Indie Animation Anthology: GHOST STORIES

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Here we are, kids. Project #1, an indie animation anthology on the theme of GHOST STORIES. All work done DIY, between jobs and classes, with no funding, between September ‘12 and August ‘13. Enjoy.

If you’d like to support us, drop something in our tip jar below or check out our Gumroad shop for downloads and limited-edition Uncanny Mystery Packs. https://gumroad.com/lnwc

Also, check out the individual members of LNWC. Say hello, follow their work, support them.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who has encouraged us, spread the word, helped out and supported us over this past year. You are the best.

Films:
00:45 - I Will Miss You by Dave Prosser - http://www.daveprosser.co.uk
04:46 - The Jump by Charles Huettner - http://charleshuettner.tumblr.com/
07:22 - The American Dream by Sean Buckelew - http://seanbuckelew.com/
09:53 - Mountain Ash by Jake Armstrong & Erin Kilkenny - http://jakedraws.tumblr.com/ & http://www.erinkilkenny.com/
14:29 - Rat Trap by Caleb Wood - calebwood
16:23 - Loose Ends by Louise Bagnall - http://elbooga.blogspot.com/
18:47 - Phantom Limb by Alex Grigg - http://www.alexgrigg.com/ Sound by Skillbard - http://skillbard.com/
23:02 - Asshole by Conor Finnegan - http://conorfinneganan.tumblr.com/
25:22 - Ombilda by Ciaran Duffy - http://hellociaran.com/
29:39 - Post Personal by Eamonn O’Neill - http://www.eamonnoneill.ie/
32:31 - Last Lives by Scott Benson - http://www.bombsfall.com/

Sound design/ mixing by David Kamp - http://www.studiokamp.com/
Theme and credits music by SCNTFC - http://cargocollective.com/scntfc

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347 comments
1 Eclectic Cyborg  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:07:08pm

Sometimes great work gets done AFTER the job ends.

I myself am busily working on a creative side project when I am not at my full time job. I do like my day job, but I truly LOVE my side project.

2 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:18:34pm
3 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:21:28pm
4 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:26:16pm

I gave this cookbook a 2-star review on Amazon for a very specific reason, which is described in detail in the review.

And I got a hate mail!

Don’t know if it is from the author, but I suspect that it is, because who else would give a shit about a 2-star review of somebody else’s book.

Now I’m sorry I didn’t give it one star.

5 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:26:35pm

re: #2 Gus

[Embedded content]

Youtube Video

6 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:27:12pm
7 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:31:53pm

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

I just gave you an up ding on Amazon. You had a good review of the book and critiqued very well.

8 Feline Fearless Leader  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:32:19pm

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

I gave this cookbook a 2-star review on Amazon for a very specific reason, which is described in detail in the review.

And I got a hate mail!

Don’t know if it is from the author, but I suspect that it is, because who else would give a shit about a 2-star review of somebody else’s book.

Now I’m sorry I didn’t give it one star.

And the critique email completely missed your point as well.

9 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:35:04pm

Anybody remember those G.A.S.S. black suede shoes?

10 PhillyPretzel  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:38:59pm

I am still having loading and search problems in LGF. I got to go. Good Night to my fellow Lizards.

11 ProTARDISLiberal  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:41:28pm

I won’t be on here from Tuesday until Friday.

Trip to Norman.

12 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:42:42pm

re: #11 ProTARDISLiberal

I won’t be on here from Tuesday until Friday.

Trip to Norman.

School, work, or family?

13 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:43:03pm

FINALLY I made that Italian ciabatta bread with the big holes in it!

It was deli night dinner, we had smoked whitefish sandwiches.

14 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:43:47pm

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

I gave this cookbook a 2-star review on Amazon for a very specific reason, which is described in detail in the review.

And I got a hate mail!

Don’t know if it is from the author, but I suspect that it is, because who else would give a shit about a 2-star review of somebody else’s book.

Now I’m sorry I didn’t give it one star.

I read your review and clicked the “helpful” button. Even I was like WTF at the idea of powdered milk in hamburger buns…

15 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:45:18pm

There’s some kind of network issue tonight, affecting connections for some users. Wish I could be more specific, but that’s all I know right now.

16 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:45:42pm

So there was this onion or something meat like being swarmed by ants so I moved it so I wouldn’t squish them later. Saved a wasp last week.

17 ProTARDISLiberal  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:47:03pm

re: #12 Dark_Falcon

School records, asking a professor for advice, the current MSA President (a non-hijabi lady) inviting me to the first meeting (Sept. 11), and other people that have said that they would like to meet-up with.

Also, getting a away from from the MBC for a few days

18 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:51:17pm
19 Kragar  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:52:38pm

Karl Rove lost it on Fox today: “BENGHAZI!”

20 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:55:43pm

Ha ha Yep and Juan Williams schooled them all.

21 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:57:28pm

Youtube Video

22 Balfour Rage  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:58:31pm

Oh now this will be awesome. Gov. Christie spotted sitting next to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in Jones’ luxury box watching an injured Tony Romo getting medical attention. I’m racing to da twitterz as fast as I can.

23 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 6:59:21pm

re: #20 Amory Blaine

Ha ha Yep and Juan Williams schooled them all.

Rove couldn’t believe he was simply being shifted aside. He was probably within a minute of yelling “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”

24 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:00:49pm

re: #22 Balfour Rage

Oh now this will be awesome. Gov. Christie spotted sitting next to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in Jones’ luxury box watching an injured Tony Romo getting medical attention. I’m racing to da twitterz as fast as I can.

No surprise. Christie had a planned fund raising trip to Texas this weekend and he’d already announced he’d be attending tonight’s Cowboys game. They’re his favorite football team.

25 darthstar  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:08:54pm

Breaking Bad - turning middle Americans into fans of the “meth industry” one demographic at a time. (It’s not realistic…as anyone who has spent any time in a meth lab can tell you.)

26 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:10:23pm

What’s Breaking Bad?

27 Targetpractice  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:10:54pm

re: #26 Gus

What’s Breaking Bad?

An addiction from which there is no escape. Or so I’ve been told.

28 darthstar  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:14:53pm

re: #26 Gus

What’s Breaking Bad?

It’s an okay drama about a high school science teacher who has cancer and starts cooking meth to pay for his treatment…then over the course of four seasons turns into a hardened criminal who kills people, yet is still lovable, despite ruining hundreds of lives in his local geography. Family values entertainment at its best.

29 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:16:10pm

re: #28 darthstar

It’s an okay drama about a high school science teacher who has cancer and starts cooking meth to pay for his treatment…then over the course of four seasons turns into a hardened criminal who kills people, yet is still lovable, despite ruining hundreds of lives in his local geography. Family values entertainment at its best.

Wow. That really is weird. For serious?

30 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:16:12pm

Dear Prudence, you keep referring to a “group of elitists.” They are not the ones you think they are.

31 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:17:35pm
32 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:17:41pm

re: #28 darthstar

It’s an okay drama about a high school science teacher who has cancer and starts cooking meth to pay for his treatment…then over the course of four seasons turns into a hardened criminal who kills people, yet is still lovable, despite ruining hundreds of lives in his local geography. Family values entertainment at its best.

Never saw even one episode, and not “Game of Thrones” and not “Girls.” (Are GOT and G even still on the air? Because nobody talks about them any more, not since that GOT episode where like everybody got killed)

33 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:18:49pm

re: #32 Vicious Babushka

Never saw even one episode, and not “Game of Thrones” and not “Girls.” (Are GOT and G even still on the air? Because nobody talks about them any more, not since that GOT episode where like everybody got killed)

Brilliant takedown right there! Truly first rate.

34 Balfour Rage  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:19:19pm
35 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:21:05pm

Jesus Christ Prudence how freaking stupid are you, that you don’t even know how to use Teh Googles?

36 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:22:16pm
37 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:22:23pm

Image: alg-obama-hug-jpg.jpg

38 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:22:57pm

Barrett Brown, like a real life “Breaking Bad” except without the science teacher creds or the sympathy cancer.

39 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:23:28pm

re: #37 Pavlovian Hive Mind

Image: alg-obama-hug-jpg.jpg

THAT’S NOT ON AN AIRPLANE!!111!! SEAT 23B!!!1!!!!

40 calochortus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:23:35pm

re: #37 Pavlovian Hive Mind

Totally different. They’re not on a plane.
/

41 Stanley Sea  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:23:49pm

North by Northwest is on TCM.

Until Breaking Bad Pacific Time.

42 calochortus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:24:05pm

re: #39 Vicious Babushka

Beat me by 7 seconds.

43 bratwurst  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:24:50pm

re: #34 Balfour Rage

[Embedded content]

44 calochortus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:25:59pm

re: #36 Vicious Babushka

“much of what he did is legal & protected by 1st Amdmt”

Well perhaps it’s the part that wasn’t legal that got him into trouble?

45 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:26:36pm

re: #44 calochortus

Well perhaps it’s the part that wasn’t legal that got him into trouble?

PSHAW.

46 sagehen  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:27:20pm

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

I gave this cookbook a 2-star review on Amazon for a very specific reason, which is described in detail in the review.

And I got a hate mail!

Don’t know if it is from the author, but I suspect that it is, because who else would give a shit about a 2-star review of somebody else’s book.

Now I’m sorry I didn’t give it one star.

I clicked the “helpful” button, hope that uprates your review.

47 Feline Fearless Leader  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:27:23pm

re: #44 calochortus

Well perhaps it’s the part that wasn’t legal that got him into trouble?

That admission will be buried in paragraph 8 as it has been in every other GG article.

48 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:27:37pm
49 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:28:52pm

re: #36 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

Barrett Brown, a guy whom the Stalkers ran off for being pompous and flaky. Real winning you got there, Glenn.

/spits

50 Internet Tough Guy  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:28:53pm

re: #30 Vicious Babushka

Dear Prudence, you keep referring to a “group of elitists.” They are not the ones you think they are.

Say hi to the Secret Service for me Prudence!

51 Gus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:32:36pm

re: #35 Vicious Babushka

Still?

52 calochortus  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:32:38pm

re: #47 Feline Fearless Leader

That admission will be buried in paragraph 8 as it has been in every other GG article.

Who can manage to read that far?

53 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:32:44pm

re: #46 sagehen

I clicked the “helpful” button, hope that uprates your review.

I do not see any purpose in giving something a 3-star or a 4-star review on Amazon. Either I think a product or a book is fabulous and I want everybody to know about it and buy it, so 5 stars, or else it sucks and I want to warn people to stay away from it, therefore 1 star, or 2 stars if there is any redeeming feature apart from Teh Suck.

Because of the hate-o-gram, I now want to downgrade my review to 1 star.

I generally find that the 1-star reviews are more helpful than the 5-stars, because who knows how many of the 5-stars are by family, friends and sockpuppets of the author/vendor?

Also, some 1-stars have to do with delivery or shipment issues that have nothing to do with the actual product.

54 Vicious Babushka  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:34:34pm

Argh, have work tomorrow. See you at the bottom of the thread in the morning!

55 sagehen  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:36:02pm

re: #28 darthstar

It’s an okay drama about a high school science teacher who has cancer and starts cooking meth to pay for his treatment…then over the course of four seasons turns into a hardened criminal who kills people, yet is still lovable, despite ruining hundreds of lives in his local geography. Family values entertainment at its best.

Wrongwrongwrong.

It’s about a high school teacher who starts out semi-sympathetic, but over the course of 5 seasons turns into such a monster we have to question if it’s a transformation at all, or if that’s who he always was and just keeping it hidden until now.

56 Kragar  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:45:56pm

re: #35 Vicious Babushka

Well, except for all these…

google.com

57 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:48:01pm
58 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:49:35pm

Yup. This is increasingly looking like a well-planned attack on the Obama administration.

59 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:52:15pm

re: #13 Vicious Babushka

FINALLY I made that Italian ciabatta bread with the big holes in it!

It was deli night dinner, we had smoked whitefish sandwiches.

I miss smoked whitefish sammitches.

60 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:52:16pm
61 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:54:58pm

re: #30 Vicious Babushka

It’s weird that these “American values” she’s so pissed about are actually American values.

62 b_sharp  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:55:31pm

re: #59 chadu

I miss smoked whitefish sammitches.

I’ve never smoked whitefish. I wouldn’t even know which end to light.

63 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:56:28pm

re: #34 Balfour Rage

I hate the Cowboys, too, but that’s due to growing up in the Pittsburgh area in the 70s.

64 Killgore Trout  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:57:08pm

re: #26 Gus

What’s Breaking Bad?

Great series, well written, well acted and best of all it has interesting and believable female characters (although there aren’t many of them). Watch the pilot, I think you’ll be impressed.
Unfortunately, like most series these days, it’s almost impossible to find full episodes legally online. Why the networks can’t figure this out is baffling.

65 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:57:32pm

re: #62 b_sharp

I’ve never smoked whitefish. I wouldn’t even know which end to light.

Start with the tail. You can inhale with the tiny mouth. Look out for the gall, tho.

66 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:58:40pm
67 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 7:59:07pm

re: #35 Vicious Babushka

Jesus Christ Prudence how freaking stupid are you, that you don’t even know how to use Teh Googles?

[Embedded content]

She is a level of stupid that deserves a Prestige Class (D&D joke).

In sum: totes stupid.

68 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:02:28pm
69 CuriousLurker  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:07:13pm

I retweet something by Barney Frank about Syria. Derpy moonbat response?

Israel!!11!


Blocked. *SIGH*

70 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:09:52pm

Oh brother. I can tell they’re going to pull me back in to the Barrett Brown stupidity.

71 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:10:13pm

Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in!

72 Political Atheist  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:10:21pm

re: #68 Charles Johnson

Hacker, experienced stalker, heroin addict.

A combination that truly explains the wisdom of stout passwords frequently changed.

73 Charles Johnson  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:10:41pm

Youtube Video

74 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:15:19pm

re: #69 CuriousLurker

I retweet something by Barney Frank about Syria. Derpy moonbat response?

Israel!!11!

[Embedded content]


Blocked. *SIGH*

Fucky yeah, Israel needs to be talked about. But, c’mon, Syria at this moment.

Deal with the present in the present. Afterwards, we’ll have time to deal with the past.

75 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:16:07pm

re: #71 Charles Johnson

Upding for the Michael quote.

76 Killgore Trout  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:17:11pm

re: #68 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Considered. $50 bindle donated.

77 Targetpractice  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:19:56pm

re: #74 chadu

Fucky yeah, Israel needs to be talked about. But, c’mon, Syria at this moment.

Deal with the present in the present. Afterwards, we’ll have time to deal with the past.

Seems like that’s also become a favorite deflection/conspiracy theory of emoprogs, “We’re doing this for Israel! This is their war!”

78 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:20:24pm

re: #69 CuriousLurker

I retweet something by Barney Frank about Syria. Derpy moonbat response?

Israel!!11!

[Embedded content]


Blocked. *SIGH*

Crazies like that can’t look at reality for long. They have to retreat back into their fantasy world pretty quickly.

79 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:22:17pm

re: #58 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Yup. This is increasingly looking like a well-planned attack on the Obama administration.

That would seem to support that article you posted arguing the idea of Russia being behind all of this. Assange and Greenwald don’t strike me as being able to plan this well.

80 Killgore Trout  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:23:18pm

Few things are more satisfying than scratching an itch.

81 simoom  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:26:39pm

Making and breaking encryption is one of the main roles of a signals intelligence agency. That NSA engages in such activities is not surprising. Aspects of this work aren’t even secret: NSA involvement in the development of some cryptographic standards was legally mandated and openly acknowledged.

…

Consider, for example, a report from Spiegel Online that “NSA can spy on smartphone data,” with the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android all reported to be vulnerable.

There have long been questions about data extraction from smartphones. We know, for example, that there are standard forms used by law enforcement agencies to demand assistance with unlocking phones from Apple and Google. What we don’t know is whether these companies can actually comply with such demands. In any well-designed encryption system, law enforcement could ask until they’re blue in the face. The companies shouldn’t in fact be able to help.

Does the Spiegel piece provide the answers that have long been sought about these capabilities? Not really. The only data extraction it describes in detail concerns taking data from the iPhone. The technique it describes is in fact a technique available to any reasonably skilled computer user.

…

The exact limits on what NSA can and can’t do are unlikely to be known any time soon. It’s possible that Ed Snowden has revealed this information to the newspapers, but the coverage of his leaks has thus far consistently excluded such specifics for one reason or another (Snowden et al. may simply not know the details, or there may be some level of editorial constraint at work).

82 chadu  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:29:58pm

re: #77 Targetpractice

Seems like that’s also become a favorite deflection/conspiracy theory of emoprogs, “We’re doing this for Israel! This is their war!”

No. Fuck it, Assad used WMDs against civilians. That’s what this is all about.

Israel and Palestine can go hang in conventional war (well, the methods are conventional; I think both nations are assholes) until we deal with Syria.

83 ProTARDISLiberal  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:42:50pm

So my sister decided to act like a little punk, and my dad acted like an asshole in response.

I am talking to both tomorrow. They are creating sky-rocketing amounts of stress.

84 CuriousLurker  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:52:28pm

re: #77 Targetpractice

Seems like that’s also become a favorite deflection/conspiracy theory of emoprogs, “We’re doing this for Israel! This is their war!”

re: #78 Dark_Falcon

Crazies like that can’t look at reality for long. They have to retreat back into their fantasy world pretty quickly.

Yeah, I also came across a tweet to this Juan Cole article* about former Iranian president Rafsanjani criticizing Assad. The very first comment was:

Brian 09/03/2013 at 2:35 am

“… contradicted by French, British, US and Israeli intelligence …”

Dr. Cole,
the case depends entirely on Israeli intelligence.
France, Britain and the US get their intel in the region from Israel.
-
The phony “intercepted phone call” was produced by Israeli Intelligence.

So I stopped right there. It’s a perfect example of why I don’t usually read comments. If it’s not Teh Juice implementing their NWO, it’s those pesky Sharia lovers trying to establish the Global Caliphate with their Muslamic ray guns. //

————

*Yes, I’m aware Juan Cole is a somewhat controversial figure.

85 CuriousLurker  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 8:54:23pm

Time to get ready for Monday. Later, lizards.

86 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 9:18:51pm

Walker protest greeting in Seattle

Youtube Video

87 sagehen  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 9:22:31pm

re: #82 chadu

No. Fuck it, Assad used WMDs against civilians. That’s what this is all about.

It’s about Assad’s WMDs are unlocked, and we’re afraid that next he might use them on the neighbors. Or give them to somebody else to use. Or if he falls, whoever’s in charge next will have them to use or give away.

How much do we care about Syrians dead of chemical weapons? Exactly as much as we cared about Syrians dead of bullets and bombs, no more no less. It’s who else might end up dead that’s driving the Administration’s decision-making.

88 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 9:27:51pm

Diane Ravitch:

Two nations were influenced by our thinkers and example: Finland and Chile. Finland learned its lessons from John Dewey. Its schools are child-centered. It prizes the arts and physical education. It has no standardized testing. Its schools are noted for both excellence and equity. It is a top performer on international tests. Chile learned its lessons from Milton Friedman. It has vouchers and testing. Its schools are highly segregated by social class. The quality of education is highly dependent on family income. Students in Chile are rioting to demand free public education. No one considers Chile a model. Which direction are we going? Why? Whose ideas are dominant today?

89 wheat-dogghazi  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 10:11:46pm

re: #65 chadu

Updinged for making me laugh.

90 wheat-dogghazi  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 10:14:38pm

re: #88 Amory Blaine

Link to source, please. Or does it come her latest book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education? I’ve read it, but I don’t recall the quotation you give.

91 darthstar  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 10:18:33pm

re: #62 b_sharp

I’ve never smoked whitefish. I wouldn’t even know which end to light.

How to prepare fish for smoking.
Youtube Video

92 Amory Blaine  Sun, Sep 8, 2013 11:27:19pm

re: #90 wheat-dogghazi

Excerpt from her upcoming book REIGN OF ERROR

93 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 12:17:08am

re: #92 Amory Blaine

Thanks. She used to be all gung ho about charter schools, vouchers and testing, but reality has smacked her upside the head, and now she’s all-in for reviving the public schools. Very intelligent woman, with a long career in education. I wish more people would listen to her, but she’s bucking a juggernaut of testing and balkanization of education.

94 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 12:21:48am

Did I really just write that comment? How many hackneyed idioms could I have packed in one place? gung ho, upside the head, all-in

95 Kragar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:07:38am

re: #94 wheat-dogghazi

Did I really just write that comment? How many hackneyed idioms could I have packed in one place? gung ho, upside the head, all-in

Plus, you just said idiom.

96 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:13:40am

re: #95 Kragar

Doh!

97 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:18:19am

On the other hand, maybe I could write a total piece of tripe, involving vampires that don’t suck human blood and twinkle in the sun, or sadistic businessmen luring 23-year-old virgins into a BDSM relationship, and make a mint. Then people will parody my novels on Twitter and on their blogs. Fame! Fortune!

No self-respect.

98 Kragar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:22:34am

re: #97 wheat-dogghazi

On the other hand, maybe I could write a total piece of tripe, involving vampires that don’t suck human blood and twinkle in the sun, or sadistic businessmen luring 23-year-old virgins into a BDSM relationship, and make a mint. Then people will parody my novels on Twitter and on their blogs. Fame! Fortune!

No self-respect.

Meanwhile, I’m toying with the idea of making most of the incidental characters in my story related to BBC shows.

Just toying mind you.

99 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:30:16am

re: #98 Kragar

Meanwhile, I’m toying with the idea of making most of the incidental characters in my story related to BBC shows.

Just toying mind you.

If you used all the characters killed off in Game of Thrones, you could have a novel by Dickens or one of the Russians, like Tolstoy.

100 Kragar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:36:13am

re: #99 wheat-dogghazi

If you used all the characters killed off in Game of Thrones, you could have a novel by Dickens or one of the Russians, like Tolstoy.

I lost interest after the 3d book

101 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:40:48am

re: #100 Kragar

I haven’t even started. I started Wheel of Time after my stepson began reading them years ago, but quit after book 3 or 4. It looked like one of those perpetual stories that never come to a definite end.

102 Kragar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:46:32am

re: #101 wheat-dogghazi

I haven’t even started. I started Wheel of Time after my stepson began reading them years ago, but quit after book 3 or 4. It looked like one of those perpetual stories that never come to a definite end.

They did get around to it. I read all 14.

103 urbanmeemaw  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 1:59:07am

re: #23 Dark_Falcon

Karl is still waiting for the votes from Southwestern Ohio exurban counties (Warren, Clermont, Butler) to be counted.

104 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:12:00am

re: #102 Kragar

14! Was it worth reading them all?

105 Kragar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:17:53am

re: #104 wheat-dogghazi

14! Was it worth reading them all?

Overall, I would say yes.

106 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:34:04am

re: #105 Kragar

Overall, I would say yes.

Hmm. Maybe I’ll give them another try when I have more time. Are they on Kindle now?

107 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:36:23am

re: #102 Kragar

They did get around to it. I read all 14.

If you like history, conspiracies, and thinking, try Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

It’s dense and challenging, but if you can get past the first, mostly historically focused part, you’re in. People tend to hate it or love it (mostly for its difficulty). One criticism I saw said it would benefit from a better translation; even so, I don’t doubt it would still be a difficult read.

I loaned it to my g-son’s 19 yr old friend and he commented that he had to get out the dictionary but saw it as a challenge.

With so many conspiracy theories coming out on the internet, Eco may have been a bit ahead of his time with this book (published in English, 1989). It makes “The DaVinci Code” look like the joke it is.

amazon.com

108 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:41:03am

Update: Control of chemical weapons in Syria restricted to President Assad, his brother Maher and an unnamed general, Kerry says - @Reuters

1 min ago by editor

Note: Maher al Assad is a general and commander of the Republican Guard, and considered the second most powerful person in Syria.

109 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:42:51am

re: #107 Justanotherhuman

If you like history, conspiracies, and thinking, try Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

It’s dense and challenging, but if you can get past the first, mostly historically focused part, you’re in. People tend to hate it or love it (mostly for its difficulty). One criticism I saw said it would benefit from a better translation; even so, I don’t doubt it would still be a difficult read.

I loaned it to my g-son’s 19 yr old friend and he commented that he had to get out the dictionary but saw it as a challenge.

With so many conspiracy theories coming out on the internet, Eco may have been a bit ahead of his time with this book (published in English, 1989). It makes “The DaVinci Code” look like the joke it is.

amazon.com

That’s already on my to-read list, but not yet on my Amazon wishlist. I read Eco’s The Name of the Rose, and liked it.

110 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:49:24am

re: #109 wheat-dogghazi

Added the English version to my wishlist, and just downloaded a PDF of the Italian version. annabonalumi.name

My Italian is very bad, but I’ll give it a go just for kicks.

Even better, a Spanish edition upv.es

My Spanish is way better than my italiano.

111 sagehen  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 2:58:05am

Or if you want a superficial, non-challenging history/conspiracy/adventure, try the Grantville series (aka 1632 aka Ring of Fire), main author Eric Flint.

In the year 2000, a 5-mile radius centered around a small West Virginia town is science-fictionally transported to the year 1632, in northern Germany; they engage with the world as they find it, and create an alternate history. There’s only a few thousand people, but they’ve got a coal-fired electric plant, a small hospital, some machine shops, the high school has a chemistry lab, every house has a couple of hunting rifles and some of the Vietnam vets have larger weapons stashed in their backyards, there’s an Olympics-calibre biathlete for their sniper, etc.

The series goes on for years, by multiple authors, there’s a town newspaper written by multiple authors (up to volume 47 now I think).

The first book is free
baenebooks.com

(OMG we have to open trade relations with the Ottomans, coffeecoffeecoffee nobody else in the world has coffee!!!!)

112 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:24:39am

re: #111 sagehen

Sounds like a reversal of Anderson’s The High Crusade, except that his depends on attitude, rather than technology.

amazon.com

113 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:27:13am

re: #100 Kragar

I lost interest after the 3d book

I lost interest after the 3d page (of GOT)

114 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:30:14am

Oh. Well, if you’re talking about historical mystery novels, I love C.J. Sansome’s Matthew Shardlake series, set during the time of Henry VIII.

115 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:37:22am

re: #77 Targetpractice

Seems like that’s also become a favorite deflection/conspiracy theory of emoprogs, “We’re doing this for Israel! This is their war!”

So we have two ‘flavors’ of conspiracy. The RW is pushing “It’s the Saudis. Assad wouldn’t let them build their gas pipeline to Europe.”

(Israel’s English papers have been rather low-profile on it, though someone just suggested that might be the holydays.)

116 sagehen  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:40:05am

re: #112 Decatur Deb

Sounds like a reversal Anderson’s The High Crusade, except that his depends on attitude, rather than technology.

amazon.com

oh, attitude’s a big part of it too — women’s equality, religious pluralism, representative government, education for all children, these are astonishing innovations to the nearby townships that join their federation.

117 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:40:16am

re: #113 Vicious Babushka

I lost interest after the 3d page (of GOT)

Could not watch a whole episode of HBO’s version, even for medieval boob.

118 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:51:31am

The absolute best historical/alternative history fiction I have ever read, bar none, is “The Dragon Waiting” by John M. Ford. Mike was one hell of a writer an this was him at his best.

amazon.com

The Wars of the Roses have put Edward IV on the throne of England, Lorenzo de’ Medici’s court shines brilliantly, and Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza plots in Milan. But this is a changed world, and medieval Europe is dominated by the threat from the Byzantine Empire. Sforza, the Vampire Duke, marshals his forces for his long-planned attack on Florence, and Byzantium is on the march. A mercenary, the exiled heir to the Byzantine throne, a young woman physician forced to flee Florence, and a Welsh wizard, the nephew of Owain Gly Dwr, seem to have no common goals but together they wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium, striving to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and make him Richard III

So many wonderful what ifs - what if Byzantium stayed strong because what if magic were real? What if vampires were the result of a disease? What if Christianity did not replace the old religions but was simply a tiny one of many? What if Richard were a good guy? And so on.

If you like alt history, this one is not to be missed.

119 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:52:31am

re: #113 Vicious Babushka

I lost interest after the 3d page (of GOT)

I struggled through about 3/4 of the first book but I’m not into post-modernist “hip” fantasy.

120 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:56:15am

re: #97 wheat-dogghazi

On the other hand, maybe I could write a total piece of tripe, involving vampires that don’t suck human blood and twinkle in the sun, or sadistic businessmen luring 23-year-old virgins into an abusive BDSM relationship, and make a mint. Then people will parody my novels on Twitter and on their blogs. Fame! Fortune!

No self-respect.

FTFY

I’ve never read the Fifty Shades books, but people I know and trust have deconstructed the entire series chapter by chapter and shown how that entire relationship is nothing but domestic abuse made to look like kink.

Not surprising. Fifty Shades is nothing but Twilight fan fiction with the names changed, and Twilight is a terrible relationship made to look like a romance.

121 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 4:57:01am

re: #118 William Barnett-Lewis

The absolute best historical/alternative history fiction I have ever read, bar none, is “The Dragon Waiting” by John M. Ford. Mike was one hell of a writer an this was him at his best.

amazon.com

So many wonderful what ifs - what if Byzantium stayed strong because what if magic were real? What if vampires were the result of a disease? What if Christianity did not replace the old religions but was simply a tiny one of many? What if Richard were a good guy? And so on.

If you like alt history, this one is not to be missed.

There’s another Anderson (I think), Three Hearts and Three Lions, that does medieval Magic Realism. Giants get turned to stone in a pinch, but bad things happen from the sub-atomic effects of so much energy release.

122 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:07:23am
123 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:09:12am

re: #118 William Barnett-Lewis

Been taken with the Sforzas ever since a guided tour of the Certosa in Pavia. Our guide still had a bone up his ass about them. Long on revenge, those Italians.

If you want a total Early Renaissance SOB, it’s hard to beat Ezzelino da Romano. He left traces on our area in the north. A pope called a crusade against him personally, and Dante put him in a turbulent part of Hell.

en.wikipedia.org

124 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:20:15am

How many tracking bugs in this article?

125 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:20:36am

nbcnews.com

Cats getting grumpier, pictures at 11.

Good morning Lizards!

Some interesting book recommendations this morning.

I echo the recommendation of Umberto Eco books, all I have read so far have been interesting. And even if you have seen the movie(s) “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” series is worth the read as well in my opinion. Per GOT, I think if you have an interest in how a medieval kingdom and its nobles interacted the series is one of the better fictional takes on it in a while. Though I can see how the initial introduction piece can throw someone - it’s a piece of meat for a sub-plot that doesn’t ripen for a while.

Though I am currently reading non-fiction. Re-reading the first two books of Atkin’s “Liberation Trilogy” as I got the third volume as a birthday present. (This is a *good* series on the US Army in the ETO in WW2. Vol I is North Africa, Vol II is Sicily and Italy, and Vol III and France and Germany. A pretty brutal appraisal on US Army leadership and preparedness for land operations in WW2.)

126 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:24:18am

Obdicut recommended the Walter Mosley “Easy Rawlins” novels and he has a new one out now, “Little Green.” It’s a noir mystery series featuring a noir detective.

127 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:25:39am

LOL

128 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:29:19am

HAHAHA

129 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:32:36am

re: #127 Vicious Babushka

LOL

[Embedded content]

Careful—he’s a mercenary on “The Circuit”.

130 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:34:18am

Alexander McCall Smith’s “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” books are also an interesting piece of “mind candy” (as my brother refers to light fiction books or movies.) Set of detective novels set in Botswana with an interesting set of characters and not your normal sort of crime novel.

I read the first 4-5 as my SIL was reading them and then passing them on. I countered by giving her the various Kitty Norville werewolf novels by Carrie Vaughn as I finished reading them. ;)

131 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:41:23am

Dogwalk. BBIAB

132 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:43:10am

re: #120 Lidane

FTFY

I’ve never read the Fifty Shades books, but people I know and trust have deconstructed the entire series chapter by chapter and shown how that entire relationship is nothing but domestic abuse made to look like kink.

Not surprising. Fifty Shades is nothing but Twilight fan fiction with the names changed, and Twilight is a terrible relationship made to look like a romance.

Haven’t read either book, but I read the summaries of 50 Shades and saw about 30 minutes of the first Twilight movie (forced by a 12-year-old to watch the greatest movie evah!!), and concluded I never want to. Twilight has a few redeeming qualities, but 50 Shades is just trash.

133 Dr Lizardo  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:45:56am

re: #130 Feline Fearless Leader

Alexander McCall Smith’s “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” books are also an interesting piece of “mind candy” (as my brother refers to light fiction books or movies.) Set of detective novels set in Botswana with an interesting set of characters and not your normal sort of crime novel.

I read the first 4-5 as my SIL was reading them and then passing them on. I countered by giving her the various Kitty Norville werewolf novels by Carrie Vaughn as I finished reading them. ;)

Did you ever see the series based on the books? Filmed entirely on location in Botswana, and the pilot TV-movie was directed by Anthony Minghella.

134 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:48:12am

re: #133 Dr Lizardo

Did you ever see the series based on the books? Filmed entirely on location in Botswana, and the pilot TV-movie was directed by Anthony Minghella.

Aware that they made TV/movie versions of some of the books, but have never seen any of them.

135 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:48:41am

re: #125 Feline Fearless Leader

Agreed on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Great plots, complex and interesting characters, and a glimpse into the seedier side of Swedish history and culture. (I’m 3/4 Swedish, so there’s that, too.)The Daniel Craig movie is well done. I haven’t seen the Swedish-made film versions yet.

136 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 5:51:56am

re: #135 wheat-dogghazi

Agreed on the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Great plots, complex and interesting characters, and a glimpse into the seedier side of Swedish history and culture. (I’m 3/4 Swedish, so there’s that, too.)The Daniel Craig movie is well done. I haven’t seen the Swedish-made film versions yet.

I read the books, then watched the Swedish film version before watching the U.S. movie of the first book. I think Noomi Rapace was a better Lisbeth than Rooney Mara, but Daniel Craig was a better Blomquist than whoever the guy was in the Swedish version.

The second and third books of the trilogy are not as compelling as the first book.

137 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:00:47am

re: #136 Vicious Babushka

I read the books, then watched the Swedish film version before watching the U.S. movie of the first book. I think Noomi Rapace was a better Lisbeth than Rooney Mara, but Daniel Craig was a better Blomquist than whoever the guy was in the Swedish version.

The second and third books of the trilogy are not as compelling as the first book.

Less compelling plots, but also less time spent developing the main characters since the first novel established a lot of their details. Not to mention that it’s pretty hard to top some of the events in the first novel.

138 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:12:18am

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. I see we’re discussing books and movies (on which they are based).

Twilight’s sole redeeming feature is that it will appear on MST3000 at some point down the road. It’s a movie ripe for being picked apart. Mrs. Lawhawk read the books and said that the movies are essentially a word for word replication.

50 Shades will have no redeeming characteristics though. It’s awful fan fiction that apparently masquerades as mommy porn. Meh.

Hunger Games more compelling and much more unsettling than either of those two other series. A dystopian future where the government forces fealty on losers of the last great war by putting them up for gladiatorial combat where kids kill each other. Real adult themes and the books are so much better than the movies, though the casting of Jennifer Lawrence was spot on. Donald Sutherland makes a great President Snow, and Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson are good in their roles. Lawrence’s love interests OTOH aren’t as well cast.

Then there’s the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. The Mrs. liked them better than I did. I found them too predictable. Haven’t seen the original movies (with Noomi), but found the Mara/Craig version to be lacking something, though the soundtrack rocked courtesy of NIN’s Trent Reznor who won an Oscar for it). I appreciate how Steig was trying to expose some real big issues with the Swedish government’s handling of womens’ rights and sexual assaults so I let some of the predictability pass.

As for GoT, I started reading the books after seeing a few episodes on HBO, and I haven’t picked it up after reading about 100 pages into the first book. Pluses - character dies every chapter. Minuses - character dies every chapter. I get the setup and need to develop the world, and it’s remarkable that they’ve made the show as faithful to the books. I’ll probably get back to reading them at some point.

139 Dr Lizardo  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:15:26am

re: #134 Feline Fearless Leader

It’s on YouTube; enter “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency full movie” in the search and you’ll find it. Really good, and perfect casting.

140 makeitstop  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:17:49am

Morning, Lizards.

Here’s why I love Alice In Chains - the new video for ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’.

Directed by Travis Hopkins, the clip opens on a few children who are watching television in their respective homes. Bathed in the blue, warming glow of TV, the kids watch a warped “educational” program that forcefeeds them a creationist agenda. The hellish Sesame Place stars a slimy-looking dude in a leisure suit and a sinister, sweaty clown, both of whom flip out and start destroying the set behind them as puppets lead a sing-along about how “Jesus don’t like a queer.” Imagine Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood done by Rob Zombie, only everyone involved reps hard for the most conservative sect of the right wing — truly frightening.

(Slightly NSFW)

141 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:27:03am
142 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:35:25am

LOL

143 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:38:54am

re: #141 Vicious Babushka

Doesn’t matter. They’re not the NSA. /dudebros

We know that the US spies. Heck, the NSA says it on their homepage. They even telegraph that they’re spying on foreign countries and those that wish to do the US harm. That’s not news. That’s part of statecraft.

Revealing how the NSA does this can and does undermine US national security, and Snowden’s document dump isn’t about whistleblowing, it’s about undermining US national security. After all, spying on Brazil or Pakistan or France or Germany isn’t violating US law (US law and EO12333 mandate the NSA mission). Greenwald wants to undermine US national security and Snowden’s cache of documents is his means to that end.

Mind you, Wikileaks isn’t about revealing how the Russian FSB operates and spies on its own citizens or how China restricts Internet access and is seeking to impose fines and prison terms on those who spread what it calls online rumors about government malfeasance. You know, like when there was a deadly train crash and dozens killed when two high speed rail trains collided. The government wants to clamp down on the independent reporting of those kinds of stories and chilling free speech.

According to a judicial interpretation issued by China’s top court and prosecutor, people will be charged with defamation if online rumors they create are visited by 5,000 internet users or reposted more than 500 times.

That could lead to three years in jail, state media reported, citing the judicial document. That is the standard sentence for defamation.

“People have been hurt and reaction in society has been strong, demanding with one voice serious punishment by the law for criminal activities like using the internet to spread rumors and defame people,” said court spokesman Sun Jungong.

“No country would consider the slander of other people as ‘freedom of speech’,” Sun said at a news conference, carried live by the People’s Daily website.

The interpretation also set out what is considered a “serious case” of spreading false information or rumors online, including those which cause mental anguish to the subjects of rumors.

Other serious cases involve the spreading of false information that causes protests, ethnic or religious unrest or has a “bad international effect”.

Users of China’s popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging site expressed anger about the new rules.

“It’s far too easy for something to be reposted 500 times or get 5,000 views. Who is going to dare say anything now?” wrote one Weibo user.

Wikileaks is silent about that, but carps endlessly and breathlessly about potential harms done in worst case scenarios by the US government against people - not even necessarily US citizens at that.

144 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:43:15am
145 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:53:46am

re: #143 lawhawk

They also like to describe themselves as “citizens of the world”, also.

But they only are in the libertarian sense of making plenty of money because they don’t give a flying fuck about how many times your info is sold off to third parties. It’s all about commerce to them, and shrinking the abilities of the govt to do what the Constitution requires it to do—to ensure the safety of the nation and our people, as well as protect individual rights. Those Amendments, such as the 1st, 2nd and 4th, while important for individual rights, mean nothing if society is reduced to an anarchic state, which appears to be what they eventually want.

And by simply criticizing only the US govt through mainly foreign outlets, and with the collusion of a few American journalists (mainstream ones, aided and abetted by bloggers), it’s pretty clear where any loyalties they have lie. After all, they want that vast “market” out there in the rest of the world and to make themselves wealthier, even if it means the masses have to live like animals in some sort of twisted “Bartertown” while they continue to protect themselves.

A totally dead-end political and ethical, and socially abhorrent, philosophy of life.

146 Joanne  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:57:21am

re: #4 Vicious Babushka

I say go in and give him your cheesecake recipe. That’ll shut em up! :D

147 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 6:58:16am

re: #146 Joanne

I say go in and give him your cheesecake recipe. That’ll shut em up! :D

Totally does not deserve it!

148 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:02:36am

“Make it so,” she said.
“Yes, dear,” he said.

149 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:02:39am

Oh geez. My boss just texted me and told me they’ve decided not to keep either of the interns that got hired here for the summer and that today is going to be their last day. I don’t know if the girls have been told yet. Last week we were all told that they’d both be kept on after the internship ended, but now the money’s not there to keep them both on. We have the budget for hiring another account manager, but not two interns.

This stinks. Blah.

150 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:03:38am
151 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:04:00am

Somebody show this to David:

152 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:06:20am

Another idiot who doesn’t understand Teh Googles:

153 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:07:41am
154 Eventual Carrion  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:07:52am

re: #150 Vicious Babushka

Fairly amazing how many liberals unquestioningly accept Obama’s chem weapons case for war even tho the evidence hasn’t been released.
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) September 9, 2013

Hasn’t been released TO YOU!

155 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:08:15am

HEY U LAID-OFF IT WORKERS & ENGINEERS: THEM WALMART SHELVES AINT GONNA STOCK THEMSELVES!!11!!

156 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:08:54am

re: #154 Eventual Carrion

Hasn’t been released TO YOU!

That’s what I was asking. Since when does the general public get to review and approve all intelligence?

157 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:09:33am

re: #143 lawhawk

Snowden’s (or Assange’s, take your pick) choices of countries for Snowden to flee to undermined any credibility I might have felt he had. Sure, HK is supposedly freer and operates more closely under the rule of law than the mainland (according to GG and Wikileaks anyway), but it’s still China. HK is not as free as it was when it was a UK territory, by any stretch of the imagination. And Russia, well, any dolt show know that Putin rules Russia with an iron fist. Medvedev was just a placeholder until Vlad could resume the presidency.

Yet, GG et alia target the USA as the bad guys. I. Just. Don’t Get. It.

I wonder how far these guys would get pulling their spy capers in either China or Russia.

158 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:10:14am

re: #150 Vicious Babushka

Fairly amazing how many liberals unquestioningly accept Obama’s chem weapons case for war…

Yonder fool might be amazed at how many don’t.

.


Dear Syrians,

It has recently come to our attention that your leader is a murderous dick. To lighten your load, we have decided to bomb the shit out of you for a while (in a lovingkindness sort of way). We really don’t want to smoke your daycare centers and refugee camps, but you know how that Circular Error Probable thing works. We expect to be done in 60 days or sometime in the second Rubio administration. Lots of luck with your new leaders.

Peace and Love,
POTUS

159 Eventual Carrion  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:10:40am

re: #156 darthstar

That’s what I was asking. Since when does the general public get to review and approve all intelligence?

I know. He still hasn’t told me the combo to the safe in his house. Fucking secret keeper.

160 Targetpractice  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:10:55am

re: #150 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

Let me guess, Dave, you unquestioningly believe the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, and supermarket tabloids when they all declare that there is “proof” that the rebels were responsible for the attacks.

161 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:16:18am

re: #160 Targetpractice

Let me guess, Dave, you unquestioningly believe the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, and supermarket tabloids when they all declare that there is “proof” that the rebels were responsible for the attacks.

Aalderon was caused by a suicide bomber. —The Empire

162 makeitstop  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:17:36am

I’m noticing that a couple of Facebook wingnuts are posting ‘An Open Letter to All Americans’ - from Putin.

These stupid sons of bitches will go to any source if it makes Obama look bad. So fucked up.

163 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:18:45am

re: #150 Vicious Babushka


Representative government, how does it work?

164 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:18:47am

re: #161 darthstar

Aalderon was caused by a suicide bomber. —The Empire

The attack on the ventilator had all the earmarks of a group of religiously-inspired peshmurga.

165 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:19:32am

re: #162 makeitstop

I’m noticing that a couple of Facebook wingnuts are posting ‘An Open Letter to All Americans’ - from Putin.

These stupid sons of bitches will go to any source if it makes Obama look bad. So fucked up.

Is all this Putin-love solely because he reluctantly allowed Snowden to live in Russia? Putin hasn’t done anything else worthy of such adulation by Americans.

166 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:20:21am

re: #165 wheat-dogghazi

Is all this Putin-love solely because he reluctantly allowed Snowden to live in Russia? Putin hasn’t done anything else worthy of such adulation by Americans.

Also because of Teh Ghey.

167 Targetpractice  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:21:06am

re: #164 Decatur Deb

The attack on the ventilator had all the earmarks of a group of religiously-inspired peshmurga.

The Rebel Alliance are a bunch of terrorists!

168 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:21:17am

re: #166 Vicious Babushka

Also because of Teh Ghey.

Oh. Right. I forgot about his battle against the Russian Gay Agenda.

169 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:21:34am

re: #163 lawhawk

[Embedded content]


Representative government, how does it work?

I forgot my dot before his handle…less retweeting potential without that little sucker.

170 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:22:12am

re: #167 Targetpractice

The Rebel Alliance are a bunch of terrorists!

But they are puny, compared to the power of the Force!

171 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:22:18am

re: #167 Targetpractice

The Rebel Alliance are a bunch of terrorists!

They are if a victorious Empire writes the histories.

172 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:23:33am

re: #164 Decatur Deb

Jar Jar Binks is in actually the Sith Lord we need to worry about most. He ordered the vote dissolving the Galactic Republic and established the Galactic Empire and his actions directly led to the death of billions upon billions. /

He also let others take the fall for his actions. Sun Tzu would be proud of his cleverness. His dimwittedness is just an act. /

173 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:23:38am

UNDER OBAMACARE EVERYBODYS HEALTH INSURANCE WILL BE TAKEN AWAY!!!1!!!! NOBODY WILL HAVE HEALTH CARE!!111!!!! WE’LL ALL DIE!!!11!!!

174 Targetpractice  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:23:39am

Trying to find the story, but apparently the Russian foreign minister just came to say Moscow will push Assad to put Syria’s chemical weapons under “international control.”

Cue calls to “let diplomacy work!”

175 darthstar  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:25:23am

re: #163 lawhawk

[Embedded content]


Representative government, how does it work?

176 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:25:32am

re: #173 Vicious Babushka

UNDER OBAMACARE EVERYBODYS HEALTH INSURANCE WILL BE TAKEN AWAY!!!1!!!! NOBODY WILL HAVE HEALTH CARE!!111!!!! WE’LL ALL DIE!!!11!!!

[Embedded content]

Stockman might be right. I want universal Medicare.

177 makeitstop  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:25:33am

re: #165 wheat-dogghazi

Is all this Putin-love solely because he reluctantly allowed Snowden to live in Russia? Putin hasn’t done anything else worthy of such adulation by Americans.

I really believe the Putin love is simply because Putin is not Obama.

And much of the Putin love comes from those who will call liberals Communists at the drop of the hat.

Damn it, there goes another irony meter.

178 sagehen  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:25:49am

re: #165 wheat-dogghazi

Is all this Putin-love solely because he reluctantly allowed Snowden to live in Russia? Putin hasn’t done anything else worthy of such adulation by Americans.

There’s the anti-gay law, wingers think that’s pretty cool.

179 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:26:04am

I haven’t left for the office yet, but considering that neither intern is logged into the company Lotus Notes system when they’d normally be there by now, I’m going to assume they were told on Friday while I was out of town.

Basically, I’m 99% sure I’m going to go back to an empty office today. At least until they hire another account manager. *sigh*

180 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:26:13am

Stockman’s JRRBZ plan in a nutshell:
TAX CUTS 4 TEH RICH
TAX TEH POORS!!111
NO MOAR YOONYUNZ!!!111

181 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:26:28am

re: #174 Targetpractice

Trying to find the story, but apparently the Russian foreign minister just came to says Moscow will push Assad to put Syria’s chemical weapons under “international control.”

Cue calls to “let diplomacy work!”

Couldn’t hoit.

182 piratedan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:27:20am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

yeah Steve, so when is YOUR Jobs bill being brought up for discussion in the House?

183 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:27:39am

re: #177 makeitstop

And much of the Putin love comes from those who will call liberals Communists at the drop of the hat.

Damn it, there goes another irony meter.

Seriously. Anyone who complains about teh librulz being commies and then goes on to wax poetic about Vladimir Putin freedom lover can kiss my ass.

184 Targetpractice  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:28:18am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

Stockman’s JRRBZ plan in a nutshell:
TAX CUTS 4 TEH RICH
TAX TEH POORS!!111
NO MOAR YOONYUNZ!!!111

[Embedded content]

The website is the GOP in a nutshell: A bunch of bullet points but nothing in the way of substance. They can’t articulate their actual plans because the moment they do, people run away in fear.

185 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:28:19am

re: #180 Vicious Babushka

Stockman’s JRRBZ plan in a nutshell:
TAX CUTS 4 TEH RICH
TAX TEH POORS!!111
NO MOAR YOONYUNZ!!!111

[Embedded content]

Stockman might be right. I want a massive public infrastructure act.

186 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:30:08am

re: #175 darthstar

Let’s just ignore that the Senate has already held hearings on…. Syria. The House will have briefings today.

They’ll get to ask all kinds of questions of National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Secretary of State John Kerry, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Capitol Visitors Center auditorium at 5 p.m. Monday.

Read more: politico.com

187 Targetpractice  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:32:58am

re: #181 Decatur Deb

Couldn’t hoit.

It’s like suggesting that the US put its nuclear arsenal under “international control.” Unless Russia is suggesting that Assad surrender his chem stockpile and allow it to be removed from Syria’s borders, then all that’s really being suggested is to put another group of monitors in the room to be ignored when he decides to start gassing people again. The UN and Arab League both tried to shame him into reaching an agreement with the rebels by sending monitors and he just let them watch as he kept on killing his own people.

188 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:35:15am
189 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:36:47am

re: #187 Targetpractice

It’s like suggesting that the US put its nuclear arsenal under “international control.” Unless Russia is suggesting that Assad surrender his chem stockpile and allow it to be removed from Syria’s borders, then all that’s really being suggested is to put another group of monitors in the room to be ignored when he decides to start gassing people again. The UN and Arab League both tried to shame him into reaching an agreement with the rebels by sending monitors and he just let them watch as he kept on killing his own people.

Surveillance is not control. Control is badasses in blue helmets with crew-served weapons and friendly air at the end of the VHF.

190 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:37:37am

re: #188 NJDhockeyfan

THIS JUST IN: The IOC reinstates wrestling for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was chosen over baseball/softball and squash.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 8, 2013

Although I love seeing baseball in the olympics, I thought it was stupid to get rid of one of the oldest olympic events (wrestling). Good to see they made the right decision.

191 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:37:55am

re: #178 sagehen

There’s the anti-gay law, wingers think that’s pretty cool.

But many Muslim countries ban Teh Ghey, too.

192 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:38:32am

Female genital mutilation: ‘Mothers need to say no’

193 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:39:07am

Forgot to add this…

Although Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities carry out FGM, mainstream spiritual leaders from all three religions have denied that the practice stems from religion. Samira believes the desire to control women’s sexuality lies behind it.

194 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:39:58am

re: #193 Gus

Forgot to add this…

Although Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities carry out FGM, mainstream spiritual leaders from all three religions have denied that the practice stems from religion. Samira believes the desire to control women’s sexuality lies behind it.

WTF

195 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:40:01am

Exchange here.

196 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:40:14am

re: #194 Vicious Babushka

WTF

197 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:40:50am

re: #190 Dr. Matt

Although I love seeing baseball in the olympics, I thought it was stupid to get rid of one of the oldest olympic events (wrestling). Good to see they made the right decision.

Baseball and softball were dominated by the USA and only a handful of other countries besides the US play it. I can see the logic in removing it. Squash, I am not sure about, but it seems limited to urban areas in developed nations, and so is less international — like baseball.

198 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:43:02am

re: #195 Gus

Exchange here.

I think the only reason Juice were even mentioned in this context is so they can segue into [Dudebro]OK TEH JUICE DON’T DO FGM BUT THEY DO IT TO LITTLE BABY BOYS AND WE TOTALLY HAVE TO STOP THAT!!!111!!!!!!![/Dudebro]

199 danarchy  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:45:42am

re: #190 Dr. Matt

Although I love seeing baseball in the olympics, I thought it was stupid to get rid of one of the oldest olympic events (wrestling). Good to see they made the right decision.

I say bring back Pankration which sounds an awful lot like MMA if you ask me.

200 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:48:12am

re: #197 wheat-dogghazi

Baseball and softball were dominated by the USA

And that was the case when basketball was first brought to the olympics but that’s not true any longer.

201 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:49:14am

re: #188 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]

Good.

Not that it matters much to me. The only things I watch at the summer games are sailing, fencing, shooting & modern pentathlon.

202 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:51:02am

re: #200 Dr. Matt

And that was the case when basketball was first brought to the olympics but that’s not true any longer.

The bigger problem with all these sports is that they are team sports and the idea of the Olympics is supposed to be about individual competition. I’d rather see all team sports removed.

203 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:51:53am

re: #200 Dr. Matt

And that was the case when basketball was first brought to the olympics but that’s not true any longer.

Yes, and one wonders if it’s the nature of the two games, or whether it’s skillful marketing by the NBA. In China, at least, no one knows squat about baseball, but they are maniacs when it comes to NBA and basketball in general.

204 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:57:31am
205 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:57:45am

Bachmann went on to suggest that the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of the former Egyptian president, was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“We have seen the threat that the Muslim Brotherhood has posed, here, for the people of Egypt. We’ve seen the threat that the Muslim Brotherhood posed around the world,” she continued. “We stand against this great evil. We remember who caused nine-one-one in America. We remember who it was that killed 3,000 brave Americans. We have not forgotten. We know that you have dealt with that enemy as well.”

206 sagehen  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:59:14am

re: #202 William Barnett-Lewis

The bigger problem with all these sports is that they are team sports and the idea of the Olympics is supposed to be about individual competition. I’d rather see all team sports removed.

Hockey? Relay races?

207 wheat-dogghazi  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 7:59:28am

re: #205 Gus

Confused as usual

208 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:06:52am
209 Internet Tough Guy  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:07:27am

re: #204 Gus

Just when you think the TP and their buddies can’t undermine the United States any more, they manage to find a new way to do it.

210 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:08:03am

re: #207 wheat-dogghazi

Confused as usual

9/11… caused by al-Qaeda… mostly Saudis… not Muslim Brotherhood. But, Muslim Brotherhood has the word Muslim in it.

211 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:10:08am


Derp.

212 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:10:14am

CNN calls the Assad clan a shaky dynasty. Umm… it’s shaky enough to have survived 40+ years in a tough part of the world. It’s done so with absolute brutality and violence. Hafez Assad turned the city of Hama to rubble to quell an insurrection by the Muslim Brotherhood. His son now uses the updated Hama rules to quell the current civil war that includes Islamists, moderates, and AQ - all of which agree on the need to eliminate Assad but on nothing else.

It’s the level of brutality that has kept the regime in power, and crushing their opposition brutally and without mercy is why there haven’t been coup attempts that marked prior attempts at regime change in Syria. Assad’s father realized the importance of eliminating rivals and maintaining tight control on the military. If Bashar loses the military’s support, he’s done - just as Mubarak did in Egypt. The military in Syria is more attuned to what Assad does than in Egypt where the military is seen as lording above/over the political process.

Assad can and will continue to get away with the slaughter because no one faction in Syria is strong enough to accumulate sufficient power.

It would take someone who is close to Assad to say enough is enough and end Assad’s regime, but those in that kind of position are seen as Assad loyalists/lackeys. Not enough independence between the Assad clan and the military to make a coup a possibility.

Bashar may have toyed with opening up communications early in his regime, but he has realized the importance of cutting off internet and other communications methods when the needs serve him. He’s able to throttle the internet access that the rebels need to get their message out. And there’s no reason to think that Assad wont keep those methods in place if and when his regime succeeds in quelling the civil war.

Either that, or the civil war continues and the body count rises as refugees flee to Syria’s neighbors putting pressure on those governments to take action. The threat to Assad may not come from the US but from Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey, each of which is bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis.

213 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:10:48am

They are complaining because she wasn’t wearing an “English Channel Rules” approved swimsuit. Last time I checked there were no jellyfish in the English Channel. Global Warming might change that, though, then they will have to change the “English Channel Rules.”

214 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:11:58am
215 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:15:30am

re: #214 Gus

I don’t follow Mondoweiss or MJay, are they saying that Obama wants to go to war with Syria because that’s what TEH JUICE want?

216 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:16:55am

re: #215 Vicious Babushka

I don’t follow Mondoweiss or MJay, are they saying that Obama wants to go to war with Syria because that’s what TEH JUICE want?

Think so. The usual. AIPAC. Teh Juice.

217 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:17:48am

re: #172 lawhawk

Jar Jar Binks is in actually the Sith Lord we need to worry about most. He ordered the vote dissolving the Galactic Republic and established the Galactic Empire and his actions directly led to the death of billions upon billions. /

He also let others take the fall for his actions. Sun Tzu would be proud of his cleverness. His dimwittedness is just an act. /

Robot Chicken has covered that. Even fooled the Emperor about who was manipulating who.

218 EmmaAnne  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:23:51am

re: #194 Vicious Babushka

—- Although Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities carry out FGM, mainstream spiritual leaders from all three religions have denied that the practice stems from religion.—-

(citation needed)

219 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:26:01am

re: #206 sagehen

Hockey? Relay races?

Hockey - yes. Plus there exist top of the sport competitions for all of them - World Cup, Stanely Cup, World Series, etc.

Relay races are still more individualistic than baseball, basketball, hockey, etc.

220 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:26:19am

What are the chances this will happen?

221 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:27:33am

This fucking idiocy is going viral. Who knew there were so many morons who do not know how to use Teh Googles?

222 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:28:22am

There are NO PICTURES of BARACK OBAMA like this one. NONE.

223 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:28:45am

re: #221 Vicious Babushka

google.com

Google. How does it work?

224 Single-handed sailor  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:30:38am
225 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:34:35am


Derp. Derp. Derp.

226 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:36:10am
227 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:40:43am

Clearly protecting American citizens is important, but is secrecy and misinformation the best practice? Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act and stored in the National Archives describe Project BLUE BOOK, an operation wherein Air Force officials gathered reports of UFOs and offered accounts of natural phenomena to explain them away. “From 1947 to 1969″ the documents read, “a total of 12,618 sightings were reported to the Project BLUE BOOK. Of these 701 remain ‘Unidentified.’” BLUE BOOK was basically a program to feed misinformation to Americans to hide the fact that the Air Force was testing spy planes

Outrage!

228 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:41:37am

re: #225 Gus

Meh. All the really cool stuff happened at Groom Lake anyways. /

229 The Ghost of a Flea  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:41:49am

re: #225 Gus

[Embedded content]


Derp. Derp. Derp.

I notice the article doesn’t address the other half of Area 51 Truthers, where they use the statement “The government is lying” as evidence that whatever they say next must be true.

And then maybe you buy their new book.

230 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:41:53am

re: #225 Gus

[Embedded content]


Derp. Derp. Derp.

Mindlessly lame. The existence of Area 51 has been in the open for decades. They didn’t talk about the activities.

231 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:43:16am

re: #227 Gus

Clearly protecting American citizens is important, but is secrecy and misinformation the best practice? Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act and stored in the National Archives describe Project BLUE BOOK, an operation wherein Air Force officials gathered reports of UFOs and offered accounts of natural phenomena to explain them away. “From 1947 to 1969″ the documents read, “a total of 12,618 sightings were reported to the Project BLUE BOOK. Of these 701 remain ‘Unidentified.’” BLUE BOOK was basically a program to feed misinformation to Americans to hide the fact that the Air Force was testing spy planes

Outrage!

He continues…

For years people in Nevada saw something in the sky, and when they reported this information to the government or the Air Force, they were deflected and given responses from Project BLUE BOOK. In essence, these individuals saw something real, and the government told them it didn’t exist—or was a misinterpretation. This is what is so frightening; by controlling and choosing how to disseminate information, the government becomes a major stakeholder in what is real—and what is not.

How does it affect the American psyche when people who clearly see something are told they are wrong? How does if affect the way we see ourselves as a culture when huge sections of our country are mysteriously stricken from the grid? And are we making an unconscious choice when we fail to be outraged over government coverups?

“So many of us are willing to accept restrictions on our freedom,” said Goldberg, “restrictions on our privacy, based on our great fear of terrorism, based on our fear of tyranny. I’m concerned that we’re willing to restrict the Constitution, to restrict our own powers because of our great fears.”

For the sake of argument, let’s imagine that the most “popular” conspiracy theories were revealed to be true—the federal government was behind the assassination of JFK; 9/11 was an inside job; and the moon landing was filmed in Hollywood—how would our country react? Would we riot? Or would we close our eyes and pretend like nothing happened?

If we choose apathy in the presence of these government revelations like Area 51, we are in danger. As George Orwell wrote in “1984,” “For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?” And here is the problem: By allowing a government to manipulate information in order to maintain secrecy, we may be allowing them to destroy the very ideas of objectivity and reasoning. That’s the great injustice of the revelation of Area 51: It further confirms that for the officials we trust to protect our freedoms, truth and reality are malleable.

Lights hair on fire. Sounds like a TPer.

232 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:46:11am

re: #220 NJDhockeyfan

What are the chances this will happen?

I forgot the tweet…

233 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:46:23am

Totally out of context of the Cold War. No context of the Soviets, Chines, Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis. 13 days. The heightened state of danger we lived in.

234 Dr Lizardo  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:48:29am

re: #231 Gus

OFFS. These loonies are convinced that governments should have absolutely no secrets whatsoever.

Maybe the US military should just post the nuclear launch codes online, along with all the passwords and security clearances needed to launch them.

*headdesk*

235 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:49:13am

re: #232 NJDhockeyfan

I forgot the tweet…

[Embedded content]

236 bratwurst  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:50:01am
237 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:51:56am

re: #232 NJDhockeyfan

I forgot the tweet…

BREAKING: Russia urges #Syria to surrender chemical weapons

Could happen if it buys him a guarantee of survival. CW weapons are a pain in the ass for the maintainers. Some of our best had a 1-2% leakage rate and a ‘very low’ chance of spontaneous detonation in storage. That’s why we burned them, not love of the Russians and Chinese.

238 piratedan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:51:59am

re: #236 bratwurst

that’s so incredibly true, hell we couldn’t even get an assault weapons ban for crazy people and criminals, why in the hell would anyone here wanna take away anything from Assad, he’s just enacting the Syrian legal tradition of SYG. //

239 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:53:01am


I’m an author, journalist, and poet based in Los Angeles, California. I’m always seeking freelance editing and writing opportunities with magazines, newspapers, and businesses, but besides working during the day, my main focus is publishing my memoir. That’s my goal — to publish this book I’ve been working on now for almost eight years. And my blog will chronicle this journey. I will write about the writing life, the writing craft, sports, art, Los Angeles, travel, comedy, mental illness, nature, and family.

Memoir. Ha!

240 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:53:58am

re: #239 Gus

Memoir. Ha!

How old is this guy?

241 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:54:37am

re: #231 Gus


I live in a section of the Ohio River Valley where the military does some pretty cool test flying at night. Two incidents are particularly memorable.
1. A plane at dusk that released chaff flares. The flares lit up one by one in a perfect circle and then blinked out all at once. That resulted in UFO reports for several hundred miles.
2. A very large black wedge that blanked out stars on a particularly brilliant starry night. It was huge and utterly silent as it traveled east to west.

Pretty cool.

242 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:54:58am

re: #240 Vicious Babushka

How old is this guy?

2000 yr old vampire.

243 b.d.  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:55:13am
If U.N. inspectors confirm chemical weapons use in Syria, it would deserve international response, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says.

CNN Breaking News Banner

244 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:55:35am
245 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:56:18am


“Mr President, has the intelligence information we gathered able to identify the accent of the people responsible for the chemical attack?”

246 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:56:25am

re: #240 Vicious Babushka

How old is this guy?

Must be some new rule I haven’t heard about. Memoirs by someone in their late 20s +/-.

247 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:57:28am

re: #245 NJDhockeyfan

[Embedded content]


“Mr President, has the intelligence information we gathered able to identify the accent of the people responsible for the chemical attack?”

That’s Blitzer—you’ll need the sarc tag for this one.

248 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:58:32am

We need someone to write about national security. Let’s hire a poet.

249 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 8:59:57am

re: #248 Gus

We need someone to write about national security. Let’s hire a poet.


“Arma virumque cano, Snowden qui primis ab oris…”

250 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:01:05am

re: #249 Decatur Deb

Just be sure to get your tenses right.

Youtube Video

251 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:03:22am

Well that sucked. Had to break it to the interns that they’re not going to get hired. I’m also now worried about my own job, since the company is apparently only at two-thirds of their budget for the year. I can already hear upper management deciding to cut costs by cutting jobs. Ugh.

Guess it’s time to update my resume and start looking around.

252 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:04:13am

re: #246 Gus

Must be some new rule I haven’t heard about. Memoirs by someone in their late 20s +/-.

Wow they must have so many memories!! Way MOAR MEMORIES than those old people who keep FORGETTING STUFF.

When is somebody cat going to write a memoir, in LOLCATS?

253 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:04:34am

re: #251 Lidane

Well that sucked. Had to break it to the interns that they’re not going to get hired. I’m also now worried about my own job, since the company is apparently only at two-thirds of their budget for the year. I can already hear upper management deciding to cut costs by cutting jobs. Ugh.

Guess it’s time to update my resume and start looking around.

{{{Lidane}}}

254 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:05:10am
255 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:06:50am

DERP
How many bombs have “warmongers” dropped on Syria today? I lost count.

256 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:07:43am

re: #254 wrenchwench

For the bonus he could have mentioned Soros.

257 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:09:34am
258 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:09:42am
259 b.d.  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:11:55am

re: #257 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

Someone please let David Sirota’s parents know that he is tweeting again.

260 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:12:11am
261 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:12:47am

re: #260 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

Projection.

262 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:15:15am

re: #257 Vicious Babushka

A quick review of Sirota’s timeline reveals a flurry of name calling. What a dick.

263 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:17:04am

re: #262 Dr. Matt

[Embedded content]

A quick review of Sirota’s timeline reveals a flurry of name calling. What a dick.

When you reply to someone on Twitter, always put a . in front of their @TwitterName so all your followers will see it, not just him.

264 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:22:51am

re: #263 Vicious Babushka

When you reply to someone on Twitter, always put a . in front of their @TwitterName so all your followers will see it, not just him.

Why would you think all of someones followers would want to spend their day watching a back and forth that they’re not (nor want to be) involved in??

265 Joanne  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:23:07am

re: #147 Vicious Babushka

No, but it shows your cred (and helps people looking for recipes…and maybe takes a few bucks from this guy’s non-kosher attempt to cash in.

266 Romantic Heretic  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:23:16am

re: #118 William Barnett-Lewis

The absolute best historical/alternative history fiction I have ever read, bar none, is “The Dragon Waiting” by John M. Ford. Mike was one hell of a writer an this was him at his best.

amazon.com

So many wonderful what ifs - what if Byzantium stayed strong because what if magic were real? What if vampires were the result of a disease? What if Christianity did not replace the old religions but was simply a tiny one of many? What if Richard were a good guy? And so on.

If you like alt history, this one is not to be missed.

John M. Ford wrote the only Star Trek novel I liked.. I wrote a review of it over at Goodreads.

I’ll have to find this one.

267 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:23:33am

re: #264 sattv4u2

Why would you think all of someones followers would want to spend their day watching a back and forth that they’re not (nor want to be) involved in??

You don’t tweet, do you.

268 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:23:37am

Interesting. Kerry has been very busy.

Syria positive about giving up chemical weapons

bigstory.ap.org

It wasn’t Putin’s idea after all.

269 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:24:26am

re: #267 wrenchwench

You don’t tweet, do you.

Nope, and that makes it different because ???

270 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:26:20am

re: #269 sattv4u2

Nope, and that makes it different because ???

If you were a tweeter, you would not have asked the original question, because you would realize it made no sense.

271 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:28:00am

re: #270 wrenchwench

If you were a tweeter, you would not have asked the original question, because you would realize it made no sense.

She gave advice on how all someones followers would see the tweet that person sent to just the one person he was responding too

So,, why would all my

followers

want/ need to see something aimed at one person??

272 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:29:03am

re: #271 sattv4u2

She gave advice on how all someones followers would see the tweet that person sent to just the one person he was responding too

So,, why would all my

want/ need to see something aimed at one person??

So they can appreciate the awesome takedown, which otherwise would be wasted.

273 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:29:10am

re: #271 sattv4u2

She gave advice on how all someones followers would see the tweet that person sent to just the one person he was responding too

So,, why would all my

want/ need to see something aimed at one person??

Because it’s Twitter.

274 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:30:04am

re: #272 Vicious Babushka

So they can appreciate the awesome takedown, which otherwise would be wasted.

re: #273 wrenchwench

Because it’s Twitter.

Wow

What a,,,,,ummm,,, useful medium!!

275 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:30:09am
276 sagehen  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:30:36am

re: #244 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

Oddly enough, I’m okay with that.

277 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:31:03am

So far I have not seen ANY “Obama partisans” wish for a time when a POTUS could indiscriminately bomb anyone without any questions asked.

278 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:31:36am

re: #275 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

Jesus—sounds like he’s posting from his ‘time out’ corner. “No, I said I’m sorry, but I’m really not.”

279 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:32:13am

It’s like asking why someone would post, “And on that note, the long quiet drive home beckons” at LGF. Why???

What a useful medium.

280 lawhawk  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:32:15am

Have an aspiring superhero in your family? Need a cache of matter or antimatter for use in your latest experiments? Look no further than the Superhero Supply Shop in Brooklyn NY.

Spoiler

Profits from the store go to literacy programs being run behind secret door at the store

281 Internet Tough Guy  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:32:16am

re: #275 Vicious Babushka

You know, psycho-pharmacology has come a long way in treating delusions. He doesn’t have to argue with phantoms anymore.

282 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:32:45am

re: #278 Decatur Deb

Jesus—sounds like he’s posting from his ‘time out’ corner. “No, I said I’m sorry, but I’m really not.”

He posted and deleted that Tweet twice.

First post:
David Sirota @davidsirota
Something amazing abt Obama partisans pining for a time when a POTUS could indiscriminately bomb anyone without any questions asked

Second post:
David Sirota @davidsirota
Amazing that Obama partisans are effectively pining for a time when a POTUS could indiscriminately bomb anyone without any questions asked

283 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:33:24am

There are NO pictures of Barack Obama like this one. NONE #uniteblue #libcrib #tcot #p2

Image: uyXEK3J.jpg

Image: NOgR6EF.jpg

Image: xfB6GxO.jpg

Image: l51HvNq.jpg

Image: 9kyYbg0.jpg

Image: ghP9nKp.jpg

284 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:33:34am

re: #279 wrenchwench

It’s like asking why someone would post, “And on that note, the long quiet drive home beckons” at LGF. Why???

What a useful medium.

Yeah, because in that scenario I’m dragging all my “followers” into the conversation

((except for the part where I’m not!!))

285 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:34:10am

re: #283 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

There are NO pictures of Barack Obama like this one. NONE #uniteblue #libcrib #tcot #p2

Image: uyXEK3J.jpg

Image: NOgR6EF.jpg

Image: xfB6GxO.jpg

Image: l51HvNq.jpg

Image: 9kyYbg0.jpg

Image: ghP9nKp.jpg

Mike Andy and Prudence are a Tag Team of DERP.

286 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:34:44am

re: #284 sattv4u2

Yeah, because in that scenario I’m dragging all my “followers” into the conversation

((except for the part where I’m not!!))

Why are you bitching about something you don’t understand and don’t participate in?

287 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:35:08am

re: #275 Vicious Babushka

[Embedded content]

amazing that he is apparently calling John “I love indiscriminate bombing” McCain an Obama partisan.

288 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:35:37am

re: #266 Romantic Heretic

John M. Ford wrote the only Star Trek novel I liked.. I wrote a review of it over at Goodreads.

I’ll have to find this one.

Even though Roddenberry explicitly de-canonized The Final Reflection, Mike’s work was insanely influential. I doubt Worf could have happened without his’ novel. Damn. I only knew him online but I really miss him.

289 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:35:41am

re: #283 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

There are NO pictures of Barack Obama like this one. NONE #uniteblue #libcrib #tcot #p2

Image: uyXEK3J.jpg

Image: NOgR6EF.jpg

Image: xfB6GxO.jpg

Image: l51HvNq.jpg

Image: 9kyYbg0.jpg

Image: ghP9nKp.jpg

These ‘fact’ things you keep posting are of no consequence. The truthiness of our position is unassailable.

290 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:35:48am

re: #286 wrenchwench

Why are you bitching about something you don’t understand and don’t participate in?

The long quiet drive home hasn’t beckoned, apparently.

291 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:36:27am

lol

292 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:36:31am

re: #286 wrenchwench

Why are you bitching about something you don’t understand and don’t participate in?

I made a comment. I think that’s what we do here!
The people here now are willing participants in said comments. They can decide to stay, leave, read them or not.

293 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:37:24am

re: #292 sattv4u2

I made a comment. I think that’s what we do here!
The people here now are willing participants in said comments. They can decide to stay, leave, read them or not.

Whereas on Twitter, they are chained to their devices with their eyes propped open by toothpicks.

294 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:37:50am

It’s a trap!

295 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:38:36am

re: #293 wrenchwench

Whereas on Twitter, they are chained to their devices with their eyes propped open by toothpicks.

Twitter does have a Clockwork feel to it.

296 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:38:46am

re: #290 Vicious Babushka

The long quiet drive home hasn’t beckoned, apparently.

How can I leave without finding out what Bryan Fischer has stated!!

297 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:39:20am

re: #296 sattv4u2

How can I leave without finding out what Bryan Fischer has stated!!

You could follow @BryanJFischer

298 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:41:23am

re: #297 Vicious Babushka

You could follow @BryanJFischer

Only if he were walking on a high cliff face.

Image: phoca_thumb_l_dsc_4013small.jpg

299 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:44:08am

Maybe Satt should take a long quiet drive with Sol Berdinowitz where they can revel together in the complete lack of tweets.

300 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:45:10am

re: #297 Vicious Babushka

You could follow @BryanJFischer

WHy?

I mean, I can see “following” the exploits of my niece in Ireland with 3 daughters under the age of 5

Why would I waste my time “following” someone that
A) I care nothing about
B) just aggravates me
C) wouldn’t change just because a detractor “Tweets’ back at him

301 Vicious Babushka  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:45:44am

*FACE PALM*
Warning: link goes to wingnut Wash. Times.

302 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:45:50am

re: #299 wrenchwench

Maybe Satt should take a long quiet drive with Sol Berdinowitz where they can revel together in the complete lack of tweets.

OH NOES,,,,,

HOW WILL I EVER SURVIVE WITHOUT TEH TWEEEZT!!!

303 Gus  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:46:04am
304 makeitstop  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:47:45am

re: #303 Gus

[Embedded content]

But aren’t the Syrian opposition voices all Al Queda, whom Obama will be sending our Air Force to fight for?
//

305 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:49:35am

Another Baby with a Gun for Steve Stockman’s Bumper Sticker

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park officials are investigating after an Idaho woman reported her 3-year-old daughter shot herself with a handgun in a campground.

Park rangers responded Saturday morning to Grant Village Campground, but resuscitation efforts failed, resulting in what officials said was the first shooting death in the park since 1978.

306 Amory Blaine  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:50:10am

Unemployment is an insurance that is purchased by the employee. The employer is responsible for “mailing” it in. This amount of money is removed from your overall pay. It is a benefit. Something you earn while you are working. These wingnuts are good trained dogs for their masters. Holy shit.

307 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:51:04am

This is pretty crazy, if these providers intend to publish the exact info the NSA has in its requests to the FISC. The providers want to warn people by giving everyone the info provided by the NSA? Totally insane.

Google, Facebook, Yahoo ask US for permission to publish FISA requests

news.cnet.com

“Google, Facebook, and Yahoo on Monday announced that the petition requests that the U.S. government allow the companies to publish, in detail, the types of national security requests they have received under the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Google has also requested that the court hold the hearing publicly and not in private.”

Who exactly will this benefit?

308 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:53:10am

re: #307 Justanotherhuman

Who exactly will this benefit?


Google, Facebook, and Yahoo.

309 bratwurst  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 9:58:06am
310 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:00:16am

Youtube Video

311 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:01:43am

Those who are so inclined and enabled may wish to retweet this:

312 Amory Blaine  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:03:20am

Jesus fucking Christ what a scumbag. Doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone around him either. How precious.

313 NJDhockeyfan  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:03:55am




314 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:07:12am

And on that note, the long quiet drive home beckons!

Oh,, wait,, i AM home!!

Well then, the long quiet drive to somewhere beckons!!

Could someone please post that on Twitter.

315 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:09:15am

re: #314 sattv4u2

And on that note, the long quiet drive home beckons!

Oh,, wait,, i AM home!!

Well then, the long quiet drive to somewhere beckons!!

Could someone please post that on Twitter.

Have a nice drive, satt. Make some noise.

316 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:09:51am

re: #311 wrenchwench

These are the same “fans” that booed Santa Claus and throw batteries at opposing players.

317 sattv4u2  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:10:02am

re: #315 wrenchwench

Have a nice drive, satt. Make some noise.

I’ll beep twice in your honor

318 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:11:15am

Live feed at the link.


Over half a million watching.

319 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:12:58am

re: #318 wrenchwench

Live feed at the link.

[Embedded content]


Over half a million watching.

Or maybe 1,000. I don’t know what they mean by ‘total views’.

320 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:13:19am

re: #318 wrenchwench

Live feed at the link.

[Embedded content]


Over half a million watching.

Half a million? How much does this country revel in its ignorance?

321 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:16:41am

re: #320 Justanotherhuman

Half a million? How much does this country revel in its ignorance?

I don’t know if one feed of a speech at a foundation is indicative of anything. Pretty sketchy feed too, on my end.

322 Amory Blaine  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:19:17am

Severed the Iraq comparison.

323 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:19:35am

re: #321 wrenchwench

I don’t know if one feed of a speech at a foundation is indicative of anything. Pretty sketchy feed too, on my end.

I was listening, and now I’ve noticed this:

USA TODAY Poll: Opposition to Syrian airstrikes surges

usatoday.com

“By more than 2-1, 63%-28%, those surveyed Wednesday through Sunday say they are against U.S. military action against the Syrian regime for its reported use of chemical weapons against civilians. In the past week, support has declined by a percentage point and opposition has swelled by 15 points, compared with a previous Pew Research poll.

“As President Obama prepares to address the nation Tuesday, he can see damage the issue is doing to his own standing. He gets the lowest ratings of his presidency on handling foreign policy, and Americans by 2-1 disapprove of his handling of the situation in Syria. His overall approval rating has sagged to 44%-49%, the first time it has fallen into negative territory in well over a year.”

324 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:19:59am

re: #321 wrenchwench

I don’t know if one feed of a speech at a foundation is indicative of anything. Pretty sketchy feed too, on my end.

Poor stagecraft. She should hold up a little vial of VX.

325 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:21:27am

Iraqophobia.

326 wrenchwench  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:21:27am

re: #324 Decatur Deb

Poor stagecraft. She should hold up a little vial of VX.

Or a drawing of a bomb with a lighted fuse.

327 Lidane  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:21:47am

What could possibly go wrong?

328 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:23:38am

re: #327 Lidane

What could possibly go wrong?

Who paid for their trip, security, travel, lodging, food, etc!? Do these “important” issues only matter when a Black man travels?

329 Justanotherhuman  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:25:37am

re: #324 Decatur Deb

Poor stagecraft. She should hold up a little vial of VX.

I’m convinced people were spoiled by what happened in Iraq (and less so by Afghanistan), and just make a decision out of their asses to oppose even the slightest action against Syria.

As weary as I am of the ME, I’m simply not of the mind to let “Allah sort it out”. Or whatever a person’s god is. I’m convinced that people simply lump all of those folks together and figure they’re not worth the effort to stop the horrible genocide of CWs.

330 Amory Blaine  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:26:21am

re: #327 Lidane

They better be made to own their positions. Since they felt it was so important to deliver it in person.

331 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:27:36am

re: #329 Justanotherhuman

I’m convinced people were spoiled by what happened in Iraq (and less so by Afghanistan), and just make a decision out of their asses to oppose even the slightest action against Syria.

As weary as I am of the ME, I’m simply not of the mind to let “Allah sort it out”. Or whatever a person’s god is. I’m convinced that people simply lump all of those folks together and figure they’re not worth the effort to stop the horrible genocide of CWs.

CW is a style. 100,000 ‘conventional’ dead are content. It’s like arguing about the color of the dog that bit you.

332 Dr. Matt  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:28:56am

re: #324 Decatur Deb

Poor stagecraft. She should hold up a little vial of VX.

Like this?

333 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:31:02am

President Obama To Remind America That Chemical Warfare Is Bad

Killing over a thousand people with one campaign is exceptional. If 100,000 people were killed in two years of conventional warfare, that would be approximately 13.7 a day. If 1000 people were killed per day, that would add up to 730,000 people killed in two years and would also include scores of survivors suffering chronic neurobiological damage that might also include psychiatric effects.

Anyone who doesn’t see the difference doesn’t want to.

The ‘what’s the difference between being killed with a bullet, and being killed with a nerve agent’ is some seriously solipsistic, pseudo-intellectual navel-gazing. Gee. I don’t know. What’s the difference between a person being killed and their entire family being killed? Or between one family and an entire neighborhood? Does it matter what weapons are used for “ethnic cleansing?” Assad might as well use a nuke, then, huh? How is being vaporized en masse any different from being killed with nerve agents? Dead is dead, in the head of an observer who has the benefit of reducing death to an abstraction and doesn’t consider themselves to be at risk for any kind of violent death at the hands of others.

334 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:31:29am

re: #332 Dr. Matt

Like this?

Like this. Watching a brilliant, honorable man turn to shit.

Image: ifwt_colin_powell_anthrax.png

335 Feline Fearless Leader  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:32:29am

re: #331 Decatur Deb

CW is a style. 100,000 ‘conventional’ dead are content. It’s like arguing about the color of the dog that bit you.

That’s one of the splits. Essentially deciding whether use of CWs is crossing a line that demands some meaningful action as compared to the current status quo. Beyond that lies deciding what a meaningful action is that would have the most benefit, or more likely, the least negative consequences.

336 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:34:17am

re: #333 Pavlovian Hive Mind

President Obama To Remind America That Chemical Warfare Is Bad

Is 1000/atrocity the threshold for us to bomb someone? We are way behind on our bombing.

337 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:35:51am

re: #335 Feline Fearless Leader

That’s one of the splits. Essentially deciding whether use of CWs is crossing a line that demands some meaningful action as compared to the current status quo. Beyond that lies deciding what a meaningful action is that would have the most benefit, or more likely, the least negative consequences.

Yes. And it looks like we are being offered symbolic raids. Feel-good bombing.

338 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:38:32am

Sigh.
I give up.

1400 people were killed in that single attack.
And many more attacks of that nature are likely due to inaction.
Please, Dec, don’t tell me chemical warfare is the same as conventional warfare.

339 blueraven  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:38:34am

re: #331 Decatur Deb

CW is a style. 100,000 ‘conventional’ dead are content. It’s like arguing about the color of the dog that bit you.

Except we cant stop the use of bullets and bombs. They are “legal” weapons.

340 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:40:02am

Oh fuck it, Assad could use a nuke and the world would use the same excuses. Well, he already killed 100,000 in two years, what’s a 100,000 more in an instant?
FFS.

341 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:41:04am

re: #338 Pavlovian Hive Mind

Sigh.
I give up.

1400 people were killed in that single attack.
And many more attacks of that nature are likely due to inaction.
Please, Dec, don’t tell me chemical warfare is the same as conventional warfare.

Is to the worms, once the persistent agent breaks down.

Why are the tool and the timing important to you? Is it OK to bludgeon a dozen or so per day?

342 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:43:40am

re: #339 blueraven

Except we cant stop the use of bullets and bombs. They are “legal” weapons.

Whether weapons get loose has nothing to do with their legality. We helped Saddam do it. Their battlefield usefulness determines release, or —as it seems here— a command screw-up.

343 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:49:11am

re: #341 Decatur Deb

You make my head hurt on this issue.
;)

I can’t argue with you if you really see no difference between using bullets and using cw.

That said, I still respect ya.
:)

344 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 10:53:43am

re: #343 Pavlovian Hive Mind

You make my head hurt on this issue.
;)

I can’t argue with you if you really see no difference between using bullets and using cw.

That said, I still respect ya.
:)

Have you an idea of how many of your tax dollars went to creating and eventually destroying the weapons you describe? The bullet/gas distinction is negligible in the face of the kill/don’t kill decision. If we go in heavy we are going to kill a lot more than 1000 Syrians, some of them children, and I’m a lot more worried about what we do than what they do.

345 Pavlovian Hive Mind  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 11:00:15am

re: #344 Decatur Deb

I’m aware of our NBC programs.
I’m also aware of the casualties that will be caused by our action.
I’m also aware of the casualties that will be caused by our inaction.
I’m also aware that inaction sends the message to all tin pot dictators that CW is perfectly ok to use whenever you want. If you think the causilties in Syria the past two years were bad, you ain’t seen nothing once Assad goes full bore with cw.
It’s a fucking can of worms and I’m glad I don’t have to make this decision.
It fucking sucks either way.

346 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 11:04:19am

re: #345 Pavlovian Hive Mind

I’m aware of our NBC programs.
I’m also aware of the casualties that will be caused by our action.
I’m also aware of the casualties that will be caused by our inaction.
I’m also aware that inaction sends the message to all tin pot dictators that CW is perfectly ok to use whenever you want. If you think the causilties in Syria the past two years were bad, you ain’t seen nothing once Assad goes full bore with cw.
It’s a fucking can of worms and I’m glad I don’t have to make this decision.
It fucking sucks either way.

When his back is against the wall, no dictator is going to think twice about us before using anything he has to save his ass. It’s a human disaster if we go, it’s a disaster if we don’t go. Why make the trip?

347 Decatur Deb  Mon, Sep 9, 2013 11:10:34am

Going up to the nice shiny new Syria Bollygon thread.


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