NIH Director: We’d Probably Have a Vaccine for Ebola by Now if Not for Budget Cuts

The real life consequences of the anti-science party
Health • Views: 42,989
Image via Shutterstock

The head of the National Institutes of Health doesn’t specifically call out the Republican Party in this statement, but I will; the anti-science, anti-research GOP is the main reason why America hasn’t been able to do the basic scientific research necessary to be ready for diseases like Ebola.

And I’m saying “diseases like Ebola” because there will be more of these rapidly evolving viruses and bacteria to deal with in the future. This is an object lesson in why the Republican Party’s agenda is so incredibly harmful to the country.

Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, said that a decade of stagnant spending has “slowed down” research on all items, including vaccinations for infectious diseases. As a result, he said, the international community has been left playing catch-up on a potentially avoidable humanitarian catastrophe.

“NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001. It’s not like we suddenly woke up and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we should have something ready here,’” Collins told The Huffington Post on Friday. “Frankly, if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would’ve gone through clinical trials and would have been ready.”

It’s not just the production of a vaccine that has been hampered by money shortfalls. Collins also said that some therapeutics to fight Ebola “were on a slower track than would’ve been ideal, or that would have happened if we had been on a stable research support trajectory.”

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452 comments
1 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 10:33:58am

Typical, blame it on Bush. It’s Obama’s fault that Ebola came here, and you know it!

/

2 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:35:30am

If we really needed a cure for Ebola, the free market would have found one by now.

Thanks Obama.

3 Randall Gross  Oct 13, 2014 10:36:16am

The headline makes me a bit uncomfortable even though it’s likely true - you left out the word “probably” while the NIH head did not omit that word.

4 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 10:36:42am

But, but, but, what about FREE MARKETS?!?!? The gummint shouldn’t be funding research! Let free markets and capitalism solve all our woes!

//

5 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:37:10am

re: #1 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Typical, blame it on Bush. It’s Obama’s fault that Ebola came here, and you know it!

/

Obama is from Africa.
Ebola is from Africa
Both those words have 5 letters.
Do we have to draw you people a map?

6 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 10:37:27am

re: #2 Kragar

You beat me to it, Jerk ;)

7 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 10:37:50am

Not worry, Erick Son of Erick knows that the real reason the NIH and CDC can’t combat Ebola: They’re wasting their money on basic research!

8 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:37:57am

re: #6 Dr. Matt

You beat me to it, Jerk ;)

That would be because I’m fucking awesome

9 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 10:38:33am

That photo looks distressingly like pretzel sticks gone bad.

OMG!!!! Ebola Pretzels!!!!!!!!!!!

10 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:38:38am
11 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 10:38:41am

The Ebola scare really does tap into those wellsprings of xenophobia, racism, ignorance and inarticulate rage that the TPGOP has been nurturing along…

12 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 10:39:26am

re: #3 Randall Gross

The headline makes me a bit uncomfortable even though it’s likely true - you left out the word “probably” while the NIH head did not omit that word.

Good point - I revised it to make that clearer.

14 Iwouldprefernotto  Oct 13, 2014 10:40:20am

re: #7 Targetpractice

Not worry, Erick Son of Erick knows that the real reason the NIH and CDC can’t combat Ebola: They’re wasting their money on basic research!

[Embedded content]

How does this even make sense? Someone please explain, cause I can’t click the link.

15 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 10:41:16am

Vincent Racaniello Ph.D., Professor of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University:

What we are not afraid to say about Ebola virus

…HIV-1 has infected millions of humans since the early 1900s. It is still transmitted among humans by introduction of the virus into the body by sex, contaminated needles, or during childbirth.

Hepatitis C virus has infected millions of humans since its discovery in the 1980s. It is still transmitted among humans by introduction of the virus into the body by contaminated needles, blood, and during birth.

There is no reason to believe that Ebola virus is any different from any of the viruses that infect humans and have not changed the way that they are spread.

I am fully aware that we can never rule out what a virus might or might not do. But the likelihood that Ebola virus will go airborne is so remote that we should not use it to frighten people. We need to focus on stopping the epidemic, which in itself is a huge job.”

16 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 10:41:32am

The real reason that the GOP throttles research funding is that there’s a one in a million chance that someone will discover the cure for stupidity.

17 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 10:41:44am

re: #11 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

The Ebola scare really does tap into those wellsprings of xenophobia, racism, ignorance and inarticulate rage that the TPGOP has been nurturing along…

Apparently the new talking point on why the White House doesn’t just close the borders to flights from Africa: “It will invalidate his immigration strategy!”

Not because of the impossibility of stopping every single person from traveling to the US from West Africa, but because it’ll hurt Democrats on immigration.

18 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 10:42:32am

re: #7 Targetpractice

Yeah. a $600K R01 would have been a WORLD of difference in creating an Ebola Vaccine. Idiots.

19 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:43:11am

Yeah, I know this guy is the NIH Director, but what does Jenny McCarthy have to say about the vaccine?

20 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 10:43:24am

[replied to deleted tweet]

21 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 10:46:21am

re: #14 Iwouldprefernotto

How does this even make sense? Someone please explain, cause I can’t click the link.

It’s the return of the “volcano monitoring” BS, the idea that government agencies are “wasting” money on research into topics that wingnuts don’t approve of or don’t see the reason behind, as an excuse for cutting science funding. The CDC’s budget has gone up a whopping $1 billion in the last decade, before adjusting for inflation, but according to Erick that’s more than enough.

22 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 10:46:40am
23 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 10:46:56am

Of course, the GOP and right wing are in lockstep in blaming the CDC and other public health officials for putting the focus on eating habits instead of Ebola research.

That completely ignores the fact that the CDC, NIH, and public health experts in the US have to prioritize the ailments that they most come into contact with - and that means dealing with obesity, which is a major factor in public health crises in the US (from diabetes to heart disease, etc.).

The decline in funding for public health comes at a real cost, and it’s only because of the 9/11 attacks and anthrax that the CDC even has the 20 quarantine centers around the country; the number had dwindled down to 5 before the 9/11 attacks.

The GOP has been out to chop funding at the CDC and NIH for years.

The CDC budget has been cut by $600 million since 2010.

According to numbers provided by a Senate Budget Committee staffer, the CDC has actually recovered nicely from the sequestration cuts that went into effect a year ago. The agency has been allocated $5.882 billion in fiscal year 2014, compared to the $5.432 billion it received after the cuts took place.

But if you move back the timeline a bit, you see that investment in the CDC has still fallen dramatically. The agency’s current budget, in fact, is nearly $600 million lower than it was in 2010.

2010: $6.467 billion
2011: $5.737 billion
2012: $5.732 billion
2013: $5.721 billion
2013 (after sequestration took effect): $5.432 billion
2014: $5.882 billion

While some of the funding was restored after the budget agreement between the House and Senate in early 2014, “there is still a gap between FY14 and FY10,” the Senate aide noted.

From 2011 - the GOP went into slash and burn mode with the CDC, FDA, and other agencies, and those cuts have not been restored. The GOP rationalized this that they needed to chop spending because of massive deficits and debt. Yeah, let’s just ignore what those cuts do to public health.

These charts and graphic puts the recent trend into focus - the GOP, which controls the House has been forcing CDC spending down, even as the President has sought more funding.

Even going back to Bush’s first budget in 2001, the CDC was seeing its budget cut (this was pre-anthrax attacks, but the FDA saw an increase, in part out of the attention on mad cow disease).

Much more recently, the House GOP cut funding requests for fighting Ebola this past September.

24 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 10:47:13am

re: #22 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

25 Eclectic Cyborg  Oct 13, 2014 10:48:31am

The position of Surgeon General should really not be one to play politics with.

Call me tyrannical but I hate the nomination process for such posts. Allows for too much obstruction and grandstanding.

26 Iwouldprefernotto  Oct 13, 2014 10:49:00am

re: #21 Targetpractice

It’s the return of the “volcano monitoring” BS, the idea that government agencies are “wasting” money on research into topics that wingnuts don’t approve of or don’t see the reason behind, as an excuse for cutting science funding. The CDC’s budget has gone up a whopping $1 billion in the last decade, before adjusting for inflation, but according to Erick that’s more than enough.

But the Fat Lesbian comment still makes no sense, but thanks for saving me from clicking on derp.

27 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:49:11am

Can’t wait for the Wingnuts to tell the Catholic Church to stop redefining their religion

28 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 10:49:43am

And the Prize for Ebola Fearmongering Goes to Lousiana

Caldwell, whose decision was quickly supported by GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal*, didn’t offer any details on how burying the incinerated materials would affect the people of his state. It’s hard to see any risk—Ebola is transmitted only through bodily fluids, and Chemical Waste Management Inc., which operates the storage facility, sees no problem.** And it’s not as if the ashes are going particularly far, anyway—Lake Charles is just a quick jaunt over I-10 from Port Arthur, Texas, where Duncan’s belongings were burned.

* Striving for today’s anti-science GOP prize
**Possibly because they incinerated the contaminated material at 2100 degrees F.

29 team_fukit  Oct 13, 2014 10:51:30am

butt it wuz ackshually Obama who defunkded the CDC by crashing the economy with communisty organizing and lobbing for sub-crime morgages in the 90s

/
30 Iwouldprefernotto  Oct 13, 2014 10:51:49am

Battery is out. Thanks for the sanity break.

31 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 10:52:11am

re: #26 Iwouldprefernotto

But the Fat Lesbian comment still makes no sense, but thanks for saving me from clicking on derp.

Erick needed a ridiculous sounding study to push his belief that the agencies in question are focused on the “wrong” things and a study into obesity amongst lesbians hit all the wingnut dog whistles. As Lawhawk noted, the purpose of such a study is looking into eating habits, namely to combat a disease that actually afflicts large swaths of Americans, but Erick Son of Erick thinks that the agency should have been focused instead on a disease that had never seen a case in the US prior to this past month.

32 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 10:53:10am

re: #28 jaunte

And the Prize for Ebola Fearmongering Goes to Lousiana

* Striving for today’s anti-science GOP prize
**Possibly because they incinerated the contaminated material at 2100 degrees F.

Burn them to ashes, then burn the ashes.

33 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 10:53:45am

re: #23 lawhawk

Much more recently, the House GOP cut funding requests for fighting Ebola this past September.

I’ve seen this story going around, but note the update to that article:

UPDATE: The continuing resolution released Tuesday night ultimately included the full $88 million requested by the White House.

So they wanted to cut Ebola funding but reconsidered at the last minute, most likely because they realized it would hurt them politically at this time.

34 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 10:55:49am

re: #25 Eclectic Cyborg

The position of Surgeon General should really not be one to play politics with.

Call me tyrannical but I hate the nomination process for such posts. Allows for too much obstruction and grandstanding.

Seems to me that the nomination process would be nifty if President Cruz nominated Wayne LaPierre for Surgeon General - or anything else.

35 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 10:57:39am

re: #27 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Can’t wait for the Wingnuts to tell the Catholic Church to stop redefining their religion

Right. Only Islam needs to reform.

36 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 10:57:43am

re: #33 Charles Johnson

Yes, the Senate also released the funds on Friday when Inhofe released funding even as Vitter and other GOPers were questioning where the aid was going - not to fight the outbreak in Africa, but demanding more spending on our borders.

37 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 10:58:52am

re: #33 Charles Johnson

So they wanted to cut Ebola funding but reconsidered at the last minute, most likely because they realized it would hurt them politically at this time.

The NDCC or NDSC should run ads about how the GOP is imperiling public health by playing politics with the President’s public health requests and that they only released it after the GOP realized just how bad it looks.

38 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 10:59:35am

re: #28 jaunte

Caldwell, whose decision was quickly supported by GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal, didn’t offer any details on how burying the incinerated materials would affect the people of his state…

The only way to completely sure is to bury Caldwell and Jindal with the material so that they can keep an eye on it.

39 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:02:07am

re: #38 Higgs Boson’s Mate

This part just underlines the fact that Caldwell and Jindal are both posturing for idiots:

Caldwell’s stance is especially bizarre in light of the great lengths Louisiana lawmakers have gone to position the state as a repository for every other kind of waste. Fracking-waste disposal, for instance, has become a $30-billion industry nationwide over the last decade. Much of that waste water has been dumped into old wells in Louisiana. Louisiana may also soon begin accepting thousands of tons of other states’ shale waste-water, which will be shipped down the Mississippi on barges.

40 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Oct 13, 2014 11:03:06am

Freepers on the Church:

freerepublic.com

freerepublic.com

41 Ace-o-aces  Oct 13, 2014 11:03:25am

Because wingnuts don’t know what a Czar is.

42 William Barnett-Lewis  Oct 13, 2014 11:04:47am

re: #40 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator

Freepers on the Church:

freerepublic.com

freerepublic.com

Is it the usual “papist” claptrap or just whining about Teh Ghey?

43 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:05:24am

THIS IS AN IDIOT==>

44 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:07:10am

THIS IS AN ASSHOLE==>

45 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:08:30am
46 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:10:10am

re: #45 Pie-onist Overlord

[Embedded content]

Yeah, I remember that bit from the VVS, where the shop owners who we were supposed to be so broken up over boasted that they’d happily served the couple they turned away before the day they had the audacity to come in and try to order a wedding cake.

47 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:11:20am

re: #45 Pie-onist Overlord

Why are these black people wanting to be served at a lunch counter where they know they won’t be welcomed?

48 otoc  Oct 13, 2014 11:12:07am

re: #15 jaunte

I read an article over the weekend that said the time that it was thought that it went airborne between monkeys and pigs, it is now thought it didn’t and was due to physical contamination.

Of course I notice that Charles C Johnson is now retweeting the “journalistic fact” that it is now AIRBORNE!!

49 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:12:36am

re: #47 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Why are these black people wanting to be served at a lunch counter where they know they won’t be welcomed?

If you have a problem with gay marriage, then don’t offer wedding cakes.

50 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 11:13:07am

re: #47 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Why are these black people wanting to be served at a lunch counter where they know they won’t be welcomed?

Because Woolworth’s was the only place in the South serving banana pudding.

51 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 11:13:15am

re: #39 jaunte

re: #44 Pie-onist Overlord

There he goes again with that “we” shit. I know for certain that he isn’t the Queen of England so he must have a carp in his sock.

52 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 11:14:28am

re: #51 Higgs Boson’s Mate

There he goes again with that “we” shit. I know for certain that he isn’t the Queen of England so he must have a carp in his sock.

Multiple Derponalities.

53 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:14:53am

re: #49 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

If you have a problem with gay marriage, then don’t offer wedding cakes.

Better yet, put up a sign at the front door saying “Owned By Religious Whackjobs” so people know before they enter how much shit they’re going to take for not being of the right faith and orientation.

54 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 11:15:00am

re: #50 Decatur Deb

Because Woolworth’s was the only place in the South serving banana pudding.

I live three blocks from the Woolsworth in Greensboro where the sit-ins all started.

55 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:15:44am

Hot fresh victimization from today’s Fox News email alert.

56 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 11:16:40am

re: #44 Pie-onist Overlord

THIS IS AN ASSHOLE==>

[Embedded content]

Chuck is gloating over and over about this. It’s incredibly repulsive.

57 withak  Oct 13, 2014 11:17:09am

In an alternate universe where this Ebola outbreak never occurred and the NIH kept its funding to develop a vaccine, the GOP is complaining that we are using taxpayer dollars to help Africa.

58 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:18:04am

re: #56 Charles Johnson

Chuck is gloating over and over about this. It’s incredibly repulsive.

[Embedded content]

Looks like the other news media waited until they got permission from the patient before releasing the info. Ethics and shit.

59 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 11:18:34am
60 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 11:19:31am
61 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 11:19:32am

re: #56 Charles Johnson

Race to the bottom (complete with the moving goalposts). He keeps winning, because he keeps redefining the bottom.

62 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 11:20:01am

HOW DARE THE DIMS BLAME OBOLA ON THE GOP!!!

My God, the internet is so fucking stupid,

63 teleskiguy  Oct 13, 2014 11:20:34am

And now, a brief moment of levity - away from the sick machinations of UpChuck - brought to you by The Onion.

64 A Mom Anon  Oct 13, 2014 11:20:40am

re: #33 Charles Johnson

Oh but they claim they love America more than anyone else.

It’s Americans they can’t stand. Except the ones in their own club. And money, oh they love them some money. And rich people, the ones on their team.

God this pisses me off. My pet wingnuts better keep their pieholes shut about this one.

65 Ian G.  Oct 13, 2014 11:20:51am

re: #43 Pie-onist Overlord

THIS IS AN IDIOT==>

[Embedded content]

See, lemme explain: I don’t go into a Kosher deli expecting a ham sandwich because they don’t serve ham sandwiches to anyone. I go into a bakery expecting to be able to buy a wedding cake if they sell them, and I would get sold one because I’m heterosexual. Someone else might not get one because he/she is homosexual. That’s the problem. How obtuse can one be?

66 withak  Oct 13, 2014 11:21:14am

re: #62 b.d.

HOW DARE THE DIMS BLAME OBOLA ON THE GOP!!!

My God, the internet ispeople are so fucking stupid,

Don’t blame the Internet; it’s just a force multiplier.

67 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 11:21:29am

re: #54 Aunty Entity Dragon

I live three blocks from the Woolsworth in Greensboro where the sit-ins all started.

The lunchcounter has been saved and reconstructed somewhere, possibly The Smithsonian.

68 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 11:21:51am
69 otoc  Oct 13, 2014 11:22:56am

re: #55 jaunte

Cue the pc police. Oh wait, they already were in typical hypocritical ways.

70 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 11:23:16am

re: #68 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

71 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:24:04am

re: #65 Ian G.

See, lemme explain: I don’t go into a Kosher deli expecting a ham sandwich because they don’t serve ham sandwiches to anyone. I go into a bakery expecting to be able to buy a wedding cake if they sell them, and I would get sold one because I’m heterosexual. Someone else might not get one because he/she is homosexual. That’s the problem. How obtuse can one be?

A number of levels of obtusity. It starts with people not distinguishing between the religious sacrament of Holy Matrimony and the civil status of marriage.

They used to be identical. Now they are not.

And the level of personal morals vs. laws. Chick Fil-A is closed on Sundays. That is their choice. Some stores do not serve alcohol or adult books/videos. That is their choice.

But when those stores are open, they cannot refuse to serve someone based on their sexual orientation, THAT’S THE LAW.

72 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:24:12am
73 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:25:08am

re: #68 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Yeah, he doesn’t need other people to embarrass him, he’s totally capable of doing that himself.

74 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:25:40am

My grandpa died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. Sads. :(

75 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:26:01am

“Reporting Team” Chuck C. Johnson and 5 hundred dollar bills.

76 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 11:27:21am

re: #75 jaunte

“Reporting Team” Chuck C. Johnson and 5 hundred dollar bills.

He recruits local online busybodies stringers.

77 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 11:28:19am

NIH budget figures from 2000 to present. Note the uptick in spending after the anthrax attacks, but the recent trend has been cuts. Spending for research centers nationally is down (it’s below the FY 2006 levels). In constant dollars, the cuts are more striking.

78 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 11:29:48am

re: #56 Charles Johnson

Chuck is gloating over and over about this. It’s incredibly repulsive.

[Embedded content]

My family doesn’t give a rat’s ass, UpChuck.

79 aagcobb  Oct 13, 2014 11:29:54am

re: #41 Ace-o-aces

[Embedded content]

Because wingnuts don’t know what a Czar is.

Maybe they will be ok with it if the President appoints an Ebola Kaiser.

80 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 11:30:01am
81 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 11:30:14am

re: #67 Decatur Deb

The lunchcounter has been saved and reconstructed somewhere, possibly The Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian got a piece of it, the rest is still there,

82 ausador  Oct 13, 2014 11:31:01am
83 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 11:31:03am
84 WhatEVs  Oct 13, 2014 11:31:43am

What’s the over/under that the GOP would change a single tactic or increase spending? Suffice it to say I would not be holding my breath.

85 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:31:54am

re: #82 ausador

[Embedded content]

Republicans? Hypocrites? Surely you jest!

86 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 11:32:17am
87 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:34:07am

re: #86 Charles Johnson

I was just looking at his followers. All kinds of “white pride”, swastikas, rebel flags, and “crackers tired of the PC crap.”

88 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:35:09am

re: #74 Pie-onist Overlord

My grandpa died in the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. Sads. :(

Where I grew up there are cemeteries filled with the graves of people who all died from the spanish flu, all within days of each other. Most of them were kids and the elderly. You can literally go grave to grave and count the days in between each.

89 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 11:35:24am

Lolwut:

90 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 11:35:30am

re: #87 jaunte

I was just looking at his followers. All kinds of “white pride”, swastikas, rebel flags, and “crackers tired of the PC crap.”

And Anthony Cumia.

91 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:35:38am

re: #86 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

No thanks. I looked at the racistdoc timeline last night and EEEWWWWWWWW.

92 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:36:29am

re: #88 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Where I grew up there are cemeteries filled with the graves of people who all died from the spanish flu, all within days of each other. Most of them were kids and the elderly. You can literally go grave to grave and count the days in between each.

My grandpa was 29 years old in the prime of his life. My dad was just a tiny fetus.

93 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 11:37:14am

re: #67 Decatur Deb

The lunchcounter has been saved and reconstructed somewhere, possibly The Smithsonian.

The Woolsworth is now a Civil Rights museum.

94 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:37:33am

IT’S A TOTAL MYSTERY!!!!

95 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:37:55am

re: #92 Pie-onist Overlord

My grandpa was 29 years old in the prime of his life. My dad was just a tiny fetus.

Damn. I am sorry to hear that. I remember seeing some relatives among the graves but can’t recall how close they were.

96 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:38:43am

RealDoctorWhite followers, Unedited sample

97 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:39:25am

re: #95 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Damn. I am sorry to hear that. I remember seeing some relatives among the graves but can’t recall how close they were.

Of course if my dad died when he was just a tiny fetus how did I get here LOL?

Dad went on to become born & grown up obvs.

98 pyite  Oct 13, 2014 11:39:35am

The sad fact is that there is no profit in curing things, which is why pharmaceutical companies are focused completely on daily-for-the-rest-of-your-life pills instead.

I’m a small government kind of person in general, but antibiotics and vaccines are useful enough that the government should pay whatever it takes to pick up where the pharmaceutical companies leave off.

99 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:40:08am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

Why are so many black voters so willing to continue to live under control of Dem masters and plantation?

I first encountered this pillar of TPGOP doctrine in this Pyjamas Media video, some years ago

100 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:40:19am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

IT’S A TOTAL MYSTERY!!!!

[Embedded content]

Yeah, I can’t understand why they’re not totally taken with a party which, despite boasting how it passed CRA and VRA, ran a “states rights” nominee the same year for President and adopted the “Southern Strategy” 4 years later.

Tis a mystery.//////

101 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 11:41:13am

re: #79 aagcobb

Maybe they will be ok with it if the President appoints an Ebola Kaiser.

An Ebola Despot? An Ebola Autocrat? How about an Ebola Subaltern?

102 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:41:28am

re: #100 Targetpractice

Yeah, I can’t understand why they’re not totally taken with a party which, despite boasting how it passed CRA and VRA, ran a “states rights” nominee the same year for President and adopted the “Southern Strategy” 4 years later.

Tis a mystery.//////

HURR HURR BUT TEH GOP WAS TEH ANTI SLAVERY PARTY IN 1850!!!!!!!

103 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:41:46am

re: #100 Targetpractice

Yeah, I can’t understand why they’re not totally taken with a party which, despite boasting how it passed CRA and VRA, ran a “states rights” nominee the same year for President and adopted the “Southern Strategy” 4 years later.

Tis a mystery.//////

Mr K insists that “blacks never had it as good as they did under Reagan”.

104 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 11:42:08am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

IT’S A TOTAL MYSTERY!!!!

[Embedded content]

Especially since the GOP would make sure they could work on real plantations, just like back in the good old days.

105 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 11:42:21am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

IT’S A TOTAL MYSTERY!!!!

[Embedded content]

106 Feline Fearless Leader  Oct 13, 2014 11:42:35am

re: #79 aagcobb

Maybe they will be ok with it if the President appoints an Ebola Kaiser.

Would the whining stop if Obama appoints a Tax Caeser? I expect not.
///

107 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:43:19am

re: #97 Pie-onist Overlord

Of course if my dad died when he was just a tiny fetus how did I get here LOL?

Dad went on to become born & grown up obvs.

yeah but that must have been hard on your grandma.

108 withak  Oct 13, 2014 11:43:20am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

Look, another Bachmann voter.

109 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:43:34am

re: #106 Feline Fearless Leader

Would the whining stop if Obama appoints a Tax Caeser? I expect not.
///

I am waiting for the drought to reach such proportions in California that it affects our vegetable crop and Obama appoints a Salad Caesar.

110 Feline Fearless Leader  Oct 13, 2014 11:44:39am

re: #109 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

I am waiting for the drought to reach such proportions in California that it affects our vegetable crop and Obama appoints a Salad Caesar.

Would it be required to wear a dress?
//

111 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:44:40am

re: #109 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

I am waiting for the drought to reach such proportions in California that it affects our vegetable crop and Obama appoints a Salad Caesar.

It’s already having an effect on my lemons, grapefruits, plums, pomegranates, and clementines to say nothing of my poor banana plant.

112 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:44:57am

re: #107 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

yeah but that must have been hard on your grandma.

It was tough being a single mom in those days.

113 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:44:59am

re: #94 Pie-onist Overlord

IT’S A TOTAL MYSTERY!!!!

[Embedded content]

Careful, he’s part of the vast “Twitter Gulag Defense Network”

114 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 11:45:05am

re: #105 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Wait just a minute there…
Weren’t they just saying how good the slaves had it back the good old plantation days?

Wish they would make up their freakin minds already.

115 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:45:06am

re: #109 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

I am waiting for the drought to reach such proportions in California that it affects our vegetable crop and Obama appoints a Salad Caesar.

and I see what you did there lol.

116 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 11:45:27am

re: #96 jaunte

Holy shit.

117 teleskiguy  Oct 13, 2014 11:45:59am
118 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 11:46:03am
119 Mike Lamb  Oct 13, 2014 11:46:14am

re: #105 Kragar

[Embedded content]

I know you are but what am I…

120 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:46:35am

re: #116 Aunty Entity Dragon

Holy shit.

It’s not just that there are people like that out there, but there is a major political party that is tailoring its message to reach them…

121 Bear  Oct 13, 2014 11:46:52am

re: #112 Pie-onist Overlord

Is it very much easier today?

122 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:47:07am

Awww poor lil wingnut has a sad, got teh feewings hurted.

123 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 11:47:48am

re: #116 Aunty Entity Dragon

Twitter has no problem with this. Neither does Facebook.

124 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:47:52am

re: #122 Pie-onist Overlord

Awww poor lil wingnut has a sad, got teh feewings hurted.

[Embedded content]

You’re the REAL RACIST, you brought up race!

125 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:48:30am

re: #123 Skip Intro

Twitter has no problem with this. Neither does Facebook.

I do not Twitter and and I defriend people who get too political on FB.

126 EPR-radar  Oct 13, 2014 11:48:46am

re: #88 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Where I grew up there are cemeteries filled with the graves of people who all died from the spanish flu, all within days of each other. Most of them were kids and the elderly. You can literally go grave to grave and count the days in between each.

Actually, the 1918 flu tended to kill adults in the prime of life, as opposed to the usual flu fatality pattern of the elderly and very young.

127 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 11:48:57am

re: #88 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Where I grew up there are cemeteries filled with the graves of people who all died from the spanish flu, all within days of each other. Most of them were kids and the elderly. You can literally go grave to grave and count the days in between each.

This mass grave was near my HS in the boonies:

saxonburglocalhistory.com

128 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:49:07am

and today’s culinary lesson is:

How to spatchcock a chicken

129 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:49:56am

re: #116 Aunty Entity Dragon

Holy shit.

Yes, you would think Twitter might want to protect their reputation a little better than that.

130 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:50:20am

re: #118 Kragar

[Embedded content]

That really is the GOP in a nutshell: Insufferable douchebags trying to skate by on past glory.

131 Testy Toad T  Oct 13, 2014 11:50:33am

re: #118 Kragar

Politics aside, I have to admire the sheer dead-ender astonishment that is using double-spaces after periods on a character-count-limited platform like Twitter.

Put THAT one in your brainpipe and smoke it.

132 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:50:47am

re: #126 EPR-radar

Actually, the 1918 flu tended to kill adults in the prime of life, as opposed to the usual flu fatality pattern of the elderly and very young.

Understood. It seems it took quite a few kids in the area I grew up. This was backwoods upstate NY. I am sure there were quite a few adults in there, I just remember all the graves of kids since they stuck out more age wise.

133 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:50:48am

re: #122 Pie-onist Overlord

Awww poor lil wingnut has a sad, got teh feewings hurted.

[Embedded content]

“OUR DISCRIMINATION IS DIFFERENT!!!”

134 Testy Toad T  Oct 13, 2014 11:51:03am

re: #131 Testy Toad T

Might as well hang a sign around his neck saying WATCH OUT FOR ME I AM VERY OLD AND CROTCHETY AND I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT.

135 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:51:29am
136 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 11:51:38am

re: #134 Testy Toad T

Might as well hang a sign around his neck saying WATCH OUT FOR ME I AM VERY OLD AND CROTCHETY AND I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT.

I thought that was what that sweater said.

137 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 11:51:56am

re: #129 jaunte

Yes, you would think Twitter might want to protect their reputation a little better than that.

Twitter/Facebook couldn’t give a shit about their reputation. It’s all about the advertising dollar, and obviously there are advertisers who target the lowest levels of scum in our society. Twitter/FB are happy to help them do it.

138 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 11:53:09am

re: #135 Pie-onist Overlord

Store has cake.
I want a gay wedding cake!”
“Sorry, we don’t sell wedding cakes!”
“Then I will shop elsewhere, thanks!”
Simples. See how that works?

139 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:53:15am

re: #135 Pie-onist Overlord

If you can’t win with reason turn to insult and Racism.

HEubank gives away the game.

140 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:53:42am

re: #135 Pie-onist Overlord

[Embedded content]

One of these days, I’d really like to see the scripture that has God saying “Thou shalt not make a buck off gay people!” Seriously, baking a cake for a gay couple is no more supportive of their lifestyle than baking one for a divorcee, people I’m sure the same bakery has absolutely no problem serving if they’re straight.

141 withak  Oct 13, 2014 11:54:17am

re: #137 Skip Intro

It sure makes it easier to identify the idiots, though, doesn’t it?

142 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:55:33am

re: #139 jaunte

HEubank gives away the game.

I don’t even know what it’s babbling about now:

143 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 11:56:40am

re: #142 Pie-onist Overlord

You must accept this separate but equal product.

144 aagcobb  Oct 13, 2014 11:57:34am

re: #117 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

But people from Asia beat Leaf by like 13k years, so there’s that.

145 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:57:42am

re: #142 Pie-onist Overlord

I don’t even know what it’s babbling about now:

[Embedded content]

That’s like saying “Okay, you can sit at the Whites Only counter, but you can’t order a milkshake.”

146 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 11:57:48am
147 klys  Oct 13, 2014 11:57:54am

re: #131 Testy Toad T

Politics aside, I have to admire the sheer dead-ender astonishment that is using double-spaces after periods on a character-count-limited platform like Twitter.

Put THAT one in your brainpipe and smoke it.

Twitter is the only place I do single-spaces after periods and only because of the character count limitations.

I will cling to my holdover habits to the end.

148 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:58:52am

Wait for the anti-Semitism. Just wait for it. Starting to leak out.

149 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 11:59:09am

re: #146 Kragar

[Embedded content]

He has two black children? What, did he kidnap them?

150 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 11:59:51am

re: #149 Targetpractice

He has two black children? What, did he kidnap them?

I’m sure he paid for them.

151 aagcobb  Oct 13, 2014 11:59:52am

re: #128 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

and today’s culinary lesson is:

How to spatchcock a chicken

Sounds kinky

152 RealityBasedEbola  Oct 13, 2014 12:00:48pm

re: #151 aagcobb

Sounds kinky

One of my favorite things to do with a chicken.

RBS

153 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 12:01:29pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Wait for the anti-Semitism. Just wait for it. Starting to leak out.

[Embedded content]

You know, it’s kinda obvious by it being labeled a Jewish deli that non-kosher food is not on the menu. Perhaps bakeries not wanting to cater to gay customers could adopt some easy identification in their store signs. Like “Bible-Thumper Bakery.”

154 William Barnett-Lewis  Oct 13, 2014 12:01:37pm

re: #123 Skip Intro

Twitter has no problem with this. Neither does Facebook.

I don’t do Twitter, Facebook or any of the other garbage “social” sites as a result.

155 withak  Oct 13, 2014 12:01:49pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Does a Gay Wedding cake include bacon in some way? I don’t get it.

156 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:01:53pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Wait for the anti-Semitism. Just wait for it. Starting to leak out.

[Embedded content]

157 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:02:31pm

re: #149 Targetpractice

He has two black children? What, did he kidnap them?

Not relevant and I’m not talking about someone’s kids

158 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 12:03:48pm

re: #157 Kragar

Not relevant and I’m not talking about someone’s kids

It was a rather odd boast to make.

159 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 12:03:50pm

re: #156 Kragar

You can lead a ham sandwich to water, but you can’t make it drink. Wait. What?

160 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:04:43pm
161 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:05:27pm

re: #158 Targetpractice

It was a rather odd boast to make.

True. I think he meant it as a deflector shield, but it only works on stupid people.

162 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Oct 13, 2014 12:05:44pm

re: #153 Targetpractice

You know, it’s kinda obvious by it being labeled a Jewish deli that non-kosher food is not on the menu. Perhaps bakeries not wanting to cater to gay customers could adopt some easy identification in their store signs. Like “Bible-Thumper Bakery simply not offer wedding cakes.”

163 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 12:06:54pm

re: #161 Kragar

My kids tell me they agree with me too.

164 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 12:07:14pm

re: #132 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

Understood. It seems it took quite a few kids in the area I grew up. This was backwoods upstate NY. I am sure there were quite a few adults in there, I just remember all the graves of kids since they stuck out more age wise.

Took quite a few infants and toddlers as well in the small towns.
First husband (RIP) and I were part of a cemetery reading project in rural Illinois many years ago. It was stunning to see so many family plots where mom and/or dad (usually mom) and several small children died within days/weeks of each other.

165 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 12:07:46pm

Can I go into a Chick-Fil-A and demand a kosher chicken sandwich?

Why does this analogy only work one way?

166 Ian G.  Oct 13, 2014 12:10:05pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Write something like “I wouldn’t demand a slab of bacon at a Halal butcher either”, just to see if it flips out and starts babbling about sharia and double standards and the like.

167 Feline Fearless Leader  Oct 13, 2014 12:11:17pm

re: #164 Backwoods_Sleuth

Took quite a few infants and toddlers as well in the small towns.
First husband (RIP) and I were part of a cemetery reading project in rural Illinois many years ago. It was stunning to see so many family plots where mom and/or dad (usually mom) and several small children died within days/weeks of each other.

You could see that pattern in any older town/church cemetery where typhus or some other disease went though.

168 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 12:12:26pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Wait for the anti-Semitism. Just wait for it. Starting to leak out.

[Embedded content]

169 William Barnett-Lewis  Oct 13, 2014 12:12:56pm

re: #164 Backwoods_Sleuth

Took quite a few infants and toddlers as well in the small towns.
First husband (RIP) and I were part of a cemetery reading project in rural Illinois many years ago. It was stunning to see so many family plots where mom and/or dad (usually mom) and several small children died within days/weeks of each other.

Every time I have to deal with some anti-vaxxer, I want to force the idiot to take one of those walks with me. Especially the ones with long rows of the little stones they used for babies & toddlers…

170 sagehen  Oct 13, 2014 12:13:10pm

re: #57 withak

In an alternate universe where this Ebola outbreak never occurred and the NIH kept its funding to develop a vaccine, the GOP is complaining that we are using taxpayer dollars to help Africa.

Even in this universe.

salon.com

Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter is urging fellow senators not to approve the Obama administration’s $1 billion plan to fight the Ebola outbreak, citing the fact that the plan “focuses on Africa.”

171 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 12:13:15pm

re: #168 Backwoods_Sleuth

Does the Jewish deli sell bacon to Jews but not to non-Jews?

Too many 2-syllable words.

172 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 12:14:06pm

re: #92 Pie-onist Overlord

My grandpa was 29 years old in the prime of his life. My dad was just a tiny fetus.

The curious thing about the 1918 flu was that it disproportionately killed healthy people in the prime of life.

173 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 12:14:31pm

re: #165 Pie-onist Overlord

Can I go into a Chick-Fil-A and demand a kosher chicken sandwich?

Why does this analogy only work one way?

I can’t haz cheezburger? /

174 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 12:15:08pm
175 Ian G.  Oct 13, 2014 12:15:28pm

re: #89 Lidane

Not quite. He said the ocean blue because he was a stubborn doofus who wouldn’t accept what everyone educated already knew about the circumference of the earth.

176 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:15:42pm

re: #131 Testy Toad T

Politics aside, I have to admire the sheer dead-ender astonishment that is using double-spaces after periods on a character-count-limited platform like Twitter.

Put THAT one in your brainpipe and smoke it.

Hey, I still do that myself…

177 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 12:16:23pm
178 Ian G.  Oct 13, 2014 12:17:15pm

re: #172 Blind Frog Belly White

The curious thing about the 1918 flu was that it disproportionately killed healthy people in the prime of life.

Yeah. I’ll put the possibility of re-emergence of the Spanish Flu up there on the list of “potential diseases that scare me much, much more than Ebola”.

179 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 12:17:40pm

re: #177 Pie-onist Overlord

[Embedded content]

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

180 withak  Oct 13, 2014 12:18:55pm

re: #170 sagehen

*facepalm*

Maybe I should write for The Onion.

181 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 12:19:35pm

re: #147 klys

Twitter is the only place I do single-spaces after periods and only because of the character count limitations.

I will cling to my holdover habits to the end.

Goes with the needlepoint, somehow.

re: #176 Aunty Entity Dragon

Hey, I still do that myself…

Goes with the Warhammer historical reenacting somehow.

182 withak  Oct 13, 2014 12:19:58pm

re: #177 Pie-onist Overlord

You can see the cognitive dissonance start to waver; you can almost see him start to have a breakthrough, and then… “Nope, I been #TROLLED!”

183 klys  Oct 13, 2014 12:22:22pm

re: #181 wrenchwench

Goes with the needlepoint, somehow.

Two small ornaments just needing the beading, and a third is about halfway through.

Go plane rides.

184 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 12:22:48pm

re: #182 withak

You can see the cognitive dissonance start to waver; you can almost see him start to have a breakthrough, and then… “Nope, I been #TROLLED!”

Fact trolling. It’s the latest thing.

185 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 12:23:54pm

The only difference between a “gay” wedding cake and a “straight” wedding cake is the topper, which I suppose wedding cake toppers probably come from some sweatshop in Asia so they might not have “2 brides” or “2 grooms” toppers. If that’s the case then just sell 2 bride & groom toppers & split them.

186 dog philosopher  Oct 13, 2014 12:31:08pm

by the time obama leaves office, ebola law will have been imposed on the judeo-christian bakeries of this country

187 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:33:21pm

re: #170 sagehen

Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter is urging fellow senators not to approve the Obama administration’s $1 billion plan to fight the Ebola outbreak, citing the fact that the plan “focuses on Africa.”

Fuck those lazy welfare sucking baby mama ni*clang!*’s! Damned ni*clang!*’s and their ni*clang!* diseases can stay over there and if fucking Obama and those damned hippy Occupy asswipes wanna help somebody, they can all over there and we can get rid of all of them at once! Sounds like a plan to me! Hey honey? Get me another coffee and send this off to Jim Inhofe right now. I like that skirt, by the way…you should wear some heels with it. Hot stuff!

188 lostlakehiker  Oct 13, 2014 12:33:48pm

re: #2 Kragar

If we really needed a cure for Ebola, the free market would have found one by now.

Thanks Obama.

No it wouldn’t have, for two reasons. The first is that Ebola, up til now, has not achieved any outbreaks on a scale that would allow the expense of producing the vaccine to be recouped by sales of the vaccine.

The second is that if a vaccine had been developed on the free market, the government would not permit the developers to sell the vaccine at whatever price the market would bear. The word `profiteering’ would be deployed.

Pharm companies can think ahead, and they correctly reason that if there’s no big outbreak, there’s no money in a vaccine, and if there is, which a priori would have been judged unlikely, there’s no big money in a vaccine.

A completely ruthless free market, no holds barred, might possibly have spotted the chance for a bonanza and developed a vaccine just in case. But the world will never accept such markets, so that leaves government to support the R&D for vaccines against maladies such as Ebola.

Which brings us back to the point of the post. Liberals are right, and conservatives are wrong, about R&D into “obscure” diseases. If only the issue could be seen as a military one, then conservatives might get it. Aliens are out to kidnap our bodies and drown us in our own blood and we need a weapon against them. Millions for defense!

189 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 12:33:56pm
190 Timothy Watson  Oct 13, 2014 12:35:21pm
First Amendment’s Limit: The Supreme Court’s Plaza

The First Amendment is strong medicine, the Supreme Court keeps telling us, and it even requires vulnerable people to listen to things they do not want to hear.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. explained this in 2011 to the father of a fallen soldier who had to endure a hateful protest while he tried to lay his son to rest. The First Amendment, the chief justice said, protects “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”

In June, Chief Justice Roberts told women seeking abortions essentially the same thing in a decision striking down buffer zones around clinics in Massachusetts. “Vital First Amendment interests,” he said, required women to hear from opponents of abortion in the fraught moments before they entered those clinics.

But the Supreme Court’s devotion to the First Amendment has its limits. It stops at the edge of the grand marble plaza outside its own courthouse.

mobile.nytimes.com

191 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:36:08pm

re: #181 wrenchwench

Goes with the needlepoint, somehow.

Goes with the Warhammer historical reenacting somehow.

Luddites unite!

192 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 12:36:47pm

re: #77 lawhawk

NIH budget figures from 2000 to present. Note the uptick in spending after the anthrax attacks, but the recent trend has been cuts. Spending for research centers nationally is down (it’s below the FY 2006 levels). In constant dollars, the cuts are more striking.

Ah, yes, the great Biodefense Boom. By 2006, pretty much nobody gave a shit anymore.

And cutting NIH funding is easy, because it’s invisible to most people, and the effects are only felt years later. Like, say, now.

193 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:37:04pm
194 Eclectic Cyborg  Oct 13, 2014 12:37:26pm

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

195 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 12:38:46pm

Product vs service.
Apparently some businesses are more worthy than others when it comes to religious rights.
Still trying to figure out this eejit’s pretzel logic.

196 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 12:38:52pm

re: #194 Eclectic Cyborg

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

Tea Party = Ross Perot voters + a snake-handling tent revival + a bunch of Republican PACs astroturfing everything.

Non-partisan my ass.

197 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:39:23pm

About one third of the way through my paper on Robespierre now. Good times!

198 dog philosopher  Oct 13, 2014 12:39:47pm

re: #194 Eclectic Cyborg

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

let me guess - it “just happens” that only republicans agree with its positions

199 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 12:40:19pm

re: #188 lostlakehiker

Did you really need Kragar to use a sarc tag before you posted that diatribe?

200 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:40:54pm
201 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 12:41:30pm

re: #199 Backwoods_Sleuth

Did you really need Kragar to use a sarc tag before you posted that diatribe?

I REGRET NOTHING!

202 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:42:11pm

re: #195 Backwoods_Sleuth

I think she went home angry.

203 EbolaSpotinAL  Oct 13, 2014 12:43:04pm

re: #198 dog philosopher

let me guess - it “just happens” that only republicans agree with its positions

If the democrats wouldjust do everything the republicans want, the tea partiers would vote for them. See, nonpartisan! //

204 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 12:43:14pm

re: #196 Lidane

Tea Party = Ross Perot voters + a snake-handling tent revival + a bunch of Republican PACs astroturfing everything.

Non-partisan my ass.

No shit, I remember the early days of the Tea Party, back when I actually dabbled in it because it looked like it was a serious bipartisan movement. Then I wised up and realized most of it was astroturfing meant to give Republicans-in-Denial cover for why they were still supporting the GOP while claiming they were totally against it.

205 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 12:43:20pm

This guy.

206 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 12:44:44pm

re: #205 Charles Johnson

This guy.

[Embedded content]

Yeah, how dare people not have their lives turned into a public spectacle!

////

207 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 12:45:37pm
208 klys  Oct 13, 2014 12:47:58pm

re: #199 Backwoods_Sleuth

Did you really need Kragar to use a sarc tag before you posted that diatribe?

Sarcasm has now reached cruising altitude.

209 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 12:50:50pm

Heh. Looks like the Democrats are going to hit the GOP over their votes to cut Ebola research funding (and tying it to increases in special interests at the same time). Panties are getting into a twist (which is about par for the course).

210 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:50:52pm

Okay…that was weird…

211 Schadenboner  Oct 13, 2014 12:50:55pm

re: #207 lawhawk

[Embedded content]

He’s like the Junior Kindergarten version of GG.

212 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 12:50:58pm

re: #194 Eclectic Cyborg

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

Matt Kibbe was on C-Span this morning making a similar claim.

213 Schadenboner  Oct 13, 2014 12:51:44pm

re: #212 jaunte

Matt Kibbe was on C-Span this morning making a similar claim.

He may have a point. They’ve probably led to the election of more Democratic Senators than to Republican ones.

…But that probably isn’t the point they wanted to make…

214 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:52:24pm

Not posting my FB post

215 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 12:53:19pm

re: #188 lostlakehiker

No it wouldn’t have, for two reasons. The first is that Ebola, up til now, has not achieved any outbreaks on a scale that would allow the expense of producing the vaccine to be recouped by sales of the vaccine.

The second is that if a vaccine had been developed on the free market, the government would not permit the developers to sell the vaccine at whatever price the market would bear. The word `profiteering’ would be deployed.

Pharm companies can think ahead, and they correctly reason that if there’s no big outbreak, there’s no money in a vaccine, and if there is, which a priori would have been judged unlikely, there’s no big money in a vaccine.

A completely ruthless free market, no holds barred, might possibly have spotted the chance for a bonanza and developed a vaccine just in case. But the world will never accept such markets, so that leaves government to support the R&D for vaccines against maladies such as Ebola.

Which brings us back to the point of the post. Liberals are right, and conservatives are wrong, about R&D into “obscure” diseases. If only the issue could be seen as a military one, then conservatives might get it. Aliens are out to kidnap our bodies and drown us in our own blood and we need a weapon against them. Millions for defense!

As somebody who worked 8+ years in vaccines, including on the Bus. Dev. side, I can tell you that the price of vaccines is MARKET-limited, not government limited. People will pay tens of thousands of dollars to be treated for, or cured of a disease, but won’t pay $100 to not get it. Look how many people die of Flu every year, and that vaccine is available practically everywhere. Our biggest issue in considering any vaccine project was “Who’s gonna pay for it?”

The other point is that EVEN IF somebody in academic research comes up with an approach that might work, there is a big gap between the lab and the market. A vaccine must be dirt cheap to make, have a squeaky clean safety profile, and be highly efficacious. These are not always easily attained. It can take years of expensive work to develop a process to make the drug substance n large enough quantities and cheap enough. Then there’s formulation, and the need to make it stable for years, ideally even at room temp. There’s the question of adjuvants - only one is approved for human use, last time I checked, and it’s not the best. Other, more effective adjuvants have unacceptable safety profiles, as in they HURT.

The vaccine business is not profitable. Most of Pharma has found other things, like Depression and ED to focus on, because people will pay money for those, and they’re chronic conditions that require longterm treatment. Think ‘Stable Revenue Stream’.

216 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 12:54:06pm
217 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 12:54:33pm

re: #194 Eclectic Cyborg

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

Oh, yes, and I bet that moron believes that Fox is “fair and balanced” and the rest of the MSM is nothing but liberal media.

218 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 12:54:58pm

re: #216 Aunty Entity Dragon

521725170491215872

google.com

219 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 12:55:19pm
In summer of 2009, FreedomWorks began pursuing an aggressive strategy to create the appearance of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform at Congressmembers’ town-hall meetings in their districts. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website “Tea Party Patriots,” describes how members should infiltrate town hall meetings and harass and intimidate Democratic members of Congress.
sourcewatch.org
220 makeitstop  Oct 13, 2014 12:55:45pm

re: #211 Schadenboner

He’s like the Junior Kindergarten version of GG.

He really does have maturity issues, and a seeming complete lack of ethics.

221 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 12:55:51pm

re: #216 Aunty Entity Dragon

[Embedded content]

Why does the public have a right to know this? DOES the public have a right to know this?

222 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 12:57:40pm

re: #209 lawhawk

Heh. Looks like the Democrats are going to hit the GOP over their votes to cut Ebola research funding (and tying it to increases in special interests at the same time). Panties are getting into a twist (which is about par for the course).

[Embedded content]

I think we’ve established by this point that anything that calls the GOP out on their hypocrisy is grounds for bitching.

223 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 1:00:12pm
224 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 1:00:24pm
225 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 1:01:14pm

re: #148 Pie-onist Overlord

Wait for the anti-Semitism. Just wait for it. Starting to leak out.

[Embedded content]

How about: I walk into a Kosher Deli. I say, “I want a big fat slab of Corned Beef!” They say, “You can’t have corned beef, because you’re gay. You can have anything else, but not corned beef.”

“What about those people over there? THEY have corned beef!”

“That’s different. They’re straight.”

226 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 1:01:17pm

re: #224 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Jesus. I can’t even.

227 Charles Johnson  Oct 13, 2014 1:01:58pm
228 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 1:02:03pm

re: #223 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Wait, is that Betsey ‘Death Panels’ McCaughey? Sure, she’s EXACTLY the expert I’d trust!
////

229 EbolaSpotinAL  Oct 13, 2014 1:03:14pm

re: #228 Blind Frog Belly White

Wait, is that Betsey ‘Death Panels’ McCaughey? Sure, she’s EXACTLY the expert I’d trust!
////

I have offered my services as a death panelist for FREE, and can’t get a call back!

230 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 1:05:11pm
231 otoc  Oct 13, 2014 1:05:18pm

re: #207 lawhawk

My impression was that HIPAA only covered providers, health plans, and employers and not jerks who don’t care who they hurt in the process of making a buck and seeking fame by repeatedly tweeting they “wuz xklusively furst”. Ah pardon me, my quote might be paraphrasing.

232 Targetpractice  Oct 13, 2014 1:05:22pm

re: #227 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

I can’t help but assume that Chucky was bullied a lot in school and feels being a bully now is his way of making up for that.

233 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 1:06:44pm

re: #229 BlueSpotinAL

I have offered my services as a death panelist for FREE, and can’t get a call back!

I just pictured Richard Dawson*, schmoozing the ladies on the death panel, and then asking a question:

“80 year old man with metastatic prostate cancer. The treatment costs $20,000 a dose, and the clinical trials shows it extends life by 3 months on average.
“SURVEY SAYS….!”

*DAWSON, not DAWKINS.

234 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 1:07:04pm

re: #227 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

That guys is seriously fucked up. I’m not sure what his end game is, he can’t keep this up.

235 dog philosopher  Oct 13, 2014 1:08:04pm

re: #234 b.d.

That guys is seriously fucked up. I’m not sure what his end game is, he can’t keep this up.

endgame: conservobucks

236 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 1:08:58pm

UpChuck is quite smitten with the Ebola nurse. #AsianFetish.

237 Aunty Entity Dragon  Oct 13, 2014 1:09:28pm
238 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 1:09:38pm

re: #232 Targetpractice

I can’t help but assume that Chucky was bullied a lot in school and feels being a bully now is his way of making up for that.

He just needs to be loved.

239 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 1:09:40pm

re: #235 dog philosopher

endgame: conservobucks

Yeah. You know, I’d like to believe it will all come crashing down around him, but I can’t bring myself to believe it, given how unremarkable he is when viewed in the context of the whole Wingnutosphere.

240 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 1:10:03pm

re: #227 Charles Johnson

Who knew that CCJ used to fling poo as a child. Film at 11. /

241 Thor Heyerdahl  Oct 13, 2014 1:10:30pm

re: #234 b.d.

Martyrdom?

242 Mike Lamb  Oct 13, 2014 1:11:33pm

re: #230 Kragar

[Embedded content]

The families deserve to know!

243 ausador  Oct 13, 2014 1:13:18pm

re: #194 Eclectic Cyborg

Got some moron on FB trying to convince me the Tea Party is a “completely non partisan” organization.

Send him this… ;)

244 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 1:14:55pm

FYI. There is another woman with the same name that has a somewhat racy video on youtube. She is Asian and looks a little like Nurse Nina. It’s just a matter of time before DimJim/UpChuck catches wind of it and starts posting it.

245 ausador  Oct 13, 2014 1:18:16pm

Sigh…

246 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 1:21:04pm

re: #245 ausador

247 Eclectic Cyborg  Oct 13, 2014 1:21:29pm

Ok I got to ask: Chucky keeps tweeting “we”. Who the hell are these co conspirators he calls “we”?

248 Eclectic Cyborg  Oct 13, 2014 1:23:27pm

Gotnews. Com BOMBSHELL! The Trojan Horse is a trap!

249 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 1:25:14pm

re: #248 Eclectic Cyborg

gotnews.com BOMBSHELL! The Trojan Horse is a trap!

gotnews exclusive: Allies break Enigma code

250 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 1:25:38pm

re: #248 Eclectic Cyborg

gotnews.com BOMBSHELL! The Trojan Horse is a trap!

BOMBSHELL: Allies to land at Normandy!

251 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 1:26:50pm

re: #195 Backwoods_Sleuth

Product vs service.
Apparently some businesses are more worthy than others when it comes to religious rights.
Still trying to figure out this eejit’s pretzel logic.

[Embedded content]

It made up that distinction. I asked it if it knew the difference between a PRODUCT and a CUSTOMER.

252 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 1:33:51pm

re: #246 b.d.

BOMBSHELL: The Culper Ring are spying on the British!

253 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 1:34:17pm

re: #231 otoc

My impression was that HIPAA only covered providers, health plans, and employers and not jerks who don’t care who they hurt in the process of making a buck and seeking fame by repeatedly tweeting they “wuz xklusively furst”. Ah pardon me, my quote might be paraphrasing.

If he got it from a health professional (provider, plan, employer, doctor, nurse/staff, hospital official), then that person would be in violation of HIPAA. That’s why his “source” could land themselves in hot water. And CCJ just peddles in smears, so he’s more than willing to overlook things like the law to get a scoop.

254 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 1:34:34pm
255 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 1:40:36pm

re: #254 Dr. Matt

#gotnewsexclusive George Washington’s white horse is white. Exclusive film at 11.

Because the news isn’t really news. And it isn’t exactly relevant.

256 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 1:40:51pm

re: #254 Dr. Matt

#gotnewsexclusive BOMBSHELL: Soylent Green is people!

257 makeitstop  Oct 13, 2014 1:43:01pm

#gotnewsexclusive BREAKING: It’s a cookbook!

258 Franklin  Oct 13, 2014 1:44:01pm

#gotnewsexclusive BREAKING: Ssshhhh…it’s around the corner!

259 Hercules Grytpype-Thynneghazi  Oct 13, 2014 1:44:54pm

#gotnewsexclusive The snark was a boojum!

260 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 1:45:25pm

#gotnewsexclusive The calls are coming from inside your house

261 withak  Oct 13, 2014 1:46:59pm

#gotnewsexclusive Bruce Willis was dead the whole time!

262 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 1:47:18pm

hmmmmmm, wasn’t the purpose of snapchat was that it didn’t save pics?

263 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 1:47:47pm

#gotnewsexclusive The Cake Is A Lie!

264 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 1:48:08pm

#gotnewsexclusive it was col. mustard in the parlor with a candle-stick!

265 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 1:48:44pm

#gotnewsexclusive BOMBSHELL: Oskar Schindler is shielding Jews!

266 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 1:49:31pm

#gotnewsexclusive Norman Bates was in drag!

267 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 1:49:56pm

re: #229 BlueSpotinAL

I have offered my services as a death panelist for FREE, and can’t get a call back!

It’s like jury duty—they turn you down if you volunteer.

268 withak  Oct 13, 2014 1:50:54pm

re: #266 Dr. Matt

Spoilers, man!

/

269 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 1:52:28pm

#gotnewsexclusive: DeathStar has one minor defensive design flaw

270 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 1:53:51pm

#gotnewsexclusive BOMBSHELL: Ben Kenobi on Tattooine is a Jedi!

271 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 1:58:26pm

re: #269 b.d.

#gotnewsexclusive: DeathStar has one minor defensive design flaw

You’d think Darth Vader and the Imperial Fleet could figure out a way to defend the Death Star’s one vulnerable location - an exhaust port 2 meters wide. Heck. But no, they just had to let some guy with magic jobu get off a million to one shot. And that’s with us having a guy with the same kind of magic jobu, which was supposedly eradicated from the galaxy after Lord Vader rose to power.

/Teela_Kaarz

272 Three Chord Monty  Oct 13, 2014 1:58:46pm

This is going to be a bit off-topic, and I always hesitate to post about my situation, because it’s very difficult to explain and most people who know anything about it have their minds made up already. The NIH may well be in a pickle because of the ridiculousness of the right wing, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy. For 15 years now I’ve been dealing with a disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, an outbreak of which led to the creation of a condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This name was supposed to characterize M.E., but for complicated reasons that border on conspiracy theory, CFS actually captures many more people who are also suffering, but with something else, likely usually depression. Medical science does not take CFS particularly seriously, thinking it psychiatric in nature, and this is reflected in the amount of money allocated by the NIH towards research.

NIH spending by disease category

The CDC hasn’t been too kind, either

David Tuller: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the CDC—A Long, Tangled Tale

(that link is the blog of Vincent Racaniello who I saw linked upthread)

and was actually found to have misappropriated $13 million dollars some years back, in a relatively minor, but fairly prominent scandal.

NY Times: CDC admits diverting funds appropriated to CFS

Every great once in awhile the mainstream press throws us a bone, as was done here a few days ago:

What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Why Aren’t We Doing More To Treat The Illness

and others try as well

Llewellyn King: White House Chronicle

but the NIH tends to characterize the low figure allotted towards “CFS” research (very little of which ends up actually researching people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) as being a product of a situation where there are few researchers in the field. Given the turndown rates for applicants, that is not exactly surprising, but I suppose that’s hearsay, even though I have firsthand knowledge. Can’t substantiate it, though. But researchers keen to enter the field are known to give up due to an inability to procure funding. That would be one reason why there are few researchers in the field. And then we end up with chicanery like this:

“Occupy CFS” Blog: NIH’s circular logic

Ian Lipkin is a researcher who works at Columbia University. He was responsible for the discovery of the West Nile virus and is Anthony Fauci’s go-to guy for quite a few problems that come up. He was on Bill O’Reilly’s program the other night; he was chief medical/technical adviser on the film Contagion. Recently he has been involved in CFS research, working on the testing that disproved the XMRV theory of retroviral activity in CFS, and looking to perform study on the microbiome. There’s a crowdfunding effort underway to try to raise funds for this work…why? Because

“I have been in competition now twice to get funded, and the people there who reviewed me gave me abysmal scores. And the critiques of my work were unfair, and one of the people who critiqued my work said, in fact, that this is a psychosomatic illness. I was floored. I protested, and for reasons that are obscure to me this same individual wound up back on the study section, and I got a similar unfundable score.”

CFS Central Blog: Interview with Ian Lipkin

In Norway, studies have been published showing recovery from CFS using a chemotherapy drug, Rituximab, and more are underway. In this country, the SEP panels at NIH tell this scientist

Wikipedia: Ian Lipkin

that funding his research is inappropriate because they believe it to be a psychosomatic illness. Yet it responds to…chemotherapeutic agents?

Yes, I’m sorry for the long, rambling, off-topic rant. But I’ve sourced this as best I can, because I thought it was important enough to weigh in on this. The NIH and CDC do a lot of great things, sure. But there are some things that they do that are absolutely horrible, and a great number of people are suffering needlessly because the science has been hijacked. What’s commonly thought of as depression or psychosomatic is a physical disease that does not enjoy one FDA-approved treatment. Criteria for the disease have been designed by psychiatrists and goalposts have been moved a long way from the disease I deal with, to the point where I wouldn’t even qualify for a CFS diagnosis according to the majority of them. And I have to live in a paradigm where the existing literature has nothing to do with the disease I have, but the various mantra floated about CFS is almost completely wrong in any discussion about M.E. Meanwhile, there are a lot of justifiably angry people out there, and the sorts of behaviors we see from other patient communities—Lyme Disease, for instance—and a heavy dose of conspiracy paranoia permeates virtually anything having to do with awareness, advocacy, or activism. Doing crazy things worked for AIDS, but if anyone else tries something like that, they’re just…crazy. We’re too sick to even think about doing most of those sorts of things.

So, sorry, but I’m kinda over the left-right squabble with regards to NIH, because it has zero to do with how people like me view that place. And if they are feeling heat because of lefty-righty bullshit, which is the only thing that seems to matter to a lot of people, I have little sympathy.

I don’t post here a lot not because I don’t want to, but because I simply don’t have the strength most of the time. This was a long time coming, actually. If the higher-ups at NIH are sweating because of some truly asshole politicians, I don’t have it in myself to be gleeful; but ultimately they are responsible for how this disease is handled—mishandled, really. So if their days have become more complicated recently, well, it’s a hard world, I guess.

273 Eventual Carrion  Oct 13, 2014 1:59:52pm
274 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 2:04:54pm
275 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 2:06:02pm

re: #272 Three Chord Monty

I was positively diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Syndrome (mononucleosis that never goes away, the virus just hides somewhere waiting, waiting, waiting for the opportunity to wreak havoc) to back in the early 1980s.
Lots of doctors and experts still try to insist “it’s all in your head”, even though solid physical evidence exists in the bloodwork lab tests.
I get so sick and tired (no pun intended) being told to “get over it”.
Then, again, I have to because there is no cure.

276 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 2:06:03pm

TEH PENTAGON IZ INFESTED WITH LIBRULS!

OBUMMERS FAKE SCIENCE IS HURTING OUR MILITARY!

277 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 2:07:38pm

re: #271 lawhawk

You’d think Darth Vader and the Imperial Fleet could figure out a way to defend the Death Star’s one vulnerable location - an exhaust port 2 meters wide. Heck. But no, they just had to let some guy with magic jobu get off a million to one shot. And that’s with us having a guy with the same kind of magic jobu, which was supposedly eradicated from the galaxy after Lord Vader rose to power.

/Teela_Kaarz

“Hey, Red Leader?”
“Yeah, Red Two?”
“These X-Wing, they’re full capable of VTOL and able to hover right?”
“Yeah.”
“So why don’t we just drop down right in front of the port, fire the torpedoes, then pull out and high tail it?”
“Because shut up, Red Two.”
“Roger that, Red Leader.”

278 Rightwingconspirator  Oct 13, 2014 2:11:31pm
Joe Biden: ‘What we need is another Jim Brady’ to push gun-control measures

Oh no tell me he did not say that….

279 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 2:11:39pm

re: #277 Kragar

“Hey, Red Leader?”
“Yeah, Red Two?”
“These X-Wing, they’re full capable of VTOL and able to hover right?”
“Yeah.”
“So why don’t we just drop down right in front of the port, fire the torpedoes, then pull out and high tail it?”
“Because shut up, Red Two.”
“Roger that, Red Leader.”

“You mean you could have taken those cuffs off any time?”

“No! Only when it was funny!”

280 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 2:14:27pm

re: #274 Kragar

281 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 2:15:46pm

re: #278 Rightwingconspirator

Oh no tell me he did not say that….

I don’t believe Jim Brady defined his life by his injury and subsequent disability but by his passion and life accomplishments. Biden was acknowledging those accomplishments. He said nothing wrong.

282 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 2:18:03pm

re: #272 Three Chord Monty

Thanks for making the effort. I learned a lot. I hope there’s more done in the future to help you and others in your situation.

283 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 2:18:09pm

re: #281 allegro

I don’t believe Jim Brady defined his life by his injury and subsequent disability but by his passion and life accomplishments. Biden was acknowledging those accomplishments. He said nothing wrong.

The thing is, the Right has gotten so gun crazy, and just plain CRAZY, that nothing has any effect. Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly are excellent spokepeople for rational gun control, but they gain no traction because the opposition is so loud and insane.

284 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:18:21pm

How is everyone?

I had some sort of weird virus this weekend that left me with a slight fever and aching bones and in bed for 2 days. Restlessness and much lack of sleep because of the aching (no way to get really comfortable). No GI complaints or hacking cough at all. And no dr, just bed rest and a couple of ibuprofen.

I blame Obama (and, secondarily, Ebola). ///

285 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 2:18:55pm

re: #278 Rightwingconspirator

Joe Biden: ‘What we need is another Jim Brady’ to push gun-control measures

Oh no tell me he did not say that….

I didn’t read that as “we need another Jim Brady type incident”, more like we need another Jim Brady who pushed for the legislation etc.

286 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 2:19:53pm

re: #272 Three Chord Monty

There’s a button you can use to make that comment into a Page without much more effort. You did all the research and linking, might as well get further distribution for the info.

287 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator  Oct 13, 2014 2:19:57pm

I can only applaud Babushka’s efforts in educating the uneducable*.

*I didn’t know that was a word, turns out it is.

288 Hal_10000  Oct 13, 2014 2:21:24pm
the anti-science, anti-research GOP

Actually, the House budgets substantially increased science funding over the President’s last two budget requests, including significant increases for NASA, NSF and NIH.

289 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 2:21:38pm

Well This won’t help stop spreading Ebola in Liberia

290 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 2:22:04pm

re: #285 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

I didn’t read that as “we need another Jim Brady type incident”, more like we need another Jim Brady who pushed for the legislation etc.

Exactly.

291 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 2:22:11pm
292 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 2:23:00pm

re: #288 Hal_10000

Actually, the House budgets substantially increased science funding over the President’s last two budget requests, including significant increases for NASA, NSF and NIH.

Are you claiming the GOP is not anti-science?

293 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 2:24:15pm

re: #291 Lidane

third strike’s a charm…

294 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 2:25:38pm

re: #293 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

third strike’s a charm…

He doesn’t seem to have anything else to do. I say he should go for it. Heh.

295 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:27:14pm

It’s being reported elsewhere that 1 person has been arrested there.

296 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 2:27:37pm

re: #293 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

third strike’s a charm…

297 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 2:28:10pm

re: #294 allegro

He doesn’t seem to have anything else to do. I say he should go for it. Heh.

they’re already touting an Iowa poll that said he’d beat Hillary. As much as Mitt is symbolic of all that is wrong with the republican party/brand I’d love to see one of the real wackos get the nomination just to fully expose the batshit insanity to the light of day.

298 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:30:18pm

re: #291 Lidane

[Embedded content]

And he should keep hanging out with losers like Brown, too. : )

299 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 2:31:53pm

re: #297 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

they’re already touting an Iowa poll that said he’d beat Hillary. As much as Mitt is symbolic of all that is wrong with the republican party/brand I’d love to see one of the real wackos get the nomination just to fully expose the batshit insanity to the light of day.

I think it’s been fully exposed for years. 27% actually like it (I know, seriously? But there it is); 48% are mortified by it; and 25% are wondering where they left their pants.

300 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:33:06pm

For what reason? Black folks exercising their First Amendment rights?

Update: Nearly 20 people arrested in Ferguson, Mo., protest, St. Louis County police say - @kmovnewsfeed
read more on kmov.com

301 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:36:22pm

It’s alive!

State media: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes 1st public appearance in about 40 days - @YonhapNews
read more on yonhapnews.co.kr

Or it’s his doppelganger.

302 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 2:38:49pm

re: #301 Justanotherhuman

It’s alive!

State media: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes 1st public appearance in about 40 days - @YonhapNews
read more on yonhapnews.co.kr

Or it’s his doppelganger.

303 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Oct 13, 2014 2:40:13pm

So here’s a really long (but good) article that fully outlines #GamerGate, for those who want to know

304 Jenner7  Oct 13, 2014 2:41:17pm

Why is it the media won’t cover a real issue in this country re: racial profiling and the killing of unarmed black people, but fawn over the fucking TP protests covering their racist signs and empty rhetoric??!?! While they get to spew their hate in peace, WITHOUT POLICE PRESENCE, the people in Ferguson are being gassed, tased, and arrested for peaceful protests. It’s blatant racism by the media and by the people in this country who don’t care what they are doing or why they are doing it.

Meanwhile, ISIS has been so close to Baghdad for the last 3 fucking months (like Iran is so close to nuclear weapons), McCain thinks we need an Ebola Czar after he bitched about Czars, and the RW are lying to the american people on a daily basis.

GAH!

Sorry, rant over.

305 Hal_10000  Oct 13, 2014 2:44:17pm

re: #292 wrenchwench

With their mouth, yes. With their wallets a lot less so. Science funding grew substantially in the early years of the Bush Administration. We started having problems in about 2007 or 2008 because that huge surge meant NIH, NSF, etc. funded a lot of new grants in the first half of the decade. But when the budgets were cut back (under both a Republican and later Democratic Congress), they couldn’t fund any new grants. I know people who left the field at that time.

Having been on Capital Hill and met with Congresspeople and their staff to talk science, I’ve found no real difference in enthusiasm for science between the parties. Some Republicans oppose it for anti-science reasons; some Democrats do as well (or more often, think we are wasting money on science instead of helping people). Some Democrats are very jazzed about science; some Republicans are as well. The space program was crippled by bi-partisan consensus. It was a Democratic President who killed the SSC (and with it, much of American particle physics). Neither part has a monopoly on cutting science funding.

President Obama’s NIH request this year is actually $400 million less than his request last year and nearly $2 billion less than the FY 2011 request. I checked my math and NIH funding *has* been a bit poorer under the GOP House than in the President’s request. But NASA funding has done better.

306 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 2:48:16pm

I get to meet Alison Lundergan Grimes for dinner on Saturday.

:)

307 Hal_10000  Oct 13, 2014 2:48:58pm

PS - Regardless of the funding situation, I would prefer that NIH not try to leverage the current panic. The idea that we would have an Ebola vaccine by now if it weren’t for budget cuts is a stretch, at best. We’ve been working on an AIDS vaccine for thirty years with lots of money and still don’t have one. Vaccines are hard and clinical trials take a very long time.

308 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:49:09pm

re: #306 Backwoods_Sleuth

I get to meet Alison Lundergan Grimes for dinner on Saturday.

:)

Find out if she voted for BO. : )

309 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 2:50:15pm
310 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 2:51:21pm

re: #309 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville, NC were all issuing marriage licenses today.

Huzzah!

311 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 2:52:22pm

re: #310 Justanotherhuman

Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville, NC were all issuing marriage licenses today.

Huzzah!

Alaska made it legal yesterday and Wednesday for Idaho

312 Lidane  Oct 13, 2014 2:53:15pm
313 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 2:53:23pm

re: #310 Justanotherhuman

Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville, NC were all issuing marriage licenses today.

Huzzah!

No respect for Italian explorers like John Cabot and the other guy.

314 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 2:53:59pm

re: #310 Justanotherhuman

Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville, NC were all issuing marriage licenses today.

Huzzah!

CRAP! All the heterosexual couples are going to stop procreating and their marriages are no longer valid! ////

315 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 2:54:16pm
316 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 2:54:57pm

re: #305 Hal_10000

re: #307 Hal_10000

How do we make both parties more pro-science? It used to be the existential threat of the Soviets that drove funding. Do we need an existential threat like Ebola to bring them around again?

317 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 2:55:15pm

re: #311 Kragar

Alaska made it legal yesterday and Wednesday for Idaho

What I think is really funny is that, if I’m not mistaken, the states that tried to ban SSM are the ones getting their bans struck down in court. So afraid of Gay Marriage that they triggered the process that would make it unquestionably legal.
BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

318 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 2:55:16pm

Evening Lizardim from the cold and rainy wild north country. Happy Thanksgiving to any Canadian lizards out there - Mrs. Fish cooked up a fine Thanksgiving feast for a visitor we’re hosting from the frozen tundra. It was delicious and the only thing I can think is how much I’m looking forward to having more during our own Thanksgiving. For those who remember the last conversation we had, I also upgraded a substantial portion of our house’s most-used lights to LED’s; Mrs. Fish approves, so it’s likely that more will be phased in over time as we burn through light bulbs in the more commonly used fixtures. How go things among the lizardfolk?

319 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 2:55:26pm

re: #314 Dr. Matt

CRAP! All the heterosexual couples are going to stop procreating and their marriages are no longer valid! ////

Procreating? I’m thinking of refusing to take out the garbage.

320 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 2:56:40pm

re: #314 Dr. Matt

CRAP! All the heterosexual couples are going to stop procreating and their marriages are no longer valid! ////

Mrs. Fish and I decided to stop procreating around the time gay marriage became legal in the wild north country. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

321 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 2:58:13pm

re: #320 thedopefishlives

Mrs. Fish and I decided to stop procreating around the time gay marriage became legal in the wild north country. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

THEN YOUR MARRIAGE IS NO LONGER VALID!!!!

322 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 2:58:53pm

re: #321 Blind Frog Belly White

THEN YOUR MARRIAGE IS NO LONGER VALID!!!!

I guess that means I’m having extra-marital sex! OH GOD I’M SUCH A SINNER!!!

323 Shiplord Kirel  Oct 13, 2014 2:59:37pm

The deadly epidemic of EDS (Ebola derangement syndrome) continues to rampage through the right wing, extinguishing the last embers of rational thought and common decency.
Case in point: Townhall is calling for Obama to be removed from office over the Ebola epidemic (of two confirmed cases):

It’s Time to Remove Obama from Office - Before He Gets Us All Killed (freeper re-post)

If more proof is needed of the EDS plague’s destructive effect on the reasoning process, we have Lumberhead’s new page, detailing the Lousiana AG’s threat to get a court order blocking the scattering of Thomas Duncan’s ashes in that benighted state. Yes, there really are people who think a virus might survive a trip through the cremation chamber.

324 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 3:00:14pm

re: #321 Blind Frog Belly White

THEN YOUR MARRIAGE IS NO LONGER VALID!!!!

By that standard, mine never was. They sure spent all those school taxes we paid, though.

325 Rightwingconspirator  Oct 13, 2014 3:00:22pm

re: #285 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

re: #281 allegro

I don’t believe Jim Brady defined his life by his injury and subsequent disability but by his passion and life accomplishments. Biden was acknowledging those accomplishments. He said nothing wrong.

Well it’s pretty poor logic. I mean has he met Gabby Giffords? Jim was so disabled, it was hard for his force of personality to win the day, it was more the whole incident. There was this other guy that got shot that day? The weird celebrity connection…It’s not about high profile, it’s about crossing the great divide between points of view. IMHO.

326 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:01:01pm

re: #324 allegro

By that standard, mine never was. They sure spent all those school taxes we paid, though.

Yeah, but you’ll get it all back when the Duggar Spawn are paying all of our Social Security benefits.

327 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:02:11pm

re: #322 thedopefishlives

I guess that means I’m having extra-marital sex! OH GOD I’M SUCH A SINNER!!!

I’d settle for extra marital sex. As in more of the same. Please!

328 TedStriker  Oct 13, 2014 3:03:26pm

re: #307 Hal_10000

PS - Regardless of the funding situation, I would prefer that NIH not try to leverage the current panic. The idea that we would have an Ebola vaccine by now if it weren’t for budget cuts is a stretch, at best. We’ve been working on an AIDS vaccine for thirty years with lots of money and still don’t have one. Vaccines are hard and clinical trials take a very long time.

I think that the NIH director made a valid point; it’s not like Ebola is a new disease, it’s been around a long time.

Just like the old NASA sentiment goes (even though the actual phrase came from The RIght Stuff): No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

329 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 3:04:28pm

re: #327 Blind Frog Belly White

I’d settle for extra marital sex. As in more of the same. Please!

If you’re a white male, OK. If not, well, too bad so sad, maybe you shouldn’t be such a slut.

330 otoc  Oct 13, 2014 3:06:40pm

re: #253 lawhawk

I doubt this hack got it from a medical provider. Once he became aware of the address from the local news, he and his minions searched the info they could find on the address. This brings us to where HIPAA could use better strength to protect the privacy of others. Yet the interesting thing is he attributes the finding of the address to an anonymous tip. This brings me to where I find him to be a total hypocrite and reckless.

He calls himself a journalist. Journalists, at least professionals, are bound by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Something CCJ seems to have an aversion to.
SPJ Code of Ethics
Here are a few items I see he constantly breaks…

Preamble

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity.

The Society declares these four principles as the foundation of ethical journalism and encourages their use in its practice by all people in all media.

Seek Truth and
Report It

Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Journalists should:
- Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.

- Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.

- Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story.

- Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story.

- Be cautious when making promises, but keep the promises they make.

- Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources.

- Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted.

- Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing.

- Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public.

- Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless.

- Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant.

- Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government. Seek to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to all.

- Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate.

- Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear.

- Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.

- Label advocacy and commentary.

- Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

- Never plagiarize. Always attribute.

Minimize Harm

Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.

Journalists should:
- Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.

- Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment.

- Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast.

- Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information.

- Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.

- Balance a suspect’s right to a fair trial with the public’s right to know. Consider the implications of identifying criminal suspects before they face legal charges.

- Consider the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication. Provide updated and more complete information as appropriate.

Act Independently
The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.

Journalists should:
- Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.

- Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.

- Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not.

- Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.

- Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.

Be Accountable and Transparent
Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Journalists should:
- Explain ethical choices and processes to audiences. Encourage a civil dialogue with the public about journalistic practices, coverage and news content.

- Respond quickly to questions about accuracy, clarity and fairness.

- Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently. Explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.

- Expose unethical conduct in journalism, including within their organizations.

- Abide by the same high standards they expect of others.

I guess he pretty much throws out any concern for ethics and as such, CCJ is not a journalist. He is a dangerous self-serving hack.

331 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 3:07:33pm
332 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:07:35pm

re: #328 TedStriker

I think that the NIH director made a valid point; it’s not like Ebola is a new disease, it’s been around a long time.

Just like the old NASA sentiment goes (even though the actual phrase came from The RIght Stuff): No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

In the meantime, Viagra was developed, for crying out loud.

A timeline for Ebola outbreaks from 1976: cdc.gov

Yeah, almost 40 years.

333 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:07:38pm

re: #307 Hal_10000

PS - Regardless of the funding situation, I would prefer that NIH not try to leverage the current panic. The idea that we would have an Ebola vaccine by now if it weren’t for budget cuts is a stretch, at best. We’ve been working on an AIDS vaccine for thirty years with lots of money and still don’t have one. Vaccines are hard and clinical trials take a very long time.

To be fair, trying to make an effective HIV vaccine faces unique hurdles. The virus IN A SINGLE PATIENT evolves ahead of the immune system, and does such a good job of hiding neutralizing sites that it’s never been clear how you elicit a neutralizing response.

334 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 3:10:03pm
335 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 3:11:20pm

re: #331 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Wait, what happened?

336 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:11:26pm

All protesters allowed into STL City Hall.

vine.co

337 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:11:31pm

re: #332 Justanotherhuman

In the meantime, Viagra was developed, for crying out loud.

A timeline for Ebola outbreaks from 1976: cdc.gov

Yeah, almost 40 years.

There’s not been much call for an Ebola vaccine, since it USED TO appear, kill a bunch of people, and burn itself out, and all in Africa. Nobody in the Developed World would pay for a vaccine against a disease like that, scary as it may be. So, no company would invest much money in research.

Now it has made its way to America, and people wonder why there isn’t a vaccine.

338 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 3:12:45pm

re: #335 thedopefishlives

Wait, what happened?

She’s been posting weird stuff on Twitter lately and she’s had some breakdowns in the past. People had been making fun of her, but she really needs some serious help.

339 compound_Idaho  Oct 13, 2014 3:14:22pm

re: #337 Blind Frog Belly White

sunnewsnetwork.ca

Ebola vaccine enters human trials.

340 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 3:14:58pm

re: #338 Kragar

She’s been posting weird stuff on Twitter lately and she’s had some breakdowns in the past. People had been making fun of her, but she really needs some serious help.

Ugh. Stupid. Mental disease isn’t a joke, people.

341 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:15:05pm

re: #337 Blind Frog Belly White

There’s not been much call for an Ebola vaccine, since it USED TO appear, kill a bunch of people, and burn itself out, and all in Africa. Nobody in the Developed World would pay for a vaccine against a disease like that, scary as it may be. So, no company would invest much money in research.

Now it has made its way to America, and people wonder why there isn’t a vaccine.

That scenario has to change. If it’s a disease that kills people, develop a vaccine, no matter where it’s originally located.

Diseases travel in today’s modern, global society.

We’re such a short-sighted species, interested only in our own lot’s location.

342 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:15:20pm

re: #331 Kragar

[Embedded content]

The funny thing is, the rich and famous can afford better care for their mental illness than everyone else. But they can also afford friends who tell them they don’t need help, they’re just ‘Winning!’

343 Kragar  Oct 13, 2014 3:15:48pm

re: #335 thedopefishlives

Wait, what happened?


One Tweet Sums Up Everything Wrong With the Reaction to Amanda Bynes’ Meltdown

344 Dead Tired  Oct 13, 2014 3:16:50pm

re: #337 Blind Frog Belly White

There’s not been much call for an Ebola vaccine, since it USED TO appear, kill a bunch of people, and burn itself out, and all in Africa. Nobody in the Developed World would pay for a vaccine against a disease like that, scary as it may be. So, no company would invest much money in research.

Now it has made its way to America, and people wonder why there isn’t a vaccine.

That’s why government funding of research is so important. There is a lot of research necessary that doesn’t lead directly to making money.

345 theEbolafishlives  Oct 13, 2014 3:21:02pm

re: #344 Editor in Chief

That’s why government funding of research is so important. There is a lot of research necessary that doesn’t lead directly to making money.

Butbutbut SMALL GOVERNMENT!!!!!

346 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:21:15pm

re: #344 Editor in Chief

That’s why government funding of research is so important. There is a lot of research necessary that doesn’t lead directly to making money.

Perzackly.

You don’t know what will lead to something that saves lives and makes money.

347 Dr. Matt  Oct 13, 2014 3:23:10pm

re: #332 Justanotherhuman

In the meantime, Viagra was developed, for crying out loud.

A timeline for Ebola outbreaks from 1976: cdc.gov

Yeah, almost 40 years.

And two other boner pills. ‘Merica!

348 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:25:00pm

re: #347 Dr. Matt

And two other boner pills. ‘Merica!

Yeah, boner pills but no male contraceptive.

349 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:26:40pm

re: #348 Justanotherhuman

Yeah, boner pills but no male contraceptive.

Not our problem. Men don’t get pregnant. Duh.

/wish I were//

350 gwangung  Oct 13, 2014 3:27:47pm

re: #344 Editor in Chief

That’s why government funding of research is so important. There is a lot of research necessary that doesn’t lead directly to making money.

Yeah. You need to traverse all the middle steps to make the later steps possible. You can’t go from step A to step Z in one go.

And doing all the research is cheaper in the long run.

351 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:28:04pm

re: #339 compound_Idaho

sunnewsnetwork.ca

Ebola vaccine enters human trials.

Developed by the Canadian National Labs, of course. Gummint funded research, because The Market doesn’t actually care.

352 Blind Frog Belly White  Oct 13, 2014 3:29:22pm

But, you know, Government can’t create anything.

353 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:30:06pm

re: #338 Kragar

She’s been posting weird stuff on Twitter lately and she’s had some breakdowns in the past. People had been making fun of her, but she really needs some serious help.

I haven’t been paying attention to her since she went into rehab and had looked like she was doing well.
Sorry to hear that her demons are back.

354 Vicious Piebola  Oct 13, 2014 3:30:46pm

re: #225 Blind Frog Belly White

How about: I walk into a Kosher Deli. I say, “I want a big fat slab of Corned Beef!” They say, “You can’t have corned beef, because you’re gay. You can have anything else, but not corned beef.”

“What about those people over there? THEY have corned beef!”

“That’s different. They’re straight.”

How about: I walk into a “Christian” bakery and I’m like I’m straight, and I want a wedding cake, but I’m already married for years.

Would they sell me a “wedding” cake?

Actually I want it for my 1-year-old granddaughter’s birthday party so she can smush it.

355 goddamnedfrank  Oct 13, 2014 3:31:34pm

I don’t “get” cake pops. I don’t get them at all.

356 Dead Tired  Oct 13, 2014 3:31:36pm

re: #352 Blind Frog Belly White

But, you know, Government can’t create anything.

Fuckin’ eh!

357 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:32:16pm

Gabe’s life is complete.

358 Rightwingconspirator  Oct 13, 2014 3:39:05pm

re: #357 wrenchwench

Gorgeous feline, wow.

359 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:39:54pm

re: #358 Rightwingconspirator

Gorgeous feline, wow.

Yes, and I want one two of those harnesses. Do you know where to find them?

360 goddamnedfrank  Oct 13, 2014 3:40:19pm
361 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:40:57pm

Anyone who ever thought Alaska was “progressive” can put that notion to rest.

Alaska appeals same-sex marriage ruling, asks district court to issue stay pending appeal due to ‘reasonable likelihood that a circuit split will develop in the very near future’ - @chrisgeidner
end of alert

362 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:43:11pm

University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City isolates patient with high fever who had recently worked on medical boat off western coast of Africa, hospital says - @kmbc
read more on kmbc.com

363 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:44:01pm

Well, Glory didn’t win her quarterfinal competition for TripeDog2014 (a gorgeous pub dog won).
However, I have ANOTHER dog who qualified for quarterfinals, so heads up folks…I’ll be needing votes for her.
I’ll let y’all know.

Here she is with my granddaughter when they were both wee tots many years ago.

going for the OhSoCuteWhileTheyAreAsleep factor and not afraid to use it

364 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 3:44:30pm

re: #234 b.d.

That guys is seriously fucked up. I’m not sure what his end game is, he can’t keep this up.

What you’re seeing is the future of the Republican Party. Sparkles is a trailblazer, and he’s only going to get worse, because, why not?

365 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:45:05pm

re: #361 Justanotherhuman

Anyone who ever thought Alaska was “progressive” can put that notion to rest.

Alaska appeals same-sex marriage ruling, asks district court to issue stay pending appeal due to ‘reasonable likelihood that a circuit split will develop in the very near future’ - @chrisgeidner
end of alert

too late. Gay marriage has already murdered Jim Wright’s BBQ.

366 goddamnedfrank  Oct 13, 2014 3:45:56pm

re: #361 Justanotherhuman

Anyone who ever thought Alaska was “progressive” can put that notion to rest.

Alaska appeals same-sex marriage ruling, asks district court to issue stay pending appeal due to ‘reasonable likelihood that a circuit split will develop in the very near future’ - @chrisgeidner
end of alert

Alaska is in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, done deal. If the Supremes didn’t take up any of the previous Circuit rulings then they simply aren’t going to overturn because of some hypothetical future split. This is Sisyphus and the Rock.

367 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:46:05pm

re: #359 wrenchwench

Yes, and I want one two of those harnesses. Do you know where to find them?

I think I found them. Don’t want ‘em THAT badly!

368 Rightwingconspirator  Oct 13, 2014 3:46:43pm

re: #359 wrenchwench

No but I’m looking. It appears much more secure than the one I have now. My Maine Coon likes a little harness time but when scared tend to bolt away rather than closer.

369 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 3:47:07pm

re: #364 Skip Intro

What you’re seeing is the future of the Republican Party. Sparkles is a trailblazer, and he’s only going to get worse, because, why not?

Can’t wait for them to chisel his likeness into Mt. Derpmore.

370 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:48:04pm

re: #368 Rightwingconspirator

No but I’m looking. It appears much more secure than the one I have now. My Maine Coon likes a little harness time but when scared tend to bolt away rather than closer.

Yeah, one of our two has a tendency to panic. Need something very secure when that happens. Like a pillowcase.

371 klys  Oct 13, 2014 3:49:43pm

re: #370 wrenchwench

I like the concept of taking one of our cats for a walk but the reality is that I don’t think any of them would tolerate a harness at all, and the battle to get it on would not end well.

372 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:51:23pm

re: #371 klys

I like the concept of taking one of our cats for a walk but the reality is that I don’t think any of them would tolerate a harness at all, and the battle to get it on would not end well.

Gotta start ‘em when they’re young.

373 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:51:52pm

I just got postcards from the vet’s office (about a 40-mile roundtrip).
Three cats and the Jack Russell Terror need their annual vaccinations.
Taking them all in at once in a pickup truck should be interesting…

374 klys  Oct 13, 2014 3:51:58pm

re: #372 wrenchwench

Gotta start ‘em when they’re young.

…yeah, not happening now.

375 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:52:07pm

That’s a lot of people..,

About 70 staff members at Dallas hospital were involved in care of Ebola patient before his death, medical records show - @AP
read more on abcnews.go.com

376 Jenner7  Oct 13, 2014 3:53:14pm

No wonder he’s been tight lipped on all of this. I usually agree with him on everything, but not this. Important things are happening in Ferguson.

377 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:54:40pm

re: #373 Backwoods_Sleuth

I just got postcards from the vet’s office (about a 40-mile roundtrip).
Three cats and the Jack Russell Terror need their annual vaccinations.
Taking them all in at once in a pickup truck should be interesting…

We will be wanting video….

378 jaunte  Oct 13, 2014 3:56:22pm
379 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:56:22pm

Gawd.

NBC News Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman says crew who traveled to Liberia understands that 21-day quarantine is now mandatory after it was revealed group violated original quarantine - @nbcnews
end of alert

I just can’t stand Snyderman—such a diva.

NBC News Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman on quarantine violation: ‘We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal. As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused’ - @NBCNews
end of alert

380 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:56:59pm

re: #377 wrenchwench

We will be wanting video….

One word: Carriers.

One for each.

381 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:56:59pm

re: #377 wrenchwench

We will be wanting video….

I’ll need more hands…

382 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 3:57:41pm

re: #380 Justanotherhuman

One word: Carriers.

One for each.

Got carriers.
Might not be enough.

383 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 3:58:26pm

re: #376 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

No wonder he’s been tight lipped on all of this. I usually agree with him on everything, but not this. Important things are happening in Ferguson.

It used to have a different meaning when the jails would be overfilled and regular business couldn’t be conducted. Now they process and release people so fast, they sometimes don’t even go to the police station.

It still can be meaningful, especially when the protests are ALL about the cops. Getting arrested and having a court appearance can be very good ‘protestor logic’. Willis should ask the organizers about it if he’s interested.

384 Jenner7  Oct 13, 2014 3:58:31pm
385 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 3:59:36pm

re: #382 Backwoods_Sleuth

Got carriers.
Might not be enough.

If you have 3 carriers, cage the cats and let your Best Friend ride up front w/you. : )

386 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 4:00:57pm

re: #373 Backwoods_Sleuth

I just got postcards from the vet’s office (about a 40-mile roundtrip).
Three cats and the Jack Russell Terror need their annual vaccinations.
Taking them all in at once in a pickup truck should be interesting…

I presume that you have a supply of narcotic gas.

387 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 4:02:17pm

re: #385 Justanotherhuman

If you have 3 carriers, cage the cats and let your Best Friend ride up front w/you. : )

Not my first rodeo with this.
:D

388 dog philosopher  Oct 13, 2014 4:02:51pm

scotch coup

Kim Jong-un appearance scotches coup rumours

389 klys  Oct 13, 2014 4:03:00pm

At some point, we’ll get around to buying that third cat carrier for the vet visits…

390 Jenner7  Oct 13, 2014 4:04:43pm

re: #383 wrenchwench

I know times were different in the 60’s with civil rights and I’m only 37 and white, so what do I know? BUT, I just feel this is SO important. It’s 2014, but it feels like we’ve stepped back instead of forward. I just wish the media would pay more attention.

391 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:04:49pm

Once I took my 2 dogs to the vet and they took the opportunity to crap all over the hatchback area…

They were not used to the confined space, so I forgave them. It was a shitty Chrysler anyway.

392 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 4:04:53pm

re: #387 Backwoods_Sleuth

Not my first rodeo with this.
:D

Then you know your animals. Putting a cat that is carrier-averse into a carrier is about as much fun as shelling walnuts with a Skilsaw.

393 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:05:46pm

A patient showing possible symptoms of Ebola has been admitted to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe and is in isolation as a precautionary measure, according to hospital spokesperson Mandi Kane.

Kane said the Department of Health told the hospital the patient did not meet the criteria for Ebola testing because of the patient’s travel history and symptoms.

Kane said EMS workers alerted the hospital the patient was en route, and that the hospital immediately activated its Infectious Disease Protocol.

She said the patient has been placed in isolation as a precaution.

WTF? Warrants a press release, but not the actual test. Again I say, WTF?

394 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:07:31pm

re: #393 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

WTF? Warrants a press release, but not the actual test. Again I say, WTF?

They’ll probably test ‘em all at this point.

Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, says patient with Ebola-like symptoms has tested negative for virus - @CBCAlerts
end of alert

395 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 4:08:04pm

re: #391 Justanotherhuman

Once I took my 2 dogs to the vet and they took the opportunity to crap all over the hatchback area…

They were not used to the confined space, so I forgave them. It was a shitty Chrysler anyway.

shoulda done a Romney…roofs are easy to clean at the automatic carwash…

396 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:09:18pm

re: #390 Jenner7

I know times were different in the 60’s with civil rights and I’m only 37 and white, so what do I know? BUT, I just feel this is SO important. It’s 2014, but it feels like we’ve stepped back instead of forward. I just wish the media would pay more attention.

It is every bit as important as what happened in the sixties. I don’t know why Willis should be such a curmudgeon about it. Is he feeling possessive of history? Or does he really think they are making a mistake?

Protest tactics should always be evolving, and I think they are, but more tacticians would be welcome. You can study and be part of it in what ever way you want to.

397 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:09:37pm

re: #393 wrenchwench

Fear and panic boost ratings. Expect to see a lot of this over the foreseeable future, just don’t expect to see them report “just flu, never mind”.

398 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 4:10:55pm

re: #393 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

WTF? Warrants a press release, but not the actual test. Again I say, WTF?

everybody has the fucking ebola flu…

399 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 4:10:56pm

re: #391 Justanotherhuman

…It was a shitty Chrysler anyway.

Is there another kind?

400 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:11:08pm

CDC reportedly sending 2nd team to assist Dallas hospital in infection control, monitoring workers who had contact with Ebola victim - @ABC
end of alert

re: #395 Backwoods_Sleuth

shoulda done a Romney…roofs are easy to clean at the automatic carwash…

They were both rather large dogs, too, so you can imagine. : ( Carriers wouldn’t have worked, or even fit in the space.

When I got other dogs, they were very small and I used carriers,

401 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:12:46pm

re: #397 Skip Intro

Fear and panic boost ratings. Expect to see a lot of this over the foreseeable future, just don’t expect to see them report “just flu, never mind”.

402 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 4:13:47pm

re: #389 klys

At some point, we’ll get around to buying that third cat carrier for the vet visits…

Better, stagger the appointments. My boys are 6 months apart in their yearly vet visits, though it’s so tough to get out the door with just one that the other usually goes along for the ride anyway. At least I can spread the cost out that way.

The last visit for my spaniel, last week, I did leave Buddy behind because I didn’t know if my spaniel would be coming back home. I thought there was a good chance he would be crossing the bridge since he’s been so unwell and had not been responding to treatment. Good news is that he has responded to the latest treatment (palliative care mode) - not great, but definitely improved - so we still have a bit of time left with him. *sniff*

403 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:15:11pm

re: #401 wrenchwench

Who’s going to be the first to link chemtrails, airborne Ebola, and Obama?

404 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:16:47pm

re: #403 Skip Intro

Who’s going to be the first to link chemtrails, airborne Ebola, and Obama?

Alex Jones is slipping if he hasn’t already.

I don’t know if Chuck C is into chemtrails.

405 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:17:32pm

re: #404 wrenchwench

Alex Jones is slipping if he hasn’t already.

I don’t know if Chuck C is into chemtrails.

Give it a couple of days. You know it’s coming.

406 klys  Oct 13, 2014 4:18:11pm

re: #402 allegro

Better, stagger the appointments. My boys are 6 months apart in their yearly vet visits, though it’s so tough to get out the door with just one that the other usually goes along for the ride anyway. At least I can spread the cost out that way.

The last visit for my spaniel, last week, I did leave Buddy behind because I didn’t know if my spaniel would be coming back home. I thought there was a good chance he would be crossing the bridge since he’s been so unwell and had not been responding to treatment. Good news is that he has responded to the latest treatment (palliative care mode) - not great, but definitely improved - so we still have a bit of time left with him. *sniff*

I’m glad you’ll get a little more time with him.

We just manage to fit two together into one carrier - the vet is not even five minutes from the house, and it helps to put at least one of the ones that hates the car with the one that’s ok with it, so they hyperventilate less.

407 goddamnedfrank  Oct 13, 2014 4:18:41pm

re: #403 Skip Intro

Who’s going to be the first to link chemtrails, airborne Ebola, and Obama?

Pretty sure the Pentaverate is behind it all.

408 RealityBasedEbola  Oct 13, 2014 4:21:22pm

Battening down the hatches… Severe Thunderstorm Warning until tomorrow AM, and a Tornado watch warning for about another 10 minutes. Going to be a bumpy night here at Casa de Reality.

RBS

409 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 4:22:35pm

re: #396 wrenchwench

It is every bit as important as what happened in the sixties. I don’t know why Willis should be such a curmudgeon about it. Is he feeling possessive of history? Or does he really think they are making a mistake?

Protest tactics should always be evolving, and I think they are, but more tacticians would be welcome. You can study and be part of it in what ever way you want to.

Case in point: OWS.

(Kilgore simulation mode-Off)

410 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:23:33pm

re: #405 Skip Intro

Give it a couple of days. You know it’s coming.

This fool beat him by 6 days.

nationalreport.net

This is a satire site, isn’t it?

411 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 4:23:45pm

re: #403 Skip Intro

I’ve seen Ebola, Chemtrails, and ISIL (using the former to kill the latter).

But someone is already on the Ebola, Chemtrails, and Obama beat (do-not-linked).

412 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 4:24:12pm

re: #410 Justanotherhuman

Lame attempt at one.

413 freetoken  Oct 13, 2014 4:24:20pm

This paper in PNAS today is getting a little bit of coverage:

Sea level and global ice volumes from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene

The major cause of sea-level change during ice ages is the exchange of water between ice and ocean and the planet’s dynamic response to the changing surface load. Inversion of 𢏁,000 observations for the past 35,000 y from localities far from former ice margins has provided new constraints on the fluctuation of ice volume in this interval. Key results are: (i) a rapid final fall in global sea level of 𢏄0 m in <2,000 y at the onset of the glacial maximum 𢏃0,000 y before present (30 ka BP); (ii) a slow fall to 𢄡34 m from 29 to 21 ka BP with a maximum grounded ice volume of 𢏅2 × 106 km3 greater than today; (iii) after an initial short duration rapid rise and a short interval of near-constant sea level, the main phase of deglaciation occurred from 𢏁6.5 ka BP to 𢏈.2 ka BP at an average rate of rise of 12 m⋅ka𢄡 punctuated by periods of greater, particularly at 14.5-14.0 ka BP at 𢙔0 mm⋅y𢄡 (MWP-1A), and lesser, from 12.5 to 11.5 ka BP (Younger Dryas), rates; (iv) no evidence for a global MWP-1B event at 𢏁1.3 ka BP; and (v) a progressive decrease in the rate of rise from 8.2 ka to 𢏂.5 ka BP, after which ocean volumes remained nearly constant until the renewed sea-level rise at 100-150 y ago, with no evidence of oscillations exceeding 𢏁5-20 cm in time intervals 𢙒00 y from 6 to 0.15 ka BP.

Compare that to the very deceptive editorial in the WSJ last month, from Koonin, in which he tries to obfuscate the fact that sea level rise changed dramatically by cherry picking a specific date “70 years ago”:

Even though the human influence on climate was much smaller in the past, the models do not account for the fact that the rate of global sea-level rise 70 years ago was as large as what we observe today—about one foot per century.

The reality is that sea level is rising, that in the past decade or so there appears to be a slight increase over the previous 100 years or so, and that as the PNAS paper indicates that the last 150 years has seen significantly more average annual sea level rise than the previous several thousand years.

414 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:24:42pm

re: #411 lawhawk

I’ve seen Ebola, Chemtrails, and ISIL (using the former to kill the latter).

But someone is already on the Ebola, Chemtrails, and Obama beat (do-not-linked).

Did I just commit a faux pas?

Sorry…

415 allegro  Oct 13, 2014 4:26:24pm

re: #408 RealityBasedSteve

Battening down the hatches… Severe Thunderstorm Warning until tomorrow AM, and a Tornado watch warning for about another 10 minutes. Going to be a bumpy night here at Casa de Reality.

RBS

We got through that one this afternoon, but at the bottom end so it wasn’t too bad. Didn’t see any patio furniture or accessories flying past the window once. What came behind it is glorious! Gorgeous outside now.

416 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 4:27:48pm

re: #414 Justanotherhuman

Don’t think so, but I DNL’d just to not give them any stats.

417 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:28:07pm

Remember the media outrage over the Wendy Davis wheelchair ad?

Here’s how the GOP does it.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari unveiled a television ad on Monday that features a drowning child and accuses Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of failing California students.

“When kids in failing schools begged Jerry Brown for rescue …. HE BETRAYED THEM,” reads onscreen text over video of a young boy struggling for breath in a swimming pool.

Kashkari pulls the boy from the water and says, “I’m running for governor because every kid in every neighborhood deserves a good education and a chance for a better life. Jerry Brown betrayed our kids to protect his donors. When I’m governor, I’ll fight for kids, not against them.”

This guy is considered to be a “reasonable” Republican, BTW. No media outrage anywhere as far as I know.

Youtube Video

latimes.com

418 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:28:24pm

Obviously, an old photo patched on to an even older background.

419 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:29:37pm

re: #417 Skip Intro

Remember the media outrage over the Wendy Davis wheelchair ad?

Here’s how the GOP does it.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari unveiled a television ad on Monday that features a drowning child and accuses Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of failing California students.

“When kids in failing schools begged Jerry Brown for rescue …. HE BETRAYED THEM,” reads onscreen text over video of a young boy struggling for breath in a swimming pool.

Kashkari pulls the boy from the water and says, “I’m running for governor because every kid in every neighborhood deserves a good education and a chance for a better life. Jerry Brown betrayed our kids to protect his donors. When I’m governor, I’ll fight for kids, not against them.”

This guy is considered to be a “reasonable” Republican, BTW. No media outrage anywhere as far as I know.

latimes.com

That’s damned despicable.

420 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:29:39pm

re: #410 Justanotherhuman

This fool beat him by 6 days.

This is a satire site, isn’t it?

Not to Republicans.

421 sagehen  Oct 13, 2014 4:34:00pm

re: #417 Skip Intro

Remember the media outrage over the Wendy Davis wheelchair ad?

Here’s how the GOP does it.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari unveiled a television ad on Monday that features a drowning child and accuses Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown of failing California students.

“When kids in failing schools begged Jerry Brown for rescue …. HE BETRAYED THEM,” reads onscreen text over video of a young boy struggling for breath in a swimming pool.

Kashkari pulls the boy from the water and says, “I’m running for governor because every kid in every neighborhood deserves a good education and a chance for a better life. Jerry Brown betrayed our kids to protect his donors. When I’m governor, I’ll fight for kids, not against them.”

This guy is considered to be a “reasonable” Republican, BTW. No media outrage anywhere as far as I know.

latimes.com

That’s different, because Reasons. I’m sure Dark will be along to explain the difference. Any minute now.

422 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 4:34:27pm

re: #410 Justanotherhuman

This is a satire site, isn’t it?

Sadly, they take themselves seriously, especially with white supremacy.

423 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 4:36:23pm

re: #404 wrenchwench

Still stuck on L’Arpeggiata. This time they’re doing a Venezuelan song with a strangely powerful singer. (re: ‘taking liberties’, she’s mic’ed.)

Youtube Video

424 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 4:42:45pm

My internet connection is so like dialup, but I’ll give it a try listening in. (I don’t even get KET on the satellite TV, even though I live in Kentucky). So, I’ll most likely be following the Kentucky tweeps:

425 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 4:46:51pm

There sure is no shortage of stupid people

426 freetoken  Oct 13, 2014 4:49:55pm

re: #425 b.d.

Does he mean there is a conspiracy that is using ebola?

427 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:50:12pm

re: #423 Decatur Deb

Still stuck on L’Arpeggiata. This time they’re doing a Venezuelan song with a strangely powerful singer. (re: ‘taking liberties’, she’s mic’ed.)

[Embedded content]

Nice place to be stuck.

428 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:52:23pm

Faster than you can say ‘influenza’.

429 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:52:23pm

re: #426 freetoken

Does he mean there is a conspiracy that is using ebola?

Stupid doesn’t have to go into details.

430 freetoken  Oct 13, 2014 4:53:01pm

Was this posted earlier?

New Hampshire lawmaker calls congresswoman ‘ugly’

A Republican New Hampshire state lawmaker has called a Democratic congresswoman “ugly” and said the GOP opponent in her November re-election race is one of the most attractive women in politics.

Manchester Rep. Steve Vaillancourt called U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (KUHS’-tur) “ugly as sin” in a blog post last week and compared her to a drag queen.

[…]

431 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 4:54:05pm

re: #417 Skip Intro

Of course the dickheads in the California legislature who refused, and who continue to refuse, to impose any sort of separation fee on California oil and to exempt commercial real estate from Prop. 13 have nothing to do with the state’s need to starve education funding. The former refusal was largely the work of CA Republican legislators, the current refusal is solely the work of Democrats - but don’t forget to turn out for the mid-terms anyway folks!

432 freetoken  Oct 13, 2014 4:54:27pm

Oh… I see it is paged:
littlegreenfootballs.com

433 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:54:34pm

re: #430 freetoken

Was this posted earlier?

New Hampshire lawmaker calls congresswoman ‘ugly’

Paged.

434 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 4:54:54pm

re: #428 wrenchwench

Hey, it got them a nice ratings bump for their 5 o’clock “news”, so everything worked out fine.

435 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:54:59pm

7 seconds…

436 Vogon Poetry  Oct 13, 2014 4:56:01pm

re: #428 wrenchwench

What’s your name?

Achoo!

QUARANTINE!

No, Achoo!

QUARANTINE!

Are you daft? My name is Achoo. /apologies to Mel Brooks

437 b.d.  Oct 13, 2014 4:56:05pm

re: #426 freetoken

Does he mean there is a conspiracy that is using ebola?

That’s what he is insinuating

438 freetoken  Oct 13, 2014 4:56:46pm

re: #437 b.d.

That’s what he is insinuating

This is America, where the “History” channel specializes in Ancient Aliens.

439 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 4:59:46pm

re: #436 lawhawk

What’s your name?

Achoo!

QUARANTINE!

No, Achoo!

QUARANTINE!

Are you daft? My name is Achoo. /apologies to Mel Brooks

I had a customer spell his name for me once.

“It’s ‘Oh’, O-H.”

“Ooh?”

“No, O-H. ‘Oh.’”

“Oho?”

It was bad.

440 Justanotherhuman  Oct 13, 2014 4:59:54pm

What the hell? And WTH does that cop have strapped to his side?

#cops are pinkertons now?

441 Decatur Deb  Oct 13, 2014 5:00:58pm

re: #440 Justanotherhuman

What the hell? And WTH does that cop have strapped to his side?

[Embedded content]

#cops are pinkertons now?

Trick of the light—glancing sunlight and a decorative stripe on his pants.

442 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 5:01:15pm

heh…well, at least he showed up…

443 Higgs Boson's Mate  Oct 13, 2014 5:01:35pm

re: #438 freetoken

This is America, where the “History” channel specializes in Ancient Aliens.

As an amateur historian, I found that staying away from the soi-disant History Channel did wonders for my hypertension. I’m guessing that they stayed with The History Channel because The Pull Stuff Out of Our Ass Channel wouldn’t fit on a chyron.

444 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 5:01:46pm

re: #440 Justanotherhuman

What the hell? And WTH does that cop have strapped to his side?

[Embedded content]

#cops are pinkertons now?

Only zip ties. The stripe on the side of his trouser leg caught the light, making it look like he has a big-ass stick.

445 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 5:04:51pm

well, as I suspected, the KET live link for the Grimes-McConnell debate isn’t working for me.
:(

446 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 5:05:52pm

re: #443 Higgs Boson’s Mate

I was thinking of starting the “You’ll Watch Anything” channel, but I found out that name was being litigated over by a half dozen existing cable channels.

447 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 5:07:48pm

re: #445 Backwoods_Sleuth

well, as I suspected, the KET live link for the Grimes-McConnell debate isn’t working for me.
:(

Don’t feel bad. It isn’t working for me either, and I’ve got 30+Mbps internet.

448 Backwoods_Sleuth  Oct 13, 2014 5:09:51pm

re: #447 Skip Intro

Don’t feel bad. It isn’t working for me either, and I’ve got 30+Mbps internet.

must be a lot of web traffic then. I’m having fun watching people livetweet it at #kysen.

449 Skip Intro  Oct 13, 2014 5:11:15pm

re: #448 Backwoods_Sleuth

“I eat ten pounds of coal a day.” — Mitch McConnell

Funny group.

450 Hal_10000  Oct 13, 2014 5:29:01pm

re: #316 wrenchwench

How do we make both parties more pro-science?

Elect different people? Science doesn’t have very much lobbying power and never will. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s as well-funded as it is.

451 wrenchwitch  Oct 13, 2014 5:31:35pm

re: #450 Hal_10000

Elect different people? Science doesn’t have very much lobbying power and never will. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s as well-funded as it is.

There’s no reason scientists can’t be politically activated. I think it is necessary. The ‘never will’ part of your statement has to be false, in my opinion.

I’m not a scientist, but two of my brothers are.

452 EPR-radar  Oct 13, 2014 6:37:35pm

re: #421 sagehen

That’s different, because Reasons. I’m sure Dark will be along to explain the difference. Any minute now.

Not bloody likely. It’s very strange how DF goes into mindless GOP hyper-partisn mode here, gets hammered for it more or less severely, never responds to any substantive points made by the critics, and then repeats this over and over again.


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