, Democrats should be focused on taking back power in the Great Lakes, routing out as many Republicans Officeholders as possible in Blue States, and start finding arguments that could appeal to areas where we can be competitive, or soon be competitive. Like North Carolina, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Arizona.

63 Joanne  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:10:34pm

re: #60 Gus

Oh I’m pretty sure who it was. PPP?

Pathetic Push Polls? Pretty much.

Would your opinion of CB change if you knew…. Several of these types of questions. All lousy things, of course.

Right out of the Rove/McCain push polling school of complete douchery.

64 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:12:04pm

re: #62 ProBosniaLiberal

This is why the 50 States strategy is doomed to fail.

Instead, Democrats should be focused on taking back power in the Great Lakes, routing out as many Republicans Officeholders as possible in Blue States, and start finding arguments that could appeal to areas where we can be competitive, or soon be competitive. Like North Carolina, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Arizona.

I disagree with that strongly. Without the 50 state strategy, Virginia doesn’t go Democratic in both Obama elections and Virginia doesn’t have two Democratic senators today and I’ll add Colorado that conversation since Colorado is a state that seems like it has trended more Democratic since the inception of the 50 state strategy. The 50 state strategy allows you to be more competitive in those states you talk about too.

65 blueraven  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:13:51pm

re: #59 HappyWarrior

It wouldn’t surprise me. We are talking about the state of Lee Atwater here. Mr. Push Poll.

From Think Progress…a firm calling themselves SSI

Here are some of the issues SSI brought up in various iterations of the push poll, according to those ThinkProgress spoke with:

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you she had had an abortion?”

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you a judge held her in contempt of court at her divorce proceedings?

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if she had done jail time?”

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you she was caught running up a charge account bill?”

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if she supported the failed stimulus plan?”

- “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you unions contributed to her campaign?”

thinkprogress.org

Not that she would have won anyway, but pathetic

66 ProTARDISLiberal  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:14:20pm

re: #64 HappyWarrior

There are simply areas that you will not be able to get in the next quarter century. South Carolina is one of them. In cases like this, we should be caring more about gaining enough power to outright ignore them.

67 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:15:19pm

re: #66 ProBosniaLiberal

There are simply areas that you will not be able to get in the next quarter century. South Carolina is one of them. In cases like this, we should be caring more about gaining enough power to outright ignore them.

One could have said that about Virginia in the 90’s. Listen, by all means put more resources into purple and light red areas but don’t give up completely on red areas.

68 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:16:21pm

re: #65 blueraven

From Think Progress…a firm calling themselves SSI

thinkprogress.org

Not that she would have won anyway, but pathetic

Fuckers. Given that she’s Stephen’s sis, she’s probably too good a person for politics anyhow but it would have been nice not to have Mark Sanford back in office. But at least it’s a demotion from his former position.

69 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:21:11pm
70 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:24:28pm

The last Dem in Sanford’s district left office in 1981.

71 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:27:40pm

So what’s happening with the SCOTUS DOMA hearings?

72 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:38:30pm

Today. Today is why we laugh at South Carolina.

Nullify this, bozos.

73 AlexRogan  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:41:38pm

re: #72 dragonath

Today. Today is why we laugh at South Carolina.

Nullify this, bozos.

It’s not a question of if Sanford screws up again, it’s a matter of when.

That schadenfreude’s gonna taste real good.

74 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:46:10pm

re: #73 AlexRogan

It’s not a question of if Sanford screws up again, it’s a matter of when.

That schadenfreude’s gonna taste real good.

I’m going to laugh when it happens because you know it will be claimed that he failed because he was “corrupted” by Washington and that he wasn’t “conservative” enough even though there will be metrics that will show Sanford to be among the most conservative in the House.

75 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:49:08pm

re: #71 Gus

So what’s happening with the SCOTUS DOMA hearings?

Nothing. Oral arguments took place on March 27th, but the Court takes over two and a half months on average to issue a ruling. Breyer spent a few days in the hospital with a shoulder injury from a bicycle accident, who knows what other delays will impact the schedule.

76 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:51:01pm

re: #73 AlexRogan

It’s not a question of if Sanford screws up again, it’s a matter of when.

That schadenfreude’s gonna taste real good.

It won’t feel that good. I wish we could have a political process that tried to make life pleasant for its citizens. Instead we live in a country with telemarketers and loaded gun rallies.

77 Feline Fearless Leader  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:51:11pm

Hmm. FADS (Feline Air Defense Network) at work. Some hapless gnat or midge flew into the room, was picked up by *two* Feline Sonic Detection Sets and then was tracked, stalked, slapped by multiple PAWS missiles and then the kill was verified by consumption by a feline.

Feel sorta sorry for the poor bug. Never had a chance.

78 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:51:11pm

re: #75 goddamnedfrank

Nothing. Oral arguments took place on March 27th, but the Court takes over two and a half months on average to issue a ruling. Breyer spent a few days in the hospital with a shoulder injury from a bicycle accident, who knows what other delays will impact the schedule.

Thanks.

79 Charles Johnson  Tue, May 7, 2013 8:59:05pm
80 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:01:00pm

re: #79 Charles Johnson

He needs to take that question mark and shove it up Trump, The Ass.

81 Joanne  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:01:37pm

re: #79 Charles Johnson

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

Just watched Jon Stewart(?) jumping up and down and screaming like a madman - nothing funny or smart, just loud and obnoxious, a pushy dope!
11:58 PM - 7 May 2013

Wassamatta you, Donny? Jon hasn’t asked your skank ass to come on his show lately?

82 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:02:32pm

re: #79 Charles Johnson

Is Donald sure he wasn’t watching re-runs of The Apprentice? Stewart isn’t the screaming type. He’s usually cordial even towards guests whom he disagrees with politically. Trump should get over Stewart. It’s creepy as his obsession with the idea that Stewart is “denying his past” because he uses a stage name and by Trump’s stupid logic is ashamed to be Jewish.

83 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:02:54pm

re: #79 Charles Johnson

The Von Nervestick’s still paining him.

84 prairiefire  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:04:48pm

re: #4 RealityBasedSteve

You rock Charles, and I say that as someone who teaches programming for living. (More data-base / middleware stuff, you really don’t want me on anything with a UI) The feature I’d like would be to possibly “Lizard-Mail” other members a private message.

RBS
Who want’s to be Charles when he grows up. (Unless he’s already older than Charles, but it’s ok, since he’s still not really grown up, just grown older)

Agreed, on all points!

85 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:04:59pm

Why we as a society even made Donald Trump a celebrity is beyond me. He’s not cool. Not witty. He’s just an obnoxious ass who thinks he’s awesome because he’s loaded. And I felt this way before he became King Birther so it’s more than political.

86 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:06:50pm

re: #85 HappyWarrior

And I felt this way before he became King Birther so it’s more than political.

What’s the proof he was born on this planet?

87 klys  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:09:03pm

Home from spending the day attending and then celebrating a friend’s successful Ph.D. defense.

True friendship is when you get up at 8am to get there in time.

88 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:09:39pm

re: #86 dragonath

What’s the proof he was born on this planet?

So you’re asking for his Birth Earth Certificate? Seriously though, the guy’s whole schtick is that of a pompous businessman, if I wanted that, I’d read about Gilded Age robber barons.

89 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:17:17pm

This shit is so going to backfire in the midterms.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s aides met recently with staffers of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to warn them: Targeting vulnerable Democrats like Arkansas’s Mark Pryor on gun control could backfire on the party, several sources told POLITICO.

It didn’t work.

Ads from the Bloomberg-funded Mayors Against Illegal Guns are going up soon in Alaska, Arkansas and North Dakota — three states with Democratic senators who broke with the White House on last month’s background checks vote.
The group is also moving as many as 60 field organizers into about a dozen states where senators — Democrats and Republicans — voted against bill, with the goal of building infrastructure and countering gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association.

It’s all got Democrats nervous about keeping their hold on the Senate, if they are under attack from not only Republicans but pro-gun control forces as well. Gun control legislation gained new national momentum since last December’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children and six adults dead, but advocates know they cannot overcome the power of the NRA on Capitol Hill unless those who oppose them pay an electoral price for doing so, and they’ve shown no sign of backing down.

Reid and his staffers are right. I’ve dealt with the kind of single issue fanaticism here from a couple of posters, people who have so convinced themselves of their own moral superiority on the issue that all other considerations of political pragmatism, including any desire to be constrained by the truth and objective facts go right out the window. They lie, blatantly, and if you call them out on the lies then it means you are dogmatically opposed to all gun control, even if you’ve advocated for highly specific gun control schemes and legislation.

I don’t know why Democrats are allowing this shit to go down in their ranks, since it’s the exact tactic the Tea Party zealots used in the last couple of elections to litmus test the GOP out of control of the Senate. This is an absolutely insane, bullshit political strategy, there’s nothing whatsoever intelligent about enforcing such a strict ideological dogma on this single issue. This ridiculous, puritan, doctrinaire dumbfuckery, proposed by the same idiot that attempted a limit on soda cup capacity poses a clear and present danger not only to pragmatic attempts at gun control, but it threatens every other equality, economic and social justice issue Democrats are working for right now.

Fuck!

90 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:17:39pm

“Jon Stewart(?) is so overrated. He doesn’t even have a cologne or a vodka named after him.”

91 Mentis Fugit  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:19:20pm

re: #86 dragonath

What’s the proof hehis hair was born on this planet?

Just grabbing the low-hanging fruit.

92 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:19:40pm

re: #90 jaunte

“Jon Stewart(?) is so overrated. He doesn’t even have a cologne or a vodka named after him.”

Is the Trump cologne called Washedupdouchebag and the vodka JustsomevodkaweboughtfromSmirnoffandputDonald’snameonit.

93 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:21:35pm

You weren’t supposed to click that button. Grrr. [Breaks things.]

94 jaunte  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:21:40pm

re: #92 HappyWarrior

Trump vodka (labeled super premium, naturally) was introduced in 2006 to much fanfare. Under the slogan “Success Distilled,” the liquor was touted as the “epitome of vodka” that would “demand the same respect and inspire the same awe as the international legacy and brand of Donald Trump himself.” At the time, Trump predicted the T&T (Trump and Tonic) would become the most requested drink in America, surpassed only by the Trump Martini.
time.com

95 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:22:40pm

Trump clearly has some kind of weird obsession with Jon Stewart.

If I were Jon Stewart, I would make it a practice to strongly imply that I was about to say something about Donald Trump in the next segment, and then never actually say it.

96 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:22:59pm

re: #94 jaunte

Ah another reason to stick to my rule of no American vodkas. And that one was hard to do in college since everyone would bring Burnetts to college parties. Pfft noobs.

97 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:24:02pm

Mark Sanford + Ron Paul + Sarah Palin + Trump’s Hair = the perfect Republican.

Too bad the GOP doesn’t believe in science

98 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:24:26pm

re: #95 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

Trump clearly has some kind of weird obsession with Jon Stewart.

If I were Jon Stewart, I would make it a practice to strongly imply that I was about to say something about Donald Trump in the next segment, and then never actually say it.

I’d just keep on laughing at him like he is. Trump despite having been in the spotlight for longer than my whole life is a man who clearly can’t handle mockery even good natured mockery.

99 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:24:45pm

Years ago I knew a guy here in town - he was older but a friend - who made to me a comment once, when riding through one of the older and somewhat dilapidated neighborhoods of San Diego, that he wished Donald Trump would come in and “clean up” the area.

Yeah, he was a total mark for The Donald’s gimmick. He was a nice guy who is now deceased, but he really fell for gimmicks at times.

100 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:25:47pm

re: #99 freetoken

Clean up? As in, take people’s money?

I can believe that.

101 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:26:24pm

re: #99 freetoken

Years ago I knew a guy here in town - he was older but a friend - who made to me a comment once, when riding through one of the older and somewhat dilapidated neighborhoods of San Diego, that he wished Donald Trump would come in and “clean up” the area.

Yeah, he was a total mark for The Donald’s gimmick. He was a nice guy who is now deceased, but he really fell for gimmicks at times.

I think most people would be surprised if they knew that Trump’s actually a pretty shitty businessman. If you want a good model of how to make in America, I think POTUS is a great example, if you want the reason why we don’t have an official nobility here, look at Donald.

102 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:28:38pm

re: #100 dragonath

As in “redevelop”. This was at a time when The Donald first became a national figure and had his first well-publicized construction projects.

103 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:31:12pm

Donald Trump has always been “that guy.” A dirty, dirty motherfucker from his earliest days:

One of Donald’s first challenges came in October 1973, when the Justice Department hit the Trump Organization with a major discrimination suit for violating the Fair Housing Act. The Times reported:

… the Government contended that Trump Management had refused to rent or negotiate rentals “because of race and color.” It also charged that the company had required different rental terms and conditions because of race and that it had misrepresented to blacks that apartments were not available.

The journalist Gwenda Blair reported in her 2005 Trump biography that while Fred Trump had sought to combat previous discrimination allegations through “quiet diplomacy,” Donald decided to go on the offensive. He hired his friend Roy Cohn, the celebrity lawyer and former Joseph McCarthy aide, to countersue the government for making baseless charges against the company. They sought a staggering $100 million in damages.

A few months after the government filed the suit, Trump gave a combative press conference at the New York Hilton in which he went after the Justice Department for being too friendly to welfare recipients. He “accused the Justice Department of singling out his corporation because it was a large one and because the Government was trying to force it to rent to welfare recipients,” the Times reported. Trump added that if welfare recipients were allowed into his apartments in certain middle-class outer-borough neighborhoods, there would be a “massive fleeing from the city of not only our tenants, but communities as a whole.”

104 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:37:00pm

re: #89 goddamnedfrank

Bloomberg is going to be the single reason that 2014 makes 1994 look like a democratic victory.

105 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:37:37pm

re: #103 goddamnedfrank

Roy Fucking Cohn. You couldn’t script that shit, it’s the kind of bizarre narrative only real life can author.

106 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:38:31pm

I see that SC tonight taught us all a lesson … in something or other. Forgiveness? Tribalism? Stupidity?

107 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:38:37pm

re: #104 William Barnett-Lewis

Bloomberg is going to be the single reason that 2014 makes 1994 look like a democratic victory.

Maybe, it’s still a ways away and anything can happen. I’m not optimistic though.

108 prairiefire  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:42:37pm

re: #105 goddamnedfrank

Roy Fucking Cohn. You couldn’t script that shit, it’s the kind of bizarre narrative only real life can author.

Al Pacino portrayed that guy in a movie, what was it called? Meryl Streep was in it.

109 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:45:07pm

re: #108 prairiefire

Al Pacino portrayed that guy in a movie, what was it called? Meryl Streep was in it.

Angels in America? I believe it’s based off a play.

110 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:45:47pm

Bloomberg threw a lot of money around in the last election. He’s pretty much putting a wedgie on whoever he can. The weaker the Democratic party is, the more he can play his faux-centrist shtick.

111 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:50:05pm

re: #108 prairiefire

Al Pacino as that guy, what was it called? Meryl Streep was in it.

Angels in America. Never saw it, not a big fan of touchy movies that delve into the afterlife, looking for meaning, offering lessons, forgiveness, closure and shit.

I thought James Woods did a good job as him in Citizen Cohn. I like movies that are like real life, “hey, here’s a bunch of shit that happened, deal yo.”

112 prairiefire  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:56:30pm

re: #109 HappyWarrior

Angels in America? I believe it’s based off a play.

Fantastic. If you were to see it now, it would sound cliche. Yet, It was the first play, Tony Kushner was the first to speak directly about it, the plague. It set the narrative for gay theater discussion after the decimation of AIDS going forward.

113 HappyWarrior  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:59:27pm

re: #112 prairiefire

Fantastic. If you were to see it now, it would sound cliche. Yet, It was the first play, Tony Kushner was the first to speak directly about it, the plague. It set the narrative for gay theater discussion after the decimation of AIDS going forward.

Ah okay. Reminds me. Pacino’s versatility never ceases to amaze me. One guy has played Michael Corleone, Tony Montana, Shylock, Jack Kevorkian, Phil Spector, Frank Serpico, and so many others. I was watching the first Godfather for the first time in a while and man it just dumbfounds me that the studio execs didn’t want Al, I know they wanted a big name but Michael Corleone’s transformation from Ivy League war hero to Don of New York’s most powerful crime family is one of the most masterful pieces of acting in film if you ask me.

114 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 9:59:41pm

A fantasy?

Cities Are the Future of Human Evolution

115 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:03:58pm

re: #89 goddamnedfrank

Firebaggers. Emoprogs. Puritopians.

116 dragonath  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:05:15pm

re: #114 freetoken

A fantasy?

Cities Are the Future of Human Evolution

Hey, it’s an Arcology from Sim City!

117 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:07:35pm

Bobby Bare - Detroit City

Youtube Video
118 goddamnedfrank  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:09:10pm

Met Dad for lunch today, went to one of the local gun stores and he bought another Browning SA-22, so he’ll have three in his collection now. 1961 model, made in Belgium, nice, barely fired. He probably would have bought it anyway, but there’s a bill currently under consideration in the legislature that would ban all semi-automatic rifles, even rimfire, without fixed magazines. They way they define fixed means no reloading without disassembly of the action requiring tools, so at first glance it would ban tubular rimfires like that Browning that have historically been exempted from assault weapons bans.

Dad, like me, is incredibly liberal. He donates to Democratic candidates in crucial races, he donated to the one Colbert-Busch just lost. This kind of bullshit legislation won’t do a goddamned thing to effect the huge majority of gun crime, but it does alienate people within the Democratic party from the party itself.

119 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:17:44pm

USMC Cadence

Youtube Video
120 Dancing along the light of day  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:21:40pm

re: #116 dragonath

Hey, it’s an Arcology from Sim City!

arcosanti.org
Well, shoot, Paolo has died.
But, the dream lives on!

121 klys  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:24:28pm

I keep trying to write thoughtful/useful comments but nothing comes out.

122 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:25:15pm

Roger Ebert liked Heartbreak Ridge

Youtube Video
123 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:25:21pm

re: #118 goddamnedfrank

Heh. I renewed my membership in the Democratic Socialists of America back on May Day. Since then, I’ve paid off my Chinese Type 53 copy of the Mosin Nagant Model 44 carbine and then put on layaway a very nice Norinco SKS (late semi-civilian production of the Type 56 until the Clinton Ban of 1994).

I leave it to my wife to donate to the right wingers ;) in the Democratic Party (Oh, she recently bought a S&W breaktop .32 for herself…)

124 klys  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:25:48pm

re: #116 dragonath

Hey, it’s an Arcology from Sim City!

Massive traffic jams everywhere on the single road leading to a place with jobs? What?

125 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:28:47pm

For the rare pedal steel nuts here… Crazy Arms.

Youtube Video
126 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:33:28pm

My Cat Is A Christian

Youtube Video
127 Amory Blaine  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:36:15pm

Now You Can 3D Print Your Face on Star Trek Figurine

3D Systems has announced the launch of a brand new application that will help users create their very own Star Trek action figure with a person twist: You can put your own face on the doll. Dubbed 3DMe, the application requires just two photographs of your face. You then pick your figurine’s pose, shirt color and rank, and enter your height and weight. 3D Systems then prints your figurine and mails it to you.

128 klys  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:37:07pm

As I watch last night’s Daily Show…

Yeah.

I’m not drunk enough for the NRA stuff to make sense. Not that I’m trying for that. Because I like my liver.

129 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:43:20pm

The usual wingnut outlets are still BENGHAZI!!!-ing all over the place. They are on overdrive this week, as if someone put a little something special in the water.

The Freepers are having a BEN-GASM.

And a couple of hours ago none other than the Snow Princess herself enlightened her millions of followers:

Tomorrow’s hearings on Benghazi will define the Obama presidency if the truth is finally allowed to be told. I encourage everyone to tune in and hear the revelations that are long overdue. We’ll also see whether the president’s reliable lapdog cheerleaders in the media will continue to cover up for him and in so doing disgrace their profession. The following link is to something I posted way back on October 25th of last year asking questions that we should have had answers to long ago.

- Sarah Palin

[…]

Ah yes, the truth, finally being allowed to be told.

Which would be quite foreign to her.

130 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:45:44pm

It’s our wealth as a nation which has allowed Americans to not actually care about so much. We have so much that we can squander our time chasing fantasies and live in a play-world.

That’s my explanation for Sarah Palin.

131 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:50:01pm

The graves of four dead Americans, servants to our nation, are being tread upon for the sake of ginning up some political smear to use against a black guy in the White House.

And these are the same people who label themselves “Patriots”.

132 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:50:53pm

I don’t know. Guess what I can say is that you can’t get all caught up with what right wing people on Twitter have today about Benghazi. You first have to understand that most of them have mental problems and addictions.

133 freetoken  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:52:37pm

re: #132 Gus

Twitter/Facebook are what they are.

Darrel Issa though chairs a House committee, which gives him an outsized influence in our society.

134 William Barnett-Lewis  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:53:26pm

Good night all.

135 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 10:56:56pm

re: #133 freetoken

Twitter/Facebook are what they are.

Darrel Issa though chairs a House committee, which gives him an outsized influence in our society.

Yeah, I know. So we get to have endless hearings about Benghazi by a congressman from CALIFORNIA while we continue to bomb the “savages” in Pakistan and Afghanistan WHO STILL HATE US while kill more than a dozen children every week. I’m hungry and need a snack. Smoke time!

136 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 11:01:57pm

Americans think they can stick their nose in every other country’s business and then expect to be infallible or beyond the ultimate sacrifice which is death. Not going to happen.

137 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 11:03:50pm

Being a part of the foreign service mean that sometimes… you might die. And die a horrible death. Deal with it.

138 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 11:04:10pm

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Down By The River

Youtube Video
139 Gus  Tue, May 7, 2013 11:14:26pm

Eric Clapton & The Allman Brothers - Key To The Highway

Youtube Video
140 freetoken  Wed, May 8, 2013 1:07:03am
MP3 Audio
141 freetoken  Wed, May 8, 2013 1:57:53am
MP3 Audio
142 stabby  Wed, May 8, 2013 1:58:01am

re: #132 Gus

I don’t know. Guess what I can say is that you can’t get all caught up with what right wing people on Twitter have today about Benghazi. You first have to understand that most of them have mental problems and addictions.

If the Republicans have figured out how to capture the vote of most of the people who have mental problems, then we’re in trouble.

143 freetoken  Wed, May 8, 2013 2:34:47am

Alexander Vertinskiy’s ” Crystal Requiem “, sung by Oleg Pogudin:

MP3 Audio
144 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 3:35:41am

re: #69 jaunte

The south professes to be the moral center of the country ie the Bible Belt but it’s just another place where people cheat.

I have learned a lot about stereotypes.

Like for example about German people being so organized and efficient.

Actually, they are quite the opposite, totally disorganized and inefficient by nature, which is why their society places such a great empashis on efficiency and orderliness - because they need it if they expect to get anything done.

Ditto for the Bible Belt: they are by nature some of the fightinest, drinkinest, gamlinest whorinest people you’ll ever meet, which is why they make such a big deal about morality and godliness: without it they would fall into dissipation in a lick.

145 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 3:37:48am

re: #127 Amory Blaine

Now You Can 3D Print Your Face on Star Trek Figurine

That was a Big Bang Theory episode a while back…

146 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 3:38:41am

re: #144 Sol Berdinowitz

There’s no ‘nature’ to German people that’s different from, say, French, Belgian, Polish, or Danish people. They’re basically the same genetic stock.

147 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 3:47:10am

re: #146 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

There’s no ‘nature’ to German people that’s different from, say, French, Belgian, Polish, or Danish people. They’re basically the same genetic stock.

Then call it their cultural heritage, which is what untimately makes them different from other Europeans who share their same genetic background.

Germany spent a lot of time physically cut off from the rest of Europe, and did not come in contact with the Roman Empire to any great extent until about the 1st century BC.

In that time, they developed a language and culture that was distinct from most of the other civilations that had been in contact and engaged in trade with each other for centures.

148 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:06:59am

re: #147 Sol Berdinowitz

Then call it their cultural heritage, which is what untimately makes them different from other Europeans who share their same genetic background.

Germany spent a lot of time physically cut off from the rest of Europe, and did not come in contact with the Roman Empire to any great extent until about the 1st century BC.

In that time, they developed a language and culture that was distinct from most of the other civilations that had been in contact and engaged in trade with each other for centures.

“Germany” wasn’t anything like a coherent area at that time, and a lot of the people that went on to become Germans migrated there from Scandinavia, starting in about 700 BC. They displaced and absorbed a largely Celtic people, so the culture during the ‘cut off’ time period was a constantly changing one.

After that, there is a complex interaction with the Romans as the Romans, in the Empire, foolishly don’t extend citizenship to them and so they go ahead and take it by main force, which is what gives us the Holy Roman Empire, eventually. Those Germanic tribes thought Rome was hot shit and so adapted customs and Romanized in a lot of other ways.

I am really at a loss as to how them having been ‘cut off’ in the period before that is supposed to leave some cultural legacy now. The overwhelming majority of important Germanic cultural stuff comes from the HRE period and later, and the sintering together of Germany by Bismark and the rest didn’t, in any way that I’m aware of, depend on anything cultural dating from the time period you’re talking about.

149 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:13:34am

re: #148 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

“Germany” wasn’t anything like a coherent area at that time, and a lot of the people that went on to become Germans migrated there from Scandinavia, starting in about 700 BC. They displaced and absorbed a largely Celtic people, so the culture during the ‘cut off’ time period was a constantly changing one.

After that, there is a complex interaction with the Romans as the Romans, in the Empire, foolishly don’t extend citizenship to them and so they go ahead and take it by main force, which is what gives us the Holy Roman Empire, eventually. Those Germanic tribes thought Rome was hot shit and so adapted customs and Romanized in a lot of other ways.

I am really at a loss as to how them having been ‘cut off’ in the period before that is supposed to leave some cultural legacy now. The overwhelming majority of important Germanic cultural stuff comes from the HRE period and later, and the sintering together of Germany by Bismark and the rest didn’t, in any way that I’m aware of, depend on anything cultural dating from the time period you’re talking about.

The ‘Culture and Personality’ gang of anthropologists propose that it’s not genetics or politics, but home language, that creates the illusion of national characteristics. You think the way you speak. Would be interesting to see a study of differences in the speakers of hochdeutsch and the dialects in the Swiss cantons.

150 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:18:53am

re: #148 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

There was a major climate change around 100 BC that drove a a lot of Germans out of their native homelands on the North Sea and Baltic coast and sent them south, where they bumped into Rome and caused quite a stir.

Until then, the region that is now Germany was not part of any major trade routes, was cut off by dense forests or mountains and generally not traversed by anyone who did not ahave a good reason to go there.

The Roman hitorian Tacitus described the Germans as a strange and exotic people, but one which had maintained a lot of the virtues of honesty, chastity and fealty which he claimed had been lost in Rome.

151 Romantic Heretic  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:22:31am

re: #79 Charles Johnson

Are you sure you weren’t looking in a mirror, Donald?

152 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:24:39am

re: #151 Romantic Heretic

Are you sure you weren’t looking in a mirror, Donald?

Donald just doesn’t understand that you don’t complain about being made fun of by somebody who makes fun of people on TV, for a living.

Jon will have loads of material for years to come.

153 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:33:42am

re: #150 Sol Berdinowitz

There was a major climate change around 100 BC that drove a a lot of Germans out of their native homelands on the North Sea and Baltic coast and sent them south, where they bumped into Rome and caused quite a stir.

Until then, the region that is now Germany was not part of any major trade routes, was cut off by dense forests or mountains and generally not traversed by anyone who did not ahave a good reason to go there.

The Roman hitorian Tacitus described the Germans as a strange and exotic people, but one which had maintained a lot of the virtues of honesty, chastity and fealty which he claimed had been lost in Rome.

I agree with that, somewhat, but again, whatever existed of that culture then underwent massive changes as they Romanized, Christianized, and later Germanized. The only major difference between them and France in that regard is that the Germanic tribes weren’t granted the citizenship they wanted, so they overtook Rome and granted it to themselves, as it were.

What I’m saying is that modern German culture is separated from those ‘cut-off’ people by a lot, and Germanic culture was formed almost entirely after the time period you’re talking about.

154 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:35:12am

re: #149 Decatur Deb

The ‘Culture and Personality’ gang of anthropologists propose that it’s not genetics or politics, but home language, that creates the illusion of national characteristics. You think the way you speak. Would be interesting to see a study of differences in the speakers of hochdeutsch and the dialects in the Swiss cantons.

Language and its effect on people has always been really interesting to me, but the actual study of linguistics bores me to tears. It’s kind of like chemistry in that way, really cool stuff but the mechanics of it to me are mind-numbing.

155 Romantic Heretic  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:39:04am

re: #148 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

My favorite author believes that the driving force behind that thing known as Western Civilization is an inferiority complex.

For the most part we Westerners are descended from the ‘barbarians’ who destroyed Rome. Our ancestors thought Rome was indeed ‘hot shit’ but they couldn’t understand it. It made them feel inferior, which is one of the reasons they destroyed it.

They and we have been trying to recreate it ever since, and the farther removed from the source the worse the complex has become. It’s why so much of our architecture is Roman in nature. It’s why the idea of Caesar has such a hold on our imagination, why the Russian and German empires named their leaders ‘Czar’ and ‘Kaiser’ respectively.

Not sure I agree entirely with this hypothesis, but I can see what he means.

156 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:45:11am

re: #153 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I was trying to agree with you that Germans came from the same genetic stock as the rest of central Europe, it was their period of isolation from Rome that led to the development of their language and the roots of their culture, which, although greatly changed since their contact with Rome and Christianity, still have some characteristics that make them unique.

Like their ability to go from being hard-nosed, meticulously practical and brutally efficient to swarmingly emotional, romantic and other-worldly at the sound of a few strains of a Wagner opera…

157 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:46:16am

re: #155 Romantic Heretic

I disagree, Rome fell apart under its own weight, the barbarians just came in and occupied the ruins.

158 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:49:46am

Good morning!

Lots of Derp out there, but Sol is here, so I’ll leave it out there.

159 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:50:20am

re: #155 Romantic Heretic

My favorite author believes that the driving force behind that thing known as Western Civilization is an inferiority complex.

For the most part we Westerners are descended from the ‘barbarians’ who destroyed Rome. Our ancestors thought Rome was indeed ‘hot shit’ but they couldn’t understand it. It made them feel inferior, which is one of the reasons they destroyed it.

They didn’t destroy it, though. They took over. I don’t know why there’s this belief that the Germanic tribes destroyed Rome. Even Alaric’s sack of Rome was incredibly restrained, with very few people killed and buildings destroyed. By the time the Germanic tribes were actually invading, Rome had pretty much self-destroyed, and the Germanic tribes had been so Romanized it was more like civil war.

160 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:52:24am

re: #156 Sol Berdinowitz

I was trying to agree with you that Germans came from the same genetic stock as the rest of central Europe, it was their period of isolation from Rome that led to the development of their language and the roots of their culture, which, although greatly changed since their contact with Rome and Christianity, still have some characteristics that make them unique.

Yeah, and I disagree with that, since i don’t see any of that pre-Roman culture as having any more than a trivial effect on either modern Germany or even Medieval Germany.

Like their ability to go from being hard-nosed, meticulously practical and brutally efficient to swarmingly emotional, romantic and other-worldly at the sound of a few strains of a Wagner opera…

Like horoscopes, ‘national characteristics’ often fit whoever they’re being applied to. The above categorization could be said of the French or the English, too.

161 dragonath  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:55:17am

Limburger cheese.

162 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 4:58:38am

re: #161 dragonath

Limburger cheese.

Black forest ham.

163 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:05:01am

re: #160 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Yeah, and I disagree with that, since i don’t see any of that pre-Roman culture as having any more than a trivial effect on either modern Germany or even Medieval Germany.

Having lived with the Germans, I find that they do tick a bit differently. Some of it is a matter of language. And some of it is a remnant of their Germanic ideals of honesty, loyalty and honor that linger to this day. Not in any absolute sense.

But I want to return to my point that the reason they are so big on efficiency and organization seems to be that they are so individualistic and bloody-minded while being simultaneously so abstract and other-worldly that there is no other way that their society would function.

164 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:22:07am

BRING IT ON

165 ReamWorks SKG  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:22:59am

This news story made me angry

usatoday.com

The 911 operator sounded fine to me. She was trying to be calm and gather facts. They have very specific training. What did they want her to do? Say “OMG! You’re that Missing Girl!?!”

166 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:28:54am

re: #165 ReamWorks SKG

Are you in Israel now?

167 A Mom Anon  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:31:05am

re: #164 Vicious Babushka

Oh please. I have houseplants that could argue better than Trump. I watched The Daily Show last night, what in the hell is he talking about Jon jumping up and down and screaming? I must have missed that part.

168 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:32:44am

re: #163 Sol Berdinowitz

Having lived with the Germans, I find that they do tick a bit differently. Some of it is a matter of language. And some of it is a remnant of their Germanic ideals of honesty, loyalty and honor that linger to this day. Not in any absolute sense.

I’ve been in Germany a lot too. And those ideals of honestly, loyalty, and honor are Roman ideals, and I don’t see why you attribute that to the pre-Roman contact German culture and not, well, Roman culture.

But I want to return to my point that the reason they are so big on efficiency and organization seems to be that they are so individualistic and bloody-minded while being simultaneously so abstract and other-worldly that there is no other way that their society would function.

And again, to me, that seems like a horoscope, which I could equally apply to Brazilians and Australians.

169 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:32:52am

re: #164 Vicious Babushka

BRING IT ON

Donald, are you guys running for public office?

You are influential enough, start your own comedy show and use it as a platform to make fun of John Stewart, call him “Smartypants von Eliteheimer” if you want.

Although I think he would trash you in the ratings…

170 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:36:05am

re: #169 Sol Berdinowitz

Donald, are you guys running for public office?

You are influential enough, start your own comedy show and use it as a platform to make fun of John Stewart, call him “Smartypants von Eliteheimer” if you want.

Although I think he would trash you in the ratings…

Donald claims that his reality show is better than The Daily Show. To prove this, he retweets breathless fantweets sent by his army of 2 million sockpuppets.

171 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:36:09am

re: #168 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I’ve been in Germany a lot too. And those ideals of honestly, loyalty, and honor are Roman ideals, and I don’t see why you attribute that to the pre-Roman contact German culture and not, well, Roman culture.

Tacitus, in his famous work describing the Germans to his fellow Romans, tried to state that the so-called Germanic “barbarians” had managed to maintain those very virtues that he bemoaned had disappeared in his contemporary Rome, and whose disappearance ultimately led to its downfall.

I am trying to agree with you here.

my point is that one of the things that makes Germas so German was that period of isolation from the currents of society, mostly dominated and dictated by Rome, in the last centuries BC.

172 A Mom Anon  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:37:24am

re: #165 ReamWorks SKG

I think the thing people are latching onto here is that the operator didn’t keep her on the phone til the cops got there, that she tried to get her off the phone. People also watch too much TV and take their cues from crime dramas. I’m sure a lot of people in Cleveland wrote off Amanda Berry and the other missing girls and the operator may have thought the woman on the phone wasn’t who she said she was (or the operator may not have even known about the case, maybe she didn’t live in the area 10 yrs ago). But yeah, piling on the 911 operator is kind of stupid, she still dispatched the cops to the scene.

173 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:45:00am

re: #171 Sol Berdinowitz

Tacitus, in his famous work describing the Germans to his fellow Romans, tried to state that the so-called Germanic “barbarians” had managed to maintain those very virtues that he bemoaned had disappeared in his contemporary Rome, and whose disappearance ultimately led to its downfall.

I am trying to agree with you here.

my point is that one of the things that makes Germas so German was that period of isolation from the currents of society, mostly dominated and dictated by Rome, in the last centuries BC.

I think we honestly disagree: You seem to think that there’s some remnant of German culture from pre-Roman times that is significant in some way in modern German culture. I am saying it is not, and, moreover, I generally disagree with the entire idea of a national characteristic that is in any way separable from their ‘society’; your claim that they have a certain society because it restrains their culture is, to me, just creating an arbitrary taxonomy whereby one thing is society and the other culture.

I don’t disagree totally with the idea of national characteristics, but I think that they are non-monolith, transferable, and selective. I also think that a lot of the folk wisdom, like Germans being efficient, is demonstrably untrue; German workers have a middling value-added per worker hour, beaten out by the US. A lot of German rules, like those governing building, are very conservative and inefficient. That’s why I keep comparing these things to horoscopes, they tend to fall apart if you pick at them and you can generally apply them to a totally different country with ease.

174 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:48:27am

re: #173 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I think we honestly disagree: You seem to think that there’s some remnant of German culture from pre-Roman times that is significant in some way in modern German culture.

That is the point we disagree on, then. I see a lot of deep-seated Germanicism expressed not only in Germany but in Anglo-Saxon British (and ultimately American) culture.

National characteristics are not monolithic, unchangeable to determinative, they are just trends that seem to express themselves in different degrees in different societes.

175 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:50:18am

re: #174 Sol Berdinowitz

That is the point we disagree on, then. I see a lot of deep-seated Germanicism expressed not only in Germany but in Anglo-Saxon British (and ultimately American) culture.

National characteristics are not monolithic, unchangeable to determinative, they are just trends that seem to express themselves in different degrees in different societes.

When negatives characteristics are observed and focused on, they are called “stereotypes.”

176 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:53:58am

re: #175 Vicious Babushka

When negatives characteristics are observed and focused on, they are called “stereotypes.”

and that is what my original comment was about: how the stereotypes of the overly efficient German or the highly moral Bible Belter arise from a completely false image of them.

177 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:54:56am

Retweet if you want to impeach POTUS
Clap if you believe in fairies!

178 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 5:56:15am

re: #174 Sol Berdinowitz

That is the point we disagree on, then. I see a lot of deep-seated Germanicism expressed not only in Germany but in Anglo-Saxon British (and ultimately American) culture.

And how do you characterize this as originating in pre-Roman Germany, when the virtues of pre-Roman Germany and the virtues of Rome, and then Roman Germany, that you’ve cited are all identical?

179 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:06:41am

Some distinctions: the Germans as individualistic, decentralized, rural and agrarian, close to nature and their surroundings and not prone to wander too far unless extreme circumstances drove them to it.

I do not deny an intermingling and overlapping in their culture, just as it can bee seen in how Latin superimposed itself onto German.

180 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:08:56am

re: #179 Sol Berdinowitz

Some distinctions: the Germans as individualistic, decentralized, rural and agrarian, close to nature and their surroundings and not prone to wander too far unless extreme circumstances drove them to it.

And why don’t those attributes just come from the HRE period, since they describe life during that time pretty well?

“individualistic” is a weird word, and I’m not at all sure what you mean by it, especially when we’re talking about a group attribute.

181 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:11:43am

A recent spate of interviews has kicked another abortion story into prominence in Ireland.

‘Forced’ abortion case in Ireland actually a pro-choice story

Basically, a woman who was raped at 13 and had an abortion while under state care is now claiming it was forced. She is a Traveller, which complicates the issue, and the history of the case is somewhat murky. Nevertheless, even though it is a story about a woman’s choice possibly being taken away from her, it is being touted by the anti-choice movement as a bugbear; to me, a rather cynical attempt to take away from the story of the Indian woman who died for lack of an abortion in Ireland.

182 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:11:56am

re: #177 Vicious Babushka

Sorry Prudence but “POTUS While Black” is not in the Constitution as an impeachable offense.

93 characters. Pity I don’t do twitter.

183 lawhawk  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:14:07am

Greets and saluts from the soggy NYC metro area. After not getting any real significant rain for nearly a month, we’ve gotten it all in one shot. More than an inch fell in Central Park - most of it in a 20 minute span.

But nothing will dampen the fact that I got to watch a bit of history last night. Was at the Mets game (free tix!) and nearly watched Matt Harvey throw a perfect game. The perfect-o was broken up by an infield single that looked real close to being an out. Ended up with the second 1-hitter in Mets history and was absolutely dominating. Mets won in extra innings. This kid is the real deal and the Mets have to do everything possible to give this kid support (as in hitting).

I’d say he’s probably the best pitcher to come through the Mets organization since Gooden and is just as dominating. Since he came up, I’ve been saying that this guy can throw a no-no every time he goes out there. He’s that good.

And I say all this as a Yankee fan.

184 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:16:18am

re: #180 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

“individualistic” is a weird word, and I’m not at all sure what you mean by it, especially when we’re talking about a group attribute.

I am talking about pre-Roman Germanic culture with no large cities or central authority at all, just small, generally autonomous settlements.

Look at the entirely decentral nature of the HRE, hundreds of semi-autonomous states and city-states.

And remember, it took Germany until 1871 to finally unite as a nation, and then only after they were more or less conquered and forcibly united under Prussian hegemony.

185 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:20:09am

today.com

I think the “christian” moniker is more of a marketing device than anything else. But presumably it spurs sales in at least part of the demographic.

186 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:24:41am

Air Force Stripped 17 Officers Of Ability To Launch Nuclear Missiles Due To Internal ‘Rot’

The Air Force stripped an unprecedented 17 officers of their authority to control — and, if necessary, launch — nuclear missiles after a string of unpublicized failings, including a remarkably dim review of their unit’s launch skills. The group’s deputy commander said it is suffering “rot” within its ranks.

“We are, in fact, in a crisis right now,” the commander, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, wrote in an internal email obtained by The Associated Press and confirmed by the Air Force.

The tip-off to trouble was a March inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., which earned the equivalent of a “D” grade when tested on its mastery of Minuteman III missile launch operations. In other areas, the officers tested much better, but the group’s overall fitness was deemed so tenuous that senior officers at Minot decided, after probing further, that an immediate crackdown was called for.

The Air Force publicly called the inspection a “success.”

187 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:25:12am

re: #184 Sol Berdinowitz

I am talking about pre-Roman Germanic culture with no large cities or central authority at all, just small, generally autonomous settlements.

Look at the entirely decentral nature of the HRE, hundreds of semi-autonomous states and city-states.

I am looking at it. And I’m saying that any modern German culture that has attributes of decentralization and agrarianism come from the Holy Roman Empire, not from the pre-Roman Germanic culture.

And remember, it took Germany until 1871 to finally unite as a nation, and then only after they were more or less conquered and forcibly united under prussia.

Why are you telling me to remember this?

188 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:26:21am

Heh.

189 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:27:26am

re: #185 Feline Fearless Leader

today.com

I think the “christian” moniker is more of a marketing device than anything else. But presumably it spurs sales in at least part of the demographic.

Not really regarding that story, but the marketing aspect, as someone who tries to be a christian, I do find that the places that market themselves as such is quite helpful - for example, any website that displays the “ICTHUS” Jesus fish is a place to avoid. If they want to brag about their “christianity” that’s great as it makes it easier to give my custom to someone else.

190 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:28:39am

re: #186 Kragar

Well, the inspection was a success in that they uncovered fuckups. Parsing it fine.

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to keep up morale on this teams. With the USSR gone, there’s no real point to them anymore, and they know it, and their careers know it.

191 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:29:20am

Now Charles Ramsey’s 911 call has been released

192 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:29:47am

re: #187 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I am looking at it. And I’m saying that any modern German culture that has attributes of decentralization and agrarianism come from the Holy Roman Empire, not from the pre-Roman Germanic culture.

Why are you telling me to remember this?

Just stressing the point that Germanic culture was very decentralized, one thing that set it apart from Rome and all it stood for: cities, acqueducts, roads, central authority, a standing army, etc…

(And what else have the Romans done for us anyways?)

And I was just stressing the point that the Germans could not get their act together to form a unified nation-state until they had one imposed on them by a higher authority.

193 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:30:25am

re: #189 William Barnett-Lewis

Not really regarding that story, but the marketing aspect, as someone who tries to be a christian, I do find that the places that market themselves as such is quite helpful - for example, any website that displays the “ICTHUS” Jesus fish is a place to avoid. If they want to brag about their “christianity” that’s great as it makes it easier to give my custom to someone else.

Heh. I also “try to be a christian” and have pretty much the same attitude towards “Christian websites”.

194 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:30:40am

re: #190 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Well, the inspection was a success in that they uncovered fuckups. Parsing it fine.

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to keep up morale on this teams. With the USSR gone, there’s no real point to them anymore, and they know it, and their careers know it.

That’s a training and education issue. Though if it is truly viewed as a dead-end position in the USAF it will make one wonder if they have started using it as a dumping ground for malcontents and officers they want to sideline.

195 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:32:35am

re: #190 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

From the article:

Bruce Blair, who served as an Air Force ICBM launch control officer in the 1970s and is now a research scholar at Princeton University, said the Folds email points to a broader problem within the nuclear weapons force.

“The nuclear air force is suffering from a deep malaise caused by the declining relevance of their mission since the Cold War’s end over 20 years ago,” Blair said in an interview. “Minuteman launch crews have long been marginalized and demoralized by the fact that the Air Force’s culture and fast-track careers revolve around flying planes, not sitting in underground bunkers baby-sitting nuclear-armed missiles.”

196 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:35:41am

re: #190 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Well, the inspection was a success in that they uncovered fuckups. Parsing it fine.

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to keep up morale on this teams. With the USSR gone, there’s no real point to them anymore, and they know it, and their careers know it.

I agree, I don’t know why we even have land based ICBMs any more. Just one Ohio class ballisitic missile submarine has enough warheads to reduce Russia to a dystopian wasteland, and we have 14 of them each capable of carrying about 100 warheads.

197 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:38:38am

Christian metal singer arrested in murder-for-hire plot against wife

The frontman for the Christian heavy metal band As I Lay Dying was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly trying to hire a detective posing as a hitman to kill his estranged wife.

According to the Los Angeles Times, 32-year-old Tim Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California and charged with one count of of solicitation to commit murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

198 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:40:48am

re: #182 William Barnett-Lewis

Out of curiosity, Obdicut, what did you find wrong with my comment on Prudence’s tweet?

199 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:42:02am

re: #197 Kragar

ninja-ed! :p

200 lawhawk  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:42:07am

re: #196 aagcobb

New START treaty is supposed to further reduce nuclear warheads in inventory and on warheads beyond those in the original START treaty:

Summary of New START Limits
Type Limit
Deployed missiles and bombers 700
Deployed warheads (RVs and bombers) 1550
Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers (missile tubes and bombers) 800

For submarines, there’s no expectation that the subs will be retired - instead, a number of launch tubes will be inactivated/decommissioned on each.

It’s still more than enough to render most of the world uninhabitable, but expect that in coming years another treaty to further reduce the numbers.

201 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:44:11am

re: #196 aagcobb

I agree, I don’t know why we even have land based ICBMs any more. Just one Ohio class ballisitic missile submarine has enough warheads to reduce Russia to a dystopian wasteland, and we have 14 of them each capable of carrying about 100 warheads.

The ICBM’s should be simply stood down. Probably a pretty healthy cost savings doing that & same for getting rid of half the Boomers. I can see keeping some “tactical” sized weapons for air delivery, but the days of the 20 mt. missile warhead have long since passed.

Heck, far as I’m concerned, put the money into figuring out how to do “steel rain” from orbit and we won’t need any nukes.

202 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:44:35am

re: #197 Kragar

Christian metal singer arrested in murder-for-hire plot against wife

NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN METAL SINGER!!!

/

203 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:45:46am

re: #200 lawhawk

New START treaty is supposed to further reduce nuclear warheads in inventory and on warheads beyond those in the original START treaty:

For submarines, there’s no expectation that the subs will be retired - instead, a number of launch tubes will be inactivated/decommissioned on each.

It’s still more than enough to render most of the world uninhabitable, but expect that in coming years another treaty to further reduce the numbers.

In the long run we really do need to get rid of them entirely. While the risk of all-out nuclear war is minimal since the Cold War ended, the only defense against a madman using them is if there aren’t any available to use. Maybe keep just a handful to deter rogue nations like Iran or North Korea.

204 Political Atheist  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:47:09am

re: #196 aagcobb

Even in the dark days on the cold war there were issues. The possibility of launching a series of nuclear weapons onto cities weighs heavy on the soul of anyone. If not you are the last person for that job. Plus it was considered a suicide post, being first on the Soviet priority list to hit.

205 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:48:11am

re: #202 Sol Berdinowitz

NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN METAL SINGER!!!

/

Christian Metal…

Youtube Video
206 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:49:17am

re: #203 aagcobb

In the long run we really do need to get rid of them entirely. While the risk of all-out nuclear war is minimal since the Cold War ended, the only defense against a madman using them is if there aren’t any available to use. Maybe keep just a handful to deter rogue nations like Iran or North Korea.

The only way to stop a bad guy with nukes is to have a good guy with nukes…
/

207 Backwoods_Sleuth  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:49:19am

re: #190 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Well, the inspection was a success in that they uncovered fuckups. Parsing it fine.

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to keep up morale on this teams. With the USSR gone, there’s no real point to them anymore, and they know it, and their careers know it.

North Korea! Iran!

there will always be another “Other” for them…

208 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:52:54am

re: #177 Vicious Babushka

Retweet if you want to impeach POTUS
Clap if you believe in fairies!

It’s gonna be a rough life airing grievances about PBO until January 20, 2017. I couldn’t imagine being that worked up, every day, about one single political leader. Must be damaging on not only a psychological level but a social level.

209 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:53:06am

re: #190 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Well, the inspection was a success in that they uncovered fuckups. Parsing it fine.

I’m not sure how we’re supposed to keep up morale on this teams. With the USSR gone, there’s no real point to them anymore, and they know it, and their careers know it.

Half joking, but tie it into training for a manned Mars mission. Trudging across the barren North Dakota badlands and then spending an extended period of time isolated in a bunker doing equipment maintenance and receiving radio messages about progress.

210 Political Atheist  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:55:03am

re: #201 William Barnett-Lewis

The ICBM’s should be simply stood down. Probably a pretty healthy cost savings doing that & same for getting rid of half the Boomers. I can see keeping some “tactical” sized weapons for air delivery, but the days of the 20 mt. missile warhead have long since passed.

Heck, far as I’m concerned, put the money into figuring out how to do “steel rain” from orbit and we won’t need any nukes.

We can’t develop those steel rain or weapons. Space based weaponry is illegal to even develop let alone test. We already abrogated the missile defense treaty. I don’t think our ICBM’s are irrelevant though.

211 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:58:17am

Christian metal is about as retarded as soft porn.

212 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:06:56am

re: #211 Dr. Matt

Christian metal is about as retarded as soft porn.

Bikini clad thigh thumping for Jesus?

213 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:08:34am

re: #198 William Barnett-Lewis

Out of curiosity, Obdicut, what did you find wrong with my comment on Prudence’s tweet?

Must have been a misclick.

214 DisturbedEma  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:08:49am

re: #211 Dr. Matt

I’ve only hear do one such band Stryper…from the 80s, they apparently threw New Testaments into the crowd at their concerts

215 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:09:19am

re: #211 Dr. Matt

Christian metal is about as retarded as soft porn.

I don’t know though. With soft porn there’s often an “attractiveness of the actress/level of explicit detail” tradeoff*.

With Christian metal it’s usually the reverse. The more Christian the metalhead, the less of a shredder they tend to be (not that I’m a big metal expert).

* Or so I am told, amirite?

216 lawhawk  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:09:21am

Map of Metal. Any metalheads will find this a fascinating site, tracing the development of the many branches of heavy metal…

217 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:12:44am

Bassist Unaware Rock Band Christian

Brad Rolen, the new bassist for Pillar Of Salt, remains oblivious to the fact that he is in a Christian rock band, sources reported Tuesday.

218 DisturbedEma  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:13:28am

re: #215 iossarian

I’ve heard that too…:)

219 DisturbedEma  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:14:13am

re: #217 Kragar

Ha! Loves me some Onion:)

220 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:21:18am

re: #213 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Must have been a misclick.

That’s cool, I just couldn’t see how that would have offended :)

221 A Mom Anon  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:21:44am

re: #216 lawhawk

My kid is now entranced with that site, which means I probably won’t see him for a few hours,lol.

222 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:23:47am

Speaking of metal.

“Its really not fair comparing God and Ronnie James Dio. Sure, he’s cool and all, but he’s no Ronnie James Dio.”

223 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:30:24am

Busted flat in Baton Rouge.

224 DisturbedEma  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:33:53am

re: #222 Kragar

Amen :)

225 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:36:06am

re: #217 Kragar

Bassist Unaware Rock Band Christian

“A lot of hot chicks are really into Pillar Of Salt,” Rolen said. “After our first few shows, I thought I’d be getting more trim than a barbershop floor, but it hasn’t worked out that way. Whenever I ask them to come back to the bus with me, they say, ‘I can’t do that—that’s not right.’ I’m like, ‘Come on, this is rock ‘n’ roll.’”

That whole article is so full of win.

226 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:37:24am

re: #225 Eclectic Cyborg

Except I bet that, judging by teen pregnancy statistics in the Bible belt, Christian rock groupies are, well, normal young women.

227 lawhawk  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:38:20am

Expect to pay more for beef and chicken (and most other produce for that matter) this summer. Why? The drought continues to hit cattle country hard, and hay and corn are hard to come by too.

228 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:40:28am

re: #225 Eclectic Cyborg

That whole article is so full of win.

“Actually, Jack writes a lot of songs about chicks,” Rolen continued. “‘Your Love,’ ‘When You Return,’ ‘I Confess’… I don’t know if they’re all about the same girl or lots of different ones, but one thing’s for sure: Jack loves the pussy.”

229 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:41:29am

re: #226 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Except I bet that, judging by teen pregnancy statistics in the Bible belt, Christian rock groupies are, well, normal young women.

Here’s where I drop my “pastor’s daughter single mom at 19” anecdote. And no, in the words of Shaggy, “It Wasn’t Me”.

230 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:46:57am

re: #229 iossarian

Here’s where I drop my “pastor’s daughter single mom at 19” anecdote. And no, in the words of Shaggy, “It Wasn’t Me”.

By the logic of that song, however, it was you.

232 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:49:55am

re: #231 Kragar

alleged that a school in New York is forcing girls to kiss one another.

Sorry, can’t see the Persecution there.

233 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:50:55am

re: #230 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

By the logic of that song, however, it was you.

Curses.

234 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:50:56am
The student was actually disqualified for inappropriate behavior towards the referee, and he and his dad now admit that the incident had nothing to do with religious expression.

My surprise. Let me show it to you.

235 lawhawk  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:52:54am

Holy frak.

Yet another hiker fell to their death at Yosemite near Vernal Falls.

Kenneth Stensby, 73, of Edina, Minnesota, left a note with the concierge of his hotel on Sunday saying he was going to the top of Vernal Fall and planned to return around noon, officials said. The hotel staff contacted rangers around 5 p.m. when Stensby had not yet returned.

Park officials conducted a search on foot with a dog team and a California Highway Patrol helicopter, and Stensby’s body was found at the base of the 317-foot waterfall around 6 p.m. Monday, the release said. It was recovered Tuesday afternoon.

Three California hikers died in 2011 when they were swept over Vernal Fall after climbing over a guardrail into the Merced River about 25 feet away from the waterfall.

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. The Mist Trail was closed when we were there because of ice and potential landslides/rockfall, so we didn’t get all the way to the top of the falls though a few people thought they knew better than the NPS and decided to try for the falls anyways.

236 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:53:25am
Todd Starnes of Fox News has dedicated himself to finding cases of Christians facing persecution. Starnes recently reported that the military is deliberately blocking access to a Baptist website and may court-martial Christian soldiers, and alleged that a school in New York is forcing girls to kiss one another. However, these three incidents were all completely false.

On Sunday, Starnes filed another report on how a high school track team in Texas “was disqualified from competing in the state championships because one of the runners made a gesture thanking God after he crossed the finish line.”

Damn. 0-4. FAIL. Ah, well, keep trying. Gotta be some persecution there somewhere.

237 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:53:57am

Charles Ramsey: ‘Take that reward and give it to’ the kidnap victims

The man who is being hailed as a hero for rescuing the lives of three women kidnapped for a decade says that he would like any reward money to be turned over to the victims.

238 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:57:35am

re: #237 Kragar

Charles Ramsey: ‘Take that reward and give it to’ the kidnap victims

Someone needs to hook up this man with a nice, well-paying, comfortable job. Impressive gentleman.

239 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:58:18am

re: #237 Kragar

Charles Ramsey: ‘Take that reward and give it to’ the kidnap victims

Clinton/Ramsay 2016, just to see wingnut heads asplode.

240 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:58:40am

re: #238 Dr. Matt

Someone needs to hook up this man with a nice, well-paying, comfortable job. Impressive gentleman.

And a good dentist.

241 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 7:59:56am

DEAD GIVEAWAY - Hero Charles Ramsey Remix:

Youtube Video

Now that didn’t take long…..

242 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:02:10am

re: #239 Vicious Babushka

Clinton/Ramsay 2016, just to see wingnut heads asplode.

I would live for the day VP Ramsey called Vladimir Putin “Bro” or President Clinton, “honey,” like he called those news anchors in Cleveland.

243 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:05:03am

Today in Benghazi—Special “Even The Liberal Washington Post Edition”.

From the start, the Obama administration’s account of what happened in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 last year didn’t quite square for Sharyl Attkisson. So the veteran CBS News reporter dug in, and kept digging.

(snip)

It’s still not clear what happened at the U.S. compound, but some answers might come Wednesday in a hearing called by the Republican-chaired House Oversight Committee.

(snip)

She also drew attention last year when a conservative group, Accuracy in Media, sought to give her a reporting award at the annual convention of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Despite criticism that the award made her work appear partisan, Attkisson said CBS News decided to accept it on her behalf; it sent its top Washington manager, Christopher Isham, to the presentation when she was called away on assignment. Attkisson said she donated the prize money to a fund created in memory of a slain Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry.

(snip)

Some of Attkisson’s most controversial reporting hasn’t been about politics at all. She has been widely criticized within medical-research circles for a series starting in 2002 about research linking childhood vaccinations to the rise in autism. The stories have been denounced in some circles as “fear-mongering.” Attkisson is, typically, unbowed: “I stand behind it,” she says. “It’s some of the best work I’ve ever done. My only regret is that we haven’t done more.”

Sigh. Another media person who apparently can’t read State Department reports. Guess Faux News will be offering a contract very soon.

Bonus quote about Faux News from article:

While other media, particularly Fox News, have been similarly skeptical about the official narrative about Benghazi..

Faux News…”similarly skeptical”. Oh, so that’s what they call 24/7 making shit up.

244 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:14:21am

re: #243 Bulworth

It seems Attkisson has given up journalistic neutrality in an attempt to make an even bigger name for herself, at least among the RW noise machine.

245 leftynyc  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:19:08am

re: #164 Vicious Babushka

BRING IT ON

Donnie sure spends an awful lot of time tweeting about someone who he considers highly overrated. He’s just giving more and more ammunition to Jon - I’m disgusted by Donnie but I had no idea he was this incredibly stupid.

246 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:19:11am

I’m always finding interesting stuff on Slate that make me think. This article discusses how rich western college students may not be highly representative of humanity in general when considering how universally applicable psychology studies using them as subjects are. What we think of as “normal” is far outside the range of how most people in the world live their lives. Case in point, this map shows that most people live in East Asia. What seems strange or exotic to us is in fact the normal human condition.

247 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:19:33am

re: #244 wheat-dogghazi

It seems Attkisson has given up journalistic neutrality in an attempt to make an even bigger name for herself, at least among the RW noise machine.

That is where the money is.

248 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:19:39am

re: #244 wheat-dogghazi

I realize the Post article is in the paper’s Style section, but it never mentions what exactly Attkisson or anyone else thinks “didn’t quite square” about the Administration’s account of the events in Benghazi. This has unfortunately remained a hallmark of the whole fake scandal outrage.

250 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:21:30am

re: #245 leftynyc

Donnie sure spends an awful lot of time tweeting about someone who he considers highly overrated. He’s just giving more and more ammunition to Jon - I’m disgusted by Donnie but I had no idea he was this incredibly stupid.

He is just an attention whore.

251 Political Atheist  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:22:01am

re: #235 lawhawk

Holy frak.

Yet another hiker fell to their death at Yosemite near Vernal Falls.

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. The Mist Trail was closed when we were there because of ice and potential landslides/rockfall, so we didn’t get all the way to the top of the falls though a few people thought they knew better than the NPS and decided to try for the falls anyways.

Yikes. My eldest cat is one I took from a wonderful neighbor Kathy who died in a Yosemite fall two years ago. She had 3 cats, we took the oldest and another neighbor actually moved into Kathy’s suddenly vacant apartment and kept the other two cats. Anyway when we go hike or climb for those thrilling views, we have to take care. They are thrilling for a reason.

Here in SoCal we have a couple that got off trail and lost. The state may bill them the rescue costs. Big bucks.

252 Bubblehead II  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:22:57am

re: #249 Charles Johnson

…

I feel a disturbance in the force.

253 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:24:04am

re: #251 Political Atheist

World’s most dangerous infinity pool.

254 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:24:57am

re: #249 Charles Johnson

I updinged this in support of your drive to 300,000.

255 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:26:31am

re: #251 Political Atheist

Wow, what a sad story. Sorry to hear someone you knew died so tragically.

256 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:29:47am

We haz Trial by Twitterz now?

257 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:31:29am

re: #256 Vicious Babushka

What need have we of any evidence? IMPEACH!!

/

258 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:31:33am

Good morning lizards!

259 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:32:30am

re: #257 Bulworth

What need have we of any evidence? IMPEACH!!

/

RETWEET TO EXECUTE!!11!!

260 efuseakay  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:33:09am

I’m still at a loss for words about all this outrage. Where was it when we were lied into a war with thousands of soldiers lost needlessly?

And now Chebey has come out saying Obama could have prevented this? It’s as if 2001-2008 never even happened.

261 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:33:41am

re: #256 Vicious Babushka

We haz Trial by Twitterz now?

In an actual trial, the prosecution would probably have to address the question of motive. No such constraint on Twitter.

262 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:33:54am

re: #238 Dr. Matt

Someone needs to hook up this man with a nice, well-paying, comfortable job. Impressive gentleman.

He might have one soon.

263 bratwurst  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:38:11am
264 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:39:03am

re: #259 Vicious Babushka

If you retweet to IMPEACH and CONVICT and also, too, pls can send me $1000 cash I guarantee Victory. I can’t do all this on my own dime, people. /

265 aagcobb  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:39:45am

re: #237 Kragar

Charles Ramsey: ‘Take that reward and give it to’ the kidnap victims

This is a real maker. The takers are the parisitic class of Romney/Kochs who are like fat, blood-swollen ticks on the body politic. Ramsey is worth more as a human being than all of them put together.

266 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:40:13am

Note to Yosemite visitors. Stay on the fucking trail.

267 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:42:10am
268 ReamWorks SKG  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:42:26am

re: #166 Vicious Babushka

I got back Sunday, then I slept for 18 hours.

269 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:44:20am
270 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:45:08am

WATCH LIVE: Cleveland Kidnapping Victim Amanda Berry Speaks

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

She is expected to arrive home soon and give some remarks.

271 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:45:12am

re: #266 Gus

Note to Yosemite visitors. Stay on the fucking trail.

We have a place around here where the same thing happens every year.

Crabtree Falls’ beauty has a dark side

Rangers call it “the siren of Crabtree Falls.”

Hikers venture off the trail in the George Washington National Forest for a view of the valley, a closer glimpse of the cascades, or a dip in the brisk Crabtree Creek, sometimes with disastrous results.

On Monday, the 28th person died near the Crabtree Falls Trail since the U.S. Forest Service began keeping records in 1982.

Liberty University student Faith Helbig, 18, died after she crossed a barrier to go off the trail, lost her footing and fell, authorities said.

Her death is the most recent reminder that while the area is replete with natural beauty, the falls can be deadly for those who wander off the beaten path.

Signs at the trailhead parking lot warn visitors to be cautious even before they step foot on the trail.

“Danger! … Multiple fatalities have occurred here because people got off this trail and climbed onto the rocks. The rocks are extremely slippery due to a clear algae,” one sign reads.

“Danger! Young men and women between 18 and 25 years of age who are bright, intelligent and educated fit the profile of the victims of the siren of Crabtree Falls,” another says.

272 engineer cat  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:45:49am

n then summa them days the bear et you

273 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:46:09am

re: #262 NJDhockeyfan

He might have one soon.

Someone from MSNBC tweeted a pic of him at the airport. He’s heading out somewhere……

274 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:46:54am
275 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:49:26am

I am astounded at the number of wingnuts who think they can achieve an impeachment by retweeting.

276 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:49:56am

re: #275 Vicious Babushka

I am astounded at the number of wingnuts who think they can achieve an impeachment by retweeting.

So please don’t retweet their idiocy here…

277 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:50:08am

How many people in this country die every day from potentially treatable conditions, because they lack access to adequate health care?

How many people in this country die every day because they struggle for food?

How many people die in this country every day because of our love affair with guns?

Hundreds, possibly thousands.

And yet, so many so-called “loving” Christians on the right are completely and utterly obsessed with the deaths of only 4 individuals nine months ago. Of course those losses were tragic and unfortunate, but for all the energy and money being used to beat this issue to death, we could surely save FAR more than 4 lives couldn’t we?

278 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:51:57am

Here come the splodey heads:

New Jersey store owner charged after allowing electronics purchases with
Food Stamps

And as a bonus, the owner’s name just happens to be Muhammad.

I can hear the derp now:

Obama told him to do it!!

279 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:53:06am

re: #275 Vicious Babushka

I am astounded at the number of wingnuts who think they can achieve an impeachment by retweeting.

They probably think that a impeachment cobbled together is some sort of dessert item.

280 wrenchwench  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:53:06am
281 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:54:46am
282 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:56:17am

re: #274 Dr. Matt

Uh, oh. RINO watch in effect:

A muted response from Senate Republicans continued Wednesday when Sen. Bob Corker, one of the three senators who attended Jones confirmation hearing, told NBC News that he was “satisfied” with what he knows about Benghazi.

“I’ve been able to read all the cables. I’ve seen the films,” he said. “I feel like I know what happened in Benghazi. I’m fairly satisfied.”

283 Political Atheist  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:57:08am

Tipping point. ‘Oughta be a movie.

Nearly 1/3 of our bee colonies are dead.

284 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:57:40am

re: #256 Vicious Babushka

We haz Trial by Twitterz now?

What about Petraeus, Clapper, Mullen, Pickering…?

285 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:57:57am

re: #282 Bulworth

I wonder why Corker is “satisfied” and why CBS and Faux still have “concerns”?

286 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:59:08am

re: #285 Bulworth

I wonder why Corker is “satisfied” and why CBS and Faux still have “concerns”?

Obama mind control obviously.

287 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 8:59:40am

DERP

288 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:00:39am
“(Corker) I’ve been able to read all the cables. I’ve seen the films,” he said. “I feel like I know what happened in Benghazi. I’m fairly satisfied.”

Cover-up!! Obummer hiding evidence!! Misleading!! Confirmed. FACT.

289 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:01:28am

re: #288 Bulworth

THEY GOT TO CORKER!
///

290 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:01:41am

Wingnuts are not happy with how the BENGHAZI!!!1!! hearing is going.

291 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:01:46am

Did we ever have hearings about all those private contractors that were getting killed in Iraq? Or hearings about all those Iraqi interpreters that we left behind or on their own after we left Iraq who now face potential reprisals including death? Have we ever had hearings about the alleged WMDs in Iraq?

292 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:02:28am

re: #290 Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are not happy with how the BENGHAZI!!!1!! hearing is going.

RETWEET!!11ty

293 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:02:45am

re: #291 Gus

That would be politicizing national security and ‘looking backward not forward’ and shut up that’s why.

//

294 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:03:03am

re: #291 Gus

Did we ever have hearings about all those private contractors that were getting killed in Iraq? Or hearings about all those Iraqi interpreters that we left behind or on their own after we left Iraq who now face potential reprisals including death? Have we ever had hearings about the alleged WMDs in Iraq?

What, and waste taxpayer dollars chasing frivolous claims simply to make a few political points?
//

295 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:03:18am

re: #281 NJDhockeyfan

I am super-anal about people misquoting songs. “Hello Jude”? That would put a strain on any relationship.

296 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:03:20am

re: #291 Gus

Did we ever have hearings about all those private contractors that were getting killed in Iraq? Or hearings about all those Iraqi interpreters that we left behind or on their own after we left Iraq who now face potential reprisals including death? Have we ever had hearings about the alleged WMDs in Iraq?

That is because Bush was not a secret Muslim Kenyan Manchurian Candidate Socialist Fascist Terorist sympathizer.

/

297 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:03:33am

re: #290 Vicious Babushka

Dem Congressman asking questions?

298 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:04:10am

re: #294 Feline Fearless Leader

What, and waste taxpayer dollars chasing frivolous claims simply to make a few political points?
//

RETWEET!!11ty

299 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:04:19am

re: #297 Bulworth

Dem Congressman asking questions?

Of course, they’re trying to tear down America!!11!!
// :p

300 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:04:49am

Nordstrom’s start tracking customers using their cell phones

According to CBS 11 in Dallas, Nordstrom is now using a system in 17 of its stores around the country that uses a smartphone’s Media Access Control address (which is broadcast whenever your phone attempts to connect to a wifi network) to isolate a shopper as he or she moves about the store.

The system monitors where shoppers go in the store and how long they stay in each area. The intention, says Nordstrom, isn’t simply to track a single customer’s behavior, but to aggregate all that data to improve foot traffic and optimize staffing decisions.

“For example, if many customers are entering and leaving a store within 5 minutes, that might indicate that there is not enough staff on the floor or that lines at the register are too long,” explains a rep for Euclid, the company that operates the system for Nordstrom. “A retailer can use this insight to adjust staffing levels or keep more registers open.”

Uh huh, sure…that’s all this could ever be used for. Ever. Yep.

Don’t want to be tracked? Turn wi-fi off or turn your phone off as per the in-store signage.

Me, I will stop shopping in any store who does this.

301 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:05:42am

re: #290 Vicious Babushka

They haven’t voted to Impeach yet? Then what the hell good did all our ReTweets do? /

302 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:06:49am

re: #301 Bulworth

They haven’t voted to Impeach yet? Then what the hell good did all our ReTweets do? /

That’s because LIBRUL owned Twitter is censoring are Tweets and sending them into Twitter Gulag!!11ty RETWEET THIS!!

303 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:08:09am

I’m surprised some RWNJ’s somewhere haven’t staged an Obama impeachment trial using actors and an Obama stand-in.

304 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:08:15am

Oh, brother…

Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel

Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

305 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:08:54am

re: #304 NJDhockeyfan

Oh, brother…

Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel

I saw that earlier. Hawking may have a high IQ, but he’s pretty dumb in certain areas.

306 Stanghazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:09:01am

re: #291 Gus

Did we ever have hearings about all those private contractors that were getting killed in Iraq? Or hearings about all those Iraqi interpreters that we left behind or on their own after we left Iraq who now face potential reprisals including death? Have we ever had hearings about the alleged WMDs in Iraq?

Did we ever have hearings about the missing pallets of money??

307 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:10:29am

re: #305 Eclectic Cyborg

I saw that earlier. Hawking may have a high IQ, but he’s pretty dumb in certain areas.

Mozart was a musical genius, but a total retard in money management.

Einstein was brilliant physicist, but a total loser when it came to relationships.

308 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:11:25am

re: #295 iossarian

I am super-anal about people misquoting songs. “Hello Jude”? That would put a strain on any relationship.

Excuse me while I kiss this guy.

Don’t come around to night, or I’m bound to date your wife. Yeah, the bathroom ‘s on the right.

309 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:11:31am

Teabag logic: Four operators in Tripoli armed with pistols could have saved the day

310 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:12:28am

re: #303 Eclectic Cyborg

That’s the next History Channel special documentary. /

311 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:12:53am

re: #307 Vicious Babushka

Mozart was a musical genius, but a total retard in money management.

Einstein was brilliant physicist, but a total loser when it came to relationships.

Was supposedly also a good basketball player until he had a serious knee injury.
;)

312 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:13:29am

re: #305 Eclectic Cyborg

I saw that earlier. Hawking may have a high IQ, but he’s pretty dumb in certain areas.

That reminds me of this.

Image: far-side-school-for-gifted.jpg

313 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:16:03am
314 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:18:18am

re: #309 Dr. Matt

Teabag logic: Four operators in Tripoli armed with pistols could have saved the day

Works in a Chuck Norris or Stephen Segal film.
///

315 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:18:32am

Nothing like inspiring your grandchildren to murder Israelis just like you taught your kids to do.

316 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:19:49am

re: #313 Vicious Babushka

“We cut the funds, and its the President’s fault he didn’t make do.”

317 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:19:54am

Another point I haven’t heard anyone mention is the role of the host government in ensuring some measure of security around an embassy. Embassies aren’t fortresses built to withstand any kind of attack. They depend to an extent on the good will of the host country, and obviously if the U.S. is at odds with a particular country that’s why, or at least one reason why, they would withdraw their embassy personnel or not have an embassy in a particular country.

318 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:21:03am

DELETED

319 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:21:23am

re: #317 Bulworth

Another point I haven’t heard anyone mention is the role of the host government in ensuring some measure of security around an embassy. Embassies aren’t fortresses built to withstand any kind of attack. They depend to an extent on the good will of the host country, and obviously if the U.S. is at odds with a particular country that’s why, or at least one reason why, they would withdraw their embassy personnel or not have an embassy in a particular country.

Benghazi wasn’t the embassy though. Just making note of that.

320 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:21:48am

re: #319 Kragar

What was it?

321 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:24:18am

re: #320 Bulworth

What was it?

A consulate office, basically a local branch for services, but not the actual embassy.

322 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:24:53am

re: #321 Kragar

OK, thanks

323 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:25:51am

House cats (indoor or outdoor) think their owners make the weather.

324 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:26:13am

re: #321 Kragar

A consulate office, basically a local branch for services, but not the actual embassy.

There’s consulates all over the place. The Israeli one here in Philadelphia is the location of a weekly demonstration on Fridays. And I walked by a sign identifying a Romanian consultate in an alley the other day. (Should have taken a picture of that sign.)

325 Gus  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:28:55am

Why are you making water fall from the sky today? Damn you.
— Cat

326 Kragar  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:30:02am

Also note that Marine Security Forces on duty at the Embassy are there to provide security for the Embassy and the property there, not to provide a security detail to escort the ambassador. They would not have assets to deploy themselves on a rescue mission, nor would their duties allow them to do so.

327 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:30:20am

re: #309 Dr. Matt

Teabag logic: Four operators in Tripoli armed with pistols could have saved the day

They were Good Guys With Guns, and that is all that is needed to protect us from Evil

/

328 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:31:33am

re: #325 Gus

Why are you making water fall from the sky today? Damn you.
— Cat

One of my Feline Overlords likes watching the drops run down the window while lying on a towel resting on the sill. Probably second best activity to chasing the gnats around.

329 Political Atheist  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:32:00am

re: #325 Gus

Why are you making water fall from the sky today? Damn you.
— Cat

—Stop that wind, it ruffles my fur—

330 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:32:06am

I’m not a Yankees fan but this is a cool picture.

331 SteveMcGazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:33:41am

re: 324 Feline Fearless Leader

There’s actually a Polish Consulate on Allegheny Avenue.

332 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:34:44am

Wingnuts think that because Nordstrom and Hick got all emotional and even shed a tear

THEY MUST BE TELLING TEH TROOF!!11!!

333 kirkspencer  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:35:48am

re: #321 Kragar

A consulate office, basically a local branch for services, but not the actual embassy.

More significantly it was a temporary consulate office. A special mission put in place to provide consulate services in a region with much turmoil, which was supposed to be disbanded a few months prior but kept getting 2-3 month extensions.

334 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:36:35am

re: #332 Vicious Babushka

Obama using gun victims as Props! Reason not Emotion!

335 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:37:50am

re: #333 kirkspencer

Sounds like a perfect place for a large rescue team to land down in, plenty of room to maneuver, etc. //

336 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:37:57am
337 wrenchwench  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:38:34am

re: #336 Vicious Babushka

Emotional blackmail!!

338 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:38:35am

re: #336 Vicious Babushka

Retweet to Impeach!!

/

339 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:39:43am

re: #336 Vicious Babushka

They are also speaking to the confusion “fog of war” aspect of the night.

340 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:40:13am

re: #336 Vicious Babushka

A real president, like Ronnie R, would have sent in some jets to fly over head and scare the bad guys. //

341 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:40:57am

re: #340 Bulworth

A real president, like Ronnie R, would have sent in some jets to fly over head and scare bomb the bad guys. //

Fixed

342 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:40:58am

DERP

343 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:41:54am

re: #342 Vicious Babushka

The troof as in yes the consulate was attacked?

344 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:42:46am

re: #342 Vicious Babushka

DERP

I dont doubt that he is telling the truth, but that doesn’t change the basic facts that we already know.

345 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:43:07am

re: #343 Bulworth

The troof as in yes the consulate was attacked?

Teh Troof as in

TOTALLY OBAMUZ FAULT HE MIHOP!!11!!

346 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:43:20am

re: #344 blueraven

What exactly is he telling the “truth” about?

347 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:46:19am

It’s obvious that they only see Benghazi as a means to attack the president. No real sorrow and sadness for Ambassador Stevens and the other three killed but just a joy “Hey we can make Obama look bad over this.” It’s sick.

348 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:46:20am

When is the film version of “Obama and the Giant Impeachment” coming out?
;P

349 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:46:50am

re: #348 Feline Fearless Leader

When is the film version of “Obama and the Giant Impeachment” coming out?
;P

I am sure Dinesh D’Sousa isn’t doing anything right now.

350 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:47:54am

re: #347 HappyWarrior

Also, too, Hillary, but their “investigation” is totally not political. //

351 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:50:41am

re: #350 Bulworth

Also, too, Hillary, but their “investigation” is totally not political. //

Right, I should have said Obama and any high ranking members of the administration. It’s like the right wing idiots n twitter think that this is the first time an embassy or in this case a consulate has been attacked and people have died. It’s tragic and very sad but where was their outrage when this happened in the Bush years at a higher rate than it did in the Obama presidency. It’s also funny to hear Republicans who constantly act like Nixon got a raw deal in Watergate calling this Obama’s Watergate.

352 Dr. Matt  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:51:02am

If a President Obama is driving the teabaggers insane, a President Biden could result in mass teabagger suicides. IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH!

353 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:53:36am

re: #352 Dr. Matt

If a President Obama is driving the teabaggers insane, a President Biden could result in mass teabagger suicides. IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH!

Not to mention that the GOP was hurt big time the last time they impeached a president. I welcome their foolish attempt to try to make this into Watergate 2.0 because it’s just not and the American people know that.

354 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:54:11am

re: #308 Kragar

Excuse me while I kiss this guy.

Don’t come around to night, or I’m bound to date your wife. Yeah, the bathroom ‘s on the right.

I actually find mis-hearings quite funny - I don’t mind those.

It’s people singing blatantly wrong words that really pisses me off.

355 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:54:31am

DERP

356 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:54:47am

re: #346 Bulworth

What exactly is he telling the “truth” about?

His truth about the accounts of the night. One point is that he said that a military attache told him he believed an f-16 could be over Benghazi in 2-3 hours. This is opposed to what the joint chiefs of staff and Leon Panetta said. 12 hours was their low estimate.

357 Vicious Babushka  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:56:46am

Wingnuts are all pissed at Cummings now. But he’s just asking questions! (The kind of questions they don’t like)

358 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 9:59:58am

Stupid Gowdy is going off on Susan Rice Talking Points again, which has already been asked and answered. They came from the CIA.

359 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:00:14am

re: #355 Vicious Babushka

Heh, it’s also beyond Hicks’ scope of knowledge about the readiness and availability of U.S. troops in the area to actually intervene

360 Romantic Heretic  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:01:29am

re: #305 Eclectic Cyborg

I saw that earlier. Hawking may have a high IQ, but he’s pretty dumb in certain areas.

Stupid and disagreeing with your opinion are not the same thing.

361 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:05:46am

re: #360 Romantic Heretic

Stupid and disagreeing with your opinion are not the same thing.

We have an odd notion that there is such a thing as 100% perfect intelligence, and if a guy has a Nobel Prize, he must rate 99% or better.

We all know there are all sorts of intelligence, mathematical, social, musical, linguistic, etc.,and they often tend to exclude each other rather than complement each other.

362 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:05:48am

Carolyn Maloney is tearing Issa a new one.

363 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:06:21am

re: #362 blueraven

Carolyn Maloney is tearing Issa a new one.

There will be calls for her to apologize…

364 kirkspencer  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:06:58am

re: #356 blueraven

His truth about the accounts of the night. One point is that he said that a military attache told him he believed an f-16 could be over Benghazi in 2-3 hours. This is opposed to what the joint chiefs of staff and Leon Panetta said. 12 hours was their low estimate.

In that he’s echoing Admiral Lyons who insisted the airbase in Italy had fighters on ready alert - alert-5, as I recall.

My thoughts about that were two-fold. First, IIRC they don’t keep tankers on alert-5, so the F-16s at higher than cruise speed might be a bit of a problem if they expected to be able to return to base after their sprint. (The official combat radius - go, fight, return - is about 860 km. Realistically it approaches 1200 km with a light ground-strike package. It’s approximately 1860 km from Aviano to Benghazi.)

[edited to add] Second, Admiral Lyons retired in 1987. I find his assurances of what the present-day USAF airbase status somewhat suspect given different service and over 20 years of separation.

365 GeneJockey  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:09:23am

re: #307 Vicious Babushka

Mozart was a musical genius, but a total retard in money management.

Einstein was brilliant physicist, but a total loser when it came to relationships.

Working in Science, you meet a fair number of brilliant people who can barely be trusted not to walk into traffic, let alone balance a checkbook. Instead of ‘but’, ‘and’ seems more appropriate.

//

366 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:17:15am

re: #364 kirkspencer

Smoking gun!! Cover-up!111

367 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:20:12am

So these guys who are testifying, how did they escape the attacks?

368 leftynyc  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:20:37am

Sigh

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

According to KTRK, the two boys were in a bathtub when the 5-year-old got out, found the rifle, and then shot his brother. The 7-year-old boy was wounded and is recovering at an area hospital. Police said that at least one adult, the mother, was inside the residence at the time.

Is this happening more or just being reported more?

369 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:21:46am

re: #368 leftynyc

Sigh

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

Is this happening more or just being reported more?

No time to check the stats, but from AFAIK, a good share of US gun deaths are accidental and/or self-inflicted.

370 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:21:59am

re: #368 leftynyc

Sigh

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

Is this happening more or just being reported more?

I don’t know. You hate reading about stuff like this though.

371 leftynyc  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:23:37am

And another from last night:

A 3-year-old boy in Tampa, Florida fatally shot himself with his uncle’s gun on Tuesday evening, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The boy found the 9mm gun in a backpack in the bedroom he shared with his 29-year-old uncle, Jeffrey D. Walker, and accidentally discharged it.

Walker was arrested Tuesday and charged with culpable negligence. He held a concealed weapons permit, authorities told the Tampa Bay Times.

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

372 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:25:31am

re: #367 Bulworth

So these guys who are testifying, how did they escape the attacks?

They were in Tripoli.

373 efuseakay  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:27:07am

re: #371 leftynyc

And another from last night:

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

re: #280 wrenchwench

Oh… poor kid. :-(

Eh. Too bad I was banned from the illinoiscarry site. They would have just loved to read about this. /

374 efuseakay  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:27:23am

re: #372 blueraven

They were in Tripoli.

I believe that was his point… ;)

375 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:29:31am

re: #374 efuseakay

I believe that was his point… ;)

Perhaps…but the narrative has been a bit misleading, that they were “on the ground in Libya”. True, but not in Benghazi.

376 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:30:27am

re: #371 leftynyc

And another from last night:

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

Really having your gun in a backpack when you share your bedroom with a 3 year old? I am sure he feels terrible for what happened but it’s a good thing that he was arrested. There’s way way too much irresponsibility by gunowners and the gun lobby doesn’t help at all when any sensible attempt to reduce firearm violence is met with “You’re like Hitler for doing this.”

377 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:31:32am

Are you fucking kidding me?

Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention Chief Arrested and Charged with Sexual Battery

378 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:32:23am

re: #377 iossarian

Nope, not kidding you

379 HappyWarrior  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:33:00am

re: #377 iossarian

Are you fucking kidding me?

Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention Chief Arrested and Charged with Sexual Battery

Clearly this is because of allowing gays in the military and telling Evangelical Christians that they can’t proselytize.//

380 iossarian  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:34:17am

re: #378 Bulworth

Nope, not kidding you

But where is the punchline?

“Yeah, we used to focus on preventing rapes in the army, but we stopped because the people doing that all turned out to be rapists.”

381 efuseakay  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:34:29am

re: #375 blueraven

Perhaps…but the narrative has been a bit misleading, that they were “on the ground in Libya”. True, but not in Benghazi.

Exactly… so how would they know what went down in Benghazi?

382 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:36:02am

re: #381 efuseakay

Exactly… so how would they know what went down in Benghazi?

Every True Patriot sitting in his trailer park in Tennesee knows what REALLY went down in Benghazi…

/

383 Bulworth  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:38:34am

For posters who mentioned this the other day

Psychic Who Said Amanda Berry Was Dead Silent After Berry Is Found Alive

gma.yahoo.com

384 klys  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:40:03am

Morning, Lizards. Today I am the Lizard that the cat dragged in. My basin and I will stay in the corner.

For anyone interested in people dying in Yosemite, I highly recommend this book. Well written and a fascinating read. There’s a similar one of the Grand Canyon as well; I have them both.

385 blueraven  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:42:18am

re: #381 efuseakay

Exactly… so how would they know what went down in Benghazi?

They dont. They are just stating what they know, which is their account. They dont have the big picture view of things.

386 A Mom Anon  Wed, May 8, 2013 10:48:43am

If the truth can be determined by the amount of tears shed, I guess that means that Glenn Beck has never ever lied ever.

Jesus these people are stupid.

387 stabby  Wed, May 8, 2013 11:24:21am

re: #144 Sol Berdinowitz

I have learned a lot about stereotypes.

Like for example about German people being so organized and efficient.

Actually, they are quite the opposite, totally disorganized and inefficient by nature, which is why their society places such a great empashis on efficiency and orderliness - because they need it if they expect to get anything done.

Ditto for the Bible Belt: they are by nature some of the fightinest, drinkinest, gamlinest whorinest people you’ll ever meet, which is why they make such a big deal about morality and godliness: without it they would fall into dissipation in a lick.

I think you have cause and effect confused. I don’t know about the Germans, but the REASON that the south has least sexual morals in practice is that they have the most unrealistic sexual morals by belief.

The human organism won’t put up with the conscious mind limiting sexuality, if it did humans would have died out. Besides, like many mammals we have to deal with alphas trying to prevent everyone else from breeding, we have instincts to oppose sexual authority.

388 Eventual Carrion  Wed, May 8, 2013 11:32:57am

re: #290 Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are not happy with how the BENGHAZI!!!1!! hearing is going.

Facts have a way of really fucking up their “reality”.

389 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, May 8, 2013 6:01:55pm

re: #383 Bulworth

For posters who mentioned this the other day

gma.yahoo.com

No big surprise. Sylvia Browne would never admit to being wrong … hurts the brand. Why anyone would still believe this loon’s predictions stupefies me.


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