How Edward Snowden Helped China Hack the US

Timing is everything
World • Views: 29,554

Kurt Eichenwald’s piece on China’s cyber war against the US and the disruptive influence of Edward Snowden’s leaks is a must-read: How Edward Snowden Escalated Cyber War.

China’s protests that it did not engage in hacking were waved aside by Washington, which pushed forward with a plan to publicly confront its leaders. In May, Donilon flew to Beijing to meet senior government officials there and set the framework for a summit between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping; Donilon and other American officials made it clear they would demand that hacking be a prime topic of conversation. By finally taking the step of putting public - and, most likely, international - pressure on the Chinese to rein in their cyber tactics, the administration believed it was about to take a critical step in taming one of the biggest threats to America’s economic security.

But it didn’t happen. The administration’s attempt to curb China’s assault on American business and government was crippled - perhaps forever, experts say - by a then-unknown National Security Agency contractor named Edward Snowden.

Snowden’s clandestine efforts to disclose thousands of classified documents about NSA surveillance emerged as the push against Chinese hacking intensified. He reached out to reporters after the public revelations about China’s surveillance of the Times’s computers and the years of hacking by Unit 61398 into networks used by American businesses and government agencies. On May 24, in an email from Hong Kong, Snowden informed a Washington Post reporter to whom he had given documents that the paper had 72 hours to publish them or he would take them elsewhere; had the Post complied, its story about American computer spying would have run on the day Donilon landed in Beijing to push for Chinese hacking to be on the agenda for the presidential summit.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice that many of the big breaking news stories based on Snowden’s stolen documents are being released to coincide with diplomatic events like this one.

Jump to bottom

316 comments
1 Political Atheist  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 5:59:57pm

Liar, spy, defector, traitor.

Not necessarily in that order. The man is motivated to harm US interests as much as he can.

2 b.d.  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:11:35pm

But Snowden was just trying to expose government overreach against US citizens!

“I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things. I don’t want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded.”

*sniff*

3 wrenchwench  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:27:02pm
4 Political Atheist  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:28:23pm

Maybe there is a term for a person that builds up an idyllic fantasy of what home should be like, finds it lacking compliance with his or her ideals. and then gravitates to a place that is the opposite of their ideals. Geoflounce maybe?

5 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:30:18pm
6 missliberties  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:31:22pm

“I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice that many of the big breaking news stories based on Snowden’s stolen documents are being released to coincide with diplomatic events like this one.”

Super crazy bad shit here. To think that liberals and wingnuts celebrate this guy as a hero, makes me want to puke.

7 Political Atheist  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:35:28pm

re: #6 missliberties

I have been well impressed with your comments Missliberties. Particularly on media malfeasance.

8 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:35:45pm

Somewhere, an ex-KGB handler is drinking vodka, bitching about how he had this idea 40 years ago.

9 Charles Johnson  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:39:28pm

re: #8 Kragar

Somewhere, an ex-KGB handler is drinking vodka, bitching about how he had this idea 40 years ago.

“In my day we had to work to get Americans to betray their country. These days the Americans are giving it away. You FSB guys don’t know how good you have it.”

10 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:42:26pm

North Carolina Republican Switches Party Affiliation: ‘I Guess Being American Just Isn’t Good Enough’ for the GOP Anymore’

“I didn’t go to war to defend the liberties and freedoms of one party, race, sex, or one income class of Americans,” he writes of the Republican attempt to suppress the vote.

“So, to come home from serving our country and see North Carolina legislators using their super-majority status to gerrymander districts and pass a law to deliberately suppress and oppress the voting rights of Democrats but more specifically minorities and college students, is absolutely deplorable.”

11 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:44:04pm

re: #9 Charles Johnson

“In my day we had to work to get Americans to betray their country. These days the Americans are giving it away. You FSB guys don’t know how good you have it.”

“We used to have to bribe and blackmail assets. Now you just tell some little shit that information wants to be free and he hands you a whole dossier. Kids today…”

12 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:45:34pm

re: #11 Kragar

“We used to have to bribe and blackmail assets. Now you just tell some little shit that information wants to be free and he hands you a whole dossier. Kids today…”

Alienated losers used to come over to shack up with one of our hot ballerina operators. Would someone please explain ‘honeypot’ to these idiots!

13 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:50:22pm

Meanwhile in Alabama:

“Young, a religious conservative backed by local Tea Party members, pledged to be a warrior against congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama.

“I’m going to Washington to fight for this country,” said Young, an Orange Beach developer. “We’re witnessing the end of the Western-Christian empire. I see the end of this nation if we don’t do something, and do it fast. We need real fighters - not politicians. I won’t run from a fight.”

14 jaunte  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:50:48pm
“Twenty years after Iraq, China has stealth fighters stolen with hacker techniques, designs for its carriers, and can pick and choose from all the research the United States has paid for.”
—Stewart A. Baker
former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security and former general counsel to the NSA
mag.newsweek.com

Hey, thanks Snowden, Wikileaks, Greenwald.

15 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:51:31pm

re: #13 Decatur Deb

The Western-Christian Empire? Do they have a flag?

16 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:52:59pm

re: #15 Kragar

The Western-Christian Empire? Do they have a flag?

Yup.

Image: rebel-flag.jpg

17 Shvaughn  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 6:53:43pm

re: #16 Decatur Deb

Yup.

Image: rebel-flag.jpg

Close, it’s based on this Georgia model.

Image: 700.hq.jpg

18 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:05:03pm

Your search for “The South will rise again” had no results.

Did you mean to say “I hate the United States”?

19 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:06:44pm

re: #14 jaunte

“Twenty years after Iraq, China has stealth fighters stolen with hacker techniques, designs for its carriers, and can pick and choose from all the research the United States has paid for.”
—Stewart A. Baker
Hey, thanks Snowden, Wikileaks, Greenwald.

Don’t forget that we also know they stole all of the design and performance data for the B-86 thermonuclear bomb. The largest yield nuclear bomb in our production inventory.

(billions to develop that sucker, China got it for free…again)

20 b_sharp  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:08:34pm

re: #13 Decatur Deb

Meanwhile in Alabama:

“Young, a religious conservative backed by local Tea Party members, pledged to be a warrior against congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama.

“I’m going to Washington to fight for this country,” said Young, an Orange Beach developer. “We’re witnessing the end of the Western-Christian empire. I see the end of this nation if we don’t do something, and do it fast. We need real fighters - not politicians. I won’t run from a fight.”

Is this a Christian lamenting the impending death of a privileged position? Or a chickenshit afraid others are gaining ground?

21 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:08:40pm

re: #13 Decatur Deb

Meanwhile in Alabama:

“Young, a religious conservative backed by local Tea Party members, pledged to be a warrior against congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama.

“I’m going to Washington to fight for this country,” said Young, an Orange Beach developer. “We’re witnessing the end of the Western-Christian empire. I see the end of this nation if we don’t do something, and do it fast. We need real fighters - not politicians. I won’t run from a fight.”

Who’s the Western-Christian emperor? Every empire has an emperor or empress. I must have slept through that class in World History.

Also, anyone who runs for political office is by default a politician. If he or she manages to do something monumentally grand, rising above mere party loyalty or grandstanding, they might get promoted to “statesman.” You wanna be a fighter. join the millitary, or the WBA.

22 jaunte  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:12:26pm

re: #13 Decatur Deb

“We’re witnessing the end of the Western-Christian empire. I see the end of this nation if we don’t do something, and do it fast. We need real fighters - not politicians. I won’t run from a fight.”

Look out, Cowboy Jesus just rode into town.

23 Charles Johnson  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:12:34pm

Sources: Alleged LAX Gunman Had ‘New World Order’ Conspiracy Theory Tract - Investigations

The man who allegedly killed a TSA worker and wounded three others at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday had anti-government literature in his possession outlining an alleged conspiracy to create a single global government, law enforcement sources tell NBC News.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the material recovered from Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, after the shootout at LAX appeared to have been prepared by a group called “New World Order.” One source said it also expressed animus toward racial minorities.

There is no record of a radical group by that name and the term “New World Order” is often used by conspiracy-minded groups and individuals to describe an alleged secret plot to establish an autonomous world government that would replace sovereign nations and put an end to international power struggles.

According to ConspiracyWiki, an Internet site devoted to conspiracy theories, the doctrine was primarily limited to militant anti-government and radical fundamentalist Christian groups until the early 1990s, but has since been embraced by some left-wing groups.

24 GeneJockey  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:14:06pm

re: #5 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle! That’s weapons grade self-blindness!

25 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:14:52pm

re: #20 b_sharp

Is this a Christian lamenting the impending death of a privileged position? Or a chickenshit afraid others are gaining ground?

It’s an insane TPGOP trying to out-god a slightly less insane GOP in a primary. There is a remote chance that they will gut themselves and let our flat-broke Dem squeak by.

26 Internet Tough Guy  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:17:43pm

Speaking of traitors, teh GG is doing an interview on Fox News tomorrow.

27 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:18:07pm

re: #22 jaunte

Look out, Cowboy Jesus just rode into town.

Funny, you re-bolded a statement that lost its bold in the cut/paste.

28 jaunte  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:18:50pm

re: #27 Decatur Deb

It does sort of stick out all by itself.

29 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:19:33pm

re: #20 b_sharp

“I’m going to Washington to fight for this country,” said Young, an Orange Beach developer. “We’re witnessing the end of the Western-Christian empire. I see the end of this nation if we don’t do something, and do it fast. We need real fighters - not politicians. I won’t run from a fight.”

Projection?

30 GeneJockey  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:35:39pm

So, there’s a football game at the High School across the street, and they band is playing to warm the crowd up.

It sounded familiar. Took me a moment, then I came up with it - Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1”.

Somehow, a High School playing the most famous song from a multiply-convicted pedophile seems….wrong.

31 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:39:40pm

I Googled “Western Christian Empire.” because it sounds like a pundit catchphrase. And Lo! I found its possible origin, a Brit named David Murrin, who wrote a book entitled Breaking the Code of History. davidmurrin.co.uk

Murrin argues that, unless the Western world gets its act together, the Chinese and other non-Western “empires” will overtake the West and — horror of horrors — the West will lose its ascendancy.

I’m calling him a pundit, because it seems he’s an amateur historian. From his website: “David Murrin began his career as a geophysicist with a passion for military history and went on to become a leading fund manager.”

Ayup.

Addendum: He’s been on Rush Limbaugh, in 2010.

32 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:42:15pm

re: #31 wheat-dogghazi

I Googled “Western Christian Empire.” because it sounds like a pundit catchphrase. And Lo! I found its possible origin, a Brit named David Murrin, who wrote a book entitled Breaking the Code of History. davidmurrin.co.uk

Murrin argues that, unless the Western world gets its act together, the Chinese and other non-Western “empires” will overtake the West and — horror of horrors — the West will lose its ascendancy.

I’m calling him a pundit, because it seems he’s an amateur historian. From his website: “David Murrin began his career as a geophysicist with a passion for military history and went on to become a leading fund manager.”

Ayup.

Presupposes that our esteemed candidate has read a book.

33 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:44:40pm

re: #32 Decatur Deb

I’m sure he hasn’t, but Murrin has been on Rush and CNBC touting his geopolitical doomsday theory, so Young doesn’t need to.

Besides, “Western-Christian empire” sums up the mindset of today RWNJ base, from David Barton to Ted Cruz.

34 danarchy  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:48:15pm

re: #30 GeneJockey

So, there’s a football game at the High School across the street, and they band is playing to warm the crowd up.

It sounded familiar. Took me a moment, then I came up with it - Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1”.

Somehow, a High School playing the most famous song from a multiply-convicted pedophile seems….wrong.

Maybe they were playing the KLF’s Doctorin’ the Tardis

35 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:48:23pm

re: #33 wheat-dogghazi

I’m sure he hasn’t, but Murrin has been on Rush and CNBC touting his geopolitical doomsday theory, so Young doesn’t need to.

Besides, “Western-Christian empire” sums up the mindset of today RWNJ base, from David Barton to Ted Cruz.

Young repeats that “I’m the Ted Cruz guy in this election.” He’s really the altar boy for Roy Moore, our 10 Commandments Supreme court chief. Young is notably abandoned by many TP stalwarts.

theguardian.com

36 gwangung  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:48:28pm

re: #21 wheat-dogghazi

Who’s the Western-Christian emperor? .

Obviously HE has to be white.

37 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:50:35pm

re: #36 gwangung

Obviously HE has to be white.

Doubt they mean Emperor Jones.

Image: 1325_Steichen_Robeson.jpg

38 sagehen  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:52:36pm

re: #30 GeneJockey

So, there’s a football game at the High School across the street, and they band is playing to warm the crowd up.

It sounded familiar. Took me a moment, then I came up with it - Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1”.

Somehow, a High School playing the most famous song from a multiply-convicted pedophile seems….wrong.

Art stands on its own merits, separate from the merits (or lack thereof) of the artist.

That’s why I can enjoy “Ender’s Game”; or Kipling or Wagner or Meatloaf or Phil Spector. (still can’t manage Mel Gibson, but maybe that’s because his work just isn’t that good anyway).

39 Decatur Deb  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:54:33pm

‘Nite, all.

40 gwangung  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:54:36pm

re: #38 sagehen

Art stands on its own merits, separate from the merits (or lack thereof) of the artist.

That’s why I can enjoy “Ender’s Game”; or Kipling or Wagner or Meatloaf or Phil Spector. (still can’t manage Mel Gibson, but maybe that’s because his work just isn’t that good anyway).

I’m OK with that for each individual….everyone decides that for themselves.

And you get to persuade me on a case by case basis….

41 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:55:54pm

All these moving pieces are going to fuck around and end up re-instituting full-tilt Cold War-style international paranoia and mutual espionage. Maybe that’s the plan.

All I can say for sure is that companies that make & sell tin foil are probably a pretty good investment risk right now.

42 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:58:59pm

re: #38 sagehen

Art stands on its own merits, separate from the merits (or lack thereof) of the artist.

That’s why I can enjoy “Ender’s Game”; or Kipling or Wagner or Meatloaf or Phil Spector. (still can’t manage Mel Gibson, but maybe that’s because his work just isn’t that good anyway).

I’m still boycotting Tom Cruise movies because of his Scientology bullshit, (ever since mission impossible #1) based on the critics reviews of his movies since then it doesn’t seem as if I have really missed anything worth watching anyway. :p

43 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 7:59:56pm

re: #30 GeneJockey

So, there’s a football game at the High School across the street, and they band is playing to warm the crowd up.

It sounded familiar. Took me a moment, then I came up with it - Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1”.

Somehow, a High School playing the most famous song from a multiply-convicted pedophile seems….wrong.

That song became associated with American football (AKA ‘handegg’) many years ago. I don’t know exactly how, when, or why. Ever since middle school and high school days when I and some of my friends were bullied with impunity by the Lords of Football, that song has been synonymous with knuckle-dragging jocks in my mind.

44 Gus  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 8:08:48pm

‘Night.

45 Bubblehead II  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 8:10:52pm

Lizards. Totaly fucked.up this night I will leave you with this.

Youtube Video

46 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 8:21:07pm

So the Cat is fine with “Whee-Plops” where you swing him back and forth in a two handed supporting grip as if you were going to toss him but instead only pretend to and keep ahold of him until dropping him into a couch or chair at the last half-second.

However “kitty in a bucket” (five gallon variety) does not seem to be quite as easy to sell him on being harmless. Perhaps I just need to just go back to some kind of gainful employment rather than resting on my savings and devising new ways to torture entertain the cat?

47 Dancing along the light of day  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 8:25:38pm

re: #46 ausador

I always found “jello kitty” made both of us happy.
Rubbing the sides of the cat in opposite directions.

48 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 8:47:21pm

re: #1 Political Atheist

Liar, spy, defector, traitor.

Not necessarily in that order. The man is motivated to harm US interests as much as he can.

Youtube Video

49 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:10:03pm

Finally got around to watching Dredd on Netflix. And while I love the sheer cheesiness of Stallone’s version, this one was far superior.

50 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:20:09pm

re: #49 Targetpractice

Finally got around to watching Dredd on Netflix. And while I love the sheer cheesiness of Stallone’s version, this one was far superior.

This is an extremely sad commentary on modern action movies, but I was pleasantly surprised that

a romance did NOT develop between Dredd and his female trainee.

51 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:21:19pm

re: #49 Targetpractice

Finally got around to watching Dredd on Netflix. And while I love the sheer cheesiness of Stallone’s version, this one was far superior.

Thanks for reminding me of that one, I was just trying to think of something recent that was worth downloading.

52 Amory Blaine  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:21:39pm

Diane Lane FTW!

53 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:23:05pm

re: #50 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

This is an extremely sad commentary on modern action movies, but I was pleasantly surprised that

[Embedded content]

Yeah, that was nice. Personally, I loved that they A) didn’t hold back from the violence and B) didn’t make Dredd a total ham.

54 bubba zanetti  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:53:32pm

re: #52 Amory Blaine

Corinne Burns FTW

55 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:55:08pm

re: #53 Targetpractice

Yeah, that was nice. Personally, I loved that they A) didn’t hold back from the violence and B) didn’t make Dredd a total ham.

Dredd Trivia: The Mama Clan’s tech guy was listening to Matt Berry singing the theme to Snuff Box when they first realized Dredd had their guy.

Youtube Video

56 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:56:12pm

And playing that bring my 10 year old running in “ARE YOU WATCHING SNUFF BOX? … DANG IT!”

57 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 9:58:33pm
58 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:05:51pm

Word on the street is there is a Dredd II being discussed. While the theatrical release wasn’t as big as they hoped, it did quite well on the DVD market and has a steady fanbase with good word of mouth.

Early rumors suggest the introduction of Judge Death, though some are suggesting a variation of the “Call-Me-Kenneth” or the plague that hit Megacity-2 storylines.

59 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:08:28pm

re: #57 Kragar

What’s Mr. Arf yakking about now?

60 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:13:18pm

re: #59 wheat-dogghazi

What’s Mr. Arf yakking about now?

Gay people being treated like people.

61 BongCrodny  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:15:41pm

re: #30 GeneJockey

So, there’s a football game at the High School across the street, and they band is playing to warm the crowd up.

It sounded familiar. Took me a moment, then I came up with it - Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 1”.

Somehow, a High School playing the most famous song from a multiply-convicted pedophile seems….wrong.

I’ve been pissed off about that for years.

Nobody cares.

They’ll all yell “HEY” at the appropriate time, though.

62 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:17:21pm

If you like jazz/rock fusion you should check this out.

Youtube Video

63 Feline Fearless Leader  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:19:22pm
64 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:21:08pm

re: #63 Feline Fearless Leader

night folks.

Image: Being_watched.jpg

… Soon.

65 GeneJockey  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:26:08pm

re: #57 Kragar

[Embedded content]

The usual way this is argued is to call male abusers of male children ‘homosexual’, regardless of their sexual orientation with adults. That is, a straight guy who molests a male child becomes gay in their view.

It also ignores that most victims of child sexual abuse are female. I suspect Bryan and his ilk care less about the girls who are molested than the guys, because they’d probably see that as less ‘unnatural’.

66 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:31:09pm

re: #65 GeneJockey

67 bratwurst  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:31:40pm
68 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:35:11pm

So I talked to my brother this afternoon (deacon in an Evangelical mega church) and he is taking the kids camping this weekend for the final Boyscout outing.

Final Boyscout outing? I asked

Yes, we are switching to “Trailwise” after this, he said.

What is “Trailwise? How is it different from the Boyscouts?” I asked.

Trailwise is boys only which the Boyscouts no longer are (yes really, look it up), will not take gay scouts, and only takes evangelical Christians from a few denominations as scouts.

My brother thinks that this is a great thing, then again he thinks the rapture and the complete destruction of civilization and mankind’s limited time of self-determination would be a great thing too.

He then went on to explain how the “Trailwise” charter said that every single individual troop everywhere had to agree to any change in the organizations by-laws unanimously. He believes that therefore unlike the Boyscouts they couldn’t be sued for discrimination or not being inclusive of minorities.

He actually thinks they can just say, “well gee, we tried to change that rule but chapter 1148 in Albuquerque voted it down so we couldn’t do it.”

Don’t get me wrong, my brother is extremely intelligent, excels at strategy style games (at which he always kicked my ass as a kid) and is otherwise a liberal (scarily close to libertarian at times).

But when it comes to this “fallen and sick” world (Boyscouts, because they will now take gay scouts, really?) getting anywhere near to his kids? Forget about it…sigh… :(

69 Dancing along the light of day  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:37:51pm

re: #68 ausador

Whatever, Dude, would have been my response.
You’re F’awesome for talking to him.
IMHO…

70 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:41:11pm

re: #68 ausador

Its absolutely stunning how stupid “clever” people can be.

71 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:42:14pm

re: #68 ausador

re: #69 Dancing along the light of day

That sort of “everyone has to agree” rule won’t stop a lawsuit. If troops were to hold out, then a federal judge would be quite willing to simply levy large fines until Trailwise complied with a court order. And if the fines were not paid the courts would simply move to seize funds and property.

Your brother needs to engage the strategy part of his brain on this problem.

72 wrenchwench  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:45:31pm

re: #71 Dark_Falcon

Your brother needs to engage the strategy part of his brain on this problem.

I think it’s the empathy part that’s broken.

73 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:51:03pm

re: #72 wrenchwench

I think it’s the empathy part that’s broken.

Yes, but its easier to get someone thinking strategically than empathetically. So you’re better off starting with strategy and getting to empathy much later, ofter you have had a chance to work at changing the other person’s thinking.

74 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:53:33pm

re: #58 Kragar

Word on the street is there is a Dredd II being discussed. While the theatrical release wasn’t as big as they hoped, it did quite well on the DVD market and has a steady fanbase with good word of mouth.

Early rumors suggest the introduction of Judge Death, though some are suggesting a variation of the “Call-Me-Kenneth” or the plague that hit Megacity-2 storylines.

I’d pay good money to see Karl Urban as Dredd do the infamous “Gaze into the Fist of Dredd” scene.

75 freetoken  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:58:05pm

re: #68 ausador

There have been evangelical/fundamentalist alternatives to the Boy Scouts for many years, e.g., the pentecostal Royal Rangers.

This latest fad of anti-Boy Scouts is driven by homophobia, but there have been previous objections to the Boy Scouts.

76 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:58:36pm

re: #60 Kragar

Gay people being treated like people.

In other words, his number one obsession topic, followed closely by Obamacare, and then the utter demise of Western civilization.

77 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:59:09pm

Fuck you Edward Snowden, you deserve to be Putin’s bitch.

78 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 10:59:31pm

And now, a little something closer to home.

79 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:00:35pm
80 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:01:36pm

re: #77 darthstar

Fuck you Edward Snowden, you deserve to be Putin’s bitch.

Actually he deserves to be stripped naked and tossed out onto the streets of Moscow in January. But I can settle for him being Putin’s bitch.

81 Dark_Falcon  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:02:50pm

Goodnight, all. Sorry to leave right now, but I’m just fading too fast.

82 GeneJockey  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:12:49pm

re: #66 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Funny thing - I already knew this, having previously looked it up, but I wanted to confirm my recollection, and that was one of the links I looked at.

83 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:13:50pm

Great fucking article on the ACA from Consumer Reports (not a liberal mouthpiece by anyone’s imagination)…

consumerreports.org

A A
Junk health insurance
Stingy plans may be worse than none at all
Consumer Reports magazine: March 2012
Legal but inadequate | Insurance that is not | Are there alternatives? | Avoid pitfalls when buying insurance on your own | 8 signs the plan you are pitched might be junk | Largest mini-med sellers

It might seem to be health insurance, if you don’t look too closely, and most people don’t. The premiums are surprisingly affordable. And so millions of unemployed people, service industry workers, and those taken in by fast-talking telemarketers sign up. They may think they’re insured—until they have a medical problem and find out that their coverage is as skimpy as a hospital gown.

The Affordable Care Act was supposed to usher in a new era of consumer-friendly health care. For instance, insurers are no longer allowed to put outrageously low limits on the amount they pay out for medical care in a year or lifetime.

While millions of Americans have benefited from that and other reforms, many are still prey to the kind of skimpy “junk” plans the new law was designed to eliminate. Some plans, known as mini-meds, are operated by employers and brand-name insurance companies with special dispensation from the federal government. Others, such as health discount cards and fixed benefit indemnity plans, from companies you’ve probably never heard of, are so meager that regulators don’t consider them to be health insurance at all—though that’s frequently not clear to consumers. And some of the companies operate one step ahead of the law.
Legal but inadequate
Surgery delayed
Judith Goss put off cancer surgery while she searched for a way to pay for it.

Judith Goss, 48, of Macomb, Mich., believed that the Cigna plan she obtained through her job at the Talbots retail chain was “some type of insurance that would cover something.” When the store she worked at closed in January 2011, she even paid $65 a month to keep the coverage through COBRA.

“I was aware that it wasn’t a great plan, but I wasn’t concerned because I wasn’t sick,” she says. But in July 2011 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, at which point the policy’s annual limits of $1,000 a year for outpatient treatment and $2,000 for hospitalization became a huge problem. Facing a $30,000 hospital bill, she delayed treatment. “Finally my surgeon said, ‘Judy, you can’t wait anymore.’ While I was waiting my tumor became larger. It was 3 centimeters when they found it and 9 centimeters when they took it out.” After a double mastectomy, radiation treatments, and reconstructive surgery, Goss is taking the drug tamoxifen to prevent recurrence.

84 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:15:27pm

re: #83 darthstar

More than I intended to quote, but that’s okay…I blame the MaCallan.

85 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:17:14pm

re: #84 darthstar

More than I intended to quote, but that’s okay…I blame the MaCallan.

Well, if you’d share a little o’ that, we wouldna care.

86 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:20:00pm

re: #85 wheat-dogghazi

Well, if you’d share a little o’ that, we wouldna care.

Up in Lake Tahoe for the Ski Patrol refresher training….staying with a patrol buddy….he had my Woodford Reserve bourbon and vermouth from last time I was here, so I had my normal post-drive Manhattans, then I noticed the two bottles of MaCallan and couldn’t resist…altitude + alcohol= long day tomorrow for me…shit…I can barely type.

87 GeneJockey  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:20:10pm

re: #83 darthstar

Great fucking article on the ACA from Consumer Reports (not a liberal mouthpiece by anyone’s imagination)…

consumerreports.org

This part really stuck out for me:

“I was aware that it wasn’t a great plan, but I wasn’t concerned because I wasn’t sick,”

That’s the whine you’ll hear repeatedly, whether it’s young people or people who “like their healthcare plan”, because they’ve never had to use it.

We have always had good health insurance, because it’s pretty much de rigeur in the Biotech biz. Still, 8 years ago when Mrs. Jockey was diagnosed with Stage I Breast Cancer, we ended up with over $6000 out of pocket expenses. I can only imagine what the full cost would have been.

Mid 40s, no cancer in her family. Healthy as a horse. You need health insurance for the things that you don’t expect to happen, same as any other kind of insurance.

88 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:23:14pm

re: #74 Targetpractice

I’d pay good money to see Karl Urban as Dredd do the infamous “Gaze into the Fist of Dredd” scene.

As much as I like that idea, I don’t want to see another zombie pic, so they would have to be careful with Judge Death.

89 wheat-dogghazi  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:26:27pm

re: #86 darthstar

Up in Lake Tahoe for the Ski Patrol refresher training….staying with a patrol buddy….he had my Woodford Reserve bourbon and vermouth from last time I was here, so I had my normal post-drive Manhattans, then I noticed the two bottles of MaCallan and couldn’t resist…altitude + alcohol= long day tomorrow for me…shit…I can barely type.

Two bottles! You must have gone on a spending spree last time.

I can’t get single malt scotch where I am, only blendeds. I am envious.

90 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:28:51pm

re: #87 GeneJockey

Exactly. And 6K isn’t a small chunk of change for most people. I was unemployed for three months at the start of the year and we’re still recovering - wound up eating over 20K in savings…now we’re recovering (and we make over 250K combined) from the hit we took (and the job I took barely covers mortgage and bills…we thought we were back to pre-layoff, but a 15K annual hit was something we overlooked…but we are in a position to recover fully in another month or two, though pre-booked expenses are still taking their toll.

I know that sounds absurd, and it is, but there was a time a year ago when I made our 5K mortgage (including PMI & other shit) and we still saved money…took me a while to figure the expiration of the payroll tax cut was slowly eating away at our cushion.

91 prairiefire  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:29:01pm

Son of a bitch traitor! Nobody send him double quilted American toilet paper!

92 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:29:11pm

re: #88 Kragar

As much as I like that idea, I don’t want to see another zombie pic, so they would have to be careful with Judge Death.

True. “Call-Me-Kenneth” would probably be better, though they’d need to avoid it turning into a Terminator knock-off.

93 ausador  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:29:16pm

re: #88 Kragar

As much as I like that idea, I don’t want to see another zombie pic, so they would have to be careful with Judge Death.

You can’t stop now, you must watch the next 15 zombie movies that are already in production, and play at least three of the seven zombie games nearing completion. Otherwise…well, the people depending on income from these ventures might starve and become…ZOMBIES!

94 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:29:30pm

re: #89 wheat-dogghazi

Two bottles! You must have gone on a spending spree last time.

I can’t get single malt scotch where I am, only blendeds. I am envious.

It’s not my scotch, which is why I had three of them. :)

95 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:30:35pm

re: #92 Targetpractice

True. “Call-Me-Kenneth” would probably be better, though they’d need to avoid it turning into a Terminator knock-off.

They could also do the Block Wars or the Sov Invasion for a Apocalypse War.

96 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:31:34pm

re: #87 GeneJockey

This part really stuck out for me:

“I was aware that it wasn’t a great plan, but I wasn’t concerned because I wasn’t sick,”

That’s the whine you’ll hear repeatedly, whether it’s young people or people who “like their healthcare plan”, because they’ve never had to use it.

We have always had good health insurance, because it’s pretty much de rigeur in the Biotech biz. Still, 8 years ago when Mrs. Jockey was diagnosed with Stage I Breast Cancer, we ended up with over $6000 out of pocket expenses. I can only imagine what the full cost would have been.

Mid 40s, no cancer in her family. Healthy as a horse. You need health insurance for the things that you don’t expect to happen, same as any other kind of insurance.

They never have to use it, right up until that “one-in-a-million” ailment hits them, then suddenly it’s “How was I supposed to know?!” You generally don’t, genius. But there are a lot of diseases and conditions whose warning signs come on long before the serious shit happens. And when you blow off doctor’s visits or prescriptions because “It’ll go away,” then you end up in the ER pissing blood and trying to figure out how you just blew through your deductible and are fast approaching your lifetime cap.

97 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:32:23pm

re: #95 Kragar

They could also do the Block Wars or the Sov Invasion for a Apocalypse War.

I could see a lot of potential in the Sov Invasion.

98 darthstar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:34:28pm

Okay folks…time to sleep. Catch you in five or six hours.

99 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:35:24pm

re: #97 Targetpractice

I could see a lot of potential in the Sov Invasion.

Or even better, a Block War which was initiated by Sov infiltrators.

100 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:37:12pm

re: #99 Kragar

Or even better, a Block War which was initiated by Sov infiltrators.

With Dredd, at the end, just shrugging it all off as another day on the beat.

101 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:40:50pm

re: #100 Targetpractice

With Dredd, at the end, just shrugging it all off as another day on the beat.

I forget when it happened, but there was one issue where Dredd saved a woman from some attackers, so she kissed him as a thank you.

“Unlawful contact with a Judge. 6 months in the isocubes.”

102 Targetpractice  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:45:56pm

re: #101 Kragar

I forget when it happened, but there was one issue where Dredd saved a woman from some attackers, so she kissed him as a thank you.

“Unlawful contact with a Judge. 6 months in the isocubes.”

And now I’m reminded of the infamous scene from Robocop with a similar situation.

“Madam, you have suffered an emotional shock. I will notify a rape crisis center.”

103 Kragar  Fri, Nov 1, 2013 11:58:14pm

They could also bring in Spikes Harvey Rotten, the best punk the world would ever know.

104 piratedan  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 12:12:19am

well one of the more recent developments is that Snowden is supposedly lobbying world leaders to get the US to drop the charges that have been laid against him:

news.msn.com

The part I don’t know yet, has the US actually filed charges against him and if so, what charges?

imho, I hope that he’s picked up, brought to trial for espionage and thrown away in jail for a long long time. Then see Greenwald and anyone else from that happy friendly crew that willingly conspired to break the law (if that can be proven) and have them also tossed in jail for a long long time. While the world of espionage and diplomacy is often referred to as “the Great Game”, these “games” have repercussions, people die, governments are toppled, careers and fortunes lost.

I get that Obama is serious about this shit, I want him to be. After all, his track record on hunting down terrorists is a damn site more laudable than his predecessor. I love the fact that he wants to shut down Gitmo, repudiate torture and spend more assets and resources on signals and humint sources. Restore our reputation nationally, when and where he can. I think he’s serious about NSA limitations, he just has to have something that he can sign as law. Again, this may be one of those incremental process items like the ACA.

Back to Snowden, again, lets see what he does, not what he says, but I sure want this duplicitous bastard to pay.

105 Lidane  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 12:26:57am

Rebranding!

106 freetoken  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 1:00:39am
107 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 2:27:46am

Texas Attorney General Almost Disenfranchised By His Own Voter ID Law

Abbott was flagged because his license lists his name as “Gregory Wayne Abbott” while his voter registration record simply calls him “Greg Abbott.”

108 freetoken  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 2:29:35am

Hmmm… Cole didn’t do it for anyone… how about some Russian long hair music:

MP3 Audio

109 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 3:37:07am

re: #104 piratedan

The part I don’t know yet, has the US actually filed charges against him and if so, what charges?

US charges NSA leaker Snowden with espionage

usnews.nbcnews.com

Snowden has been charged with three violations: theft of government property and two offenses under the espionage statutes, specifically giving national defense information to someone without a security clearance and revealing classified information about “communications intelligence.”

110 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 3:45:22am

Must See Snore TV

deadline.com

Knit one, purl … eight-plus hours of live stitching

8 hours of KNITTING!!

111 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:07:11am

re: #110 sattv4u2

>Must See Snore TV

deadline.com

Knit one, purl … eight-plus hours of live stitching

I’ve heard that the knitter in blue drops a stitch at around 6:43:21. Be sure to put a highlight edit around that. Slo-mo might be cool.

112 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:17:00am

re: #111 Decatur Deb

I’ve heard that the knitter in blue drops a stitch at around 6:43:21. Be sure to put a highlight edit around that.

Serves her right

She’s using a corked needle

113 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:21:14am

re: #110 sattv4u2

>Must See Snore TV

deadline.com

Knit one, purl … eight-plus hours of live stitching

8 hours of KNITTING!!

Man, you sound jealous!
;)

114 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:25:43am

re: #113 Varek Raith

Mine, you sound jealous!
;)

Nahh

I’m just mad because my DVR only records for 6 hours!

115 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:26:23am

Contemptible Conservatism:

“Poor People Do Not Deserve to Have Children”

demos.org

Not aware of this group—might be worth exploring.

116 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:26:55am

If you haven’t read the entire linked Newsweek article, you should. I still don’t think we know, or fully, understand the damage Snowden has done to both the US and intl relations. It’s no wonder to me that he chose to first flee to China, then was taken in by Russia. He wasn’t quite 30 when he committed his crimes, and in many respects, he reminds me of the principals in the Red Army Faction, without the direct violence, but with the same narcissism and twisted ideology.

Last night, I watched Der Baader Meinhof Komplex that Dr. Lizard had recommended, on Netflix. While doing so, a young work mate of my g-son’s came in, dreadlocks flying, and asked me what the movie was about. “Privileged white motherfuckers who thought they were revolutionaries in Germany”, I replied. He started laughing and said, “I love you, Granny, you get right to the point,”

But it’s true, as I see it. Those “revolutionaries” were never personally discriminated against, had never suffered anything other than the usual life and death consequences of every other human being, but still thought they could lead a “revolution” by riffing off the real issues confronting those whose causes they embraced. And they engaged in ordinary criminal activities, including murder, to get themselves and their ideology noticed. They gave lip service to their “collective” but it was mainly a group of immature egos fighting for dominance, which is always the case when change is not a grass roots phenomenon and “revolution” dwells only in the fevered minds of the privileged who have no real idea of what oppression is and don’t really understand how it affects the lives of those who suffer it. I think the scenes from the group’s visit to the Fatah training camp was a clear example of this—they considered themselves on the same level with Fatah (who appeared to despise them as being debauched, undisciplined and disrespectful) and having the same connection with the Soviet Union, China and other countries providing Fatah weapons—and they were in over their heads by thinking that learning weaponry and “guerrilla warfare” would make them “revolutionaries”.

In my most political days, I was familiar with these types and could not understand why they would throw away what I had worked hard to try to attain, even giving up their children, and go along with others who cared nothing for their personal existence but only what they offered to a personalized ideology that could actually commit murder and mayhem against innocent people to achieve an aim. I saw more than a few people I thought were anti-social personalities who really didn’t care about changing minds, as long as their own personal issues were satisfied.

Ulrike Meinhof herself said,

“Protest is when I say this does not please me.
“Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more.”

All about me, in the end, and the philosophy of a 2 yr old expressed in adult philosophical terminology still makes it the philosophy of a 2 yr old.

117 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:27:06am

re: #114 sattv4u2

Nahh

I’m just mad because my DVR only records for 6 hours!

Andy Warhol was born too soon.

118 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:29:36am

re: #115 Decatur Deb

Contemptible Conservatism:

>”Poor People Do Not Deserve to Have Children”

demos.org

Not aware of this group—might be worth exploring.

Looks like they’re all over the place politically

Under “EVENTS”


November 12, 2013
An Unfinished Mission: Making Wall Street Work for Us

119 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:32:58am

re: #118 sattv4u2

Looks like they’re all over the place politically

Under “EVENTS”

November 12, 2013
An Unfinished Mission: Making Wall Street Work for Us


MEDIA ADVISORY: Hundreds Expected to Rally Against Big Money in Politics During Argument of McCutcheon v. FEC

I like their…optimism.

120 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:46:10am

re: #115 Decatur Deb

Contemptible Conservatism:

>”Poor People Do Not Deserve to Have Children”

demos.org

Not aware of this group—might be worth exploring.

That article is not what it appears.

I received a phone call today from someone who had seen Demos’ Vice President, Heather McGhee, on MSNBC talking about why people need food stamps. The caller stated, “People who are poor do not deserve to have children. I’ve seen these people with 1,2, 5 children. If you can’t afford to feed them, don’t have them.”

It’s easy to dismiss this as the ravings of a lunatic but the truth is that this mentality is all too pervasive, even though it is repulsive both as a matter of public policy and as a moral value.

121 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:48:28am

re: #120 Varek Raith

That article is not what it appears.

Always saw it as a liberal source quoting a RW’er. Demos seems to be a more wonky version of Move On.

122 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:53:26am

re: #121 Decatur Deb

Always saw it as a liberal source quoting a RW’er. Demos seems to be a more wonky version of Move On.

I had never heard of this group.

123 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:55:23am

re: #122 Varek Raith

I had never heard of this group.

Yeah—showed up on today’s Memorandum. Probably the grabber headline.

124 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 4:57:55am

re: #121 Decatur Deb

Always saw it as a liberal source quoting a RW’er. Demos seems to be a more wonky version of Move On.

Yes, their motto: “Policy As If People Mattered”, with other articles, like this comment on WalMart statements:

Food Stamp Cuts as Business Opportunity? Walmart “Modestly Optimistic” About Less Nutrition Aid

demos.org

Walmart thinks more poor people will visit their stores if they don’t have enough money to spend on food.

I don’t think so.

125 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 5:01:48am

re: #124 Justanotherhuman

Yes, their motto: “Policy As If People Mattered”, with other articles, like this comment on WalMart statements:

Food Stamp Cuts as Business Opportunity? Walmart “Modestly Optimistic” About Less Nutrition Aid

demos.org

Walmart thinks more poor people will visit their stores if they don’t have enough money to spend on food.

I don’t think so.

Possible if Target-ish shoppers are driven down by declining cash. At the other end current Walmart shoppers (and employees) find themselves with less to spend.

126 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 5:04:35am

Dogwalk—BBIAB

127 Dr Lizardo  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 5:30:02am

re: #116 Justanotherhuman

Hello; I take it you enjoyed the film?

I did, largely because the script, the director, and the actors struck the right balance in illustrating what they, as so-called “revolutionaries”, really stood for, which was - in the end - very little beyond lip service to Marxist ideas and principles. The scene in the Fatah camp was, for me, quite illustrative of that; the Fatah revolutionaries viewed the RAF as little more than debauched, ill-mannered narcissistic children.

128 Dr Lizardo  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 5:54:36am

re: #116 Justanotherhuman

And if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend “Carlos”, and if it’s available in the 5.5 hour miniseries format, that’s the one to see. For me, it’s sort of a companion piece to “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex”, focusing on the life and times of Carlos the Jackal, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. That it was done as a miniseries for French television (Canal+) is all the more remarkable……personally, I cannot imagine an American TV network even pondering for 5 seconds doing something like this one. Maybe HBO, but I sort of doubt it.

It’s simply brilliant - well-scripted, well acted (particularly Edgar Ramirez in the titular role) and excellent directing by Olivier Assayas.

129 Romantic Heretic  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:06:31am

re: #49 Targetpractice

Finally got around to watching Dredd on Netflix. And while I love the sheer cheesiness of Stallone’s version, this one was far superior.

I was a big fan of the strip back in the 70s/80s.

My all time favourite line from the strip? “Any cadet who can put his own mother away for 18 years has the makings of a damn fine Judge.”

130 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:10:24am

re: #127 Dr Lizardo

Yes, enjoyed it tremendously—it made me think a lot about that time period and some of the characters I personally knew—how similar in personality they were to those in the film.

BTW, you might enjoy thIs brilliant review by Christopher Hitchens, who saw mass psychosis in the gang and compared the film to others from Hollywood, which tend to romanticize similar figures.

Once upon a Time in Germany

“Movies have often romanticized Communist revolutionaries—think Benicio Del Toro as Che. But a new action thriller, The Baader Meinhof Complex, counterpunches, exposing the violent psychosis that gripped the young militants of the Red Army Faction in 1970s West Germany.”

vanityfair.com

131 Romantic Heretic  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:11:35am

re: #58 Kragar

Word on the street is there is a Dredd II being discussed. While the theatrical release wasn’t as big as they hoped, it did quite well on the DVD market and has a steady fanbase with good word of mouth.

Early rumors suggest the introduction of Judge Death, though some are suggesting a variation of the “Call-Me-Kenneth” or the plague that hit Megacity-2 storylines.

I’d like to see one with Chopper in it.

132 lawhawk  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:14:41am

re: #96 Targetpractice

One in a million ailment?

It’s a whole lot more than that -

Prostate cancer strikes 126 in 100,000.
Breast cancer strikes 116 in 100,000.

One of my friends was nearly wiped out economically by cancer treatment costs. She’s doing well, but the economic costs take their toll too. And that’s with a good insurance policy because of lost income due to time away from work. Another was able to get through the treatments because of multiple superimposed insurance policies.

That’s just for cancer. There’s stuff like broken bones, appendectomies, and other common ailments for which people are hospitalized. All can result in tremendous costs that those junk policies simply don’t cover. And the costs get borne by people who are economically unable to afford the repercussions.

Hospitals and providers under the current system try to recoup indigent care costs from insureds. They also engage in all manner of collections tactics.

The ACA changes how hospitals and providers are paid - with insurance, those hospitals are getting funds rather than trying to collect after the fact. It’s meant to improve the economic health of the hospitals and providers. It also benefits the individuals who previously didn’t have insurance or had crappy insurance previously since it now hedges against those kinds of ailments that would put people into serious economic distress.

And yet the GOP is fighting all this as somehow being bad.

Many folks aren’t so lucky.

133 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:21:29am

Okay, who drove a nail into my forehead while I was sleeping? Mornin’ everyone. Fuck you MaCallan.

134 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:23:54am

re: #133 darthstar

Okay, who drove a nail into my forehead while I was sleeping? Mornin’ everyone. Fuck you MaCallan.

What a waste of a perfectly good nail!

135 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:26:36am

re: #134 sattv4u2

What a waste of a perfectly good nail!

Really.

136 lawhawk  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:26:42am

re: #133 darthstar

I’ll solve that problem for you. Pass the Macallan here, and I’ll use it for safe-keeping… :)

137 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:31:14am
138 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:32:41am

re: #128 Dr Lizardo

And if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend “Carlos”, and if it’s available in the 5.5 hour miniseries format, that’s the one to see. For me, it’s sort of a companion piece to “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex”, focusing on the life and times of Carlos the Jackal, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. That it was done as a miniseries for French television (Canal+) is all the more remarkable……personally, I cannot imagine an American TV network even pondering for 5 seconds doing something like this one. Maybe HBO, but I sort of doubt it.

It’s simply brilliant - well-scripted, well acted (particularly Edgar Ramirez in the titular role) and excellent directing by Olivier Assayas.

“Year of the Gun” was a good ‘outside’ look at an American naif tangled up with Italy’s Red Brigades—their version of BMG.

imdb.com

139 Flounder  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:33:35am

Mooresville’s J.B. Mauney captures his first Professional Bull Riders world title

charlotteobserver.com

I just saw his interview on CBS morning show. It looked like the hosts were interviewing a wild animal.

140 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:33:51am

re: #137 darthstar

Mr. Snowden made his appeal in a letter that was carried to Berlin by Hans-Christian Ströbele, a veteran member of the Green Party in the German Parliament.

Another “To whom it may concern” letter, I presume.

141 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:34:34am

Beautiful cloudless day here in the wild north country. I’m hoping it’s a good day to sell a car.

142 Flounder  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:36:20am

re: #141 thedopefishlives

What’s wrong with it?!
;)

143 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:38:02am

re: #136 lawhawk

Hey Lawhawk…got a legal question for you. Let’s say I stole a shitload of classified intelligence from a country…hypothetically speaking of course…we’ll call it the United States (for lack of a better name). Then I partner with a petulant blogger activist in Brazil to leak some of these documents (not many in the grand scheme of things…I took like fifteen thousand of them) as breaking stories even though some of them are seven years old and may no longer be accurate.

Is it cool if I just say, “Water under the bridge, people…stop treating me like a traitor.” and we forget the whole thing? Does that have a good chance in court, and can we get Judge Judy to preside?

144 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:38:21am

re: #142 Flounder

What’s wrong with it?!
;)

Ashtray is full

145 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:38:36am

re: #142 Flounder

What’s wrong with it?!
;)

I think the day’s in great condition.

146 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:38:56am

re: #144 sattv4u2

Ashtray is full

I hate when that happens.

147 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:39:43am

re: #142 Flounder

What’s wrong with it?!
;)

It dared to inconvenience me by falling apart on the road one day. It must be … PUNISHED.

148 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:39:51am

re: #145 darthstar

I think the day’s in great condition.

I’ll let you know in about 4 hours, after I’ve left work and played the front 9

149 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:41:38am
150 Flounder  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:41:51am

re: #147 thedopefishlives

Well I wish you the best of luck, there are more arseholes buying cars than on the innernets.

151 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:42:44am

re: #148 sattv4u2

I’ll let you know in about 4 hours, after I’ve left work and played the front 9

If you shoot less than 72 feel free to lie and say you played all 18.

152 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:42:49am

re: #150 Flounder

Well I wish you the best of luck, there are more arseholes buying cars than on the innernets.

I’m 2-for-2 so far selling via Craigslist, but this one might be tricky because the guy who called yesterday thinks he might be able to repair it and drive it. I’m honestly not certain if it is fixable, it’s certainly beyond my abilities.

153 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:44:54am

re: #151 darthstar

If you shoot less than 72 feel free to lie and say you played all 18.

Shot two pars is a row the other day

They were, however, on the same hole

4 shots from tee to green

4 putts once on the green!!

154 lawhawk  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:47:16am

re: #143 darthstar

Hey Lawhawk…got a legal question for you. Let’s say I stole a shitload of classified intelligence from a country…hypothetically speaking of course…we’ll call it the United States (for lack of a better name). Then I partner with a petulant blogger activist in Brazil to leak some of these documents (not many in the grand scheme of things…I took like fifteen thousand of them) as breaking stories even though some of them are seven years old and may no longer be accurate.

Is it cool if I just say, “Water under the bridge, people…stop treating me like a traitor.” and we forget the whole thing? Does that have a good chance in court, and can we get Judge Judy to preside?

Is it cool? Hmmm… lemme put my DudeBro hat on.

Yup. Abso-frickin-lutely. Can’t do any better than that. There’s your get out of jail/Russian asylum status card.

But that’s not how any Federal prosecutor will see it. They’ll want to see him breaking big rocks into little rocks for the rest of his life. And they’d seriously consider doing the same with that Brazilian activist, and his little dogs, too.

155 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:48:44am

re: #154 lawhawk

“And his little dogs, too”…that made me laugh out loud.

156 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:51:20am

re: #139 Flounder

Mooresville’s J.B. Mauney captures his first Professional Bull Riders world title

charlotteobserver.com

I just saw his interview on CBS morning show. It looked like the hosts were interviewing a wild animal.

It’s a stupid, cruel “sport”, IMHO.

I live about 20 mi from Mooresville and even worked there for a couple of years. I’ve never heard of this guy (well, he’s only 26), but I’m sure he probably has a knack for PR. After all, Mooresville is full of young white guys like him, being “Race City” and all, so he has to have a better schtick to get noticed.

157 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:51:28am

Fuck the Jimmy Carter haters…he’s right.

158 lawhawk  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:52:10am

And Snowden wants the Germans to get the US to grant him clemency. That’s not how it happens and ignores how the real world works.

The German intel services know that they benefit from NSA intel sharing - and vice versa, so their intel stream is harmed by Snowden’s leaks. While DudeBro and extremists want to expose the US NSA and undermine US foreign policy and strategic interests, and politicians will grandstand endlessly on how this is so bad, they and other policymakers use and need the intel produced by the NSA and the intel services. They’re also the first to bitch when there are intel failures because they didn’t have the intel to make decisions.

159 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:52:22am

re: #38 sagehen

Art stands on its own merits, separate from the merits (or lack thereof) of the artist.

That’s why I can enjoy “Ender’s Game”; or Kipling or Wagner or Meatloaf or Phil Spector. (still can’t manage Mel Gibson, but maybe that’s because his work just isn’t that good anyway).

Thank you.

No excuse for Glitter’s criminal actions, and he should pay the price for them. Artists are complicated personalities. Sometimes their art comes from the wars going on inside their heads. Sometimes it is the evil that drives them to produce.

If people really started to dig into many great artist lives I am sure they can find all kinds of ugly. So, toss those books, take down those paintings, never listen to those tunes. It would be an ugly world without some of the beauty some ugly people left for it.

I had it out with a music shop owner once that was getting down hard on Jaco Pastorius saying Pastorius wasted his life away and dying an ignoble death, etc.

I pointed out that no matter what Jaco’s bass playing would live on well past his death and his playing style would be kept alive and emulated by other musicians for ever. And no matter what, that can’t be taken away.

Later is was revealed that Jaco suffered from Bipolar Disorder and while that may have made him the ‘asshole’ this store owner thought he was, it also may have made him the unique artist he was.

160 sattv4u2  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:52:36am

and on that note, the long quiet drive home to the golf club beckons

161 Flounder  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:53:02am

re: #156 Justanotherhuman

It is a cruel sport, those cowboys get hurt all the time!

162 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 6:56:28am

Whaddya think? Too far?

163 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:00:36am

re: #162 darthstar

Oh, now that’s just kicking them while they’re down, now.

164 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:01:07am

re: #158 lawhawk

And Snowden wants the Germans to get the US to grant him clemency. That’s not how it happens and ignores how the real world works.

The German intel services know that they benefit from NSA intel sharing - and vice versa, so their intel stream is harmed by Snowden’s leaks. While DudeBro and extremists want to expose the US NSA and undermine US foreign policy and strategic interests, and politicians will grandstand endlessly on how this is so bad, they and other policymakers use and need the intel produced by the NSA and the intel services. They’re also the first to bitch when there are intel failures because they didn’t have the intel to make decisions.

You have to laugh at how blatantly manipulative this is. Look! You should be on my side! You were spied on! (in 2002-2006) I’m sure he’s convinced Merkel never to trust Bush again.

I have seen four year olds use this technique successfully when playing their mom and dad off each other, however…so it could work.

165 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:01:31am

re: #163 thedopefishlives

Oh, now that’s just kicking them while they’re down, now.

That was my intent.

166 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:01:44am

Oh, people…

The selfie won’t die — in fact, it just got its own social network

today.com

167 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:02:29am
168 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:03:40am

re: #110 sattv4u2

>Must See Snore TV

deadline.com

Knit one, purl … eight-plus hours of live stitching

8 hours of KNITTING!!

McCarver needs a gig since the World Series is done…

169 William Barnett-Lewis  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:04:00am

re: #157 darthstar

Fuck the Jimmy Carter haters…he’s right.

[Embedded content]

Heh. Ran into a dudebro who tried to tell me that Jesus would be a libertarian. I told him it was the libertarian disciple that turned him over to the Romans… O_o

He was… unamused …. ;)

170 Flounder  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:05:48am

used ferrari for sale.

nypost.com

171 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:06:57am

re: #170 Flounder

used ferrari for sale.

nypost.com

Best $500 deductible payment, ever.

172 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:09:04am

re: #139 Flounder

Mooresville’s J.B. Mauney captures his first Professional Bull Riders world title

charlotteobserver.com

I just saw his interview on CBS morning show. It looked like the hosts were interviewing a wild animal.

How do they find horses large enough for the bulls to ride?
/ ;P

173 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:09:30am

Actually, it’s Greenwald equating the exposing of state secrets with “journalism”.


Exposing such information to the world at large probably could aid and abet terrorists in the pursuit of their aims and could endanger lives.

This is not fun and games, nor is it a decision that should be made by one, or 3, persons unilaterally.

174 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:13:06am

re: #173 Justanotherhuman

Actually, it’s Greenwald equating the exposing of state secrets with “journalism”.

[Embedded content]


Exposing such information to the world at large probably could aid and abet terrorists in the pursuit of their aims and could endanger lives.

This is not fun and games, nor is it a decision that should be made by one, or 3, persons unilaterally.

I hope Miranda was on a flight with a stop in Heathrow when this decision was made.

175 darthstar  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:14:07am
176 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:14:20am

re: #169 William Barnett-Lewis

Heh. Ran into a dudebro who tried to tell me that Jesus would be a libertarian. I told him it was the libertarian disciple that turned him over to the Romans… O_o

He was… unamused …. ;)

I think Jesus would be a bit more concerned with the state of peoples’ souls and not so much the state of their civil liberties. The Jesus depicted in the gospels, in fact, made an explicit point of not getting involved in discussions of politics.

177 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:16:13am

Just a reminder that Justin Bieber is from Canada.

178 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:17:17am

re: #177 Gus

Just a reminder that Justin Bieber is from Canada.

Justin Bieber, Celine Dion… Why on earth do we still have dealings with our neighbors to the north, anyway?

179 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:19:14am

re: #178 thedopefishlives

Justin Bieber, Celine Dion… Why on earth do we still have dealings with our neighbors to the north, anyway?

Clearly we need a border fence. A big one. Something that’s about 40,000 feet ASL. Think of the children.

180 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:21:03am

Was Justin Bieber a one man boy advance team from Canada for Ted Cruz?

181 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:21:56am

re: #178 thedopefishlives

Justin Bieber, Celine Dion… Why on earth do we still have dealings with our neighbors to the north, anyway?

Leonard Cohen.

182 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:24:03am

re: #181 Decatur Deb

Leonard Cohen.

Fine, I’ll give you that one, but three strikes and they’re out.

183 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:24:07am

And others:

Youtube Video

184 sagehen  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:30:46am

re: #182 thedopefishlives

Fine, I’ll give you that one, but three strikes and they’re out.

Kiefer Sutherland. Cirque de Soleil.

185 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:30:56am

re: #182 thedopefishlives

Fine, I’ll give you that one, but three strikes and they’re out.

Bryan Adams! //

186 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:31:44am

You guys can all relax. I live too close to Canada to be angry at them for long. Even if Justin Bieber is a plague upon all humanity.

187 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:34:49am

re: #186 thedopefishlives

You guys can all relax. I live too close to Canada to be angry at them for long. Even if Justin Bieber is a plague upon all humanity.

You say that now but then THIS happened!

188 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:35:41am

re: #187 Gus

You say that now but then THIS happened!

Dammit, Canada.

189 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:35:55am

OK. Been thinking about doing this. Quick lizard poll for possibly selecting a new avatar. 1st Round has three groups; non-cat, captioned, and cats. Please vote for a “best” in each group. And the runner-up with the most votes gets into the final round of 4.

Group A - Non-Cat

California Lizard - Go Scaly!

Calimari Avenger

USS Olympia - Philadelphia

Prawnzilla - Sculpture at shrimp farm

Group B - Captioned

We Demand to be Amused

Big Kitty is Watching

I Haz Moos N Squirl

U need Moar Jerky

Group C - Cats, we always need more cats

Cat and Horse - Colorado

Ghost Kitty

Fierce Cat - a bit out of focus

Inscrutible Siamese

Watching

190 thedopefishlives  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:36:29am

Heading out for now to take the most flattering pictures of my car and its damage that I can. We’ll see if I can successfully negotiate its departure. Have a good day, Lizards.

191 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:37:18am

re: #188 thedopefishlives

Dammit, Canada.

Ted. Cruz.

Dun, dun, dun, dun!

192 PhillyPretzel  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:38:20am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

I like watching.

193 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:43:31am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

Shrimp is a sacrament.

194 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:46:33am

re: #193 Decatur Deb

Shrimp is a sacrament.

Give us this day, our daily shrimp.

195 PhillyPretzel  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:47:59am

re: #194 Gus

Forgive us our breading as we forgive our … crumbs?

196 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:48:23am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

OK. Been thinking about doing this. Quick lizard poll for possibly selecting a new avatar. 1st Round has three groups; non-cat, captioned, and cats. Please vote for a “best” in each group. And the runner-up with the most votes gets into the final round of 4.

Group A - Non-Cat

California Lizard - Go Scaly!

Calimari Avenger

USS Olympia - Philadelphia

Prawnzilla - Sculpture at shrimp farm

Group B - Captioned

We Demand to be Amused

Big Kitty is Watching

I Haz Moos N Squirl

U need Moar Jerky

Group C - Cats, we always need more cats

Cat and Horse - Colorado

Ghost Kitty

Fierce Cat - a bit out of focus

Inscrutible Siamese

Watching

Group A: The USS Olympia

Group B: Big Kitty is Watching (It’s a flip of the bird to the dudebros)

Group C: Cat and Horse (It’s fun to watch animals playfully interacting)

197 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:54:37am

Did anyone notice that LGF (and a lot of other good sites) are ‘banned’ from reddit’s /r/politics?

Reddit’s Politics Section Bans Salon, Mother Jones, Huffington Post for “Bad Journalism”

reddit.com

198 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:55:30am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

One thing, though: If your travels take you to where one of the Iowa-class battleships is preserved, you might want to use a photo of that BB as an avatar. Speed + Firepower = Very Cool.

199 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:56:26am

re: #178 thedopefishlives

Justin Bieber, Celine Dion… Why on earth do we still have dealings with our neighbors to the north, anyway?

I blame their weather. Damn musicians never get hot.

/

200 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:56:58am
201 PhillyPretzel  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:57:18am

re: #197 Decatur Deb

I am not surprised. When I was tutoring English at a local college I could not get LGF on any computer. I also had trouble getting The Wall Street Journal too.

202 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:58:42am

re: #201 PhillyPretzel

I am not surprised. When I was tutoring English at a local college I could not get LGF on any computer. I also had trouble getting The Wall Street Journal too.

Must have been the boob-pun threads. Or the pizza policies.

203 William Barnett-Lewis  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:58:53am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

I’ve always had a soft spot for the USS Olympia.

204 simoom  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 7:59:40am

re: #137 darthstar


I found this part of that article interesting:

Mr. Ströbele said he and two journalists for German news outlets met with Mr. Snowden and a person described as his assistant — probably his British aide, Sarah Harrison — at an undisclosed location in or near Moscow on Thursday for almost three hours. … At a packed news conference after his return to Berlin, he said he was contacted about going to Moscow late last week after the German government said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone might have been tapped by American intelligence agents. He declined to elaborate, but said he has had no dealings with the Russian authorities or the German Embassy in Moscow.

The speed with which the travel & secret meeting was arranged implies that Russian intelligence is directing Snowden or approving of Snowden promptly reacting to and directly interfering in foreign diplomatic crises that arise from his leaks. I’d love to know if it was either Harrison or Kucherena who contacted Ströbele, and if one of the “two journalists for German news outlets” was Poitras for SPIEGEL.

205 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:01:02am

re: #197 Decatur Deb

Did anyone notice that LGF (and a lot of other good sites) are ‘banned’ from reddit’s /r/politics?

Reddit’s Politics Section Bans Salon, Mother Jones, Huffington Post for “Bad Journalism”

reddit.com

Charles was the subject of a concerted effort to run LGF articles off of Reddit. This effort was launched by the denizens of the Stalker Blog and their allies beginning during the later stages of the Great Flouncing of 2009.

206 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:03:02am

re: #205 Dark_Falcon

Charles was the subject of a concerted effort to run LGF articles off of Reddit. This effort was launched by the denizens of the Stalker Blog and their allies beginning during the later stages of the Great Flouncing of 2009.

Well, we’re keeping fairly good company. Their approved list leans to the RW/LW dudebro convergence.

207 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:12:42am

re: #190 thedopefishlives

Heading out for now to take the most flattering pictures of my car and its damage that I can. We’ll see if I can successfully negotiate its departure. Have a good day, Lizards.

My car was perfect until yesterday. I went to a grocery store and when I came back out of the store as I went to open the rear hatch as soon as looked down I saw the rear bumper cover was torn on the upper edge and top and a big old dent in the lower left corner of the hatch.

WTF!!??!!! My baby! 2008 and showroom new, 72,000 miles! Whaaaaaa…

I looked around and saw no immediate culprits and said great just what I needed right now transitioning to freelancing from full time employment.

Cursing the universe I walked around to the driver side door all dejected and then I noticed one of those small post it notes stuck to my drivers side window right down near the rear view mirror. The note said “Sorry, I backed into your car, Call me” with phone number and name.

I got in my car, called the number right away and their was a voice mail box with the same name. I left my name and phone and about 1/2 hour later the guy called me, apologized and said he had just called his insurance company, gave me a claim number and told me to call him if there were any further problems. I called the insurance company - Grange, right here in central Ohio - they set me up for an appraisal on Monday morning. I’ve heard Grange does a pretty decent job, so I am hoping it gets fixed properly.

The guy must have been in big ass hurry, because this isn’t a love tap. He backed up (Chevy Tahoe) like there were no cars in the lane behind him. I hope he gets ready for the shock, because I am thinking the way the corner is pinching into the seam and it is all flattened, I am getting a new hatch and an all new bumper cover, painted and installed.

But I give the guy all the credit in the world for leaving that note! Faith in some of the human race restored.

208 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:13:56am

re: #198 Dark_Falcon

One thing, though: If your travels take you to where one of the Iowa-class battleships is preserved, you might want to use a photo of that BB as an avatar. Speed + Firepower = Very Cool.

It’s a bucket list thing for me to visit the surviving BBs. I posted a photo of the USS North Carolina a few weeks ago after visiting Wilmington, and posted USS Iowa photos back in August from my trip out to California. Plus the USS New Jersey is just across the river from me in Camden. I’ve also been to the USS Texas, but that was early 90s and I don’t have photos.

Image: BB-61_02.jpg

209 simoom  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:16:21am

re: #204 simoom

dw.de

Ströbele told the press conference that his three-hour conversation with Snowdon in Moscow on Thursday had focused on whether conditions could be created for Snowden to testify to German prosecutors or before a committee of inquiry of the German parliament.

Ströbele said sending a representative from Germany - such as a judge or an appointee of a parliamentary investigative committee - to Russia posed problems for Snowden.

“He has until now serious reservations, that I cannot and will not elaborate upon,” Ströbele said.

Eh? So he can’t come to Germany because extradition proceedings would commence and he won’t allow a German representative to officially question him in Moscow because “reasons”…? What exactly is he offering? To testify, indirectly, by e-mail or something?

210 Feline Fearless Leader  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:19:13am

re: #209 simoom

dw.de

Eh? So he can’t come to Germany because extradition proceedings would commence and he won’t allow a German representative to officially question him in Moscow because “reasons”…? What exactly is he offering? To testify, indirectly, by e-mail or something?

Video-conference would be my guess. And they can have “technical problems” on Snowden’s end whenever there are questions he does not want to give a straight answer to.
//

211 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:20:16am

re: #209 simoom

dw.de

Eh? So he can’t come to Germany because extradition proceedings would commence and he won’t allow a German representative to officially question him in Moscow because “reasons”…? What exactly is he offering? To testify, indirectly, by e-mail or something?

If the Germans will leave a list of written questions in a hollowed-out pumpkin in Minsk, he’ll try to get back to them.

212 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:23:49am

re: #208 Feline Fearless Leader

It’s a bucket list thing for me to visit the surviving BBs. I posted a photo of the USS North Carolina a few weeks ago after visiting Wilmington, and posted USS Iowa photos back in August from my trip out to California. Plus the USS New Jersey is just across the river from me in Camden. I’ve also been to the USS Texas, but that was early 90s and I don’t have photos.

Image: BB-61_02.jpg

[Sigh…] If only there was a means for shooting down DERP as exists for shooting down cruise missiles.

213 wrenchwench  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:24:04am

re: #197 Decatur Deb

Did anyone notice that LGF (and a lot of other good sites) are ‘banned’ from reddit’s /r/politics?

Reddit’s Politics Section Bans Salon, Mother Jones, Huffington Post for “Bad Journalism”

reddit.com

Yes.

214 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:25:13am

Rafael Cruz…

L.O.L.

215 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:25:32am

re: #211 Decatur Deb

If the Germans will leave a list of written questions in a hollowed-out pumpkin in Minsk, he’ll try to get back to them.

Whittaker Chambers was a better man than Edward Snowden is ever likely to be, but your Pumpkin Papers reference was fun and funny.

216 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:30:00am

re: #211 Decatur Deb

And you ought to check out Oaktree’s Cali album if you having already. He’s got some great stuff in there.

217 piratedan  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:36:18am

re: #109 sattv4u2

ty! I have to admit that I am bleeping appalled at the amount of fawning that this guy gets. Everyone citing his “words” and few noting that this guy used to be former military, former CIA, has signed agreements and oaths and chosen to forsake all of that for a supposedly principled stand that he’s not willing to suffer for. He’s the Greg Stillson (The Dead Zone) of patriots…..

218 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:41:17am

re: #209 simoom

Ströbele told the press conference that his three-hour conversation with Snowdon in Moscow on Thursday had focused on whether conditions could be created for Snowden to testify to German prosecutors or before a committee of inquiry of the German parliament.

Snowden has already done damage and there are charges outstanding in the US.

Why should anyone create “conditions” in order for Snowden to testify to German prosecutors or the German parliament?

I don’t think Snowden is sitting in the catbird seat here.

219 simoom  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:44:32am

cbsnews.com

Stroebele said Edward Snowden appeared healthy and cheerful during their meeting at an undisclosed location in Moscow. The German television network ARD, which accompanied Stroebele, said the Germans were taken to the meeting by unidentified security officials under “strict secrecy.”

Stroebele was tightlipped about where he met Snowden. The German politician said he had no contact with the German Embassy in Moscow nor with Russian authorities other than a passport control officer - although he did not explain who the security officials mentioned by German television were.

220 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:45:35am

That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger weaker.

221 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:48:20am

re: #217 piratedan

ty! I have to admit that I am bleeping appalled at the amount of fawning that this guy gets. Everyone citing his “words” and few noting that this guy used to be former military, former CIA, has signed agreements and oaths and chosen to forsake all of that for a supposedly principled stand that he’s not willing to suffer for. He’s the Greg Stillson (The Dead Zone) of patriots…..

Are you sure the comparison works? Stillson is depicted in all versions of The Dead Zone as being driven by ambition as well as trauma induced rage. Edward Snowden has suffered no trauma such as the fictional Stillson suffers, nor does he have Stillson’s ambition. Edward Snowden is a whiny perpetually-adolescent dudebro loser.

222 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:49:49am

re: #219 simoom

cbsnews.com

The security people were probably FSB, though they might have cover jobs outside of the government.

223 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:50:48am

re: #220 Gus

That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger weaker.

Will kill you on the next attack.
/

224 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:51:21am
225 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:52:00am

re: #220 Gus

That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger weaker a hell of a lot more careful next time.

226 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:52:26am

re: #223 Varek Raith

Will kill you on the next attack.
/

“Lost my savings and pension in the market crash. Lost my house, my wife, my kids. Became a hobo and lost my leg in a rail accident. But I am stronger now.”
— Hallmark Delusions

227 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:54:20am
228 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:55:11am

re: #224 Gus

Seditious bastard.

229 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:55:52am


“That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” Hahahahaha! Yeah, right.

230 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:56:45am

re: #227 Gus

[Embedded content]

Isn’t that treason? Or at least, seditious conversation?

It’s certainly not “fulfilling their constitutional duty”—which is pledging loyalty and allegiance to the commander-in-chief.

231 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:57:27am

re: #230 Justanotherhuman

Isn’t that treason? Or at least, seditious conversation?

It’s certainly not “fulfilling their constitutional duty”—which is pledging loyalty and allegiance to the commander-in-chief.

Probably not because it’s in the third person.

232 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 8:57:58am

re: #227 Gus

re: #228 Varek Raith

Freepers were salivating all over that. The GEN is a bit of an asshole, as many are wont, but the comments are beyond edited—the wording was changed along the way. He was trying to say WTF? to a fellow winger.

233 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:00:08am

re: #229 Gus

[Embedded content]


“That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” Hahahahaha! Yeah, right.

My g-son couldn’t afford this apt on 2 wks’ pay. And it takes half of my SS check to pay it.

But we do OK because I am very thrifty from years of experience with frugality. Or as we cheapsters like to say, “I can squeeze a penny until Lincoln squeals.”

So, on the other hand, no vacations, no travel, not a whole lot of fun except for some homemade sin of some type or another for most financially stretched folks.

234 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:00:30am

re: #230 Justanotherhuman

Isn’t that treason? Or at least, seditious conversation?

It’s certainly not “fulfilling their constitutional duty”—which is pledging loyalty and allegiance to the commander-in-chief.

Note the “retired” part, and the oath is to the constitution. The CINC gets obedience.

235 Varek Raith  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:02:05am

re: #227 Gus

Comment from that site,

The first step of any coup is planning, which will be promptly squashed.
The second step of any coup is massacring all the soldiers that aren’t on your side. Given that a solid majority of them are not right-wing, I imagine that wouldn’t go well for you.
The third step is controlling the civilian population of 300 million. Again, not going to work out how you think it would.
The fourth step is actually running the government, which right-wing lunatics have proven time and again they are completely incapable of doing.

I’m not too worried about this.

236 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:02:29am
237 piratedan  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:05:31am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

I would humbly suggest the old “Business Cat” avatar from over at Memebase, nothing sells leadership like neckties :-)

238 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:06:15am

re: #235 Varek Raith

Comment from that site,

Freep comments, closely remembered:

“We need another von Stauffenberg.”

“We need another Pinochet.”

239 wrenchwench  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:08:02am
240 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:13:24am

re: #236 Gus

[Embedded content]

Chris Christie got his revenge, though, when he praised Obama’s response to Hurricane Sandy. Christie showed he’d well learned the lesson of Mitt Romney’s fellow Bay Stater John F. Kennedy: “Don’t get mad, get even.”

241 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:13:37am
242 Dancing along the light of day  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:14:04am

re: #233 Justanotherhuman

This just cracked me up!

homemade sin

243 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:16:22am

re: #240 Dark_Falcon

Hostility to

Chris Christie got his revenge, though, when he praised Obama’s response to Hurricane Sandy. Christie showed he’d well learned the lesson of Mitt Romney’s fellow Bay Stater John F. Kennedy: “Don’t get mad, get even.”

244 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:16:41am

re: #232 Decatur Deb

Freepers were salivating all over that. The GEN is a bit of an asshole, as many are wont, but the comments are beyond edited—the wording was changed along the way. He was trying to say WTF? to a fellow winger.

Concur. Boykin went on to say “Our Constitution puts a civilian in charge of the military and as a result a coup would not be constitutional. You’re not going to see a coup in the military.” So he’s still an asshole, but he did reject the idea of a coup.

245 piratedan  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:17:31am

re: #221 Dark_Falcon

Are you sure the comparison works? Stillson is depicted in all versions of The Dead Zone as being driven by ambition as well as trauma induced rage. Edward Snowden has suffered no trauma such as the fictional Stillson suffers, nor does he have Stillson’s ambition. Edward Snowden is a whiny perpetually-adolescent dudebro loser.

I could argue that his injury that necessitated his discharge from the military could be seen as traumatic, no longer being allowed to serve, so to speak, but I would also state that he’s all kinds of ambitious in that he sought out Greenwald in order to coordinate and perpetuate this crime to making him the “biggest truthteller” of all time, the scope of the amount of documents that he’s stolen and the fact that he’s sold them to both China, Russia and is working with wikileaks and Greenwald to continue to screw over the country does strike a megalomaniacal chord.

also, the fact that he’s supposedly such a principled individual but has no interest in doing any time for his crime nor using any of the established outlets/protocols for whistle blowing speaks to his cowardice.

246 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:19:16am

re: #245 piratedan

I could argue that his injury that necessitated his discharge from the military could be seen as traumatic, no longer being allowed to serve, so to speak, but I would also state that he’s all kinds of ambitious in that he sought out Greenwald in order to coordinate and perpetuate this crime to making him the “biggest truthteller” of all time, the scope of the amount of documents that he’s stolen and the fact that he’s sold them to both China, Russia and is working with wikileaks and Greenwald to continue to screw over the country does strike a megalomaniacal chord.

also, the fact that he’s supposedly such a principled individual but has no interest in doing any time for his crime nor using any of the established outlets/protocols for whistle blowing speaks to his cowardice.

OK, I can go along with that. He’s is still a dudebro loser, though.

247 The Mountain That Blogs  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:21:12am

re: #229 Gus

The rent is too damn high.

248 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:22:12am

re: #247 The Mountain That Blogs

The rent is too damn high.

I’ll say.

249 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:34:14am
250 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:40:47am

Twitter is still mostly annoying.

251 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:42:30am

re: #250 Gus

Twitter is still mostly annoying.

And a horrible time waster.

252 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:43:26am

re: #251 b_sharp

And a horrible time waster.

Big time. Now with all those stupid pics it’s even worse. Was bad enough with the political astroturfing. Unite Blue is getting really annoying.

253 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:44:29am

re: #244 Dark_Falcon

Concur. Boykin went on to say “Our Constitution puts a civilian in charge of the military and as a result a coup would not be constitutional. You’re not going to see a coup in the military.” So he’s still an asshole, but he did reject the idea of a coup.

What’s really ironic about all this is that so many Wingnuts are salivating for a military coup, while claiming to be the Real Americans, wanting to restore America to what The Founders Intended, and it was The Founders who so feared the power of the military that they not only placed it under civilian control, but initially prohibited a standing army.

254 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:44:41am

Even though Snowden isn’t yet a citizen of Russia, he’d better not step out of line. Although I’m sure the FSB assuredly doesn’t allow him to while seemingly respecting his “rights” and autonomy as a “guest” of Russia.

Pussy Riot Member Sent to New Prison

hollywoodreporter.com

255 Political Atheist  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:45:19am

re: #247 The Mountain That Blogs

re: #248 Gus

I’m seeing that as low wages. Where rents are truly low, so is housing investment and quality. And we need a far larger percentage making more than minimum. Underemployment is the big bottleneck.

256 Justanotherhuman  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:46:29am

re: #242 Dancing along the light of day

This just cracked me up!

Haha, that’s another old southern saying. : )

257 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:48:34am

re: #252 Gus

Big time. Now with all those stupid pics it’s even worse. Was bad enough with the political astroturfing. Unite Blue is getting really annoying.

Although I joined UB I pretty much ignore it. The only thing Twitter has that I don’t find here is arguing with creationists which helps me keep my mind semi-sharp.

The bad jokes and innuendo I can make anywhere.

258 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:49:39am

BTW, Gary Glitter is having his revenge on me for besmirching his name with completely accurate descriptors last night. I can’t get that friggin’ song out of my head!

….boompoom tah tah boompoom tah, boompoom tah tah boompoom tah,

boompoom tah tah boompoom tah, boompoom tah tah boompoom tah,

Beeew..BEEeww..Bee-eew-ee-ew-eew….

259 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:50:29am

A number of right-of-center outlets are bleating about some boasts China made recently about their Type 094 ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). I found it amusing to note that all of the stories still called the Chinese navy the People’s Liberation Army’s navy, though the navy is now a formally separate service.

That wasn’t the only thing the coverage got wrong, of course. It took too much of what China said at face value, failed to make note of the USA’s increasing ABM capabilities, and lastly failed to note how tough it would be for Chinese SSBNs to survive in a shooting war with the US. China still has no nuclear attack submarines equal to our Seawolf and Virginia boats.

Fearmongering: It’s what’s for weekend brunch on the RW Blogs.

260 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:53:41am

re: #257 b_sharp

Although I joined UB I pretty much ignore it. The only thing Twitter has that I don’t find here is arguing with creationists which helps me keep my mind semi-sharp.

The bad jokes and innuendo I can make anywhere.

Yeah. I don’t argue with anyone on Twitter. Rarely troll. I just do my thing. The pics thing sucks big time. But, what can I expect from a bunch of people that though Sharknado was literature.

261 Stanley Sea  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:54:14am

re: #236 Gus

[Embedded content]

Yep. A privileged bully.

262 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:55:53am

re: #261 Stanley Sea

Yep. A privileged bully.

He’s everything I DON’T want in a President.

263 Stanley Sea  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:56:16am

re: #189 Feline Fearless Leader

OK. Been thinking about doing this. Quick lizard poll for possibly selecting a new avatar. 1st Round has three groups; non-cat, captioned, and cats. Please vote for a “best” in each group. And the runner-up with the most votes gets into the final round of 4.

Group A - Non-Cat

California Lizard - Go Scaly!

Prawnzilla or watching cat are my votes.
Calimari Avenger

USS Olympia - Philadelphia

Prawnzilla - Sculpture at shrimp farm

Group B - Captioned

We Demand to be Amused

Big Kitty is Watching

I Haz Moos N Squirl

U need Moar Jerky

Group C - Cats, we always need more cats

Cat and Horse - Colorado

Ghost Kitty

Fierce Cat - a bit out of focus

Inscrutible Siamese

Watching

264 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:57:24am

T’ain’t funny, McGee:

Ted Cruz responds to father’s ‘ill-advised joke’

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz reacted to criticism of controversial remarks his father made at an April 2012 event, when the latter urged voters to send President Barack Obama “back to Chicago, back to Kenya.”

“It was an ill-advised joke,” the first-term Republican senator from Texas told CNN affiliate WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth, “and sadly, those who are trying to play the politics of personal destruction are trying to smear him and use that to attack me. That’s a shame.”

Cruz suggested that criticism was motivated as much by politics as by genuine outrage. He seemed to downplay the contentious comments, and he defended his father’s character.

265 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:58:46am

re: #252 Gus

Big time. Now with all those stupid pics it’s even worse. Was bad enough with the political astroturfing. Unite Blue is getting really annoying.

Gus, since you seemed to like Twitter at first, are you now thinking it may be getting to the point it will begin a downward trend?

Just wondering what your personal feelings are. Not that you have to be some kind of social media expert.

I wouldn’t mind knowing what Vicious Babushka thinks too. And Kragar as a newish tweeter. As well as other users.

Just looking for a users perspective, one reason being I think it is the biggest tool going for people letting their ass out before thinking about if it should be seen. Some seem to enjoy being seen as idiots and keep feeding it. That would be the Prudence, Bryan Fischer and Steve Stockman types. So full of their own crap they can’t even get a feel for how others see them. It is a unique social study for me as a people watcher.

266 jaunte  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 9:59:23am

re: #264 Dark_Falcon

He seemed to downplay the contentious comments, and he defended his father’s character.

“He may be a doddering old racist, but he’s my doddering old racist.”

267 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:00:22am

re: #260 Gus

Yeah. I don’t argue with anyone on Twitter. Rarely troll. I just do my thing. The pics thing sucks big time. But, what can I expect from a bunch of people that though Sharknado was literature.

I’ve been an arguer most of my life. When I realized there was a segment of people who still disbelieved evolution I joined the virtual location most likely t o give me the background information and opportunity to argue. I’ve been doing that ever since although I’ve added AGW to my repertoire. Twitter has an unending source of argue fodder.

268 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:00:58am

re: #257 b_sharp

Although I joined UB I pretty much ignore it. The only thing Twitter has that I don’t find here is arguing with creationists which helps me keep my mind semi-sharp.

The bad jokes and innuendo I can make anywhere.

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

269 Shiplord Kirel  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:01:42am

re: #224 Gus

[Embedded content]

Boykin is one of several then mid-level and junior officers who prospered under the Reagan administration and who also exhibited extremist social, philosophical, and religious ideologies that might well have ended their careers in earlier times. There have always been fanatics in the military but what was new was the tendency for higher authority to reward these officers when they integrated their personal philosophies into their military duties.
The best known is probably the conservative ideologue Oliver North, who was practically running the defense establishment despite being junior to literally thousands of other officers. Stanley McChrystal (cashiered by President Obama in 2010) was another, though there is no evidence that Reagan was aware of him personally. There was also a big influx of fundamentalists into the officer corps during that period, enough to become a regular subject for unfavorable commentary by old-timers.

270 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:01:59am

re: #266 jaunte

“He may be a doddering old racist, but he’s my doddering old racist.”

IIRC, Mel Gibson defended his father while disowning his views, right up until he started spewing them in a drunken rage.

We gotta get Ted Cruz drunk….
/////

271 jaunte  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:03:39am

re: #270 GeneJockey

I suspect he values control too much to ever get drunk.

272 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:05:26am

re: #263 Stanley Sea

That wasn’t a poll.

That was a list.

273 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:06:11am

re: #266 jaunte

“He may be a doddering old racist, but he’s my doddering old racist.”

How to deal with DERPs from a parent is a difficult topic, but issuing a non-apology is doing it wrong. Ted Cruz comes across as saying that his father’s Birther words were no big deal, and that just isn’t so.

274 Killgore Trout  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:06:40am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

Congratulations!

275 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:07:12am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

Way to go Gus.

276 Lidane  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:07:14am

re: #264 Dark_Falcon

T’ain’t funny, McGee:

Ted Cruz responds to father’s ‘ill-advised joke’

So Cruz is going with the “It’s a joke!” defense? Pathetic.

277 jaunte  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:07:16am

re: #263 Stanley Sea

I vote for Fierce Cat, as best small graphic.

278 CuriousLurker  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:08:20am

re: #116 Justanotherhuman

…Those “revolutionaries” were never personally discriminated against, had never suffered anything other than the usual life and death consequences of every other human being, but still thought they could lead a “revolution” by riffing off the real issues confronting those whose causes they embraced. And they engaged in ordinary criminal activities, including murder, to get themselves and their ideology noticed. They gave lip service to their “collective” but it was mainly a group of immature egos fighting for dominance, which is always the case when change is not a grass roots phenomenon and “revolution” dwells only in the fevered minds of the privileged who have no real idea of what oppression is and don’t really understand how it affects the lives of those who suffer it. I think the scenes from the group’s visit to the Fatah training camp was a clear example of this—they considered themselves on the same level with Fatah (who appeared to despise them as being debauched, undisciplined and disrespectful) and having the same connection with the Soviet Union, China and other countries providing Fatah weapons—and they were in over their heads by thinking that learning weaponry and “guerrilla warfare” would make them “revolutionaries”. […]

Ulrike Meinhof herself said,

“Protest is when I say this does not please me.
“Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more.”

All about me, in the end, and the philosophy of a 2 yr old expressed in adult philosophical terminology still makes it the philosophy of a 2 yr old.

re: #127 Dr Lizardo

Hello; I take it you enjoyed the film?

I did, largely because the script, the director, and the actors struck the right balance in illustrating what they, as so-called “revolutionaries”, really stood for, which was - in the end - very little beyond lip service to Marxist ideas and principles. The scene in the Fatah camp was, for me, quite illustrative of that; the Fatah revolutionaries viewed the RAF as little more than debauched, ill-mannered narcissistic children.

THIS. I watched it last night also, or half of it anyway. By the time the bombings started in earnest and they began robbing banks and shooting anyone who got in their way, I couldn’t stand to watch any more.

Their insufferably smug self-absorption and narcissistic “revolutionary” fervor that was utterly devoid of empathy for anyone who wasn’t on-board with their bullshit agenda got on my last nerve to the point where I wanted to put my fist through my iPad’s screen, so I shut it off. Ditto for the ridiculous political propaganda-speak that seemed to gush forth every time they opened their mouths. They were exactly what I would imagine today’s puritopian dudebros would be like if they went full metal revolutionary.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation even though I didn’t watch the whole thing, and can’t really say I enjoyed it in the conventional sense. That said, it did prompt me to do some reading up on them afterwards, so at least I learned something. That’s always a plus AFAIC.

279 Lidane  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:08:54am

re: #273 Dark_Falcon

How to deal with DERPs from a parent is a difficult topic, but issuing a non-apology is doing it wrong. Ted Cruz comes across as saying that his father’s Birther words were no big deal, and that just isn’t so.

He’s issuing a non-apology because he privately agrees with his father, but can’t do the racist birther shit publicly since it would kill his 2016 prospects.

280 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:09:18am

re: #274 Killgore Trout

Congratulations!

re: #275 b_sharp

Way to go Gus.

Thanks. It’s an eye opener that’s for sure.

281 Iwouldprefernotto  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:09:24am

re: #270 GeneJockey

IIRC, Mel Gibson defended his father while disowning his views, right up until he started spewing them in a drunken rage.

We gotta get Ted Cruz drunk….
/////

Mel Gibson did not disown his father’s views. Failing to support someone’s views is not the same as disowning.

Father said the holocaust was a hoax. Mel said he wasn’t sure or didn’t know. Not exactly disowning.

I dp agree that getting Ted Cruz drunk would benefit the nation more than sending Snowden to the moon.

282 Gus  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:11:06am

Speaking of eye openers. This is too much. What the hell is happening to this country?


Weak.

BBL

283 CuriousLurker  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:11:11am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today.

Wow, that’s GREAT! {{{Gus}}}

284 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:11:40am

re: #267 b_sharp

I’ve been an arguer most of my life. When I realized there was a segment of people who still disbelieved evolution I joined the virtual location most likely t o give me the background information and opportunity to argue. I’ve been doing that ever since although I’ve added AGW to my repertoire. Twitter has an unending source of argue fodder.

I’ve also been an arguer since childhood. We used to have political arguments all the time in my family - which is funny since we’re all Liberal. Our rule was ‘lose your temper, lose the argument’.

I spent more than a decade on a forum full of Conservatives, arguing everything under the sun. I watched them grow crazier and crazier, till finally I couldn’t take it anymore. There was no longer any point. There was no mutually acceptable source of data. We no longer shared the same reality, so it was like arguing physics with inhabitants of a different universe with completely different physical rules.

285 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:12:17am

re: #278 CuriousLurker

Despite his ideological differences from me, I often found reading Christopher Hitchens’ writing to be a joy. He was always the hardest on assholes and fanatics who thought they should be allowed to control other people. He was also, as the passage you quoted demonstrates, a master in the art of “cutting your opponent’s throat without raising your voice”.

286 blueraven  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:12:20am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

Congratulations Gus, on your sobriety…to steal from the VPOTUS, “thats a big fucking deal”!

287 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:12:57am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

Hang in there Gus. The next 48 will be easier…and on.

288 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:15:36am

re: #285 Dark_Falcon

Despite his ideological differences from me, I often found reading Christopher Hitchens’ writing to be a joy. He was always the hardest on assholes and fanatics who thought they should be allowed to control other people. He was also, as the passage you quoted demonstrates, a master in the art of “cutting your opponent’s throat without raising your voice”.

You know, God put Hitchens on earth to make people think. Yep, one of his agents to try to keep people on their toes.

289 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:17:03am

Morning all!

How is it today?

290 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:19:05am

re: #268 Gus

Also. I’ve been sober for 48 days today. The internet as a whole has become almost foreign to me. I’ve basically had to re-invent myself since then. Reading the same shit over and over again on Twitter is just insane.

Ah! Gus, that is awesome. One Day At A Time, or One Minute At A Time.

Often, I find One Breathe At A Time is more accurate.

Then one Day I realized I’d been breathing for 18 years, sober.

291 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:19:28am

re: #289 FemNaziBitch

Morning all!

How is it today?

Decent.

292 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:19:35am

re: #289 FemNaziBitch

Morning all!

How is it today?

Sunny, no clouds. About to take the Dizzy Dog for a very short walk, now that she’s steadier on her pins. Lucky for dogs they have 4. It takes a LOT of dizzy to make them fall over. We humans would just topple.

293 Lidane  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:22:07am
294 ObserverArt  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:22:40am

re: #289 FemNaziBitch

Morning all!

How is it today?

Crisp Ohio day. Partial sun/cloud but the winds of the past two seem to have moved on. Watching some football and hanging with Lizards for a bit. Playing with my new Windows 8 phone. I think I am going to like it,

295 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:22:45am

re: #291 Dark_Falcon

Decent.

rain, gray here.

296 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:23:35am

re: #292 GeneJockey

Sunny, no clouds. About to take the Dizzy Dog for a very short walk, now that she’s steadier on her pins. Lucky for dogs they have 4. It takes a LOT of dizzy to make them fall over. We humans would just topple.

HA! I’ve often looked at some Pit Bulls I know and wonder if even a tank could topple them if they were drunk. (the dog, not the tank)

297 jaunte  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:25:30am

re: #289 FemNaziBitch

Morning all!

How is it today?

Looking southwest: Image: 11-2-13.jpg

298 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:25:39am

Almost finished with The Clockwork Universe. The math is still way beyond me. Perhaps because I just don’t care, have no interest. What struck me so interesting is that back at the end of the Dark Ages, the idea that G-d didn’t exist (Atheism) just didn’t happen.

Newton and Company couldn’t perceive a world without G-d. I shudder to think what they could have discovered if they had more imagination.

Some of the rhetoric sounds like the Whackos of today.

299 GeneJockey  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:25:52am

re: #296 FemNaziBitch

HA! I’ve often looked at some Pit Bulls I know and wonder if even a tank could topple them if they were drunk. (the dog, not the tank)

Wait, so “Drunk Tank” does not refer to an inebriated armored vehicle?
///

300 Killgore Trout  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:26:22am

Pakistani Taliban Gather to Select Successor to Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

nytimes.com

Pakistani officials said the Taliban shura, or governing council, started to gather at a mosque in Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, on Friday night. Early Saturday, the Taliban buried Mr. Mehsud, who had a $5 million United States bounty on his head, and six others in Danday Darpakhel, the village where they were killed.

Officials said Mr. Mehsud’s body was damaged beyond recognition, after several missiles hit the vehicle in which he was traveling as it entered a compound in the village on Friday.

I wonder if the meeting is a valid drone target. I would think disrupting the meeting and killing those choosing new leadership would be a big score.

301 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:26:30am

re: #284 GeneJockey

I’ve also been an arguer since childhood. We used to have political arguments all the time in my family - which is funny since we’re all Liberal. Our rule was ‘lose your temper, lose the argument’.

I spent more than a decade on a forum full of Conservatives, arguing everything under the sun. I watched them grow crazier and crazier, till finally I couldn’t take it anymore. There was no longer any point. There was no mutually acceptable source of data. We no longer shared the same reality, so it was like arguing physics with inhabitants of a different universe with completely different physical rules.

I spent time on FR just arguing evo. Later I helped start a pro-evo conservative site even though I’m socially liberal and it went the same way After Obama (AO).

302 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:26:35am

re: #297 jaunte

Looking southwest: Image: 11-2-13.jpg

grrrr!

/jealous

303 jaunte  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:27:21am

re: #302 FemNaziBitch

Just missed the 10-inches in 24 hours rain.

304 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:27:35am

re: #289 FemNaziBitch

Morning all!

How is it today?

Yesterday equivalent.

305 Dr Lizardo  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:28:29am

re: #278 CuriousLurker

>THIS. I watched it last night also, or half of it anyway. By the time the bombings started in earnest and they began robbing banks and shooting anyone who got in their way, I couldn’t stand to watch any more.

Their insufferably smug self-absorption and narcissistic “revolutionary” fervor that was utterly devoid of empathy for anyone who wasn’t on-board with their bullshit agenda got on my last nerve to the point where I wanted to put my fist through my iPad’s screen, so I shut it off. Ditto for the ridiculous political propaganda-speak that seemed to gush forth every time they opened their mouths. They were exactly what I would imagine today’s puritopian dudebros would be like if they went full metal revolutionary.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation even though I didn’t watch the whole thing, and can’t really say I enjoyed it in the conventional sense. That said, it did prompt me to do some reading up on them afterwards, so at least I learned something. That’s always a plus AFAIC.

It affected you, and that’s a good thing, frankly. “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex” is a very good film, exceeded only by the French Canal+ miniseries “Carlos”, which is, in my opinion, a masterpiece.

BMK affected me similarly - I was just thinking “What a bunch of smarmy, middle-class would-be revolutionaries, spouting Marxism yet acting like complete douches.”

306 Killgore Trout  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:30:22am

Vatican asking parishes about gay marriage, birth control, divorce

The Vatican is taking the unusual step of conducting a worldwide survey on how parishes deal with issues such as birth control, divorce and gay marriage, seeking input ahead of a major meeting on the family that Pope Francis plans next year.

The poll was sent in mid-October to every national conference of bishops with a request from the Vatican coordinator, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, to “share it immediately as widely as possible to deaneries and parishes so that input from local sources can be received.”

The survey reflects the pope’s pledges to move away from what he called a “Vatican-centric” approach toward one where local church leaders are more involved in decision-making.

I’m digging the new pope. I think relaxing the rules on divorce and communion is pretty likely. Also removing the celibacy rule for priests would be huge and solve a lot of problems for the church. It’ll be interesting to see how much he can get done.

307 b_sharp  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:30:30am

re: #302 FemNaziBitch

grrrr!

/jealous

Trees with leaves? What’s up with that.

308 Dark_Falcon  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:31:48am

re: #293 Lidane

[Embedded content]

I like the ending of the piece, though, as Ted Nugent shows a surprising bit of intellectual honesty and Wonkette reciprocates:

However, much as it pains us to write this, the Motor City Angerbear actually ends up turning in a semi-nuanced bit of thinking in this latest column. See here, there was a professor, David Guth, at a state university who thought it would be a dandy idea to tweet, after the Naval Yard shooting, that the blood was on the hands of the NRA and next time it should be their songs and daughters. Bad life choice, professor! He was suspended for the duration of the 2013 school year, but the Nuge uses his high-capacity magazine of truth, or whatever the hell it is, to point out that dude should not have been suspended.

“While Guth’s shrill tweet shows his thunderously dumb anti-gun bias, it doesn’t appear he tweeted it while on the clock at the University of Kansas.

“As a full-time First Amendment addict, the issue is about Guth’s right to show how incredibly and disconnected and ignorant he is. So long as Guth tweets or blogs on his own time and does not use taxpayer university resources to advance his brain-dead leftist views, I believe we must err on the side of his free speech rights.”

Fuck a world where we have to agree with Ted Nugent, but goddammit we have to agree with Ted Nugent here and congratulate him for wango tangoing himself into an intellectually honest and consistent position: Ted Nugent has free speech and others should too. We cannot argue with that! Now, Ted’s speech is dumber, more offensive, and more absurd than most, and his belief that he is a bulwark of freedom is downright weird, but at least he believes every errrebody should get to talk. We’re still not on board with the Rosa Parks comparison, though, unless it means Ted Nugent will get on a bus that is going far, far away.

309 Shiplord Kirel  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:34:44am

re: #300 Killgore Trout

Pakistani Taliban Gather to Select Successor to Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

nytimes.com

I wonder if the meeting is a valid drone target. I would think disrupting the meeting and killing those choosing new leadership would be a big score.

It’s undoubtedly a valid target, but probably surrounded by the largest mass of human shields they can deploy. This is standard procedure, of course, and is probably one reason we target the Taliban while they are moving in their vehicles rather than lounging inside their compounds: There isn’t much room for women and children in an SUV once the vitally important menfolk are suitably seated. We will be out of luck if they start moving their leaders in school buses.

310 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:35:02am
When the economy was hurting, more people qualified for SNAP so the program grew dramatically. This was by design. But now that the economy is recovering, the number of new people enrolling in SNAP is leveling off. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the number of people receiving SNAP will begin to fall in 2014 as people recover and find employment.

From Senator Durbin’s e-newsletter.

He also stated that 1/7 Illinoisians receive SNAP benefits, most of them Children.

I urge everyone who can to donate to their local food pantry. Even a dollar goes a long way.

311 FemNaziBitch  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:36:22am

re: #306 Killgore Trout

Vatican asking parishes about gay marriage, birth control, divorce

I’m digging the new pope. I think relaxing the rules on divorce and communion is pretty likely. Also removing the celibacy rule for priests would be huge and solve a lot of problems for the church. It’ll be interesting to see how much he can get done.

I posted about that the other day. As usual, I’m not holding my breathe. New Pope same as the old Pope.

312 CuriousLurker  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:38:56am

re: #305 Dr Lizardo

It affected you, and that’s a good thing, frankly. “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex” is a very good film, exceeded only by the French Canal+ miniseries “Carlos”, which is, in my opinion, a masterpiece.

BMK affected me similarly - I was just thinking “What a bunch of smarmy, middle-class would-be revolutionaries, spouting Marxism yet acting like complete douches.”

Thanks for the reminder about the Carlos film. I saw you mention it previously, but forgot to see if I could find it on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

313 Decatur Deb  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:40:41am

re: #293 Lidane

According To Ted Nugent, Ted Nugent Is Your New Rosa Parks, America bit.ly

Isn’t he dead, or in jail?


*obligatory*

314 William Barnett-Lewis  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 10:48:49am

re: #306 Killgore Trout

Vatican asking parishes about gay marriage, birth control, divorce

I’m digging the new pope. I think relaxing the rules on divorce and communion is pretty likely. Also removing the celibacy rule for priests would be huge and solve a lot of problems for the church. It’ll be interesting to see how much he can get done.

HE won’t do most, if any, of those. What he’s trying to do is get things ready so that the pope who follows him will be able to without a revolt of the far right reactionaries. If he lives long enough to replace a reasonable number of archbishops and cardinals, he might succeed in the most important reformation that stays inside the church since that of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (aka St Francis of Assisi) in the 1200’s.

But unless he lives long enough to do that, nothing real will change and he’ll simply be remembered as a holy and good man like John XXIII.

315 CuriousLurker  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 11:33:24am

re: #305 Dr Lizardo

It affected you, and that’s a good thing, frankly. “Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex” is a very good film, exceeded only by the French Canal+ miniseries “Carlos”, which is, in my opinion, a masterpiece.

P.S. I know you’ve probably already moved upstairs, but another thing that struck me as weird regarding their ideology was their whining about living in a fascist state and complaints about Nazis while at the same time being very much anti-Israel.

Even weirder was discovering (in my post-film reading at Wikipedia & the BBC) that Horst Mahler ended up swinging to the far right and becoming a neo-Nazi Holocaust denier. That he founded an organization in 2003 called Society for the Rehabilitation of Those persecuted for Refutation of the Holocaust made me LOL. You—the former terrorist, neo-Nazi are now feeling persecuted? Seriously??

According to his Wikipedia page, he also told an Israeli reporter that his mother tearfully notified him & his siblings that they were 1/8 Jewish. Huh?

Looking at his behavior and the jail cell suicides of the other founders, I think it’s safe to conclude that these weren’t exactly emotionally stable people.

316 Lidane  Sat, Nov 2, 2013 12:01:34pm

re: #306 Killgore Trout

Vatican asking parishes about gay marriage, birth control, divorce

I’m digging the new pope. I think relaxing the rules on divorce and communion is pretty likely. Also removing the celibacy rule for priests would be huge and solve a lot of problems for the church. It’ll be interesting to see how much he can get done.

Don’t get comfortable. There were considerable surveys of Catholics back in the 1960’s when the Pill was introduced. Majorities of married Catholics supported birth control and wanted it available. The Church responded with Humanae Vitae, which reaffirmed Vatican opposition to birth control.


This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal
Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh