That moment when you are addressing an e-mail to someone who shares your name and you are unsure what salutation to use.

Yeah, that one.

Sorry to lead off on this note, but I found something truly scary on YouTube. That lunatic Pennsylvania police chief who got himself suspended, Mark Kessler, has posted a video where he openly threatens to shoot a city councilman who opposes him. Please go to the video, watch a bit of it, then report it to YouTube. Sick stuff like this needs to be taken down, and Mr. Kessler needs to be disarmed and sent for psychiatric evaluation.

Note: I originally found out about this matter here.

re: #1 klys

That moment when you are addressing an e-mail to someone who shares your name and you are unsure what salutation to use.

Yeah, that one.

Cease and desist letter?
;)

re: #3 Feline Fearless Leader

Cease and desist letter?
;)

Haha, it’s actually a fellow Lizard I quite like. :) Just one of those situations some of us find ourselves in less often than others, and this is one of those few places I do.

Image: Ghost_Kitty.JPG

Send them one of these! :)

re: #5 Feline Fearless Leader

Image: Ghost_Kitty.JPG

Send them one of these! :)

GAH, KITTEH ENGINEERS!

re: #1 klys

That moment when you are addressing an e-mail to someone who shares your name and you are unsure what salutation to use.

Yeah, that one.

“Hey you!” works.

re: #2 Dark_Falcon

Sorry to lead off on this note, but I found something truly scary on YouTube. That lunatic Pennsylvania police chief who got himself suspended, Mark Kessler, has posted a video where he openly threatens to shoot a city councilman who opposes him. Please go to the video, watch a bit of it, then report it to YouTube. Sick stuff like this needs to be taken down, and Mr. Kessler needs to be disarmed and sent for psychiatric evaluation.

Note: I originally found out about this matter here.

I paged it last night

Gun-Loving, Libtard-Hating Police Chief Accused of Threatening City Official

I do believe it’s time to put down the laptop and pick up a book.

Good night, all.

re: #8 Kragar

I paged it last night

Gun-Loving, Libtard-Hating Police Chief Accused of Threatening City Official

Sorry. Thank you for doing so.

re: #2 Dark_Falcon

Try the lunatic official in Maine who called on people to “Shoot the N****r” in a facebook post about Obama.

His explanation/excuse would be funny if it weren’t so sick:

“I think it’s a lot of hogwash,” he said. “I did not threaten the president. … I might have used the wrong words. … I didn’t say I was going to do it.”

“What I really meant to say is, ‘When are we going to get rid of this (expletive),’” Marsters added. “I should have said, ‘I hope the bastard dies.’”

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

I see Donald “We Know Where the WMDs Are” Rumsfeld has weighed in on Syria, and surprise surprise, he feels that the White House has not done enough to justify the war. Hey Donald, if I were you, I’d shut my yap and thank my lucky stars that I’m not occupying a cell in Leavenworth because the guy you’re shitting on felt it best to move past the crimes of you and your buddy Dubya.

re: #11 elizajane

Try the lunatic official in Maine who called on people to “Shoot the N****r” in a facebook post about Obama.

His explanation/excuse would be funny if it weren’t so sick:

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

I think he’s upset that the cleaners overstarched his Klan robes.

re: #11 elizajane

Try the lunatic official in Maine who called on people to “Shoot the N****r” in a facebook post about Obama.

His explanation/excuse would be funny if it weren’t so sick:

livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

It should be noted that the Town of Sabattus has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow night; getting rid of this lunatic is the *only* item on the agenda.

Good on ya, Sabattus.

Florida police searching for three men who raped a woman for being a lesbian

Three men allegedly raped a 25-year-old woman in Florida while she was walking home from a LGBT nightclub. Orlando police are investigating the attack on early morning Sunday as a hate crime.

Shortly after leaving the Revolution nightclub, three white males in a silver car pulled up next to the woman and began taunting her. The victim told police the men called her a “lesbian” and “dyke” before they pushed her to the ground, took off her underwear and raped her.

She suffered scratches on her arms and a cut on her chin, according to police.

“They made statements indicating their desire to kind of punish her for her sexual orientation,” Sgt. Jim Young told WKMG 6.

One of the men allegedly told the victim, “I’ll show you how a real man feels.”

Real men don’t rape people. Rapists deserve castration.

re: #14 BongCrodny

It should be noted that the Town of Sabattus has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow night; getting rid of this lunatic is the *only* item on the agenda.

Good on ya, Sabattus.

And then he’ll be a declared a “martyr to anti-white racism” by the Stormfront crowd. Which will give the asshole the set of friends he deserves.

Corsi: ‘Well, they want to call me a racist? Go ahead’

At a conservative event in Oregon earlier this month, Corsi claimed leftist atheists like the American Civil Liberties Union were trying to use same-sex marriage to “take God out of Church.” He alleged leftists wanted to make same-sex marriage a constitutional right so that the government could crack down on Christians.

“Our founding fathers knew that if we went this direction, there was no more moral compass and you won’t be able to explain to your children — you’ll have to face the fact that we lost holding the line on one of the most principle issues in the Bible, and that is sex is not about fun,” he remarked. “If you want to have fun, read a book, go to a movie. Sex is about the procreation of children. It’s a sacred responsibility that is meant by God to have men and women commit their lifetime to children.”

Corsi said the answer was to “shut the government down” and “fire on the spot” pastors who were afraid standing up for Biblical principles.

“Well, they want to call me a racist? Go ahead,” he added. “Want to call me a bigot? Go ahead. But I’m not going to be judged on what somebody called me, I’m going to be judged on the adherence to God’s law.”

Corsi, you’re a dumbass racist bigot.

Good Night, All.

There is one more cookie upgrade and it eludes me.

Curses on youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Syrian father reunites with son thought dead from chemical attack

MP3 Audio

Mental health challenges in the family. Exhausssting. I hope lizards sleep well. I will probably have my recurring dream of kick starting a flying a bicycle to make my way through buried land mines.

This is why we keep ‘em barefoot and pregnant:

Men feel worse about themselves when female partners succeed, says new research

Deep down, men may not bask in the glory of their successful wives or girlfriends. While this is not true of women, men’s subconscious self-esteem may be bruised when their spouse or girlfriend excels, says a study published by the American Psychological Association.

It didn’t matter if their significant other was an excellent hostess or intelligent, men were more likely to feel subconsciously worse about themselves when their female partner succeeded than when she failed, according to the study published online in the APA Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. However, women’s self-esteem was not affected by their male partners’ successes or failures, according to the research, which looked at heterosexual Americans and Dutch.

“It makes sense that a man might feel threatened if his girlfriend outperforms him in something they’re doing together, such as trying to lose weight,” said the study’s lead author, Kate Ratliff, PhD, of the University of Florida. “But this research found evidence that men automatically interpret a partner’s success as their own failure, even when they’re not in direct competition”

[…]

The paper in question:
Gender Differences in Implicit Self-Esteem Following a
Romantic Partner’s Success or Failure

Probably too worn to make it into the local second-hand shop:

Ancient artefacts found in melting snow

An Iron Age tunic is amongst the discoveries found under melting snow on Norwegian mountains.

Other findings include Neolithic arrows and bone fragments, thought to be about 6000 years old.

Snow on the Norwegian mountains, and elsewhere, is rapidly melting due to climate change, which is now unveiling a world of well preserved new discoveries.

The findings are published in two papers in the journal Antiquity.

“The new find is of great significance for dress and textile production and how these reflect the interplay between northern Europe and the Roman world,” said Marianne Vedeler from the University of Oslo, Norway, who analysed the garment.

The tunic, found on the Norwegian Lendbreen glacier, was partly bleached from sun and wind exposure. It showed hard wear and tear and had been repaired with two patches.

It was made between 230 and 390 AD and is one of only a handful of tunics that exists from this period. Two different fabrics were present and the fibre tips revealed that both were made of lamb’s wool or wool from adult sheep.

[…]

And finally, because this is America 2013:

Letter: Evolution requires more faith than creation

[…]

Like practically all of us who had a public education and college, I had swallowed the evolution theory (it is only a theory and in no way can be construed as fact).

The basic premise upon which Darwin based his theory was that the cell was simple. It is not simple. There are 60,000 proteins in 100 specific configurations in a single cell. If you change or manipulate just one of those configurations, the cell dies. There are over 100 trillion cells in a human body. The odds of a single cell just simply coming together to form a living cell are 1 times 10 to the 4 millionth 478 thousandth power.

According to probability law, there is no possibility for something to occur if the odds are 1 times 10 to the 50th power. Time is not on the side of the evolutionist, either. Every living cell must have some kind of support system or it will die. So you see, evolution remains a theory only.

Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose provides much more scientific evidence for creation. […]

It takes more faith to believe in evolution than creation.

Dexter L. Wilson

Amarillo

So there.

re: #25 freetoken

we are seeing the damage done when we neglect to teach the basic principles of science. We were taught how science works: a hypothesis is presented, it is tested, if the observed facts confirm the hypothesis, it becomes a theory.

Yes, evolution is a theory, one supported by facts and observations from nearly every branch of science.

there is no arguing with these people, we can only hope to limit the amount of damage they can do.

Words can’t convey how much I need one of these costumes.

Youtube Video

re: #27 goddamnedfrank

Words can’t convey how much I need one of these costumes.

[Embedded content]

It would be the best Christmas present ever for my kids…

re: #26 Sol Berdinowitz

Speaking of “limiting damage”, I see The Redemption of Paula Deen is underway. She shows up in the latest episode of Masterchef US. Her reinstatement into the American public scene is coming along much more quickly than Mitt Romney’s.

re: #29 freetoken

Speaking of “limiting damage”, I see The Redemption of Paula Deen is underway. She shows up in the latest episode of Masterchef US. Her reinstatement into the American public scene is coming along much more quickly than Mitt Romney’s.

Unless you are caught in a white sheet in a lynch mob, you can expect public redemption in modern America (and if you do get caught in a white sheet in a lynching mob, you can only count on private redemption)

Hello again from the Middle Kingdom, lizard friends!

I’ve just come back from five weeks traveling in China and Thailand. I saw pandas up close (although they were air conditioned and I was not), got to pet real tigers (and not get eaten), ate a lot of great food (and gained 3 kilos) and generally had a great time.

Here’s where I went: Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha, Hengyang (China); Bangkok, Amphawa, Korat (aka Nakhon Ratchasima), Phi Mai, Sawang Daen Din (a small city near), Udon Thani, Chiang Mai (Thailand).

Of those, I have to say Chengdu and Chiang Mai were my favorites. And generally speaking, I like Thailand more than China. It was my first time there.

I’m saving the southern parts of Thailand for a winter excursion.

re: #31 wheat-dogghazi

Neat trip. I had friends stationed at Udon in 1966.

Udon has surely changed a lot since ‘66. Several big shopping malls, WiFi everywhere, and cars, cars, cars. While I was there, they had a car show at the biggest mall that looked like something from SoCal: small cars and pickups with monster audio systems.

re: #33 wheat-dogghazi

Udon has surely changed a lot since ‘66. Several big shopping malls, WiFi everywhere, and cars, cars, cars. While I was there, they had a car show at the biggest mall that looked like something from SoCal: small cars and pickups with monster audio systems.

So we won after all.

Long read from Crooks and Liars, but it offers some explanation of the weird landscape we see around us:

Normalizing The Destruction of America’s Middle Class

crooksandliars.com

re: #35 Decatur Deb

Fascinating read, and believable. The conservatives have set the topics of discussion on everything, not just economic policy. Thus, progressives and moderates can only react (often in disbelief) to the agenda of the conservative wing on economics, civil rights, sex, evolution, global warming, public education, the First Amendment … the list goes on. As long as the Democrat Party continues to react, instead of take the leading role in setting the national agenda, the Right Wing will continue to gradually push the USA toward a conservative “heaven.”

re: #35 Decatur Deb

Long read from Crooks and Liars, but it offers some explanation of the weird landscape we see around us:

Normalizing The Destruction of America’s Middle Class

crooksandliars.com

This doco about the growing inequities here in NZ screened on local TV tonight. Hopefully there’s no geo-block.

tv3.co.nz

re: #35 Decatur Deb

Long read from Crooks and Liars, but it offers some explanation of the weird landscape we see around us:

Normalizing The Destruction of America’s Middle Class

crooksandliars.com

That’s an excellent analysis, and something I’ve been pondering more and more recently, having seen it among family, friends and acquaintances. And even when some industries start to recover, such as construction, the wages tend to be even lower and those skills even less valued, and relative to that, those public jobs which are required to educate the next generation and maintain infrastructure have seen the budget knives.

There is very little “industrialization” left in the US and the vaunted “information age” jobs are actually fewer in number than anticipated, and have become cheapened as technology has evolved. Mfg jobs which lead to the forming of the vast middle class have been exported and what jobs are left have devolved into service jobs. Those types of jobs are much less valued than those that produce something useful for more than a few minutes, such as food service, lower level health and child care jobs, and retail of goods mfg’d outside the US. Exceptions are those jobs that are making money work to make more money, such as in the financial industry and producing nothing but vast wealth for the few. Basing an economy on consumption, rather than production is bad policy and drives down quality of life, and you have a mangerial class that is paid fairly well to herd the masses of workers. But while Pres Obama’s policies would require at least a more equal distribution of jobs between the two, the only way to sustain a middle class culture, Republicans want to continue driving down wages for the average worker with an anything goes, to the victor goes the spoils wafare ideology.

I heard a report this am that Ford is bring back production of the Fusion to the US from Mexico and those jobs will help, but it’s a drop in the bucket when you look at a state like NC, which lost 2 major industries—textiles and furniture—which have been replaced by nothing but those aforementioned service jobs. Thousands of mfg jobs replaced by a few hundred in one state is a recipe for disaster, which is what is happening in NC. And those folks who have been forced into the low-paying service sector will have a really tough time getting the kind of education they need for themselves to make anything close to a living wage, and affecting any children they might have. It’s stressful for families, it’s stressful for society, and it’s causing human misery.

re: #38 Justanotherhuman

I heard a report this am that Ford is bring back production of the Fusion to the US from Mexico and those jobs will help

THE GOOD NEWS: Manufacturing jobs are coming back to the U.S.!

THE BAD NEWS: They’re in Detroit.

Detroit has room to accept a lot of refugees from Syria, as well as an established Syrian community.

The Top 12 Places You Can’t Visit.

Ford Motor Company Introduces New Fiesta With Bacon Strips!

Rand Paul citing Pat Buchanan on Syria:

mediaite.com

Rand Paul: “Pat Buchanan had an article the other day and he asked the Latin phrase, ‘Cui bono?’ To whose benefit is this? To whose benefit is it? All of this redounds back to this is to the benefit of the rebels because now it’s bringing other people in on their side. So there is a great incentive for this to actually have been launched by rebels, not the Syrian army.”

re: #43 simoom

Rand Paul citing Pat Buchanan on Syria:

mediaite.com

Quoting Pat Buchanan, Paul asked, “Cui bono? To whose benefit is this? All of this redounds back to this is to the benefit of the rebels because now it’s bringing other people in on their side. So there is a great incentive for this to actually have been launched by rebels, not the Syrian army.”

Hey, at least he didn’t say “Who benefits? TEH JUICE.”

Is this crime victim a “White Trayvon”? Handy chart for RWNJs.

DERP

Nobel Peace Prize winner decides “too gauche” to bomb country on day honoring man of peace. Tomorrow, cool. #nicespeech

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) August 28, 2013

On Morning Joke, white men describe how they’re “saving” Detroit from the Blahs…

re: #47 Justanotherhuman

On Morning Joke, white men describe how they’re “saving” Detroit from the Blahs…

Entrepreneurial White Guy in Detroit meme.

re: #38 Justanotherhuman

In 2008 my husband had a job as a regional maintenance manager for a fairly large company that owns luxury apartment complexes from NYC to FL. He worked for them for 15 yrs. Started as a single property maintenence guy and worked his way up to middle management. He made (very)low 6 figures. Was promised(though not on paper) a VP of operations slot. Then one Monday morning he called me in shock. He had been let go, 6 months of severance pay, see ya, bye, bye. He was unemployed for 5 months.

Since then, he has had three jobs. No more middle management, nope. He’s been a maintenance supervisor for single properties because it’s all he can find. Each job has paid less than the one before it. He left each job after being laid off. After all is said and done, with taxes and the cost of health insurance, if he clears 35-40K this year we’ll be lucky. I’ve been a full time parent for 20 yrs and I’m 53, I have filled out 45 applications in the last 2 months and have not received one call for an interview. My age and the hole in my employment(and lack of references, do you know where your bosses from over 20 yrs ago are?) are keeping me out of even the service industry, which is what I left to do that Mom job. Retail management and customer service management is where my expertise is, I can’t even get hired as a part time cashier now. Also note, when I was working, I actually was able to be a single mom supporting my daughter as a floor person/cashier at KMart. And I had health insurance, good health insurance. Those days are over. So, we’re surviving on less than half of what we were 5 yrs ago.

The Husband is looking for another job,because this one is godawful and they’re treating him like shit. Working nearly 80 hours a week and getting paid for 40 is bullshit- salaried- which was never discussed during hiring- only an hourly wage was discussed in the interview process. What he does is physically demanding, requires skill and serious problem solving skills. Not to mention a list of contacts a mile long of contractors and other skilled tradespeople to fix what breaks. They treat him like a lot of day laborers get treated, because he gets dirty for a living.

We’re not alone, I know that, but it sucks. We did everything you’re supposed to do. You know, get married, have the kid, buy the house, get a couple of cars, work your way up. We did that, even put money aside for the future(that’s ALL gone now, between losing money invested in Lehman Brothers-shitty 401K investments and having to live off the rest to keep our house and fix things that broke…)and none of it paid off. We never lived beyond our means either. This isn’t a mansion, we don’t have expensive vehicles, the roof need replacing soon, etc, etc. What stuns me is how little my husband’s experience in his field matters- he’s been doing this work for over 25 yrs. We’re as middle class as you can get and we’re losing ground. I’m scared.

re: #48 Vicious Babushka

Entrepreneurial White Guy in Detroit meme.

Yeah, Dan Gilbert was the “star” of the aforementioned infomercial for white entrepreneurs.

re: #50 Justanotherhuman

Yeah, Dan Gilbert was the “star” of the aforementioned infomercial for white entrepreneurs.

Dan Gilbert has been buying up properties all over Detroit, but he’s still behind Matty the Bridge Troll.

re: #49 A Mom Anon

And there’s cold comfort in knowing you’re “not alone”. I wish you the best, but you’re in that aging population they want to cut off at the knees, too, while trying to jeopardize your future vis-à-vis retirement, SS and healthcare.

And here we’re thinking the 50s are the “prime of life”? I have 2 sons who are in their 50s, too, and they’re pretty much considered “washed up” and lucky to get $10, $12/hr with their years of experience which doesn’t seem to count for shit these days.

re: #49 A Mom Anon

I feel you. I dislike unemployment statistics because they are such partial measurement. Merely being employed is not a golden ticket to the land of milk and honey.

I too am now earning less than I was before the recession. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have a relatively secure full time gig with benefits even though I do have to work nights bit at the same time it’s not easy to make ends meet on $9 an hour.

Funniest election ad so far. Australian Sex Party Campaign Ad 2013 - YouTube http://t.co/wMXmWy6gVj RT @AtheistAus

— Dave Murphy (@Davidmurphy25) August 29, 2013

Who is this fucking idiot?

re: #55 Vicious Babushka

Who is this fucking idiot?

Well, he doesn’t know how to write a bio, either, just about his awesome “accomplishments”: faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu

“If I don’t publish, I perish!” — Ian Hurd.

And you know that if we get a conservative GOP President and Congress at the same time that SS will be privatized so that the bankers can loot that as well.

RWNJ Outrage Du Jour
Obama flag is from over a year ago

Illustrations for #Libtards: How the US Flag is supposed to look [PIC] …got it, you soulless degenerates? #tcot pic.twitter.com/OvYMYDOv4R

— atomiktiger (@atomiktiger) August 29, 2013

But if it’s St. Ronald’s face on a flag then it’s a sacred icon! /spit

re: #57 Feline Fearless Leader

Of course they will. It’s been part of their plan for a couple of decades at least. It’s why they’re pushing to up the retirement age too, so there’s more for them to grab. Keeping people working past 65 isn’t helping any new jobs to open up either.

Something has to give here.

Until now, I NEVER didn’t get a job I wanted. It used to be you went to a place, filled out the application, and then revisited the place to talk to someone a few times. Just to bug them and let them know you really wanted to work there. Now, you see no one. Fill out the app online, and when you call the place, they aren’t the ones looking at the application, someone in corporate is. If you’re lucky, your name will filter down to the local manager and then maybe you’ll get a call. I go into the places I apply for, those new faces are young people mostly, or very elderly people. The people they can get away with paying less I guess.

It sucks. We’re doing it wrong, but I don’t see how on earth all the MBAs running things can be convinced of that. At The Husband’s new job, the guy in charge of Maintenance for the entire company has a degree in Construction Management. He has no idea how to build or fix anything. No hands on experience. It’s insane.

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Already thinking about Rosh Hashana meal prep since it’s just a week away, and my usual choices aren’t going to work. The holiday’s coming so early this year that going apple picking so I can make my apple ginger soup isn’t going to happen (and it nixes the mrs. apple crumb cake). Chicken of some form is still a go - I’m thinking of doing a Moroccan spiced chicken with potatoes and carrots, but that could still change). It’s the appetizer that I’m trying to figure out…

re: #58 Vicious Babushka

I did see one of those in a pic from the MoW yesterday. I knew the usual suspects would lose their shit over it. It’s a day ending in Y, what did you expect? Lol.

re: #52 Justanotherhuman

The idea of a “middle class” is probably passe. We are well past the age of industrialization, and it is not clear to me how long this treading of economic-water will last, but I do know that we have built our society on the idea of large per capita resource exploitation, and that is not a good thing.

re: #62 freetoken

What is the answer though? We have to figure out how to either make this a cheaper place to live decently-so that 12 bucks an hour is a living wage or create jobs with companies who actually give a damn about their employees and are willing to invest in them. I get scared for myself, but what really terrifies me is what’s happening to my kids and my grandkids. They aren’t going to do better than me, hell, I’m not doing better than my parents anymore. We’re going backwards.

re: #63 A Mom Anon

I don’t know if there is an “answer.”

However, from what I observed in Japan I think we are going to have to accept that as we age, collectively and as a nation-state, we have to change our way of business. Americans think of me instead of we. That was probably the most striking social difference I observed while in Japan, and how this difference in the idea of the self works its way outward into the big picture of society.

“Rugged Individualism” was a requirement on the frontier.

The frontier is gone now.

re: #60 lawhawk

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Already thinking about Rosh Hashana meal prep since it’s just a week away, and my usual choices aren’t going to work. The holiday’s coming so early this year that going apple picking so I can make my apple ginger soup isn’t going to happen (and it nixes the mrs. apple crumb cake). Chicken of some form is still a go - I’m thinking of doing a Moroccan spiced chicken with potatoes and carrots, but that could still change). It’s the appetizer that I’m trying to figure out…

I’m putting together my holiday menu. It’s a 3-day marathon of eating! (2 holidays + Shabbos), rinse and repeat for Sukkot & Simchat Torah. I already baked a whole bunch of challah.

Appetizers:
Gefilte fish
Broiled rainbow trout
Broiled salmon

Soup:
Chicken noodle/matzo ball

Main courses:
Gold Tip Roast
Grilled chicken breasts
Cholent

Sides:
Jerusalem noodle kugel
Sweet potatoes w/pineapple

Salads:
(just make up on the fly)

Desserts:
Kugelhopf with rum-soaked fruits
Apple pie or apple strudel?
Honey saffron cake

Wine:
Golan Merlot
Herzog White Zinfandel
Herzog Orange Moscato
Bartenura Malvasia

Meanwhile, the Rim Fire is closing in on 200,000 acres burned, but firefighters now have 30% containment. They’re also warning that the fire will likely continue for weeks to come as it continues burning in remote and rugged areas that are inaccessible and too dangerous to put firefighters in. Aerial tankers are hitting those areas, and the firefighters are now getting help from a Predator drone outfitted with infrared sensors to pick out hot spots. It can stay aloft longer than the helicopters that had been providing that kind of info to fire managers.

The Valley still is safe for now, but the fire is continuing to spread and expand both to the North and to the East. It has been slowed in the past couple of days since it was burning into areas that had seen fires more recently - but the fire has plenty of combustible materials to burn through elsewhere.

The fire will likely not be put out until the rain/snow season starts… which is still weeks away.

re: #65 Vicious Babushka

Wow, if I ate like that for 3 days, I’d gain 25 lbs. : )

BBL, It’s doggie walking time….

re: #67 Justanotherhuman

Wow, if I ate like that for 3 days, I’d gain 25 lbs. : )

It’s actually 9 days:

Sept. 5-7 Rosh Hashana
Sept. 19-21 Sukkot
Sept. 26-28 Simhat Torah

It’s like our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s season BUT WITH MOAR FOOD!!!!

Holiday meanings:
Rosh Hashanah: G-D is awesome, let’s eat!
Sukkot: Party with the Patriarchs, let’s eat, dance, and get drunk!
Simhat Torah: G-D loves us and wants us to be happy, let’s eat, dance, and get drunk!

re: #58 Vicious Babushka

RWNJ Outrage Du Jour
Obama flag is from over a year ago

[Embedded content]

But if it’s St. Ronald’s face on a flag then it’s a sacred icon! /spit

Were I a twitter’er I’d replace that second picture with the one of Ronnie wiping his nose.

re: #66 lawhawk

Drones! My neighbor has a toy drone. A big-boy toy.

Which reminds me of last evening when we observed what looked like a parasail equipped with a lawn mower motor chugging along about 100 ft up.

The noise stopped at one point and we thought it was going down, but it revved up again and came back the way it had gone.

re: #70 William Barnett-Lewis

Were I a twitter’er I’d replace that second picture with the one of Ronnie wiping his nose.

Ronnie’s snot rag.

re: #69 Vicious Babushka

It’s actually 9 days:

Sept. 5-7 Rosh Hashana
Sept. 19-21 Sukkot
Sept. 26-28 Simhat Torah

It’s like our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s season BUT WITH MOAR FOOD!!!!

Holiday meanings:
Rosh Hashanah: G-D is awesome, let’s eat!
Sukkot: Party with the Patriarchs, let’s eat, dance, and get drunk!
Simhat Torah: G-D loves us and wants us to be happy, let’s eat, dance, and get drunk!

I’d never survive 9 days, having died from diabetes. : )

re: #73 Justanotherhuman

I’d never survive 9 days, having died from diabetes. : )

That’s why I’m keeping a bunch of salad fixings.

re: #55 Vicious Babushka

That sounds like exactly the same rhetoric that was floating around about Iraq 10 years ago.

Using sysadmin privileges #Snowden impersonated other NSA officials to access higher level classified docs http://t.co/mtW2A6VwBS

— lawhawk (@lawhawk) August 29, 2013

re: #66 lawhawk

Radio reports say the Fire officials have predator drones for mapping the fire. Kinda made me wonder about the coming day we may have drones doing water drops. Big drone, but why not?

re: #76 lawhawk

He wasn’t just whistle-blowing Dixie!

(gets caught by security guard breaking open boss' file cabinet with a crowbar and burning other papers in a trash can) I'M A WHISTLEBLOWER

— norbizness (@norbizness) August 29, 2013

re: #75 Eclectic Cyborg

Same arguments for and again. Recycled rhetoric (which actually would make a great band name). Even though there are serious and important distinctions between the current situation and the Iraq situation.

With Iraq, there was already a no-fly zone in place, and inspections of suspected WMD sites. We knew of Hussein’s genocide/democide. We already had military assets in place. Chemical weapons were used, both during the Iraq Iraq war - which preceded the 1991 Gulf War (and which the US knew, or had reason to know that Hussein would use chemical weapons against Iran), and then later in the Anfal campaign against Shi’ites/Marsh Arabs, which was one of the reasons the no-fly zones were implemented.

With Syria, there’s no no-fly zone, significant amounts of military assets aren’t in place, and this is part of an ongoing civil war that has left more than 100,000 dead and 2 million refugees. There’s been confirmed chemical weapons usage.

One action that isn’t getting much discussion right now is the implementation of a no-fly zone. That wouldn’t have as much of an effect on Assad since he hasn’t been relying much on air support for his campaign against the rebels. It might slow him down though, and it could give some measure of support to the rebels without directly engaging Assad’s forces (unless fired upon).

I am curious: What effect might a Syrian conflict have on the economy?

re: #76 lawhawk

I’ve read that Snowden failed to report that he had visited India on his employment app, and that the security check failed to notice it. Talk about letting the fox into the henhouse.

As a former IT guy, I wonder if Snowden’s employers had any earthly idea what a sysadmin can do if he has no scruples. During my short stint as an IT coordinator, I had free rein over the Exchange server, the website, everyone’s personal folders — everything but the financial stuff, which was on a different system. My employers, while very intelligent people, were numbskulls when it came to IT and computers. I’m sure it never occurred to them that I in some ways had more power than the head of school did to truly fuck things up

I have scruples, so I didn’t fuck things up. Snowden, on the other hand …

Lubbock’s “Mr. Conservative,” Dr. Donald May, cites Russian racist and antisemite Dmitry Rogozin:

Obama’s Middle East Policy is Compared to a “Monkey With a Hand Grenade”

Dr. May goes on to support this sentiment, without a word of disapproval or repudiation for Rogozin’s plainly racist rhetoric.

@YeaYouRite “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was not invited to speak” because you don't drop a turd into the punch bowl.

— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) August 29, 2013

re: #75 Eclectic Cyborg

Chemical attacks-Whodunit?

I really want to see a way to avert or avoid attacking Syria. We all know some innocents will get caught up and hurt or killed. We have seen the risks. As I read comments about how this is somehow like Iraq, well it just isn’t. This is not a neocon plot. Curveball is not our source. Facts on the ground are.

Obama and Bush. One of these Presidents is not like the other. Suspected weapons stocks are not the issue. The actual use of admitted & acknowledged chemical weapons is.

If we choose to attack or not, let’s not pretend this is just like Iraq. Let’s just deal with what we actually have to.

re: #76 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Link doesn’t work for me. Instead, investigations.nbcnews.com

Given Snowden’s post-theft activities, I don’t know if I’d call him “brilliant”, but a very clever individual with criminal intent who had the right tools with which to work his mischief.

I’ll take low-level thieving idiot for $200, Alec.

He's a low-level idiot - no, he's a brilliant mastermind - he's a low-level idiot - no, he's a brilliant mastermind http://t.co/ZZhLVAwsDV

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 29, 2013

re: #86 Justanotherhuman

Link doesn’t work for me. Instead, investigations.nbcnews.com

Given Snowden’s post-theft activities, I don’t know if I’d call him “brilliant”, but a very clever individual with criminal intent who had the right tools with which to work his mischief.

The SEA who hacked into the domain name servers for the NY Times, etc. were not brilliant masterminds, their mediocre social engineering skills worked on some idiots.

Remember every system is as secure as the dumbest user.

re: #87 Vicious Babushka

I’ll take low-level thieving idiot for $200, Alec.

But Glenn we can all agree you are a manipulating fuckstick.

re: #60 lawhawk

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Already thinking about Rosh Hashana meal prep since it’s just a week away, and my usual choices aren’t going to work. The holiday’s coming so early this year that going apple picking so I can make my apple ginger soup isn’t going to happen (and it nixes the mrs. apple crumb cake). Chicken of some form is still a go - I’m thinking of doing a Moroccan spiced chicken with potatoes and carrots, but that could still change). It’s the appetizer that I’m trying to figure out…

Maybe go something with Asian/Thai spicing? Chicken satay if you want a theme. Can do a salad or something on the side with cucumber and lemongrass.

re: #90 Feline Fearless Leader

I was trying to stay within traditional Jewish themes - circle of life (eggs, apples, etc.), sweetness - the hope for a sweet new year.

But maybe I’ll figure something out with honey as a key ingredient, though one of my relatives has dietary concerns that makes cooking and baking a bit more of a challenge.

re: #36 wheat-dogghazi

re: #49 A Mom Anon

re: #37 joe90

re: #38 Justanotherhuman

Sorry to drop the convo—it was around 0400 here and I went back to bed.

re: #86 Justanotherhuman

Link doesn’t work for me. Instead, investigations.nbcnews.com

Given Snowden’s post-theft activities, I don’t know if I’d call him “brilliant”, but a very clever individual with criminal intent who had the right tools with which to work his mischief.

Or simply human. Possibly quite skilled or luckily placed with sufficient skill in a sub-area of IT - and then pretty much clueless in other areas of human endeavour. One reason companies hire outside expertise to deal with areas they do not have the skills in.

re: #91 lawhawk

I was trying to stay within traditional Jewish themes - circle of life (eggs, apples, etc.), sweetness - the hope for a sweet new year.

But maybe I’ll figure something out with honey as a key ingredient, though one of my relatives has dietary concerns that makes cooking and baking a bit more of a challenge.

Heh. Circle of Life II (herbs/grass course, herbivore course, carnivore course, carrion course.)
;)

re: #82 wheat-dogghazi

As a former IT guy, I wonder if Snowden’s employers had any earthly idea what a sysadmin can do if he has no scruples. During my short stint as an IT coordinator, I had free rein over the Exchange server, the website, everyone’s personal folders — everything but the financial stuff, which was on a different system.

In any federal organization, this sort of thing isn’t determined by leadership. There are protection profiles and security guides that are developed by subject matter experts that go down to the option-tweaking level. The problem is that you’re dealing with systems that allow user switching but have user-specific access privileges that exceed that of the sysadmin. Unlike NBCNews, I don’t think this takes some sort of super genius to exploit this as a sysadmin.

Fixing it would either mean reading sysadmins into every intelligence compartment, or nerfing the user switching capability somehow. I’m guessing that neither option was considered really feasible. However, I can fault them for either not setting up or ignoring critical audit flags whenever these sorts of privilege-increasing switches were performed.

re: #94 Feline Fearless Leader

Heh. Circle of Life II (herbs/grass course, herbivore course, carnivore course, carrion course.)
;)

I’m going to be leaving the table during that part of the feast.

re: #95 ericblair

In any federal organization, this sort of thing isn’t determined by leadership. There are protection profiles and security guides that are developed by subject matter experts that go down to the option-tweaking level. The problem is that you’re dealing with systems that allow user switching but have user-specific access privileges that exceed that of the sysadmin. Unlike NBCNews, I don’t think this takes some sort of super genius to exploit this as a sysadmin.

Fixing it would either mean reading sysadmins into every intelligence compartment, or nerfing the user switching capability somehow. I’m guessing that neither option was considered really feasible. However, I can fault them for either not setting up or ignoring critical audit flags whenever these sorts of privilege-increasing switches were performed.

Also the issue whether or not using contractor sysadmins is a good idea with government systems or contractor systems potentially having access to that sort of data.

As a not-that-good analogy it is policy here that non-employees cannot have security profiles in SAP that are needed in order to approve payments for requisitions and services. Has to be a company employee.

re: #96 Eventual Carrion

I’m going to be leaving the table during that part of the feast.

A little more of a challenge working out what that will be. Probably some good candidates once you think about it. Especially once you start considering sea life. (Though if you’re staying kosher that leaves a bunch of stuff out.)

re: #97 Feline Fearless Leader

Also the issue whether or not using contractor sysadmins is a good idea with government systems or contractor systems potentially having access to that sort of data.

This is really a red herring. Military personnel, civilians, and contractors are cleared the same way to the same standards with a few differences in which adjudication facility and appeals process they use. If anything, contractors are more anal about handling and access processes since they could lose their jobs or facility clearances in a heartbeat if they fuck up. Hanssen and Ames were government civilians, and Manning and Hasan are military.

re: #58 Vicious Babushka

Who salutes left handed?

re: #33 wheat-dogghazi

I was at Udon in 67-68 and 74-75, Ubon 71 and 73-74 and U-Taphao in 72. I have flickr contacts in Hanoi and Saigon. None of it looks the same 40 to 50 years later.