Ted Cruz Compares Himself to Galileo, Gets Literally Everything Wrong About Galileo

Bad craziness from the GOP
Wingnuts • Views: 46,505

Good grief. There’s so much idiocy about climate change coming from conservatives today it boggles the mind (and we all know how painful that can be).

Let’s start with this absurdly stupid comment from GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz:

“On the global warming alarmists, anyone who actually points to the evidence that disproves their apocalyptical claims, they don’t engage in reasoned debate,” Cruz said in an interview with reporter Jay Root on Tuesday. “What do they do? They scream, ‘You’re a denier.’ They brand you a heretic. Today, the global warming alarmists are the equivalent of the flat-Earthers. It used to be [that] it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier.”

There’s so much ignorance in these few sentences it’s a bit amazing.

First, it was never “accepted scientific wisdom” that the Earth was flat. This was an unscientific viewpoint that came from the Bronze Age, and it was science that debunked it.

Second, Galileo wasn’t branded a heretic because he argued against a flat Earth; he argued against geocentrism, the idea that Earth was the center of the universe and everything else revolved around it. In Galileo’s time, a round Earth was already well established.

Third, scientists don’t “scream ‘You’re a denier!’” They point out with voluminous facts and evidence that climate change is real and it’s happening now, and conservatives like Ted Cruz ignore the facts and evidence. That’s why they’re called “deniers” — because they deny mountains of scientific evidence and an overwhelming consensus.

But Ted Cruz wasn’t the only top GOP politician being stupid about climate change today; our old friend Bobby “Don’t Be Stupid” Jindal put on his clown makeup too. The creationist Governor of Louisiana is upset because FEMA is planning to require states to deal with climate change in order to receive disaster relief funding: Jindal: WH Shouldn’t Use FEMA to Push Climate Change Ideology.

Bobby has decided to try to paint the science of climate change as a “left wing ideology,” because of course he is.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Tuesday slammed a new FEMA rule that could force states to recognize climate change in order to receive disaster preparedness funds.

“This preparation saves lives,” Jindal said in a statement to the Washington Times. “The White House should not use it for political leverage to force acquiescence to their left-wing ideology.”

It’s easy to mock these people, but what they’re doing borders on criminal behavior; they’re deliberately misleading the public to try to get us to ignore an existential threat against the entire human species. I try not to use this word in front page posts, but these people are the very definition of ignorant, lying assholes.

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341 comments
1 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:29:19pm

This is why Jindal and Cruz are both among the worst the GOP has to offer. These aren’t unintelligent men. Jindal being a foremr Rhodes Scholar and Teddy having gone to Harvard. However, to be smart in the GOP is to be an outcast so they embrace this moronic bullshit because they know the base will eat it up. You’re not like Gaileo, Ted, and hell we know for a fact that your ideological and theological ancestors persecuted him.

2 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 1:29:21pm

Never let a Republican on your boat, kids.

Honestly, in the face of a 97% consensus on climate change and these assholes are still getting away with the opposite.

3 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 1:30:09pm

The more they talk, the dumber they sound, but the GOP base loves this bullshit.

4 aagcobb  Mar 25, 2015 1:30:15pm

I mentioned this on the thread below, but apparently there is one possible GOP presidential candidate who thinks we should do something about climate change: Lindsey Graham, not that he has any chance of actually being the nominee. But that’s it; only one Republican willing to face reality and stand up to the Kochs.

5 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 1:31:17pm

re: #4 aagcobb

You wan Koch money, you deny climate change. It’s that simple.

6 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:31:20pm

re: #4 aagcobb

I mentioned this on the thread below, but apparently there is one possible GOP presidential candidate who thinks we should do something about climate change: Lindsey Graham, not that he has any chance of actually being the nominee. But that’s it; only one Republican willing to face reality and stand up to the Kochs.

One and it’s the guy if you held a GOP primary would poll worse than Ben Carson at the polls because he’s seen as a RINO because sometimes he doesn’t totally pander to the wacko wing.

7 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:31:34pm
OK. First, it wasn’t “accepted scientific wisdom” that the Earth was flat. This was an unscientific viewpoint that came from the Dark Ages

That the flat Earth view was popular in the medieval period is in itself a myth. Certainly most didn’t accept it in Galileo’s time.

8 The Mother Of All Pies  Mar 25, 2015 1:32:26pm

“FEAR”
They keep using that word.

9 wrenchwench  Mar 25, 2015 1:33:42pm
It used to be [that] it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier.”

By the Catholic Church, which has been trying to undo that damage to itself for the last 300 years..

10 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Mar 25, 2015 1:34:09pm
First, it wasn’t “accepted scientific wisdom” that the Earth was flat. This was an unscientific viewpoint that came from the Dark Ages, and it was science that debunked it.

G-damn scientists with all their flat-earth “theories”!!!!11

11 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Mar 25, 2015 1:34:17pm

re: #7 Nyet

That the flat Earth view was popular in the medieval period is in itself a myth. Certainly most didn’t accept it in Galileo’s time.

The Myth of the Flat Earth:

No one before the 1830s believed that medieval people thought that the earth was flat. The idea was established, almost contemporaneously, by a Frenchman and an American, between whom I have not been able to establish a connection, though they were both in Paris at the same time. One was Antoine-Jean Letronne (1787-1848), an academic of strong antireligious prejudices who had studied both geography and patristics and who cleverly drew upon both to misrepresent the church fathers and their medieval successors as believing in a flat earth, in his On the Cosmographical Ideas of the Church Fathers (1834).

The American was no other than our beloved storyteller Washington Irving (1783-1859), who loved to write historical fiction under the guise of history. His misrepresentations of the history of early New York City and of the life of Washington were topped by his history of Christopher Columbus (1828). It was he who invented the indelible picture of the young Columbus, a “simple mariner,” appearing before a dark crowd of benighted inquisitors and hooded theologians at a council of Salamanca, all of whom believed, according to Irving, that the earth was flat like a plate. Well, yes, there was a meeting at Salamanca in 1491, but Irving’s version of it, to quote a distinguished modern historian of Columbus, was “pure moonshine. Washington Irving, scenting his opportunity for a picturesque and moving scene,” created a fictitious account of this “nonexistent university council” and “let his imagination go completely…the whole story is misleading and mischievous nonsense.”

12 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 1:34:55pm

re: #7 Nyet

That the flat Earth view was popular in the medieval period is in itself a myth. Certainly most didn’t accept it in Galileo’s time.

Heck, the Inquisition had accepted the Earth was round by that point. Their quarrel with Galileo was over the idea that it moved, not over its shape.

13 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 1:35:22pm

re: #1 HappyWarrior

This is why Jindal and Cruz are both among the worst the GOP has to offer.

My feeling is that neither are “the worst” because they are not electable beyond their current position, and they are in a multitude of ways beclowning themselves.

Much worse, in my opinion, are those who sneak under the radar and use passive-aggressive techniques (cue Graham, McCain) to scuttle meaningful action.

14 Drive By Commenter  Mar 25, 2015 1:35:25pm

re: #3 Kragar

The more they talk, the dumber they sound, but the GOP base loves this bullshit.

Coals on a fire. Selling shit to shit heads.

15 Timothy Watson  Mar 25, 2015 1:36:22pm
First, it wasn’t 𠇊ccepted scientific wisdom” that the Earth was flat. This was an unscientific viewpoint that came from the Dark Ages, and it was science that debunked it.

No one in the Middle Ages though the Earth was flat, in fact, pretty much everyone knew it was round and had a good idea about it’s diameter.

That’s why most people thought Columbus was mad, they knew if they traveled West from Spain they would have no one near enough food and water to make it to India. If the Americas weren’t there, everyone would have died of dehydration or hunger.

16 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 1:36:31pm

re: #12 Dark_Falcon

Heck, the Inquisition had accepted the Earth was round by that point. Their quarrel with Galileo was over the idea that it moved, not over its shape.

Which Charles had already point out… Reading FAIL on my part.

17 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Mar 25, 2015 1:36:32pm

re: #8 The Mother Of All Pies

“FEAR”
They keep using that word.

Well, let me just say, I am positively afraid very scared of Ted Cruz, so the GOP should definitely nominate Ted Cruz.

/

18 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:36:49pm

re: #13 freetoken

My feeling is that neither are “the worst” because they are not electable beyond their current position, and they are in a multitude of ways beclowning themselves.

Much worse, in my opinion, are those who sneak under the radar and use passive-aggressive techniques (cue Graham, McCain) to scuttle meaningful action.

Fair points. I just have a special contempt for people who are educated enough to know better but pander to the lowest common denominator. You do bring up great counterpoints about Senators Graham and McCain.

19 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:37:31pm

re: #12 Dark_Falcon

Heck, the Inquisition had accepted the Earth was round by that point. Their quarrel with Galileo was over the idea that it moved, not over its shape.

I don’t think they ever doubted it. They were educated bastards.

20 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 1:37:52pm

re: #17 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

21 Tigger2  Mar 25, 2015 1:38:11pm

re: #8 The Mother Of All Pies

“FEAR”
They keep using that word.

[Embedded content]

Cruz is doing a pretty good job of crushing himself.

22 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:38:48pm

re: #15 Timothy Watson

No one is bit of an exaggeration… but there was a 97% consensus among the educated ;)

23 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:39:17pm

re: #8 The Mother Of All Pies

“FEAR”
They keep using that word.

[Embedded content]

By fear abject mocking of a man who couldn’t even buy up the proper urls before announcing a presidential campaign. Yeah I’m scared in my boots of that guy. And I have plenty of disgust for Jeb too.

24 Timothy Watson  Mar 25, 2015 1:39:19pm

re: #15 Timothy Watson

Grr…quoted the wrong section, fixed now.

25 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:39:47pm

re: #4 aagcobb

I mentioned this on the thread below, but apparently there is one possible GOP presidential candidate who thinks we should do something about climate change: Lindsey Graham, not that he has any chance of actually being the nominee. But that’s it; only one Republican willing to face reality and stand up to the Kochs.

Lindsay Graham?

*spit*

Ah, Lindsey Graham. The South Carolina senator who says he’s thinking about running for president no doubt thought he was helping the GOP get beyond its meltdown over its 20-week abortion ban bill, which leadership dropped unexpectedly when some GOP congresswomen balked, by asking antiabortion zealots attending the “March for Life” to help him “find a way out of this definitional problem with rape.”

One major issue with the bill was the way it defined rape: a women would have to have made a police report in order to get an abortion under the bill’s rape exception. (Katie McDonough has the details here.) Most rape victims don’t report the crime.

So Graham went to the “March for Life” today and came clean with the group, which is seething over its betrayal by GOP leadership. There’s going to be some kind of rape exception in the bill, and he needs their input to shape it.

“I’m going to need your help to find a way out of this definitional problem with rape,” Graham told the marchers, according to Dave Weigel. “We need to find a consensus position on the rape exception. The rape exception will be part of the bill. We just need to find a way definitionally to not get us into a spot where we’re debating what legitimate is. That’s not the cause. We’re not here debating legitimate rape. We’re talking about saving babies at 20 weeks.”

CONSENT, Lindsay, it’s not that difficult.

26 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 1:40:00pm

re: #11 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

The Myth of the Flat Earth:

But I learned in school that they all thought the Earth was flat, so it MUST be true!
////

27 Timothy Watson  Mar 25, 2015 1:40:02pm

re: #22 Nyet

No one is bit of an exaggeration… but there was a 97% consensus among the educated ;)

TEACH THE CONTROVERSY!1!!

28 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:41:01pm

Any candidate that cannot understand the concept of consent is not worth discussing.

29 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:41:07pm

But even if one were to accept the “most people believed in flat Earth” myth, it would have been a prevailing religious wisdom, not a scientific one. There’s a lesson there, somewhere…

30 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:41:58pm

re: #29 Nyet

But even if one were to accept the “most people believed in flat Earth” myth, it would have been a prevailing religious wisdom, not a scientific one. There’s a lesson there, somewhere…

I think that would require getting Ted a clue and if I saw downstairs right, that was being done getting Phil Robertson and the ETA on Phil’s clue is 2525.

31 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:42:04pm

Too bad he didn’t add the usual bit about how they burnt Galileo at the stake.

32 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 1:43:25pm

re: #4 aagcobb

I mentioned this on the thread below, but apparently there is one possible GOP presidential candidate who thinks we should do something about climate change: Lindsey Graham, not that he has any chance of actually being the nominee. But that’s it; only one Republican willing to face reality and stand up to the Kochs.

So he would help in the climate change arena, but we would be nuking Iran, N. Korea and probably Russia for good measure.
Save the Planet!

///mostly

33 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 1:45:12pm

re: #8 The Mother Of All Pies

“FEAR”
They keep using that word.

[Embedded content]

They use the same word to describe their omnipotent g_d.

34 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 1:46:47pm

Cruz, for all that he acts like one, is not really an idiot. I’m going to bet that he even knows why Galileo was REALLY brought before the Church. But he’s a con man, and he knows that saying Galileo denied that the Earth was the center of the solar system would not work as well as saying it was about the flatness of the Earth.

35 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 1:46:49pm

The email appears to have been accidentally sent to de Blasio’s spokesperson, Amy Spitalnick, as well as to Tucker Carlson. In the email, Buckley Carlson, who occasionally writes for the Daily Caller, makes several offensive comments about Spitalnick after she asked for a correction on a piece about the mayor:

Great response. Whiny little self-righteous bitch. “Appalling?”
And with such an ironic name, too… Spitalnick? Ironic because you just know she has extreme dick-fright; no chance has this girl ever had a pearl necklace. Spoogeneck? I don’t think so. More like LabiaFace.

36 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:47:26pm

re: #31 Nyet

Too bad he didn’t add the usual bit about how they burnt Galileo at the stake.

HIs signed confession is in the Vatican Archives.

37 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:48:15pm

re: #35 Kragar

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Being a dick seems to run in the Carlson family.

38 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 1:48:38pm

re: #35 Kragar

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Party of family values.

39 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:07pm

WTF? Private ceremony?

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to sign religious freedom bill Thursday in private ceremony - @FOX59
fox59.com

See George Takai’s comments on FB, including about GenCon:
facebook.com

40 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:16pm

re: #35 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Stay classy, Buckaroo!

41 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:17pm

re: #36 FemNaziBitch

HIs signed confession is in the Vatican Archives.

The ignorant usually babble about how Copernicus or Galileo were burned (it was Bruno).

42 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:40pm

Ted Cruz Just Laid Out The Most Anti-Woman Agenda Yet

43 LastYearsMan  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:47pm

There’s actually a very interesting theory that Galileo didn’t really get in trouble for geocentricism as much as for atomism — because whether the sun or Earth was at the center of the universe didn’t really matter for church theology, whereas Aristotelean matter theory was essential for transubstantiation. But, yeah, Galileo — science, evidence, observation. Cruz, not so much.

“And yet it moves.” Galileo talking about the Earth? Or me wonder how someone as dumb as Cruz can summon the brain power to keep flapping his tongue?

44 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 1:49:58pm

Right, “Dark Ages” wasn’t really accurate - I replaced it with “Bronze Age.”

45 Frenchy  Mar 25, 2015 1:50:42pm

As has been pointed out, these are not stupid men. They cannot possibly truly believe this nonsense that they spew. To me that makes this “position” that they take borderline criminal.

So Cruz is Galileo now? Oh fuck me…

46 ObserverArt  Mar 25, 2015 1:51:24pm

I can see why Teddy Boy has problems with public schools and common core standards.

They shoot too high.

He wants to create more and more ignorant, unquestioning Americans. They type that follow him, Jindal and others like them.

I guess this also describes the (lack of) vision the entire Republicans have for the good ol’ US of A.

That will keep people from asking why there are no good paying jobs, better health care, housing, infrastructure.

When they no longer have anything and are too dense to see the problems you can count on keeping them in the menial lifestyles they have planned for everyone.

47 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:51:56pm

Pregnancy is good for the economy?

What world do these people live in?

48 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 1:52:14pm

re: #45 Frenchy

As has been pointed out, these are not stupid men. They cannot possibly truly believe this nonsense that they spew. To me that makes this “position” that they take borderline criminal.

So Cruz is Galileo now? Oh fuck me…

“The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” - Carl Sagan

49 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 1:52:36pm

re: #37 HappyWarrior

Being a dick seems to run in the Carlson family.

But Pampered and Privileged dicks…

Carlson was born Tucker McNear Carlson in San Francisco, California. He grew up in Carlsbad, a suburb north of San Diego. He is the elder son of Lisa McNear (Lombardi) and Richard Warner Carlson, a former Los Angeles news anchor and U.S. Ambassador to the Seychelles, who was also president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and director of Voice of America.[3][4] His adoptive mother is Patricia Caroline Swanson (born 1945), former wife of Howard Feldman and an heiress to the Swanson food-conglomerate fortune.[3][5] He has a brother, Buckley Swanson Peck Carlson.[6] A great-uncle was Sen. J. William Fulbright.[5]

50 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 1:53:12pm

re: #44 Charles Johnson

Bronze Age science for their Bronze Age religion.

51 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 1:53:56pm

re: #46 ObserverArt

I can see why Teddy Boy has problems with public schools and common core standards.

They shoot too high.

He wants to create more and more ignorant, unquestioning Americans. They type that follow him, Jindal and others like them.

I guess this also describes the (lack of) vision the entire Republicans have for the good ol’ US of A.

That will keep people from asking why there are no good paying jobs, better health care, housing, infrastructure.

When they no longer have anything and are too dense to see the problems you can count on keeping them in the menial lifestyles they have planned for everyone.

Indeed. If you believe in self government, it requires that the population be as educated and capable of critical thought as possible. If, OTOH, you’re really just a con man, you want the rubes as dumb as you can get ‘em.

52 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 1:54:20pm

I’ve spent a huge amount of time unsubscribing to emails lately.

Such are 1st World Problems.

53 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 1:54:56pm

re: #49 blueraven

But Pampered and Privileged dicks…

That seems part the course with many.

54 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 1:55:59pm

re: #43 LastYearsMan

There’s actually a very interesting theory that Galileo didn’t really get in trouble for geocentricism as much as for atomism — because whether the sun or Earth was at the center of the universe didn’t really matter for church theology

Since we have the original clearly worded documents, we don’t really have to theorize speculate on this matter.

55 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 1:58:32pm

re: #11 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

The Myth of the Flat Earth:

The Royal Commission’s dispute with Columbus was over the circumference of the Earth and the length of Eurasia. To a reasonable accuracy, they were exactly right and he was ridiculously, almost insanely, wrong.

56 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 1:58:59pm
It’s easy to mock these people, but what they’re doing borders on criminal behavior; they’re deliberately misleading the public to try to get us to ignore an existential threat against the entire human species.

Time for Harry Frankfurt:

“The contemporary proliferation of bullshit also has deeper sources, in various forms of skepticism which deny that we can have any reliable access to an objective reality and which therefore reject the possibility of knowing how things truly are. These “anti-realist” doctrines undermine confidence in the value of disinterested efforts to determine what is true and what is false, and even in the intelligibility of the notion of objective inquiry. One response to this loss of confidence has been a retreat from the discipline required by dedication to the ideal of correctness to a quite different sort of discipline, which is imposed by pursuit of an alternative ideal of sincerity. Rather than seeking primarily to arrive at accurate representations of a common world, the individual turns toward trying to provide honest representations of himself. Convinced that reality has no inherent nature, which he might hope to identify as the truth about things, he devotes himself to being true to his own nature. It is as though he decides that since it makes no sense to try to be true to the facts, he must therefore try instead to be true to himself.”
goodreads.com

57 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 2:02:20pm

Student at center of SAE racist chant to hold presser momentarily.

58 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 2:02:20pm
59 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:02:51pm
60 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:04:21pm

I’m just waiting for Jindal to tamp the FEMA camps and associated we’ll rise up in armed revolution against big bad federal government scary stories, while he begs for the next hurricane or Gulf offshore drilling disaster FEMA money.

61 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:04:46pm

And then there is this:

Smaller Percentage of Americans Worry About Global Warming Now Than in 1989

[…]

Despite decades worth of news reports detailing scientific studies warning that the earth’s temperatures are rising due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a smaller percentage of Americans say they worry a “great deal or a fair amount” about climate change than in 1989, a new Gallup poll finds.

While 63 percent of those surveyed 26 years ago said that they worried a great deal or a fair amount about global warming, just 55 percent did so this year. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of those polled said that they did not believe that global warming would pose a serious threat to their way of life during their lifetime, while 37 percent said it would.

[…]

Forty-two percent of those surveyed said that the news media “generally exaggerated” the seriousness of global warming, compared to 21 percent who said they thought the media portrayed the threat correctly. Thirty-five percent who said the media underestimated the threat.

[…]

62 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 2:04:48pm

I just looked at the comment thread at law prof Jonathan Tulrley’s site on Bergdahl.

Holy shit. The rightwing derp fest is spectacular.

63 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 2:04:49pm

re: #57 blueraven

Student at center of SAE racist chant to hold presser momentarily.

Pushed back 15 minutes.
Student will make a short statement followed by 3 questions from press.

64 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Mar 25, 2015 2:05:08pm

re: #35 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Good Lord. Here’s Tucker to DeBlasio’s spokesperson:

What Bedford complained about was your tone, which, I have to agree, was whiny and annoying, and I say that in the spirit of helpful correction rather than as a criticism. Outside of New York City, adults generally write polite, cheerful emails to one another, even when asking for corrections. Something to keep in mind the next time you communicate with people who don’t live on your island.

Whiny and annoying* - bad.
Priggish and condescending - good.

For reference, the debate was whether, when calling Obama’s $80 billion transportation proposal “ideal”, DeBlasio meant that it was “adequate” (as his spokesperson maintained) or that he “wasn’t satisfied” with it (per the Daily Caller).

The article now sports this correction:

Editor’s Note: An earlier copy of this article said U.S. mayors “aren’t satisfied” with the president’s proposed $80 billion budget. This article has been updated to make clear that de Blasio thinks the president’s proposal is a good reference point for the spending debate.

———————
* a characterization with which I don’t agree, btw.

65 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:05:12pm

re: #59 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Are those new Palin progeny names?

66 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:06:11pm

re: #65 Backwoods_Sleuth

Carlson brothers.

67 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:06:28pm
68 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:06:44pm

re: #66 jaunte

Carlson brothers.

“Dumptruck” fooled me.

69 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 2:06:58pm

re: #64 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

Good Lord. Here’s Tucker to DeBlasio’s spokesperson:

Whiny and annoying* - bad.
Priggish and condescending - good.

For reference, the debate was whether, when calling Obama’s $80 billion transportation proposal “ideal”, DeBlasio meant that it was “adequate” (as his spokesperson maintained) or that he “wasn’t satisfied” with it (per the Daily Caller).

The article now sports this correction:

———————
* a characterization with which I don’t agree, btw.

Tucker’s bow tie went full metal Vogon poetry chair and throttled him, which is why his comments all sound like something from a person with hypoxia related brain damage.

70 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:07:01pm

re: #57 blueraven

Student at center of SAE racist chant to hold presser momentarily.

nbcnews.com

71 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 2:07:46pm

re: #65 Backwoods_Sleuth

Are those new Palin progeny names?

I used a Palin name generator:

I got Spackle Camshaft Palin.

72 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:08:14pm

re: #57 blueraven

Student at center of SAE racist chant to hold presser momentarily.

I saw this bit of SAE trivia recently:

“…To prepare for their roles, the actors playing the Deltas went to a real frat party at the University of Oregon’s SAE house (except John Belushi, who was working on Saturday Night Live (1975) that night). The real fraternity members did not like the actors being there and a brawl ensued. When Belushi returned to the set and heard about the fight, he had to be physically restrained from seeking revenge.”
imdb.com

73 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Mar 25, 2015 2:08:50pm

re: #55 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

The Royal Commission’s dispute with Columbus was over the circumference of the Earth and the length of Eurasia. To a reasonable accuracy, they were exactly right and he was ridiculously, almost insanely, wrong.

It was just Columbus’s dumb luck that there happened to be a continent in the way that nobody in Europe, including him, knew about. Otherwise he’d be laughed at today, if remembered at all.

74 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:08:57pm

Whew, that was scary. ///

US House rejects a far more conservative version of the GOP budget 132-294 - @thehill
thehill.com

75 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:10:06pm

re: #72 jaunte

I saw this bit of SAE trivia recently:

AH, the muse for the “Germans bombed Pearl Harbor” speech.

76 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:11:19pm
77 Dr Lizardo  Mar 25, 2015 2:11:54pm

re: #47 FemNaziBitch

Pregnancy is good for the economy?

What world do these people live in?

Pretty much the same one as these guys - flip sides of the same coin and all that.

78 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:12:06pm
79 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:12:08pm

re: #76 FemNaziBitch

Well, yes, it is. Which means Paul is worse than commies.

80 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 2:12:10pm

re: #76 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

Actually Rand, it’s something that even Republicans agreed was a good idea until your party got taken over by sexist zealots like your father.

81 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:12:13pm
82 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:13:18pm

On-Camera Police Beating of Black Michigan Man Protested

nbcnews.com

“Accounts of the incident from Dent and from police — all of whom in the video appear to be white — are wildly different:

Police said Dent attempted to flee the police car, but the video appears to show Dent maintaining a consistent speed and the pulling over safely across the street from a police station.

Police say Dent threatened to kill the officers. Dent says he didn’t — and none of the six officers’ microphones were turned on to substantiate their claim.
One officer said Dent bit him on the arm. Dent said he didn’t, and the officer didn’t seek medical attention or photograph his injury to support the allegation.

Police said they found a bag of crack cocaine under the passenger seat of Dent’s car. Dent, who has worked for Ford Motor Co. for 37 years and has no criminal record, said officers planted the cocaine. A post-arrest blood test showed no drugs in his system.

A judge dismissed all of the charges involved in the physical confrontation with police after watching the video obtained by WDIV. Dent’s lawyer said he was offered a plea deal resulting only in probation on the cocaine possession charge, but Dent turned it down, telling the station he wouldn’t plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.” More

Read this story right below live stream

83 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:14:51pm

I see brown people on stage???

Please don’t tell me this is one of those My Best Friend is Black thing.

84 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:17:52pm

Report: Iran-backed rebels in Yemen loot secret files about US spy operations, US officials tell @latimes

latimes.com

85 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:18:34pm

BTW, Nature Climate Change has a series of articles this week about how the IPCC is perceived in the media:

Focus: IPCC and media coverage of climate reports

86 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 2:18:41pm
87 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:19:39pm

Well, the lead instigator seems sorry.

Still, I remain skeptical if this apology really changes the systemic problem in Oklahoma or elsewhere.

88 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:19:50pm
89 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Mar 25, 2015 2:20:07pm

re: #70 Justanotherhuman

nbcnews.com

Oh goodie.

He’s a really nice guy, isn’t by any means racist, has black friends, etc.

90 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 2:20:33pm

re: #86 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Right. Just like if I were to call Tucker and his brother conservative pieces of shit that wouldn’t be jack shit if it wasn’t for their father’s connections is meant in kindness.

91 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Mar 25, 2015 2:21:25pm

re: #72 jaunte

I saw this bit of SAE trivia recently:

The frat boys didn’t like the actors being there? Losers.

92 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Mar 25, 2015 2:22:36pm

re: #87 freetoken

Well, the lead instigator seems sorry.

Still, I remain skeptical if this apology really changes the systemic problem in Oklahoma or elsewhere.

Depends how CCJ covers this.

///

93 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:22:36pm
94 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:23:13pm

Jim Wright (aka Stonekettle Station) attracts trolls on Facebook like almost no one else.
This time it’s about Bergdahl.
His take down is, once again, epic.

95 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:23:45pm
96 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:23:56pm

Never over-apologize. It just seems ingratiating. He’s too young to sell it well.

97 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:24:03pm
98 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:24:09pm

re: #89 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Well, the first thing he should do after this is resign from that racist fraternity.

99 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:24:30pm

Be still my heart:

ETA: This is what Chuck teased that he’d post soon a few days ago. Then asked people to retweet if they wanted to see it.
Then he apparently got drunk his ownself and just now remembered.

100 Timothy Watson  Mar 25, 2015 2:25:23pm

re: #99 Backwoods_Sleuth

Be still my heart:

[Embedded content]

He’s getting another visit from the Capitol Police.

101 Ian G.  Mar 25, 2015 2:25:42pm

Don’t want to bother with Wiki, but wasn’t it Erastophanes, centuries before the lifetime of Cruz’s savior, that estimated the circumference of the earth by comparing the shadows of two obelisks at different points along the Nile? And that he came damn close to the actual number?

As usual, Cruz has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.

102 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:25:51pm

Elon not having any.

103 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:25:57pm

TODAY’S CALMING VIDEO BREAK.

Even if you don’t click to the original article, watch the video.

104 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:26:34pm
105 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 2:26:46pm

re: #98 Justanotherhuman

Well, the first thing he should do after this is resign from that racist fraternity.

i dont think you’re allowed to resign from the gop

106 Frenchy  Mar 25, 2015 2:26:59pm

re: #99 Backwoods_Sleuth

Sounds like it’s gonna be another CCJ BOMBSHELL!1!!

107 ObserverArt  Mar 25, 2015 2:27:16pm

re: #97 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

Heh. John Menard. I know about him from his time in Indy car racing. A real piece of work…and no surprise he is tied to Walker. Slime has got to stick together.

108 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 2:27:25pm

re: #101 Ian G.

Don’t want to bother with Wiki, but wasn’t it Erastophanes, centuries before the lifetime of Cruz’s savior, that estimated the circumference of the earth by comparing the shadows of two obelisks at different points along the Nile? And that he came damn close to the actual number?

As usual, Cruz has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.

Eratosthenes

109 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:27:25pm

re: #104 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

Because their g_d is an angry and vengeful g_d.

110 Targetpractice  Mar 25, 2015 2:27:37pm

So it’s another “Sorry I got caught” non-apology?

111 EPR-radar  Mar 25, 2015 2:27:37pm

re: #73 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi

It was just Columbus’s dumb luck that there happened to be a continent in the way that nobody in Europe, including him, knew about. Otherwise he’d be laughed at today, if remembered at all.

IIRC, Columbus cherry picked his data when making his pitch to the Spanish monarchy. Contemporary calculations of the size of the earth were not in agreement, and Columbus chose the smallest available value (which ended up being incorrect).

112 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:28:35pm

re: #104 FemNaziBitch

See: ISIS.

113 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 2:29:38pm

re: #102 jaunte

Embedded Image

Elon not having any.

Levi Pettit said he knew the words were wrong, but not WHY they were wrong.
Really? Who raised this kid?

114 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:30:20pm

HE DOESN’T HAVE A CHOICE … .

*spit*

115 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 2:30:27pm
116 No Country For Old Haters  Mar 25, 2015 2:30:43pm

re: #104 FemNaziBitch

117 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:31:18pm

He’s right about one thing.

University of Oklahoma student Levi Pettit: ‘All the apologies in the world won’t change what I’ve done.’
end of alert

I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he does with himself after this presser. We could know pretty soon if this presser is just a self-serving gesture.

118 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 2:31:32pm

re: #101 Ian G.

Don’t want to bother with Wiki, but wasn’t it Erastophanes, centuries before the lifetime of Cruz’s savior, that estimated the circumference of the earth by comparing the shadows of two obelisks at different points along the Nile? And that he came damn close to the actual number?

As usual, Cruz has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.

Yes, it was Eratosthenes, using the shadow of a well in Syene in the Tropic of Cancer.

He had the right idea, although he lacked accurate distance bewteen Alexandia and Syene which really contributed to error in the final result.

119 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:31:41pm

Anger gives a false sense of control and power.

It becomes addictive.

I believe it is a sign of immaturity.

120 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 2:31:59pm

re: #98 Justanotherhuman

Well, the first thing he should do after this is resign from that racist fraternity.

The national organization is going to kick him out for what he did, and they should. Seriously, how could he not know what he was doing was wrong?

121 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:32:02pm

re: #118 Aunty Entity Dragon

Yes, it was Eratosthenes, using the shadow of a well in Syene in the Tropic of Cancer.

He had the right idea, although he lacked accurate distance bewteen Alexandia and Syene which really contributed to error in the final result.

GEOMETRY RULES!

122 Sabreen65  Mar 25, 2015 2:32:13pm

Cruz may not know historical facts. My guess is he doesn’t care. He knows his base doesn’t know historical facts either. Therefore, he can say whatever and they will believe him.

123 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 2:32:30pm

re: #99 Backwoods_Sleuth

124 wrenchwench  Mar 25, 2015 2:32:46pm

RIP to the weatherman of my childhood:

[…]

Then today, a former Albuquerque television personality and weatherman Dr. George Fischbeck died in Los Angeles. He was 92.

According to a news release from Albuquerque City Hall:

Dr. George came to New Mexico in 1946 to study Anthropology at UNM. He was also a meteorologist with the N.M. Air National Guard at Kirtland AFB. He became a much acclaimed teacher with Albuquerque Public Schools during the 1950’s. His unique teaching style leading to a weekly science show on KNME-5 in 1959, which by 1972 was being shown in 25 cities around the country.

In 1970, he added “weatherman” to his resume when he became KOB-4’s weekday forecaster … Dr. George was also the official meteorologist for the very first Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

Another cool thing about Fischbeck: He’s the only Albuquerque TV guy I’ve ever heard of mentioned in a Tom Waits song. At the end of “Emotional Weather Report” on Nighthawks at the Diner, Waits says, “Dr. George Fischbeck ain’t got nothin’ on me!”

Read his full obit at the Los Angeles Times.

The LA Times obit is a good read.

125 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:34:24pm

re: #123 Kragar

And the clip will be of Jesse Helms.

126 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:34:24pm
127 Aunty Entity Dragon  Mar 25, 2015 2:34:46pm

re: #124 wrenchwench

RIP to the weatherman of my childhood:

The LA Times obit is a good read.

My dad met him at a science teachers seminar. Dr Fishbeck signed a really cool weather photo to my dad.

128 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 2:36:22pm

re: #120 Dark_Falcon

Because he was evidently immersed in this wrong—family, peers, etc, and it was easier to live with racism than try to fight it, and there were no Blacks in that circle, so it was easy to do, enabled, more than likely. That’s the only explanation I can think of.

129 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 2:36:25pm

some people like cool jazz

i like coolidge jazz

…

130 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:36:52pm

re: #113 blueraven

Levi Pettit said he knew the words were wrong, but not WHY they were wrong.
Really? Who raised this kid?

Parents issue apology after son’s racist chant

Also:

Brody Pettit [his father] owns a successful machinery sales company, Pettit Machinery, which has locations in Texas and Oklahoma. The company sells tractors and other large agricultural, commercial and construction equipment.

The family lives in a $3.2 million home in the Highland Park, an upper class Dallas neighborhood where the median family income is $200,000.

heavy.com

131 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 2:37:21pm

Wait—so in the Buzzfeed article Carlson is quoted as saying, in part:

Outside of New York City, adults generally write polite, cheerful emails to one another, even when asking for corrections.

So… his brother’s misogynistic, bellicose response to de Blasio’s spokesperson constitutes polite & cheerful? Or did she somehow deserve the verbal abuse for daring to criticize a man in her “whiny and annoying” manner?

No doubt the brother will be hailed as a hero being persecuted by the progressive “feminazi” PC police or something.

Their mom must be really proud of her sons’ behavior. //

132 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:37:41pm

“Now we have a time where people are cherry picking science,” he said. “The science is not political. That’s like repealing gravity because you gained 10 pounds last week.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

133 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 2:39:27pm

re: #132 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

“Now we have a time where people are cherry picking science,” he said. “The science is not political. That’s like repealing gravity because you gained 10 pounds last week.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

“Reversed”!!??!! WTFITS?

134 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 2:39:38pm

Lara Logan’s bad reporting related to BENGHAZI!!1 was a wrong thing to do, but reading this I can’t help but feel for her:

CBS correspondent Lara Logan in hospital for fourth time this year suffering effects of 2011 sex attack in Egypt

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why rape and sexual assault must be taken seriously.

135 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:39:43pm

“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”

― Neil deGrasse Tyson

136 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 2:41:15pm

re: #132 FemNaziBitch

lolwut?

137 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:41:29pm
138 wrenchwench  Mar 25, 2015 2:42:30pm

Tom Waits - Emotional Weather Report

…

Another cool thing about Fischbeck: He’s the only Albuquerque TV guy I’ve ever heard of mentioned in a Tom Waits song. At the end of “Emotional Weather Report” on Nighthawks at the Diner, Waits says, “Dr. George Fischbeck ain’t got nothin’ on me!”
Read more at littlegreenfootballs.com

Fishbeck at 3:24.

139 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:43:04pm
SB 1318 was originally proposed to ensure that no insurance plans offered in the state’s health care exchange include elective abortion coverage, not even if the coverage were paid for separately in a rider. However, with the addition of an amendment by Republican Rep. Kelly Townsend, the bill now would require that as part of the so-called “informed consent” material offered prior to an abortion, the doctor must tell the patient that in the case of a medical abortion, “It may be possible to reverse the effects of a medication abortion if the woman changes her mind, but that time is of the essence.”
140 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:43:04pm

re: #135 FemNaziBitch

“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”

― Neil deGrasse Tyson

Umm. Science is a method, first and foremost. It can be wrong but then self-correcting. That’s a bit of bad philosophizing on Tyson’s part. Though to be fair, it’s only something he said on a show as a soundbite, so the fault really lies with someone who made a quotable quote out of it.

141 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:43:06pm

re: #132 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

“Now we have a time where people are cherry picking science,” he said. “The science is not political. That’s like repealing gravity because you gained 10 pounds last week.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

SCIENCE!!11!!

142 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 2:43:08pm

re: #128 Justanotherhuman

Because he was evidently immersed in this wrong—family, peers, etc, and it was easier to live with racism than try to fight it, and there were no Blacks in that circle, so it was easy to do, enabled, more than likely. That’s the only explanation I can think of.

That’s true, then I’d say his life should be over from this but his expulsion from both university and fraternity should still stand. Given that the chant in question was about lynching, I’m afraid that the proper policy response must be one of zero-tolerance.

143 Higgs Boson's Mate  Mar 25, 2015 2:44:15pm

re: #124 wrenchwench

RIP, Dr. George. Best weatherman ever.

When the rare inclement weather threatened Los Angeles, his newscast’s ratings went up as viewers tuned in to see a seemingly real-life Mr. Wizard — complete with thick black-rimmed glasses, animated mustache and signature bow tie — race around the set.

Of course I was tuned in during one of those rare instances of inclement weather. The rain started coming down in buckets halfway through Dr. George’s forecast. He was explaining his beloved 500 millibar chart when someone off camera got his attention. He listened for a few seconds and then said, straight-faced, “I’m told that it’s raining. “

144 wrenchwench  Mar 25, 2015 2:44:20pm

re: #136 CuriousLurker

lolwut?

Arizona is inexplicable.

145 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:44:50pm

From Dominant frames in legacy and social media coverage of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report , one picture basically summarizes media response to the last IPCC report:

Image: nclimate2535-f2.jpg

Colours show level of coverage by frame (see legend definitions in Box 1); grey shading shows total coverage by outlet. a, Broadcast media by number of items. b, Broadcast media by broadcast length (note standard BBC, ITV, ABC and NBC broadcasts are 30 min long, other broadcasts are an hour). c, Print media, shown by number of items.

American media just didn’t see the IPCC as newsworthy, especially Murdoch’s toys.

146 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:45:17pm

re: #140 Nyet

Umm. Science is a method, first and foremost. It can be false but then self-correcting. That’s a bit of bad philosophizing on Tyson’s part. Though to be fair, it’s only something he said on a show as a soundbite, so the fault really lies with someone who made a quotable quote out of it.

I think the idea is that your personal belief system will not change the fact that water freezes at a certain temperature or that glaciers are melting in the arctic.

Religious or Political beliefs don’t change the facts of the natural world.

147 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:45:23pm

re: #142 Dark_Falcon

That’s true, then I’d say his life should be over from this but his expulsion from both university and fraternity should still stand. Given that the chant in question was about lynching, I’m afraid that the proper policy response must be one of zero-tolerance.

His life isn’t over. He’s from Texas.

148 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:46:16pm

re: #146 FemNaziBitch

The idea is clear, the quote is bad. Makes science look like a dogmatic religion.

149 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:46:28pm

Americans just don’t care.

150 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:47:37pm
151 Higgs Boson's Mate  Mar 25, 2015 2:48:40pm

re: #147 Backwoods_Sleuth

His life isn’t over. He’s from Texas.

Cruz and Cornyn better watch their asses, that young man will be 30 in just a few years.

152 Targetpractice  Mar 25, 2015 2:49:39pm

re: #144 wrenchwench

Arizona is inexplicable.

There’s a reason it’s known as “The Meth Lab of Democracy.”

153 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 2:51:55pm

re: #142 Dark_Falcon

Unless he was raised by wolves or whatever, he knew full well that what he was doing was wrong. Who doesn’t know the basics of right, wrong, and what constitutes civil behavior by the time they hit first grade?

There are no excuses for that kind of crap.

154 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:52:26pm

re: #148 Nyet

The idea is clear, the quote is bad. Makes science look like a dogmatic religion.

YMMV

155 Dr. Matt  Mar 25, 2015 2:53:25pm
156 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 2:53:28pm

re: #150 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

Which it isn’t. Some aspects are hazardous, but ‘ultrahazardous’? Properly done, fracking isn’t that, as the Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have recognized. Maryland’s senate went overboard on this one.

157 FemNaziBitch  Mar 25, 2015 2:53:29pm

BBL

158 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 2:54:09pm

re: #154 FemNaziBitch

Plus we know without Tyson that objective facts are objective facts.

159 ObserverArt  Mar 25, 2015 2:55:22pm

I had to do this…getting in the spirit for what 2016 brings.

160 thedopefishlives  Mar 25, 2015 2:55:53pm

Afternoon Lizardim from the snow-covered, cool, cloudy wild north country. While I’m semi-out-of-commission with a pretty respectable fever, I still stupidly dragged myself into work this morning; damn that sense of duty. I found this image from my moderate-liberal Christian Facebook group:

Rape prevention

How go things among the lizardfolk?

161 Targetpractice  Mar 25, 2015 2:56:07pm

re: #156 Dark_Falcon

Which it isn’t. Some aspects are hazardous, but ‘ultrahazardous’? Properly done, fracking isn’t that, as the Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have recognized. Maryland’s senate went overboard on this one.

“Properly done”? “Properly done,” deep sea drilling is supposed to be safe.

162 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 2:56:21pm

re: #153 CuriousLurker

Unless he was raised by wolves or whatever, he knew full well that what he was doing was wrong. Who doesn’t know the basics of right, wrong, and what constitutes civil behavior by the time they hit first grade?

There are no excuses for that kind of crap.

I wish he had come out and said…I was drunk and stupid, I knew it was wrong and why. I did it anyway, because I wanted to be cool with the crowd and I am a coward.

163 Dr. Matt  Mar 25, 2015 2:56:27pm
164 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 2:56:42pm

re: #156 Dark_Falcon

Which it isn’t. Some aspects are hazardous, but ‘ultrahazardous’? Properly done, fracking isn’t that, as the Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have recognized. Maryland’s senate went overboard on this one.

ummm….no.

165 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 2:58:01pm
166 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 2:59:14pm

And from Taking a bet on risk:

[…]

These studies of media coverage suggest that journalists did not pick up on the language of risk in a volume and detail commensurate with the degree to which it was being heavily sponsored by some IPCC co-chairs and lead authors. This may be in part because the concept of ‘risk management’ sounds like a specialist or jargon-ridden term, which most journalists find problematic.

It is also a difficult one to explain visually for television. The disaster frame lends itself to a strong narrative and pictures, which television news needs, whereas explicit risk is more of an issue or concept than a story. Similarly, the idea of quantifying uncertainty through confidence and probability rankings is a complex one for all journalists, who may worry that their audience will find the concepts hard to understand.

Survey work from the United States suggests that journalists covering environmental issues rarely adopt scientific concepts or assessments of risk as a basic news value, but instead follow traditional values of timeliness, proximity, human interest, prominence and consequence (or arresting visual images for television)14. For example, a survey of more than 600 environment reporters, carried out in the early 2000s, found that a risk assessment angle was the least likely storyline or framework of the nine examined15. Interviews with experienced environment journalists suggested mixed attitudes as to the helpfulness of risk language and IPCC concepts in communicating the climate challenge5.

[…]

In other words, the IPCC spent a lot of time trying to make a point… which the media really didn’t care about so didn’t report it.

167 Dr. Matt  Mar 25, 2015 2:59:56pm

Fracking can be “safe” just like all gun owners are “responsible”….up to the point where they are not.

168 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 3:00:24pm

re: #118 Aunty Entity Dragon

Yes, it was Eratosthenes, using the shadow of a well in Syene in the Tropic of Cancer.

He had the right idea, although he lacked accurate distance bewteen Alexandia and Syene which really contributed to error in the final result.

And for those who trust experience more than calculation, Antonio Pigafetta completed the first voyage around the planet 42 years before Galileo was born.

bba-intl.com

169 #FergusonFireside  Mar 25, 2015 3:00:27pm
170 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 3:03:07pm

And he hijacks another popular hashtag that has nothing to do with his tweet:

171 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:04:07pm

re: #156 Dark_Falcon

Which it isn’t. Some aspects are hazardous, but ‘ultrahazardous’? Properly done, fracking isn’t that, as the Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have recognized. Maryland’s senate went overboard on this one.

About those earthquakes…

172 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 3:05:06pm

You really have to be raised in that kind of atmosphere to understand how racism permeates everything. I’m old enough to have been raised that way, although I was fortunate in that I wasn’t insulated from others who thought differently and I grew out of it.

No doubt Pettit was sent to private schools, never personally knew, or cultivated, any Black friends. I doubt he would ever have to mix with anyone who wasn’t already included in his circle of relatives, friends, even acquaintances.

You would have to be born into that mindset to understand what I’m talking about, and how racism is too often passed on, generation to generation, regardless of the status of families, much as class is in class-bound societies. It’s not often talked about outside that circle, but it’s there, even if outward appearances sometimes suggest otherwise. And it’s too often ingrained in those we see spouting the kind of fascist thought that is apparent in the extreme RW, also.

173 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 3:05:51pm

re: #162 blueraven

I wish he had come out and said…I was drunk and stupid, I knew it was wrong and why. I did it anyway, because I wanted to be cool with the crowd and I am a coward.

Quite Concur.

174 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 3:05:52pm

re: #171 allegro

About those earthquakes…

yes, Oklahoma would like a word…

175 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 3:06:27pm

re: #162 blueraven

I wish he had come out and said…I was drunk and stupid, I knew it was wrong and why. I did it anyway, because I wanted to be cool with the crowd and I am a coward.

This. People could take lessons from the lead prosecutor in the Glenn Ford case where the innocent man in Louisiana who spent 30 years in prison, most of it on death row. Lumberhead paged it last week.

176 Higgs Boson's Mate  Mar 25, 2015 3:07:23pm

re: #156 Dark_Falcon

Which it isn’t. Some aspects are hazardous, but ‘ultrahazardous’? Properly done, fracking isn’t that, as the Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have recognized. Maryland’s senate went overboard on this one.

Of course it isn’t hazardous. They’re only pumping tens of thousands of gallons of, of, of something into the ground and everybody knows that extractive industries have never, nor will they ever, do anything that would harm anyone just to make a quick buck.

177 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 3:08:55pm

re: #176 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Fracking needs to be regulated, I’ve always said that. But an outright ban as an ‘ultrahazard’ is in my view going way too far.

178 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:10:12pm

re: #176 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Of course it isn’t hazardous. They’re only pumping tens of thousands of gallons of, of, of something into the ground and everybody knows that extractive industries have never, nor will they ever, do anything that would harm anyone just to make a quick buck.

Bet the guys making all that $ aren’t allowing fracking in their neighborhoods.

179 thedopefishlives  Mar 25, 2015 3:12:02pm

re: #178 allegro

Bet the guys making all that $ aren’t allowing fracking in their neighborhoods.

Not In My Backyard.

180 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 3:14:43pm

re: #170 Backwoods_Sleuth

And he hijacks another popular hashtag that has nothing to do with his tweet:

[Embedded content]

The tweet is about NCAA, MM is NCAA, so it’s relevant, or am I missing something?

181 goddamnedfrank  Mar 25, 2015 3:15:34pm

re: #176 Higgs Boson’s Mate

They’re only pumping tens of thousands of gallons of, of, of something into the ground …

By any conceivable definition this is deliberate polluting of the environment.

182 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 3:16:04pm

Here’s our award for Bad Parent of the Day, but also for Stupid State Government Ideology of the Day:

Detroit woman whose 2 kids were found in freezer charged

The mother of two Detroit children whose bodies were found in a deep freezer in their home was charged with child abuse Wednesday and could face more serious charges once investigators determine how the boy and girl died.

Mitchelle Blair, 35, was arrested Tuesday after court officers serving an eviction notice at her home opened the freezer and found the bodies of her daughter Stoni Ann Blair and her son Stephen Gage Berry.

[…]

The two surviving children, a 17-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, were placed in protective custody on Tuesday.

[…]

Prosecutors believe that when they died, Stoni was 13 years old and Stephen was 9. Stoni would have been 15 now, if alive, and Stephen would have been 11.

Neighbors said they hadn’t seen the dead children in about a year. None of the four children was enrolled in Detroit schools, and friends said their mother was home-schooling them.

Under state law, Michigan parents have the right to homeschool their children. Educating them, assigning homework and testing are the parent’s responsibility.

Registering the home school to the state Education office is voluntary, unless the student is special needs and special education services have been requested from the local school district.

[…]

183 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 3:16:17pm

And yes, the joke is racist. Is it really Boehner?

184 Dark_Falcon  Mar 25, 2015 3:16:32pm

BBL

185 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 3:16:33pm

re: #178 allegro

Bet the guys making all that $ aren’t allowing fracking in their neighborhoods.

This. If it’s safe then the owners of companies who profit from it should be required to build their homes and live in the neighborhoods potentially affected by it. IIRC, the Chinese did something like that back during the Y2K fears—they made the guys who fixed all the code for the computers air traffic controllers use actually be passengers on airplanes at the stroke of midnight.

That’s one way to ensure things get done right. LOL

186 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 3:16:41pm

re: #177 Dark_Falcon

Fracking needs to be regulated, I’ve always said that. But an outright ban as an ‘ultrahazard’ is in my view going way too far.

regulated???

obviously, you believe in Big Gummint

187 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:17:36pm

re: #181 goddamnedfrank

By any conceivable definition this is deliberate polluting of the environment.

Especially when asked exactly what shit they’re pumping down there, they refuse to answer claiming “proprietary” information. But it’s all harmless. Really.

188 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 3:19:18pm

re: #176 Higgs Boson’s Mate

Of course it isn’t hazardous. They’re only pumping tens of thousands of gallons of, of, of something into the ground and everybody knows that extractive industries have never, nor will they ever, do anything that would harm anyone just to make a quick buck.

Big problem.
environmentamerica.org

189 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:20:11pm

re: #185 CuriousLurker

This. If it’s safe then the owners of companies who profit from it should be required to build their homes and live in the neighborhoods potentially affected by it. IIRC, the Chinese did something like that back during the Y2K fears—they made the guys who fixed all the code for the computers air traffic controllers use actually be passengers on airplanes at the stroke of midnight.

That’s one way to ensure things get done right. LOL

I like it! LOL

190 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 3:20:54pm

Safe energy? What safe energy? We can’t frack if it’s unsafe. Can’t drill deep in the ocean if it’s unsafe. Can’t go nuclear power unless it’s safe. We can of course have an energy crisis and endure energy and related inflation.

Flying in an airliner is safe. 1000+ dead in airliner crashes in the last year.

So how safe is safe enough for fracking or drilling? Not at all? Pipes break. Trains crash. Trucks crash. Refineries have troubles. How do we move the oil and gas? Make gasoline? Solar and wind is great but there is not even close to enough to fill our energy needs without oil.

So how safe is safe enough?

191 wrenchwench  Mar 25, 2015 3:21:04pm
192 Higgs Boson's Mate  Mar 25, 2015 3:22:20pm

re: #177 Dark_Falcon

Fracking needs to be regulated, I’ve always said that. But an outright ban as an ‘ultrahazard’ is in my view going way too far.

When the companies won’t reveal what goes into the fracking fluid an outright ban is the only reasonable precaution to take. I have a grim foreboding that the long term aftereffects of fracking will be an environmental disaster. I’m only surprised that our Republican Congress has yet to pass a bill limiting the fracking companies’ liability to something like ten bucks.

193 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 3:23:05pm

re: #190 Great White Snark

Safe energy? What safe energy? We can’t frack if it’s unsafe. Can’t drill deep in the ocean if it’s unsafe. Can’t go nuclear power unless it’s safe. We can of course have an energy crisis and endur energy and related inflation.

Flying in an airliner is safe. 1000+ dead in airliner crashes in the last year.

So how safe is safe enough for fracking or drilling? Not at all? Pipes break. Trains crash. Trucks crash. Refineries have troubles. How do we move the oil and gas? Make gasoline? Solar and wind is great but there is not even close to enough to fill our energy needs without oil.

So how safe is safe enough?

“Résumé

Razors pain you,
Rivers are damp,
Acids stain you,
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful,
Nooses give,
Gas smells awful.
You might as well live.”

― Dorothy Parker, Enough Rope

194 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 3:24:11pm

re: #190 Great White Snark

Pipelines are safer than rail, but pushing bitumen through them aggravates the problem of breaks, since it sinks. Pipeline construction standards and inspection requirements can be tightened a great deal more than current.

195 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 3:26:04pm

re: #178 allegro

Bet the guys making all that $ aren’t allowing fracking in their neighborhoods.

Exxon CEO Comes Out Against Fracking Project Because It Will Affect His Property Values:

As ExxonMobil’s CEO, it’s Rex Tillerson’s job to promote the hydraulic fracturing enabling the recent oil and gas boom, and fight regulatory oversight. The oil company is the biggest natural gas producer in the U.S., relying on the controversial drilling technology to extract it.

The exception is when Tillerson’s $5 million property value might be harmed. Tillerson has joined a lawsuit that cites fracking’s consequences in order to block the construction of a 160-foot water tower next to his and his wife’s Texas home.

196 blueraven  Mar 25, 2015 3:27:19pm

re: #190 Great White Snark

Safe energy? What safe energy? We can’t frack if it’s unsafe. Can’t drill deep in the ocean if it’s unsafe. Can’t go nuclear power unless it’s safe. We can of course have an energy crisis and endur energy and related inflation.

Flying in an airliner is safe. 1000+ dead in airliner crashes in the last year.

So how safe is safe enough for fracking or drilling? Not at all? Pipes break. Trains crash. Trucks crash. Refineries have troubles. How do we move the oil and gas? Make gasoline? Solar and wind is great but there is not even close to enough to fill our energy needs without oil.

So how safe is safe enough?

Why cant we do fracking like the UK?

In the United States, about 750 compounds have been listed as additives for hydraulic fracturing in a report to the US Congress in 2011 after originally being kept secret for “commercial reasons”.[1][2] The following is a partial list of the chemical constituents in additives that are used or have been used in fracturing operations, as based on the report of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, some are known to be carcinogenic.[3]

In the UK only ‘Non-Hazardous’ chemicals are permitted for fracturing fluids by the Environment Agency. All chemicals have to be declared publicly and, increasingly, food additive based chemicals are available to allow fracking to take place safely.

en.wikipedia.org

197 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 3:27:39pm

re: #189 allegro

I like it! LOL

Ha—found it! It was the airline bosses who had to be in the air at midnight:

China orders airline bosses in sky in vital Y2K test

The Chinese Government has reportedly ordered the heads of the country’s state-owned airlines to be flying on 1 January 2000 in an effort to boost public confidence in the readiness of Beijing to tackle the so-called “millenium bug”. […]

Many see the reported order for airline bosses to be in the sky on 1 January next year as a warning that airlines and air traffic controllers must be prepared so as not to cause embarrassment to China internationally or jeopardise safety. […]

198 thedopefishlives  Mar 25, 2015 3:28:35pm

re: #197 CuriousLurker

Okay, now that’s just plain epic.

199 jaunte  Mar 25, 2015 3:29:13pm

re: #195 Backwoods_Sleuth


bizjournals.com
You would think someone making 40 million a year could find a prettier spot to live.
200 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 3:29:32pm
201 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 3:29:41pm

re: #150 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

This will be a good test for Hogan to show he’s the independent type that he ran as. I have my doubts but I’d love to be pleasantly surprised by a Republican executive for a change.

202 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 3:30:19pm

re: #198 thedopefishlives

Okay, now that’s just plain epic.

I know, right? Talk about accountability.

203 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 3:31:02pm

re: #195 Backwoods_Sleuth

Exxon CEO Comes Out Against Fracking Project Because It Will Affect His Property Values:

Well I’ll take that even though it would be nice to seeing stuff like this opposed out of principle and concern for others and not for his own interests but I guess you take what you get.

204 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 3:32:32pm

re: #198 thedopefishlives

Okay, now that’s just plain epic.

Their equivalent of the Chairman of the FDA got nine grams in the back of the head for the melamine-contaminated baby/pet food fiasco. I don’t suppose we should really adopt that policy, but if we hadn’t lucked out by sticking to Purina, I don’t know….

205 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 3:33:55pm

re: #200 Kragar

[Embedded content]

What horrible movie was that from? I forget.

206 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:34:28pm

It’s so annoying to finally extract a sunflower seed from its shell and then have a puff of wind blow it out of your hand just as you’re finally gonna get to eat the little sucker. Happened to me twice now. Grrr…

207 TedStriker  Mar 25, 2015 3:35:09pm

re: #72 jaunte

I saw this bit of SAE trivia recently:

Belushi was apparently ready to go full Bluto on those SAE punks…it’d have been fantastic.

208 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 3:35:31pm

re: #205 Blind Frog Belly White

What horrible movie was that from? I forget.

The original Clash of the Titans

209 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 3:37:37pm

re: #206 allegro

It’s so annoying to finally extract a sunflower seed from its shell and then have a puff of wind blow it out of your hand just as you’re finally gonna get to eat the little sucker. Happened to me twice now. Grrr…

I only buy them shelled; too much work for too little reward. If I want something with shells I go for pumpkin seeds. Or pistachios. Nom, nom, nom…

210 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:38:38pm

re: #209 CuriousLurker

I only buy them shelled; too much work for too little reward. If I want something with shells I go for pumpkin seeds. Or pistachios. Nom, nom, nom…

That’s kinda the point. I have 8 more pounds to lose. LOL

211 The Mother Of All Pies  Mar 25, 2015 3:38:43pm

re: #132 FemNaziBitch

[Embedded content]

“Now we have a time where people are cherry picking science,” he said. “The science is not political. That’s like repealing gravity because you gained 10 pounds last week.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

So after taking the first pill, a woman can still be “a little bit pregnant”

212 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 3:39:00pm

re: #208 Kragar

The original Clash of the Titans

Ah! Now I remember. Clash of Harry Hamlin and Harryhausen.

213 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 3:40:07pm

re: #209 CuriousLurker

I only buy them shelled; too much work for too little reward. If I want something with shells I go for pumpkin seeds. Or pistachios. Nom, nom, nom…

The ROI is much better on peanuts.

214 GlutenFreeJesus  Mar 25, 2015 3:40:33pm

re: #205 Blind Frog Belly White

What horrible movie was that from? I forget.

You blasphemer!

215 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 3:43:34pm

re: #206 allegro

It’s so annoying to finally extract a sunflower seed from its shell and then have a puff of wind blow it out of your hand just as you’re finally gonna get to eat the little sucker. Happened to me twice now. Grrr…

“Say, what’s the deal with airline peanuts, anyway?” </badseinfeldimpression>

216 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 3:43:49pm

re: #214 GlutenFreeJesus

You blasphemer!

Gonna burn me at the stake, like Galileo?
///////////////////////////

217 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 3:44:42pm

OK, I’m gonna watch Young Frankensteen for the first time now.

218 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 3:46:02pm

re: #217 Nyet

OK, I’m gonna watch Young Frankensteen for the first time now.

Lucky you! It’s the #1 funniest ever movie on my list. Still cracks me up after repeated viewings over the years.

219 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 3:46:04pm
220 Shiplord Kirel  Mar 25, 2015 3:48:24pm

re: #76 FemNaziBitch

Rand Paul thinks equality for woman is “communism.”

We should shut down NASA then and turn off our comsats, spysats, etc. because space flight, too, is a communist idea from the days of Soviet Russia.

No it’s true, at least as much as communist support for equal pay was.

According to David Baker’s definitive history, The Rocket, the Soviet Union was the first country to officially recognize the possibility of space travel and to appropriate funds for research. This was in the 20s and 30s, decades before any other government took the subject seriously.
Theoretical pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) did much of his important work in czarist times, but he was highly honored and recognized by the Soviets late in the last years of his life.

221 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 3:49:00pm

The big Boehner Bombshell drops.

What can we say?

…

222 thedopefishlives  Mar 25, 2015 3:49:08pm

re: #219 Charles Johnson

Didn’t he say something about it being a person “admired by everybody”? I commented at the time to remember that UpChuck is completely delusional. Looks like I was right.

223 Blind Frog Belly White  Mar 25, 2015 3:49:44pm

re: #214 GlutenFreeJesus

You blasphemer!

To be fair, it was not a horrible movie. But the owl was pretty awful.

Speaking of Harryhausen and stop motion animation, I saw the OLD “Clash of the Titans” after seeing the NEW “Clash of the Titans”, and of course the special effects in the old one look jerky and fake. But I remember when I saw “Jason and the Argonauts” as a kid, the fighting skeletons and all really seemed believable!

I guess it’s like watching any Science Fiction movie after “2001” came out - you can’t go home again!

224 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 3:52:13pm

re: #196 blueraven

I’d love that. But when it’s prohibited outright, there is no where to go with even the most advanced technology to keep it safe. I’m with Dark on this one. Regulate? Yes. Strictly? Sure. Prohibit-? Bad concept.

A local prohibition by a city kept my employer from continuing a gold and base metal recycling process. That cost me thousands in income since, and 3 positions went away, each that paid pretty darn well. $12 - $15 an hour in 1995.

The city prohibited us from bringing in jewelers polishing dust because it was classified as hazardous waste. We had a really clean process and could not run it. Passed every “negative declaration” for CEQA to get the permit from the Feds, state, county. But the city had passed an ordinance no hazardous waste could be brought in for processing. Jewelers polishing dust? That red rouge stuff. Not radioactive, not even poisonous, barely even flammable. Technically a hazardous waste that was worth a hundred dollars a pound at $40o gold. At that value, nobody mishandled it. But that’s all gone now thanks to bureaucratic ignorance.

225 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 3:54:53pm

re: #222 thedopefishlives

Didn’t he say something about it being a person “admired by everybody”? I commented at the time to remember that UpChuck is completely delusional. Looks like I was right.

I’m not sure he meant Boehner.

226 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 3:57:03pm

re: #202 CuriousLurker

Mini Chinese product safety rant-
I guess they took cat food, plaster for sheetrock, toothpaste, baby formula and tires a lot less seriously than Y2k. Oh and lead rules for paint on kids toys, formaldehyde on flooring (See Lumber Liquidators -60Minutes expose) on and on and on…. They saw that lead in jewelry for children was prohibited. So they switched to cadmium the bastards. Tin costs more but is neutral to our bodies.

227 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 3:58:58pm

re: #183 Nyet

And yes, the joke is racist. Is it really Boehner?

Sorry, I was away doing early evening farm chores.

I have no idea if it was really Boehner because I didn’t bother listening to the video.
I know that FoxNews made the same joke/mistake last year on air about the UConn Huskies Women’s team when they won the NCAA championship.

228 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 4:00:47pm

re: #223 Blind Frog Belly White

To be fair, it was not a horrible movie. But the owl was pretty awful.

Speaking of Harryhausen and stop motion animation, I saw the OLD “Clash of the Titans” after seeing the NEW “Clash of the Titans”, and of course the special effects in the old one look jerky and fake. But I remember when I saw “Jason and the Argonauts” as a kid, the fighting skeletons and all really seemed believable!

I guess it’s like watching any Science Fiction movie after “2001” came out - you can’t go home again!

Heh, I remember being mightily impressed by the snake woman dance in Sinbad. The cyclops & skeleton too. I recently bought the movie from Amazon out of sheer nostalgia for the cheesy stop-motion animations and the Arabs who were all white English people.

…

…

…

229 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 4:02:03pm

re: #225 Nyet

I’m not sure he meant Boehner.

230 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:07:06pm

re: #223 Blind Frog Belly White

When I was watching pirated, badly translated, poor quality Troll 2 on Russian cable TV in 199… I also thought it was a real horror movie, and not the worst one at that, LOL ;)

PS: But I don’t complain. I also got to watch Braindead and Bad Taste and who knows what else before it was cool [/hipster mode off]…

231 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:08:04pm

re: #225 Nyet

I’m not sure he meant Boehner.

When Chuck first teased this a few days ago, he said the drunk racist video was of a highly placed GOP person that everyone admires.

232 goddamnedfrank  Mar 25, 2015 4:09:05pm

Benefit of the doubt time. N C Double-A and N Double-A C P are really easy to mix up when speaking extemporaneously. You don’t have to be a racist to fuck that up, or to laugh at somebody fucking that up.

Not saying for certain it wasn’t deliberate, these are conservatives after all. Just that as far as GOP white dumbfuckery goes this isn’t exactly dripping with malice. It’s nowhere near as offensive for instance as talking about the “Democratic Plantation,” and buying black votes with “free stuff,” which is shit that Republicans say openly all the time.

233 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 4:09:06pm

re: #231 Backwoods_Sleuth

a highly placed GOP person that everyone admires.

so, nobody, then

234 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:10:13pm

re: #231 Backwoods_Sleuth

When Chuck first teased this a few days ago, he said the drunk racist video was of a highly placed GOP person that everyone admires.

He didn’t say that the person everyone admires was the GOP figure.

235 calochortus  Mar 25, 2015 4:10:51pm

re: #224 Great White Snark

Fracking has been used for decades to increase some oil wells’ production. Done properly it can be as safe as any other way of producing oil.

However, in the last couple of decades it has been done far more intensively and used for very tight source rock that otherwise wouldn’t produce enough to be commercial.
To produce oil or gas, you need a source for the hydrocarbons, a trap to collect them, and some sort of pressure to drive them up your well bore. Fracking and hydraulic injection does #3. The problem is that production declines pretty quickly and then you need to re-frack. At that point there is a greater chance that some of your fractures won’t be quite as well controlled as the first time around-they will reach up out of your target rock and can allow contamination of ground water and the like.
There are other problems related to what to do with the waste water, and so forth, as well.

Fracking shouldn’t be totally banned forever, but slowing down and taking a good look at what is happening is a good idea.

236 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 4:11:41pm

re: #232 goddamnedfrank

Benefit of the doubt time. N C Double-A and N Double-A C P are really easy to mix up when speaking extemporaneously. You don’t have to be a racist to fuck that up, or to laugh at somebody fucking that up.

Not saying for certain it wasn’t deliberate, these are conservatives after all. Just that as far as GOP white dumbfuckery goes this isn’t exactly dripping with malice. It’s nowhere near as offensive for instance as talking about the “Democratic Plantation,” and buying black votes with “free stuff,” which is shit that Republicans say openly all the time.

That’s all he said? This is CCJ’s “more damning than the 47% moment”? MAn weak sauce and oyu’re right. It’s nowhere close to the democratic plantation and free stuff that is pretty much bread and butter of GOP politicians.

237 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:11:43pm
238 Kragar  Mar 25, 2015 4:12:11pm
239 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:12:47pm

First mention of the video:

Long before that:

So, no, he didn’t mean Boehner.

240 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 4:16:21pm

re: #239 Nyet

First mention of the video:

[Embedded content]

So, no, he didn’t mean Boehner.

Oh I forgot about that part. But that begs the question. Does anyone actually want to be Ted Cruz’s running mate?

241 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:17:23pm

re: #240 HappyWarrior

Oh I forgot about that part. But that begs the question. Does anyone actually want to be Ted Cruz’s running mate?

OH NO HE’S GOING TO DESTROY SARAH!!!
/

242 allegro  Mar 25, 2015 4:18:31pm

re: #241 Nyet

OH NO HE’S GOING TO DESTROY SARAH!!!
/

Waaaaaay too late.

243 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 4:18:44pm

re: #241 Nyet

OH NO HE’S GOING TO DESTROY SARAH!!!
/

A-ha!

244 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:19:04pm

re: #234 Nyet

He didn’t say that the person everyone admires was the GOP figure.

So many political scalps he’s gonna take, I can’t keep track of them anymore.

;)

245 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:21:02pm

re: #244 Backwoods_Sleuth

So far no scalps. More like 1 Samuel 18:27.

246 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:22:29pm
247 Shiplord Kirel  Mar 25, 2015 4:24:15pm

You know, in 50 years the Canadian Arrowhead cultists might well succeed in their long-running effort to steal credit for the Moon landings. Who, after all, would believe that a backward country of creationists and other superstitious luddites could ever have led the way in anything scientific, let alone the greatest feat of the age.

For those who don’t know, the Arrowheads are Canadian nationalists who assert among other things that the cancellation of their fabulous Avro CF-105 aircraft in 1959 allowed the superior Canadian engineering talent to join the US space program. Further, according to Arrowheads, the program would have failed without this input since escaped German war criminals were not quite up to the job and Americans of course are pointedly discounted. Needless to say, there is no justification for this claim, since only 32 fomer Avro engineers joined NASA contractors or NASA itself, compared to thousands of Americans and a thousand or more non-Canadian foreigners.

248 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 4:24:45pm

re: #246 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

Pressing issues.

249 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 4:25:11pm
“An unborn child has a beating heart. Should we allow that heart to be stopped?” said Ohio Rep. Christina Hagan, a Republican sponsor, quoted in The Columbus Dispatch.

You betcha.

250 piratedan  Mar 25, 2015 4:27:46pm

re: #144 wrenchwench

hey, at LEAST we now have an official state handgun……. /////

Wish I could understand how the hate has such a strong grip here in Arizona, or maybe it’s fear… still we have way too many loons in charge and fighting the rampant idiocy is simply damn tiring.

251 goddamnedfrank  Mar 25, 2015 4:28:43pm

There’s really only one highly placed Republican that everyone admires.

Motorized Patriot Lincoln

I would totally vote for that.

252 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:29:24pm

Inhofe needs to get right there and throw a snowball at the tornadoes:

253 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 4:31:06pm

re: #247 Shiplord Kirel

You know, in 50 years the Canadian Arrowhead cultists might well succeed in their long-running effort to steal credit for the Moon landings. Who, after all, would believe that a backward country of creationists and other superstitious luddites could ever have led the way in anything scientific, let alone the greatest feat of the age.

For those who don’t know, the Arrowheads are Canadian nationalists who assert among other things that the cancellation of their fabulous Avro CF-105 aircraft in 1959 allowed the superior Canadian engineering talent to join the US space program. Further, according to Arrowheads, the program would have failed without this input since escaped German war criminals were not quite up to the job and Americans of course are pointedly discounted. Needless to say, there is no justification for this claim, since only 32 fomer Avro engineers joined NASA contractors or NASA itself, compared to thousands of Americans and a thousand or more non-Canadian foreigners.

I liked the Avrocar. They almost succeeded in building something that is authentically impossible—a hovercraft without a skirt.

Of course, it was originally supposed to be an interceptor….

254 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:33:48pm

I’m about 800 miles east of Tulsa and it’s not quite sunset here yet:

255 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 4:33:56pm

Galileo, Galileo…

…

256 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:35:25pm
257 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 4:36:15pm

Hail falling in Tulsa:

instagram.com

258 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:38:20pm

Definitely a bumpy night in Oklahoma:

259 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 4:38:32pm

re: #257 Justanotherhuman

Tomorrow could be interesting also:

spc.noaa.gov

260 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 4:40:10pm

re: #259 freetoken

Not for us, but after being in the 70s on Fri and 60s on Sat, we might plummet to 28 deg overnight into Sunday….and I just planted herbs and flowers today, damn it.

The sheets will come out to cover them, though. : )

261 freetoken  Mar 25, 2015 4:41:52pm

Lots of atmospheric action:

spc.noaa.gov

262 Shiplord Kirel  Mar 25, 2015 4:42:14pm

re: #253 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

I liked the Avrocar. They almost succeeded in building something that is authentically impossible—a hovercraft without a skirt.

Of course, it was originally supposed to be an interceptor….

Avro-Canada, originally an affiliate of the British Avro ltd,, did some very good work in Canada, starting with license production of the Lancaster bomber during World War 2. The addition of a skirt would have turned the Avrocar into a hovercraft, but nobody thought of it and credit for the hovercraft goes instead to British inventor Christopher Cockerell. Cockeril was working about the same time but did not have a full size example until 1959. Ironically, this was built by Saunders-Roe which, like Avro Canada, had originated as an affiliate of British Avro.

263 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 4:45:05pm

Conspiracy theories will commence momentarily:

PARIS — As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”

He said, “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”

264 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 4:48:57pm

re: #263 Backwoods_Sleuth

Conspiracy theories will commence momentarily:

[Embedded content]

Holy smokes. I thought that pilots had a secret cabin lockout override switch or something?

265 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 4:57:33pm

re: #263 Backwoods_Sleuth

Conspiracy theories will commence momentarily:

[Embedded content]

It could just be that the pilot in the cockpit had passed out from depressurization?

At any rate, there is going to be a shit ton of lawsuits.

266 Justanotherhuman  Mar 25, 2015 5:00:50pm

Later, Lizards!

Keep calm…

267 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 5:08:16pm

Therewolf.

268 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 5:10:24pm

Blucher! %)

269 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 5:12:00pm
270 The Mother Of All Pies  Mar 25, 2015 5:12:37pm
271 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 5:14:06pm

re: #263 Backwoods_Sleuth
Sometimes a little information is just no help. Patience. Not a quality the media has. BTW bought mah new computer, at least the pieces. Went high end, kinda. Asus gamer board, Intel 6 core, 16 gig ram. Bundled from Tiger Direct. So we get that into the too many fans Antec case with my drives and a new video card and I think I have a machine that can edit 4k content pretty quick. That board has lots or room for upgrades.

272 A Cranky One  Mar 25, 2015 5:14:27pm

re: #268 Nyet

Blucher! %)

Whinny!

273 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 5:16:24pm
274 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 5:18:11pm

re: #270 The Mother Of All Pies

[Embedded content]

Republicans pretend to care about the troops, until they don’t.

Remember this guy?

(CNN)Andrew Paul Tahmooressi, the Marine reservist who made international headlines during his seven-month imprisonment in Mexico, has been released from a Georgia jail, where he was held Wednesday night.

Tahmooressi was arrested in Twin City, Georgia, on Wednesday for “driving under the influence, reckless driving, improper passing and an open container violation,” according to a statement from Emanuel County Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens.

cnn.com

That was the 1st peep anyone had heard about him since he was released. No parade, no nothing just went immediately down the wingnut memory hole.

275 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 5:21:06pm

re: #274 b.d.

Republicans pretend to care about the troops, until they don’t.

Remember this guy?

cnn.com

That was the 1st peep anyone had heard about him since he was released. No parade, no nothing just went immediately down the wingnut memory hole.

He was just a tool for them to bitch about Mexican gun laws. The guy definitely needs help.

276 Backwoods_Sleuth  Mar 25, 2015 5:25:44pm

re: #269 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

277 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 5:26:36pm

re: #276 Backwoods_Sleuth

Miracle is a terribly abused term, but wow.

278 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 5:26:39pm
279 lawhawk  Mar 25, 2015 5:27:50pm

I’m thinking that whatever it is, it’ll be:

Pants on Fire
280 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 5:28:43pm
281 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 5:28:59pm

re: #278 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Hopefully it’s your promise never to go on Twitter again without your mom’s permission first.

282 Iwouldprefernotto  Mar 25, 2015 5:29:37pm

re: #280 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

It’s official CCJ is in the third grade.

283 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 5:29:48pm

re: #280 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Uh oh someone got kicked out of Dave and Buster’s again for rowdy behavior.

284 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 5:34:11pm
285 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 5:34:59pm

re: #280 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Funny how Chuck claimed a month or so ago that sexual assault/rape didn’t happen if there isn’t a court conviction but now he is going to be publishing a scandalous boob grabbing story?

286 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 5:35:46pm

re: #285 b.d.

Funny how Chuck claimed a month or so ago that sexual assault/rape didn’t happen if there isn’t a court conviction but now he is going to be publishing a scandalous boob grabbing story?

He’s got no scruples at all. He left any change of having them at his grandmother’s house when he was listening to Rush.

287 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 5:38:50pm

Tune in tomorrow when the Floor Pooper goes after the Boob Grabber….

288 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 5:39:29pm

Elevate me.

289 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 5:39:46pm

Boobghazi

290 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 5:40:05pm

re: #284 Charles Johnson

How many people follow that idiot?

291 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 5:40:45pm

re: #290 Great White Snark

Last time I looked, about 20,000.

292 b_sharp  Mar 25, 2015 5:41:06pm

I think V should name her dog Billy Bigelow.

293 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 5:41:45pm

re: #290 Great White Snark

How many people follow that idiot?

“His men would follow him anywhere, if only to see what happens next.”
—legendary officer evaluation

294 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 5:41:54pm

re: #289 Decatur Deb

Boobghazi

I can’t wait to read Chuck’s very concerned inner hurt feminist ooze out over the next few days.

295 lawhawk  Mar 25, 2015 5:43:58pm

Well, looks like that quiet tornado season isn’t so quiet anymore.

296 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 5:44:18pm

re: #291 Charles Johnson

Last time I looked, about 20,000.

The 20,000 or so dumbest rocks ever found are pleased to have been replaced.

297 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 5:44:58pm
298 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 5:44:59pm

Steven Spielberg to Direct READY PLAYER ONE

collider.com

That book was soooo great but it could be hard as hell to make a movie about it.

299 Great White Snark  Mar 25, 2015 5:49:17pm

I gotta Google up Twitter demographics. See where that many people who follow the lesser could possibly come from.

300 b_sharp  Mar 25, 2015 5:54:48pm

re: #292 b_sharp

I think V should name her dog Billy Bigelow.

I thought it was a half-assed joke.

301 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 5:56:50pm

I really don’t think he can do it, but I would love to see Upchuck bring out something about a “GOP leader that everyone respects” that would knock them out of the presidential sweepstakes. (Hopefully JEB! or even more hopefully Walker.) Let’s not begrudge him the success. What would he gain out of it? He’d lose every friend he ever had on the Republican side. He’ll never have any friends on the Democratic side. Maybe he’d make more money 99¢ at a time from his “followers”, but he would have done a priceless service to the country.

Not that I think he’s competent to deliver any such story, but it’s nice to fantasize about—if Breitbart’s legacy was to screw the Repubs out of 2016.

302 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 6:04:32pm

re: #301 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

I don’t think it’s a politician, from his boasting. He said “a conservative figure,” which probably means a pundit of some kind, not a politician. Somebody like Tucker Carlson or James Taranto, maybe.

303 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 6:05:56pm

re: #302 Charles Johnson

He did say a potential running mate, so that narrows down the field.

304 The Mountain That Blogs  Mar 25, 2015 6:06:20pm

re: #301 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Trouble is, all the “scandals” that Chuck breaks are nothingballs because there’s no way anything legitimately damaging would pass to him before any number of more reputable folks get their hands on it.

305 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 6:07:44pm

re: #303 Nyet

He did say a potential running mate, so that narrows down the field.

Boob-grabbing running mate…. My new band name!

306 A Cranky One  Mar 25, 2015 6:07:56pm

Oh, please please let it be Sarah Palin. Now that would be fun!

307 Nyet  Mar 25, 2015 6:08:28pm

re: #303 Nyet

He did say a potential running mate, so that narrows down the field.

Unless it’s yet another figure. But he also said that the earlier tease was for tomorrow’s story…

308 The Mother Of All Pies  Mar 25, 2015 6:09:07pm

re: #291 Charles Johnson

Last time I looked, about 20,000.

Yeah but how many are bots that he paid for?

309 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 6:09:43pm

re: #302 Charles Johnson

I don’t think it’s a politician, from his boasting. He said “a conservative figure,” which probably means a pundit of some kind, not a politician. Somebody like Tucker Carlson or James Taranto, maybe.

It wasn’t the Boehner nothingburger.

My money is on it being a video of Walker eating at a Hooters

310 b.d.  Mar 25, 2015 6:10:01pm

re: #309 b.d.

311 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 6:11:09pm

I think everybody but the Kochs see Scott Walker as running mate material, not presidential timber, so I’m keeping some small hope alive.

312 RealityBasedSteve  Mar 25, 2015 6:15:41pm

I am not proud of it, but I am totally enjoying a bag of White Castle Sliders (with cheese). Sometimes you just gotta feed the crave.

RBS

313 SteveMcGaziBolaGate  Mar 25, 2015 6:16:18pm

He had to go to the dentist!!!

314 Charles Johnson  Mar 25, 2015 6:16:18pm

To be honest, I don’t really care too much about Chuck’s big upcoming scoop. I already know it’s going to be some kind of distorted bullshit, because that’s what he does.

315 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:17:00pm

re: #314 Charles Johnson

To be honest, I don’t really care too much about Chuck’s big upcoming scoop. I already know it’s going to be some kind of distorted bullshit, because that’s what he does.

That’s actually why I’m interested heh. I want to see what he thinks is a bigger deal than Mitt Romney’s 47% moment.

316 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 6:17:52pm

re: #313 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

He had to go to the dentist!!!

The fucking dentist! Glad I’ve never been to one of those.

317 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:18:19pm

re: #312 RealityBasedSteve

I am not proud of it, but I am totally enjoying a bag of White Castle Sliders (with cheese). Sometimes you just gotta feed the crave.

RBS

They really need to bring White Castle south of Jersey. The frozen sliders at the store I bet aren’t as close to the real thing. Next time I go west though, I am definitely going to find out if the hype is true behind In and Out Burger. We’ve got Five Guys here on the East Coast which I say is pretty good but i’ve had better burgers at mom and pop burger places.

318 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:18:40pm

re: #313 SteveMcGaziBolaGate

He had to go to the dentist!!!

David Vitter after dentist.

319 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 6:19:53pm

re: #312 RealityBasedSteve

I am not proud of it, but I am totally enjoying a bag of White Castle Sliders (with cheese). Sometimes you just gotta feed the crave.

RBS

Do you know what they call those in France?

320 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 6:21:36pm

QUOTES THAT YOU WOULD THINK HITLER SAID

In the current issue of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg has an essay, “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?”

321 makeitstop  Mar 25, 2015 6:22:22pm

re: #317 HappyWarrior

They really need to bring White Castle south of Jersey. The frozen sliders at the store I bet aren’t as close to the real thing. Next time I go west though, I am definitely going to find out if the hype is true behind In and Out Burger. We’ve got Five Guys here on the East Coast which I say is pretty good but i’ve had better burgers at mom and pop burger places.

I am incapable of eating White Castle unless I’m piss drunk.

I had Five Guys a couple of weeks ago, thought it was pretty good.

322 RealityBasedSteve  Mar 25, 2015 6:22:53pm

re: #319 Decatur Deb

Do you know what they call those in France?

curseur avec du fromage? I understand “Royale with Cheese” was already taken.

RBS

323 goddamnedfrank  Mar 25, 2015 6:23:21pm

I googled Republican Boob Grab and am led to believe Chuck will be ending the political career of this terrifying baboon.

324 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 6:23:55pm

re: #322 RealityBasedSteve

curseur avec du fromage? I understand “Royale with Cheese” was already taken.

RBS

Dunno. I didn’t eat at Chateau Blanc.

325 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:24:44pm

re: #321 makeitstop

I am incapable of eating White Castle unless I’m piss drunk.

I had Five Guys a couple of weeks ago, thought it was pretty good.

I think Five guys is the best of the chains. Best burger for what it’s worth I ever had was a Laguna burger outside of Albuquerque a few years back. Really good fries too. And it was a good deal too.

326 dog philosopher ஐஒஔ௸  Mar 25, 2015 6:25:15pm

How to Fight Anti-Semitism, by David “bobo” Brooks

actually he has nary a clue and doesn’t make a single suggestion about ‘fighting anti-semitism’

327 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:25:16pm

re: #323 goddamnedfrank

I googled Republican Boob Grab and am led to believe Chuck will be ending the career of this terrifying baboon.

Embedded Image

That baboon is more admirable than any Republican running though so it can’t be him.

328 SteveMcGaziBolaGate  Mar 25, 2015 6:25:45pm

re: #323 goddamnedfrank

Forget the grope, I’d worry about those teeth.

329 RealityBasedSteve  Mar 25, 2015 6:26:39pm

re: #323 goddamnedfrank

I googled Republican Boob Grab and am led to believe Chuck will be ending the career of this terrifying baboon.

Embedded Image

I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve always been fascinated with wildlife, but baboons simply scare the living crap out of me. I think it’s that “dog-ape” look, and the fact that they just look like they would kill you because it seemed like a thing to do at the moment.

I rarely have nightmares, but when I do, it’s almost always with baboons chasing me.

RBS

330 goddamnedfrank  Mar 25, 2015 6:27:48pm

re: #327 HappyWarrior

That baboon is more admirable than any Republican running though so it can’t be him.

His devotion to Christ our Lord and lowering taxes seems comparably genuine.

331 The War TARDIS  Mar 25, 2015 6:31:46pm

I’m safe.

Frazzled, but safe.

332 William Barnett-Lewis  Mar 25, 2015 6:43:19pm

So recently the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a speech on Evangelsim and coming from the Evangelist branch of the Anglican community it was about what you might expect. I’ve tried to gather a few thoughts on the topic tying it into my earlier Orthopraxy page and posted another part in that slowly growing essay. Hopefully someone will find something of use in it.

Part 1: littlegreenfootballs.com
New Part 2: littlegreenfootballs.com

333 Shiplord Kirel  Mar 25, 2015 6:45:58pm

It is shameful that anyone even has to reiterate this but President Obama was absolutely right to trade 5 rusty Taliban tools for Bowe Bergdahl. Not every PoW is a hero, but every one is our responsibility. Until recently nobody even questioned that.

At the end of our involvement in the Vietnam War, we traded nearly 100,000 enemy captives for our 538 PoWs. Not all of the latter were heroes either, truth be told, though many certainly were.
Most of the VC and NVA prisoners were simple peasants, glad enough to have survived the business end of a B-52, but more than a few (certainly more than 5) were hard-core commissars and communist cadres.

Did anyone question this? Was President Nixon denounced as a traitor for making the trade? If you are not old enough to remember, the answer is no. The whole country rejoiced. Nixon was praised to the rafters, not even his worst critics found fault with the arrangement,

Times have changed, and the Republican Party has especially changed.

334 HappyWarrior  Mar 25, 2015 6:48:13pm

re: #333 Shiplord Kirel

It is shameful that anyone even has to reiterate this but President Obama was absolutely right to trade 5 rusty Taliban tools for Bowe Bergdahl. Not every PoW is a hero, but every one is our responsibility. Until recently nobody even questioned that.

At the end of our involvement in the Vietnam War, we traded nearly 100,000 enemy captives for our 538 PoWs. Not all of the latter were heroes either, truth be told, though many certainly were.
Most of the VC and NVA prisoners were simple peasants, glad enough to have survived the business end of a B-52, but more than a few (certainly more than 5) were hard-core commissars and communist cadres.

Did anyone question this? Was President Nixon denounced as a traitor for making the trade? If you are not old enough to remember, the answer is no. The whole country rejoiced. Nixon was praised to the rafters, not even his worst critics found fault with the arrangement,

Times have changed, and the Republican Party has especially changed.

This times a 1000.

335 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Mar 25, 2015 6:48:23pm

re: #333 Shiplord Kirel

A lot of those 100,000 didn’t want to go back, as I remember, but we handed them over anyway.

336 Ojoe  Mar 25, 2015 7:48:42pm

Dang. All the way through the Middle Ages, the educated knew the world was “round.”

Columbus knew it was round, or he would not have tried to go east by going west.

He seriously underestimated the earth’s size, however.

This let him believe that he had gone as far as Japan when he had only gotten to Hispaniola.

More education is needed.

337 Decatur Deb  Mar 25, 2015 7:57:44pm

re: #336 Ojoe

Dang. All the way through the Middle Ages, the educated knew the world was “round.”

Columbus knew it was round, or he would not have tried to go east by going west.

He seriously underestimated the earth’s size, however.

This let him believe that he had gone as far as Japan when he had only gotten to Hispaniola.

More education is needed.

Hey, Ojoe.

338 Ojoe  Mar 25, 2015 8:06:39pm

re: #337 Decatur Deb
Hi Decatur Deb

Been pretty busy on the drafting board, but couldn’t let this one go.

Galileo was cool. I used to live in Florence & saw Galileo’s telescope there in a museum.

Politicians are all pretty bad.

Back to work for me, Friday deadline.

339 lostlakehiker  Mar 25, 2015 9:28:52pm

re: #185 CuriousLurker

This. If it’s safe then the owners of companies who profit from it should be required to build their homes and live in the neighborhoods potentially affected by it. IIRC, the Chinese did something like that back during the Y2K fears—they made the guys who fixed all the code for the computers air traffic controllers use actually be passengers on airplanes at the stroke of midnight.

That’s one way to ensure things get done right. LOL

The Romans required that the engineer for a bridge had to build his family’s home underneath the bridge.

Some of those bridges still stand to this day.

340 CuriousLurker  Mar 25, 2015 9:32:06pm

re: #339 lostlakehiker

The Romans required that the engineer for a bridge had to build his family’s home underneath the bridge.

Some of those bridges still stand to this day.

Heh, I didn’t know that. Sounds like it worked.

341 lostlakehiker  Mar 25, 2015 9:33:05pm

re: #333 Shiplord Kirel

It is shameful that anyone even has to reiterate this but President Obama was absolutely right to trade 5 rusty Taliban tools for Bowe Bergdahl. Not every PoW is a hero, but every one is our responsibility. Until recently nobody even questioned that.

At the end of our involvement in the Vietnam War, we traded nearly 100,000 enemy captives for our 538 PoWs. Not all of the latter were heroes either, truth be told, though many certainly were.
Most of the VC and NVA prisoners were simple peasants, glad enough to have survived the business end of a B-52, but more than a few (certainly more than 5) were hard-core commissars and communist cadres.

Did anyone question this? Was President Nixon denounced as a traitor for making the trade? If you are not old enough to remember, the answer is no. The whole country rejoiced. Nixon was praised to the rafters, not even his worst critics found fault with the arrangement,

Times have changed, and the Republican Party has especially changed.

There is a lot of evidence that the NV held back many of our POWs. (New Yorker magazine but it was a long time back and I forget which issue.) Plus, we weren’t still at war with NV at the time. Still, it’s an OK trade. Both sets of bastards gained leverage by the way they treated our prisoners, but still. We’re not going to go and treat theirs the way they treat ours so they’ll be willing to pay more to get one of theirs back. So we have to accept the reality that they have the leverage.


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