Sanders Supporter Tim Robbins Thinks Exit Polls Prove Hillary Is Stealing the Election

Politics • Views: 44,862

Tim Robbins is a gifted actor who’s been in some great films that I’ll always enjoy. “The Shawshank Redemption.” “The Hudsucker Proxy.”

But his advocacy for Bernie Sanders entered some really unhinged territory today, promoting the idea that Hillary Clinton is somehow stealing the election by taking advantage of — or actually engaging in — voter fraud.

Anyone who’s followed US politics for any time at all knows that exit polls are notoriously inaccurate, on par with online polls. In other words, virtually meaningless, and certainly not valid “evidence” of voter fraud. I mean, come on now.

He’s also promoting the ridiculous idea that the Correct the Record PAC, formed to push back against anti-Hillary smears circulating on social media, is a diabolical conspiracy to harass and attack Bernie’s supporters. And he’s not the only Bernie supporter going ballistic over this; last weekend I was accused by several Sanders supporters on Twitter of being paid by the Clinton campaign.

It’s pretty depressing to see so-called liberals and progressives doing the right wing’s job for them, and sounding almost exactly like the much crazier loons at Breitbart “News.” I really don’t like to see people like Robbins, whose work I’ve admired and who seems like a pretty good person normally, be manipulated by deceptive right wing propaganda.

He’s been blocking critics on Twitter, but if I could say anything to him it would be: “Don’t squander your credibility like this. Take a step back and stop letting your emotions drive you to do and say things you’ll regret.”

Because if this internecine Democratic conflict leads to a Donald Trump or a Ted Cruz presidency, there will be plenty to regret.

Now please excuse me while I count up all that sweet sweet Clinton payoff cash. cough

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506 comments
1
Ming5000  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:25:27pm

You know. For the kids!

2
scottslemmons  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:25:30pm

There’s a hell of a lot of ignorance about how voting works. Shouldn’t be that hard. I had Schoolhouse Rock back in my day, and it did the job pretty well.

3
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:27:03pm

By that logic, I steal my paycheck from work every two weeks.

4
Great White Snark  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:29:22pm

I don’t think this woman is at all qualified to star in a romantic comedy or epic science fiction film.

But then again she might do one hell of a lot better than Tim Robbins can do at politics.

5
Targetpractice  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:30:29pm

Hey, I’ll meet Tim halfway on this: I’ll agree to let Bernie have the “stolen” states, but he has to give up the caucuses.

6
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:31:46pm

This seems to be the the Moonbat version of “Unskewed Polls”, and has just as much validity.

I’m reminded of the old Will Rodgers quote: “I don’t belong to any organized political party, I’m a Democrat”

RBS

7
Testy Toad T  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:32:31pm

If exit polls are so much more reliable and effective and dependable than elections, why bother to hold the elections? They’re a huge hassle. Let’s just ask CNN who would hypothetically win each state.

8
Targetpractice  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:33:50pm

re: #6 Reality Based Steve

This seems to be the the Moonbat version of “Unskewed Polls”, and has just as much validity.

I’m reminded of the old Will Rodgers quote: “I don’t belong to any organized political party, I’m a Democrat”

RBS

The people who buy into this theory are the same ones who mob online polls and then claim the wildly inaccurate results are “proof” that Bernie is massively popular with voters.

9
Shimshon  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:34:03pm

I’ve been reading some rantings about this for months. Certain Bernie Bros on reddit were convinced the exit polling proved Hillary was stealing the elections and their proof was the voting results were within 5% of what the exit polling data said the results should be. 5%. These people will just do and say anything, sadly low information voters also extend to famous people as well.

10
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:38:43pm

Ya know, F this Tim Robbins guy. I’m not going to watch Shawshank Redemption more than twice this year because of this BS.

11
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:38:49pm

Click through from Google to read the whole thing: google.com

12
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:43:05pm

re: #11 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Click through from Google to read the whole thing: google.com

I suppose Mr. VandeHei was in diapers when Ross Perot ran on 3rd party ticket. How’d that work out?

Well, it gave us the Clintons.

13
Schroedinger's Dog  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:43:24pm

Tim Robbins has always been a bit of a moonbat. He was a Nader supporter back in the day.

14
Schroedinger's Dog  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:48:02pm

re: #12 The Vicious Babushka

I suppose Mr. VandeHei was in diapers when Ross Perot ran on 3rd party ticket. How’d that work out?

Well, it gave us the Clintons.

Good Lord, I fil stoopid jes fur haffin red the furs paragraph.

15
Targetpractice  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:50:46pm

re: #11 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Click through from Google to read the whole thing: google.com

Every open election, it’s the same shit: “ZOMG! DC is a cesspool! We needs a third party guy who can run on an anti-establishment ticket!”

And then that guy comes along, crashes and burns, and the “anti-establishment” crowd sits around engaged in navel-gazing about how their confident predictions of total victory were so wrong.

16
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:53:02pm

“Once Bernie gets the lead, I don’t think he’s going to relinquish it.”

17
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:55:46pm

re: #14 Schroedinger’s Dog

Good Lord, I fil stoopid jes fur haffin red the furs paragraph.

Read further and you come upon this blissful self-unaware little gem:

He or she would engage voters daily on social media, with fun and flare. (Think Trump with impulse control and better spelling.)

18
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:55:48pm

‘Bernie Sanders is actually winning, here’s why’

19
Testy Toad T  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:58:56pm

re: #18 SoundGuy 2016

‘Bernie Sanders is actually winning, here’s why’

This is great news for Bernie Sanders!

20
scottslemmons  Apr 25, 2016 • 6:59:12pm

re: #15 Targetpractice

Every open election, it’s the same shit: “ZOMG! DC is a cesspool! We needs a third party guy who can run on an anti-establishment ticket!”

And then that guy comes along, crashes and burns, and the “anti-establishment” crowd sits around engaged in navel-gazing about how their confident predictions of total victory were so wrong.

In my experience, once the anti-establishment guy crashes out, the anti-establishment crowd has usually moved on to the next shiny bauble and never mentions it again ‘til the next anti-establishment dork comes along. See also: Bernie Bros, David Brooks, every invented centrist-but-actually-Republican third party ever created.

21
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:00:29pm

Still trying to find that One Weird Trick to Get in on Clinton Cash. Trying to get my Democrat Whore on but it’s not working.

22
stpaulbear  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:01:19pm

re: #21 SoundGuy 2016

Still trying to find that One Weird Trick to Get in on Clinton Cash.

‘They’ don’t want you to see it!

23
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:02:32pm

These people are fascists, these HOA people.

24
Feline Fearless Leader  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:03:51pm

Time for a quick nature break.

25
FormerDirtDart  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:03:54pm

Image: Cg7nMzzWgAA0jll.jpg

26
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:05:07pm

Got a live one

27
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:05:19pm
28
Testy Toad T  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:06:06pm

Just zero fucking evidence whatsoever for anything.

It’s wild.

29
Eric The Fruit Bat  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:07:47pm

VanDehei’s turd needs some real serious polishing when it comes to Congress. We desperately need campaign strategies that make the citizens hopping mad and make them actually fear the voters.

Real problem is there is no credible third party to build up around. Now Yves Smith over at Naked Capitalism registered the Skunk Party as an alternative…..

30
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:08:05pm
31
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:09:41pm
32
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:10:13pm

VwFeiQbBpqLqeCAQdX8UQVge25YoWAO5x8tcoMi2QDJP9GoMkY2/4rxU0uHnUYAeBDR6qeo4wlSc5c+9A4ZFbXL+Mq/l/UDp9Dupu5Zr936afMm1JvL4fwxw2CaEl9P7fyIXwZebTTs/ZwVq9+xCLSMYq4voQNBW40QxGTLKfvDD3noEP455eF6YSg0iEyBrd/VHF78JCFRkc3ytOEfEb7dhkl6lnRdIQXwUsscVQ0jnBDE7q2ZV0Sz2If/Z8OFQUSVI4N1WXe6bYE1Jm5/3vmyzhw+Fcu3RXqaXeox7qSuShXq0kz7duIBPpPaxEsBHZ18vMBR9piNzYjh+Ehx0lXjr4KliRgGnrKPH9lyozYTLGRRYYIH+reaBx+QPsevSwLv9mFliGmtcxMk+xOjZxQ==

33
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:11:15pm

The problem with 3rd parties is that they lead to 4th and 5th parties, then you get a fucked up system like Israel’s, with eleventy bazillion parties where every citizen has 2 parties for himself, the party they vote for and the party they would never vote for.

34
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:11:43pm
35
No Depression  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:12:04pm

re: #31 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

I don’t know how anyone could mistake that as real. There’s no blue checkmark.

36
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:12:06pm

re: #26 Kragar

37
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:13:16pm

re: #35 No Depression

I don’t know how anyone could mistake that as real. There’s no blue checkmark.

Lots of people don’t look for checkmarks, believe it or not.

38
calochortus  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:13:50pm

re: #32 klys (maker of Silmarils)

tqTD6PNBy10TgjPiYLiWa3LnNspyalwggaH7VFEzTL+QyAgbhiIQ2WtsvXEBwBCcANviDPl8wB2tSOdeaAbp6xRZyjqkJ0oo1UbZVMpFLiFwyn8LlGkSHvtIgUw1Dz16

39
b.d.  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:15:06pm

re: #30 Kragar

[Embedded content]

Give Shaun a break! He may have actually have written that article all by himself.

//

40
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:16:26pm

re: #38 calochortus

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

41
JDRhoades  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:16:55pm

(Rubs eyes) Damn it, Tim, you are NOT HELPING.

Sadly, Robbins has been a looney tune for a while.

42
Targetpractice  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:17:28pm

Another part to the whole “a pox on both their houses” bit that never pans out is this belief that there’s millions of voters who are united in their desire for an “anti-establishment” candidate who will run on that plank alone. That far-right loons and far-left loons will put aside their differing positions on virtually everything else and come together to elect a guy whose entire campaign comes down to “I’m not a Republican or Democrat.”

43
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:18:52pm
44
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:19:46pm

[Pirate Party]ARR!! EVERY PIRATE VOTES FOR HISSELF!!!![/Pirate Party]

45
FormerDirtDart  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:20:21pm

FEAR

46
calochortus  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:20:29pm

re: #40 klys (maker of Silmarils)

4UZ2P3IvIcrTiMa0aDdFN/Vz5abJefSz455H4BEWAV9jFspkB87c94UItCmRUklGUTH+teNYXRs+0+os3GZxkCPJXGxJlVk7dt0CydA4PHiDOxnKuB7Clg7y8LChu5j0eACkHQLJwAMo9pUmsJrzjSmd4GZTHpxFaHEBGVn9Ge05RpvwTLkRl7Mvf5CzsCCy3tFAN9mRm5fyoGN9jrCIlXedg538PBeB4yjjB17lFVku8LptPmKTx1f6d89qbM64UX6/RK31JbsZrOMQtlIXDqT144hPffYgO8cqUs9NKwUwPLqrIZKvWQ==

47
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:22:24pm

On the plus side, it’s impressive what replacing the 50+ year old garage door can do for the curb appeal.

48
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:23:13pm

Sitting here reading LGF, and heard a clang on the front porch. Figured what it meant, so grabbed the iPhone and went to the door. Yep. Two friends of cat chow.

The surprise was that I was only a couple of feet away, and they were quite unconcerned. The lights went on, we discussed the situation, I took some photos, and they continued to chow. I shut the door and we parted company.

49
calochortus  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:23:40pm

re: #47 klys (maker of Silmarils)

On the plus side, it’s impressive what replacing the 50+ year old garage door can do for the curb appeal.

Yeah, we replaced ours a few months ago. It was a good move.

50
goddamnedfrank  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:23:43pm
51
Targetpractice  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:24:34pm

re: #48 retired cynic

Sitting here reading LGF, and heard a clang on the front porch. Figured what it meant, so grabbed the iPhone and went to the door. Yep. Two friends of cat chow.

The surprise was that I was only a couple of feet away, and they were quite unconcerned. The lights went on, we discussed the situation, I took some photos, and they continued to chow. I shut the door and we parted company.

[Embedded content]

Some rather odd-looking cats.

52
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:24:56pm

re: #48 retired cynic

I believe that is the pair of youngsters that kept me amused last fall. Their mother was a frequent guest at the table, but she was hit on the highway. I could tell by the beautiful cat-chow-induced fur coat. Sadly.

53
SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:26:01pm

re: #23 teleskiguy

These people are fascists, these HOA people.

[Embedded content]

It’s a heck of a display, but the homeowners’ assoc can’t afford to let it slide once they were informed. If they don’t enforce the rules they would be liable if other homeowners say their properties are losing value.

54
TedStriker  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:26:14pm

re: #48 retired cynic

Sitting here reading LGF, and heard a clang on the front porch. Figured what it meant, so grabbed the iPhone and went to the door. Yep. Two friends of cat chow.

The surprise was that I was only a couple of feet away, and they were quite unconcerned. The lights went on, we discussed the situation, I took some photos, and they continued to chow. I shut the door and we parted company.

Embedded Image

Does Purina make Coon Chow?

///

55
Schroedinger's Dog  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:26:22pm

The only third party that makes any kind of sense is a Responsible Adult Party,with a platform of long term thinking with regard to domestic policy, evidence based governance, and pragmatic foreign policy.

56
SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:27:08pm

re: #50 goddamnedfrank

Joe Biden got first dibs on Secretary of State. He chose running mate instead.

57
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:29:08pm

re: #43 Kragar

What is the origin of that meme?

58
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:29:54pm

re: #54 TedStriker

Does Purina make Coon Chow?

///

Probably. I don’t feed the good stuff outside, because the raccoons share it with the possum who lives under the ramp, and they can get by on the cheap stuff. The four cats get served individually inside. Of course!

59
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:30:43pm

re: #57 Eclectic Cyborg

Man to Man with Dean Learner

Man to Man with Dean Learner (2006) S01E01 - Garth Marenghi

60
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:32:27pm

re: #59 Kragar

Thanks, I’ve been trying to figure that one out for awhile!

61
Eric The Fruit Bat  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:33:01pm

More bad news for Hastert: Individual A suing for $1.8 million for breach of contract as Part of settlement over sex abuse claims.

62
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:34:46pm

re: #60 Eclectic Cyborg

Only 6 episodes, with 6 different “guests”, all played by Matt Holness

63
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:37:39pm

There’s a reason why I’ve been rather disengaged about Bernie Sanders on my social media. I learned my lesson with Ron Paul and his unicorn rainbow fart promises. I’ve been better at noticing the absence of pragmatism in politics, and Bernie is fucking textbook.

64
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:38:44pm

Prickly Lizard.

65
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:39:58pm

Special Guest: Psychic Amir Chanan

Man to Man with Dean Learner (2006) S01E01 - Garth Marenghi

66
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:42:39pm

Looks like game 7 between the Blues and Hawks will be a close one as predicted. Anyone not interested should tune in for the last 3 minutes. Your mind just may be changed. ;)

67
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:45:52pm

I’m somewhat grumpy. I’m back in Colorado and I was saying to myself the last couple of days in Texas “We’re gonna ride our bike when we get home!” I was looking forward to hitting some rubber against some dirt and rock. It’s been light rain all day, and it’s changing over to snow as we speak.

I could drive 75 minutes to Arapahoe Basin, do some skiing. I’m so sick of driving, though. I’m driving to Vegas next week as it is.

Grrr.

68
whitebeach  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:49:08pm

re: #54 TedStriker

Does Purina make Coon Chow?

///

Everybody makes Coon Chow.

69
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:49:42pm

re: #68 whitebeach

Everybody makes Coon Chow.

LOL! Too True!

70
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:53:10pm

I’ll be back in an hour, going to watch Game Of Thrones.

RBS

71
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:55:22pm
72
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:56:18pm

re: #67 teleskiguy

I’m somewhat grumpy. I’m back in Colorado and I was saying to myself the last couple of days in Texas “We’re gonna ride our bike when we get home!” I was looking forward to hitting some rubber against some dirt and rock. It’s been light rain all day, and it’s changing over to snow as we speak.

I could drive 75 minutes to Arapahoe Basin, do some skiing. I’m so sick of driving, though. I’m driving to Vegas next week as it is.

Grrr.

…wait, you’re turning down skiing???

Are you feeling okay?

73
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 7:56:49pm

re: #71 jaunte

Hulk Hogan? WTH?? Has he come out in favor of Trump?

74
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:13:52pm
75
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:14:52pm

re: #73 Eclectic Cyborg

He said he wanted to be Trump’s running mate back in August.

76
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:15:28pm

re: #75 jaunte

He said he wanted to be Trump’s running mate back in August.

LOL. Ohh okay.

77
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:15:41pm
78
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:17:28pm

re: #72 klys (maker of Silmarils)

…wait, you’re turning down skiing???

Are you feeling okay?

I’m fine. The recent “sitting in a car for hours and hours on end” stint is making me not want to drive to go skiing, yes. It’ll wear off. Maybe even by morning when I check the snow report and Arapahoe Basin has a foot of fresh. We shall see.

79
Great White Snark  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:17:33pm

re: #53 SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN

It’s a heck of a display, but the homeowners’ assoc can’t afford to let it slide once they were informed. If they don’t enforce the rules they would be liable if other homeowners say their properties are losing value.

“”My condo was worth $277,543.49, now it’s only $277,542.69 since that guy put a little personality and fun in his front yard. Waaaa! “”

80
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:18:45pm

re: #79 Great White Snark

“”My condo was worth $277543.49, now it’s only $277542.69 since that guy put a little personality and fun in his front yard. Waaaa! “”

One of my favorite X-files episodes is the one where Mulder and Scully go undercover as husband and wife homeowners and have to put up with an insane (and deadly) HOA.

81
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:18:53pm

re: #79 Great White Snark

“”My condo was worth $277,543.49, now it’s only $277,542.69 since that guy put a little personality and fun in his front yard. Waaaa! “”

82
Teukka  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:19:04pm

re: #77 teleskiguy

[Embedded content]

*nods*

A coupla hundred kilovolt cable.

83
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:20:10pm

re: #80 Eclectic Cyborg

One of my favorite X-files episodes is the one where Mulder and Scully go undercover as husband and wife homeowners and have to put up with an insane (and deadly) HOA.

Ya wanna shoot some hoops?

RBS

84
Great White Snark  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:21:48pm

re: #78 teleskiguy

I’m fine. The recent “sitting in a car for hours and hours on end” stint is making me not want to drive to go skiing, yes. It’ll wear off.

I hear you. Sometimes we drive for hours to get a few good moments behind the camera somewhere far better to be than South Hill street where I work. Drive time is a bitch. Then I remember I got it pretty good compared to many. First world problems etc.

85
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:25:00pm

...

86
SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:28:10pm

re: #79 Great White Snark

Way to miss the point. Nobody thinks the little zombie man is going to ruin the neighborhood, but if they let the little zombie man slide, then they have a tougher time enforcing the rules when another neighbor puts up something bigger, and then somebody else wants to stretch the rule even farther. Usually it’s when some nut wants to do something outlandish. Doesn’t happen often, but it can get ugly and expensive if you don’t establish the right precedent.

87
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:28:28pm

...

88
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:28:50pm

...

89
Kragar  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:29:03pm

Huh?

90
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:29:16pm

Instagram

People in traditional outfits hold hands between dances at the annual Festa Confederada, or Confederate Party in Santa Barbara d’Oeste, #Brazil. The festival is put on by Brazilian descendants of families who fled from the southern United States to Brazil during Reconstruction, between 1865 and 1875, following the end of the U.S. Civil War. Thousands attend the festival which is held at the American Cemetery, or Cemiterio dos Americanos, where graves of settlers and descendants remain to this day. The #festival features traditional Southern-style dancing, music and cuisine. The U.S. settlers eventually assimilated with local Brazilians and some now are racially mixed while many others no longer speak English. Organizers say the festival represents familial tradition, ancestral heritage and happiness and is not associated with the negative connotations of the Confederacy. The #flag carries no stigma or political meaning in Brazil | April 24, 2016 | 📷: @mario_tama | #GettyImagesNews

91
SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:29:29pm

re: #87 Kragar

re: #88 klys (maker of Silmarils)

Shouldn’t you guys be using private tags?

92
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:29:58pm

Sorry, had a little glitch in a regular expression. Fixed now.

93
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:30:34pm

re: #92 Charles Johnson

Go Blues!

94
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:32:59pm

re: #93 klys (maker of Silmarils)

Good series. Congrats!

95
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:34:11pm

re: #94 GlutenFreeJesus

Good series. Congrats!

Honestly, I am just very happy it will be someone other than Chicago or LA this year.

If my team wants to win it (and my team is not the Blues), I will be thrilled.

96
whitebeach  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:35:37pm

OK, it seems a little slow tonight, so for anyone interested and particularly for those lizards who have expressed sympathy for our difficulties, here is what will probably be my last bulletin from the great NW Louisiana flood of 2016.

My mom’s house will be demolished. Two contractors and a fire department officer have told me that it simply makes no sense to try to gut and rehabilitate it. And I believe them. Until you have seen it, you can have very little idea how much destruction four feet of still water standing in a house for a week can cause. So that’s that. La vie.

Much worse for both of us, we lost our beautiful long-haired all-black Halloweeny cat Hootie. He was always bad about escaping, even at the old house, but he always came back fairly quickly. Same at my little camp house where my mom and I now live. But one night a week or so after the water went down, he slipped out onto the deck, into the yard, and simply never came back.

This isn’t wilderness, although there’s quite a bit of woodland. Also lots of natural dangers, as well as plentiful domestic and stray dogs. I’ve done the usual diligence, including alerting the neighbors around the old house, but it’s been three weeks now. We can only hope that someone took him in. He had the prettiest tiny mew for a fairly big cat, almost like a dove cooing.

97
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:37:32pm

re: #96 whitebeach

I will hope for the best and keep you and yours in my thoughts.

/hugs

98
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:40:36pm

re: #96 whitebeach

I’m sorry about your cat!

Last June we had a creek flood, and the old house on the property was flooded up about 3 feet. It was over a week before we could get it all pumped out, and the old sills and joists gave up the ghost. We also lost our last three farm kitties (we thought). Several weeks later, an old 15 year old neutered Tux appeared on top of a power pole. He had obviously been washed away in the flood waters. Was injured, and didn’t know where he was. It took a long time to convince him to come down, and then to catch him, but he recovered his mind quickly, along with dinner. He still has some hitches in his gitalong, but we are glad to have him anyway. So I hope you get such a pleasant surprise someday!

99
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:42:34pm

re: #84 Great White Snark

I hear you. Sometimes we drive for hours to get a few good moments behind the camera somewhere far better to be than South Hill street where I work. Drive time is a bitch. Then I remember I got it pretty good compared to many. First world problems etc.

100
whitebeach  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:43:32pm

re: #98 retired cynic

Thank you for some hope. Sad about the kitties you lost, though.

101
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:46:00pm

{{{{whitebeach}}}}

102
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:46:27pm

re: #100 whitebeach

Yes. We did not find any remains, so I can pretend…

103
Charles Johnson  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:46:54pm

Imgur

104
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:49:16pm

re: #95 klys (maker of Silmarils)

Nah. It should have been Chicago again. ;)

105
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:49:26pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

That’s some shit!

I wonder if there will be any festivals with the Nazi flag emblazoned on a dancing floor from all the Nazis that fled to South America after WWII in the future.

106
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:51:50pm

re: #104 GlutenFreeJesus

Nah. It should have been Chicago again. ;)

Don’t worry, the NHL will give them another three Winter Classics to make up for it. ;)

107
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:53:59pm

re: #106 klys (maker of Silmarils)

I will cheer so loud I’ll lose my voice the day Bettman packs it in.

108
klys (maker of Silmarils)  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:54:50pm

re: #107 Eclectic Cyborg

I will cheer so loud I’ll lose my voice the day Bettman packs it in.

In the meantime, we can all join in the time honored tradition of booing him.

109
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:55:55pm

re: #108 klys (maker of Silmarils)

In the meantime, we can all join in the time honored tradition of booing him.

I got to do that in person once at an NHL draft. :D

110
Testy Toad T  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:57:35pm

re: #107 Eclectic Cyborg

I will cheer so loud I’ll lose my voice the day Bettman packs it in.

Where’s the oft-promised once-per-week SUPER UPDING when I need it?

111
Great White Snark  Apr 25, 2016 • 8:59:54pm

re: #86 SteveMcGaziBolaGate RN

Maybe not as much as you think. I don’t want to read the HOA rule book. But what it does allow by way of a little personality might define how reasonable it is. HOA’s have a reputation for cause. Maybe this place is reasonable, dunno. So many homes hold great value without terribly restrictive association rules.

112
Donnie With The Good Hair (AKA Sophist)  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:07:28pm

re: #90 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

See, this is what “Heritage, Not Hate” would actually look like

113
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:23:30pm

The Silencing Of The Berners, a one hour playlet:

114
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:24:54pm

Facebook gulag!

115
retired cynic  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:25:39pm

re: #113 jaunte

The Silencing Of The Berners, a one hour playlet:

[Embedded content]

They are too dumb to be real.

116
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:26:32pm
117
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:26:54pm

re: #114 jaunte

Facebook gulag!

Yea, but it’s nicer than Twitter Gulag. Much nicer accommodations, and they have chicken fingers in the lobby each day between 4 and 5:30.

RBS

118
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:27:16pm

re: #114 jaunte

Facebook gulag!

119
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:27:51pm

You’d think “million dollar trolls” could shut some groups down for longer than an hour.

120
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:28:32pm

Probably distracted by preparations for Jade Helm 2.

121
teleskiguy  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:28:56pm

re: #119 jaunte

You’d think “million dollar trolls” could shut some groups down for longer than an hour.

Where the fuck is my million dollars? I need that shit to fight the power, yo!

122
jaunte  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:29:38pm

re: #121 teleskiguy

Must mean a million dollar-trolls.

123
Testy Toad T  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:29:40pm

re: #113 jaunte

The Silencing Of The Berners, a one hour playlet:

[Embedded content]

And thus was the revolution stymied.

124
majii  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:29:44pm

Someone owes HRC and her “paid trolls” an apology, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for it.

125
Kafitrar  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:34:46pm

One of my Bernie Bro friends posted about the Charles Koch statement about Clinton. Is it wrong for me to want someone to make a “Weekend at Bernie’s” meme?

126
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:37:20pm

re: #122 jaunte

Must mean a million dollar-trolls.

That’s what happens when you shop at Dollar Troll instead of getting the good ones from Trolls R Us

127
Jason Munro  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:47:53pm

Hey all,
I rarely post, and never OT, but I need to make an exception. This Thursday the Kansas legislature will be discussing a pair of “bathroom” bills that really take this whole absurdity to the next level. On top of everything else, they are effectively creating a bounty, payable by the school, for students to “turn in” anyone not using their birth-certificate gender-defined rest-room.

(e) Students aggrieved under this section may obtain appropriate
relief, which shall include:
(1) Statutory damages in an amount of $2,500 for each instance in
which the aggrieved student encountered a person of the opposite sex
while accessing a public school or postsecondary educational institution
student restroom, locker room or shower room designated for use by the
aggrieved student’s sex;
(2) monetary damages for all psychological, emotional and physical
harm suffered as a result of a violation of this section;
(3) reasonable attorney fees and costs; and
(4) such other relief as the court deems appropriate

Like the North Carolina law (and others), it’s unstated premise is that gender identity that does not conform to birth gender infers automatic perversity. We all know this is contrary to reality. Ironically this is the “common sense” argument backers of such legislation cling to.

Senate bill 513: kslegislature.org
House bill 2737: kslegislature.org

128
Pawn of the Oppressor  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:50:41pm

re: #113 jaunte

My gods. These people are boring.

129
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 25, 2016 • 9:55:06pm

re: #127 Jason Munro

Yet another “small government” bill from the party of “personal responsibility.”

130
Jason Munro  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:01:53pm

re: #129 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Let’s not forget “family values”

*throws up in mouth a little*

131
majii  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:12:33pm

re: #130 Jason Munro

We have seen that, for some in the GOP/TP, “family values” is something to use to win elections. The lack of “family values” was made very clear recently by Tom DeLay who wrote the judge in Dennis Hastert’s case and totally dismissed the fact that Hastert molested several boys when he was a wrestling coach in IL. Reading parts of it made me want to puke. DeLay claimed that Hastert has “few” faults, is a man of God, and doesn’t deserve what he’s going through. The young boys he molested definitely didn’t deserve to be abused by him. These are the same people who pretend to be worried about transgendered persons using the “wrong” public bathroom but don’t blink an eye when it comes to those like Josh Duggar and Dennis Hastert. They can always manufacture a reason to excuse their behavior, even the vilest behavior. It’s not transgendered persons I’m worried about, it’s these “holier than thou” types who show one face in public but another out of the spotlight.

132
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:13:28pm
133
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:19:30pm

re: #130 Jason Munro

Let’s not forget “family values”

*throws up in mouth a little*

The bill pre-supposes the aggrieved party will suffer “damages” as a result of the “incorrect” bathroom/locker visitations. IANAL, but this is a boneheaded idea. It’s inviting abuse of the law by high school students. Let’s suppose Student A (Bobby) is in the men’s room. Bobby is a bit of a jerk, and has bullied Student B (Billy) since the 6th grade. Billy, meanwhile, is an unassuming nerdy guy who’s not good at sports and clumsy around girls, so Bobby has accused Billy of being gay. Billy walks into the men’s room. Bobby remembers this bonehead law, and files a report with the school, saying Billy made advances (or some such BS). As written, the bill would deprive Billy of due process, because it assumes the accuser (Bobby) is the aggrieved party, whether or not he was actually aggrieved. Billy is the bad guy. Bobby is the good guy.

Also, it’s elevating a mistaken restroom entry into a legal offense. Sometimes absent-minded people walk into the wrong restroom. Or, sometimes the cleaning crew has to send the opposite gendered worker in to clean the place.

134
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:30:33pm

re: #133 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Better yet. Student A and Student B are BFF. They file claims against each other and split the cash.

135
Single-handed sailor  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:32:36pm

re: #127 Jason Munro

136
BeachDem  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:41:13pm

re: #130 Jason Munro

Let’s not forget “family values”

*throws up in mouth a little*

Hey, Jason. Good to see you, even if the story was, in fact, somewhat vomit-inducing.

xADqZ6foCB6lgRS0s5HpFHLNCk/0TdGkICtlT9Zq5IGa9CXmgsKjKL+wW8tG20lFXnQF80fFnALwsquy3V0KVFDaqjy8syvOwqrKpEQ55crsJG0kBUIDxeJUp4NDsGevGRtMOr7gMclgpF6GIhlRcI8fp0cMG3Ebvq6d6wEpv1w=

137
BeachDem  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:49:57pm
PRIEBUS: … But look, Charles Koch—and I know David and Charles, and Charles in particular has oftentimes gone out of his way to appear non-partisan.

Charles Pierce’s comment on that: I have oftentimes gone out of my way to appear to be Pierce Brosnan. It has never worked.

Heh.

esquire.com

138
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:52:00pm

re: #134 GlutenFreeJesus

Better yet. Student A and Student B are BFF. They file claims against each other and split the cash.

Yeah. Besides all this, it deprives the school administration of its legal position of in loco parentis, by allowing the “aggrieved party” to circumvent the usual school discipline system and file a complaint with a lawyer. Really, setting aside the bigotry that feels such a law is even necessary, the law in and of itself is stunningly idiotic, even from the point of view of a non-lawyer like me. It’s the kind of law someone with a correspondence degree from a Christian “law school” would propose, because whoever wrote it has no idea how the laws in his states work.

139
Jason Munro  Apr 25, 2016 • 10:56:21pm

re: #136 BeachDem

Sorry for the vomit inducing post, good to see you too!

TxOpg7HUrqQhFru1c7IBoSZiUwapYfGhAw9RWtOu1Qcba7sF3vzeVmO6wv2vdVa/d6h7dVUn9TqXLyB9oxPH1E+yCOmdD49DO/qYGgrmtKLmx2TjNs1dMBE1J/qhmdzZzh6R6jHi2eYHJj8otwhfMJXXZVql5zz1

140
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:00:05pm

re: #134 GlutenFreeJesus

Better yet. Student A and Student B are BFF. They file claims against each other and split the cash.

Additionally, this is a so-called solution looking for a problem, because how many transgender kids are there in Kansas, and how many of their classmates really would give a shit which trans kid uses which bathroom? For the most part, high school students are a lot less bent out of shape by sex and gender identity than their legislators are. Even the conservative Christian kids are a lot more tolerant than the adults in their congregations — with a few exceptions, of course.

The bathroom regulation laws remind me of voter ID laws, which supposedly are in place to prevent voter fraud — those 1 in 100,000+ incidents that threaten Our American Way of Life™. Voter ID is really about limiting access to voting. Bathroom regs are really about making life harder for “the other,” not protecting the tender fee-fees of “aggrieved parties.”

141
BeachDem  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:01:45pm

re: #139 Jason Munro

Sorry for the vomit inducing post, good to see you too!

[Embedded content]

eT+AwXmA1hLK4i4dsVa6icKhBPVcRi3Dk0j4U0InSrY2GXszFOvh84khScGZoc+KdYbcqki48Ghj4ei7l/nZFwl5r9uuF+DZ0cMcuAfxQMUonLZbjFCK3dSSGrqLS/sBNBuz3NDlJbvWwx8PDruYJtj1UvLDV7jG5JgylWJGBD4Vn98cekUT02O/diWAhX4HH6WpblaAedjNbEb2V1LR+A7IVIJt5WUoKJEAU8J8bLAC6MIXjagqXU8+VW5RfgpN

142
Reality Based Steve  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:06:12pm

This is Shawn Stins.

Shawn is a champion body builder.

If some states have their way, Shawn will have no choice but to use the woman’s restrooms.

Let me know how you feel about that, GOP?

RBS

143
BeachDem  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:06:53pm

Well, all—saying goodnight, and letting you know I’ll be scarce for the next several weeks (try to bear up!)

/jpyWcYa+cEiOaftlV+vmynkM45qjL2roo6jHGTRRZkbU8E+2zM6aRdVuZl80XBjXNR6seECmHsECmVe3FIgXs0ToYqIim/5V6WvRwgt3Llb3lB6atW1zuu2NRIt/VNNIV9LeH66AMpcjcY1v6hQ6GcdXfqFz8OzdAn0nTw8zrPtrvbvofEuKA==

144
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:07:55pm

re: #143 BeachDem

Enjoy your trip.

Classes beckon. I shall return.

145
Scout  Apr 25, 2016 • 11:53:04pm

re: #63 teleskiguy

There’s a reason why I’ve been rather disengaged about Bernie Sanders on my social media. I learned my lesson with Ron Paul and his unicorn rainbow fart promises. I’ve been better at noticing the absence of pragmatism in politics, and Bernie is fucking textbook.

That’s as maybe, but I’d still say one Bernie Sanders is worth a million Ron Pauls. Two million.

146
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 12:37:23am

re: #63 teleskiguy

There’s a reason why I’ve been rather disengaged about Bernie Sanders on my social media. I learned my lesson with Ron Paul and his unicorn rainbow fart promises. I’ve been better at noticing the absence of pragmatism in politics, and Bernie is fucking textbook.

Because for me at least, social media are all about letting people know what you had for lunch, or where and who you are hanging out with…if I want politics, I go to political blogs or other sources.

I just delete the posts, I dropped one casual acquaintance from FB entirely over his endlessly virulent anti-Obamism and declined to take up contact with an old high school chum I found once I saw all the pro-NRA and Tea Party posts on his timeline.

147
Alyosha  Apr 26, 2016 • 1:11:55am

You spend so much energy loathing the pigeons when they’re flapping about and shitting on everything until you see one limping about one day, huddled pathetically, dead on the ground the next. Genuinely sad.

And then there’s stuff like this, and I am entertained again.

148
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 1:20:12am

re: #147 Alyosha

when MetalGearEric told his 36 followers i have “A Poor Man’s Micropenis” and none of my so called allies stepped in to defend my honuor….

They could’ve broken into a choruos of “If I Had a Rich Man’s Micropenis”

149
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 1:50:52am

re: #142 Reality Based Steve

This is Shawn Stins.

Shawn is a champion body builder.

[Embedded content]

If some states have their way, Shawn will have no choice but to use the woman’s restrooms.

Let me know how you feel about that, GOP?

RBS

If some states had their way, he wouldn’t be using the White woman’s restroom.

150
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 1:55:11am

re: #124 majii

Someone owes HRC and her “paid trolls” an apology, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for it.

I’m not one of Hillary’s paid trolls. Like so many in this economy, I’ve had to settle for an unpaid intern troll-ship. In fact, we have to cover our own expenses.

151
Eventual Carrion  Apr 26, 2016 • 1:57:00am

re: #90 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

So it has just become mindless tradition.

152
Amory Blaine  Apr 26, 2016 • 2:50:15am

How can you be so obtuse? Is it deliberate?
~Andy Dufresne (in the mirror)

153
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 3:16:05am

re: #151 Eventual Carrion

So it has just become mindless tradition.

And far, far removed from any modern consequences of slavery in America.

154
Timothy Watson  Apr 26, 2016 • 3:53:10am

re: #151 Eventual Carrion

So it has just become mindless tradition.

And of course they’re not going to question the Confederate flag, otherwise Brazilians might have to consider the fact that slavery was legal there until 1888.

155
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:21:39am

I voted for Bernie in the primary, contributed to his campaign, and still support him. But, if he loses the nomination to Hillary, I will vote for her. However, I don’t trust her uninspiring, robotic, flat, and kind-o-creepy presentation to get people to the voting booths to beat Trump. So, she scares and worries me. I think maybe Bernie might do a better job of winning against Trump. Because I think that more people are motivated to go vote when they connect with a more sincere emotional appeal. Before you yell at me, remember, I’m going to vote for Hillary if she’s it. I’m just sayin’. I think Bernie supporters, like Tim Robbins, need to be understood.

156
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:27:15am

re: #155 S’latch

You see, it is possible to support Bernie for positive reasons and not drag HRC or the Democratic Party down. Which makes people like Timmy R all the more intolerable.

157
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:41:49am

re: #155 S’latch

I think Bernie supporters, like Tim Robbins, need to be understood.

I need to understand why I go on Facebook and see friends of mine - intelligent, nice people - calling Clinton things like ‘shriveled up old hag’ and saying things like ‘she should get out of the race and just check herself into prison already.’

It’s one thing to be enthusiastic about a candidate. It’s quite another to see otherwise smart people acting like the most paranoid basket case on Free Republic.

And if I say anything to any of them, I’m met with condescension and snark about how I’m either too ill-informed to vote or just as bad as a Cruz or Trump voter.

And these people are my friends. Help me try to understand that.

158
Amory Blaine  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:53:52am

re: #157 makeitstop

20+ years of right wing propaganda has had a desired effect.

159
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:54:11am
160
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 4:55:48am

re: #159 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

To the truck driver’s brain, those two statements simply express different views of the same sentiment: WE HATES US SOME OBAMAZ!!!

161
Franklin  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:30:46am

The circle is complete.

From a kid that marched through the admin buildings in college to protest tuition hikes and voted D, to a 9/11 terror induced xenophobe, a 2012 Obama election win come-to-jesus moment to a Hillary supporter.

I have just updated my voter registration to a Democratic party affiliation. Didn’t want to do it before my state’s primary incase anything wonky happened. Feels good.

162
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:35:04am

re: #157 makeitstop

I view a lot of that stuff as just hyperbole.

163
Patricia Kayden  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:44:47am

re: #71 jaunte

[Embedded content]

Where are David Duke and the other White Supremacists (who have fully supported his campaign)? They need to be in that photoshop.

164
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:45:30am

re: #162 S’latch

I view a lot of that stuff as just hyperbole.

Maybe if it happened once. But I see it every goddamned day.

And again - I get this shit from friends of mine, not strangers or people that I hardly know. These are people who I know have long stood for women’s rights and would never say those things about women. Now it’s okay to call a woman a ‘shriveled up hag’, because it’s a political opponent?

These are people who I’ve always known as being respectful of others’ opinions. Now they’re telling me that my opinion is of less worth than theirs, because I don’t share their preference in a presidential candidate?

I see these people in real life and I want to smack the shit out of them for turning into the very type of people they’ve always stood against. They’re turning into what they hate right before my eyes and if I say anything, I’m the one who’s at fault.

Hyperbole? No, this is something far worse. I’m getting the same treatment from my own friends as I get from a random RWNJ on the web.

I can only hope that somewhere along the line they’ll have a moment of realization and feel some shame for what they are turning into. These are good people that I’ve known for years, and sadly I barely recognize them now.

165
Scout  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:48:49am

re: #164 makeitstop

I would urge you to try to just let it go, as best you can.

It’s possible all this will blow over and in a few months it’ll just be a bad memory.

166
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:51:40am

re: #165 Scout

I would urge you to try to just let it go, as best you can.

It’s possible all this will blow over and in a few months it’ll just be a bad memory.

It is possible that this will some day be a pleasant memory compared to what is to come…

167
Franklin  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:53:26am

re: #164 makeitstop

…
Hyperbole? No, this is something far worse. I’m getting the same treatment from my own friends as I get from a random RWNJ on the web.
…

It’s the new normal. Respect and common courtesy has been on a downward trend for a long time. Language like that is the main stream now.

168
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:54:42am

re: #167 Franklin

It’s the new normal. Respect and common courtesy has been on a downward trend for a long time. Language like that is the main stream now.

And yes, hyperbole like that will get attention and even votes.

But it will not run a government or even start to solve the problems plaguing so many Americans.

169
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:54:46am

jeebus…stereotypes galore…

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - As the investigation into the killings of eight family members in rural Ohio entered its fifth day, more details slowly trickled out.

Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk told the Columbus Dispatch Monday that the marijuana operations discovered at three of the four crime scenes included a grow-house sheltering hundreds of plants.

“It wasn’t just somebody sitting pots in the window,” Junk said.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine later added that that there was possible evidence of cockfighting at one of the properties, but he said he did not know what was relevant to the investigation.

Law enforcement officials had been familiar with the family only for other reasons, Junk told the Columbus Dispatch.

“Altercations with people, that sort of thing,” he said. “Nothing like this.”

170
Franklin  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:57:30am

re: #168 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And yes, hyperbole like that will get attention and even votes.

But it will not run a government or even start to solve the problems plaguing so many Americans.

See: Trump, Donald J

171
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 5:58:53am

re: #164 makeitstop

I think you should try harder to understand their point of view. I think you lack a bit of self awareness yourself to say that your friends are being unreasonable, so now they are as bad as Right Wing Nut Jobs and you want to smack the shit out of them.

They are not turning into what they hate. They are angry (which I think is a reasonable emotion under the circumstances) but their anger is a hell of a lot less misdirected than the anger on the right that would vote for Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.

172
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:01:42am

FRANKFORT, Ky.

Gov. Matt Bevin is traveling to Germany, France and Belgium this week as part of his first overseas trip as governor.

Bevin is scheduled to arrive in Hannover, Germany, on Tuesday to attend the Hannover Messe Fair, a trade show of industrial technology. A news release from the governor’s office says Bevin will meet with prospective businesses and companies that already have Kentucky facilities.

He will spend the rest of the week meeting with executives in Germany, France and Belgium. Bevin says the trip is an “incredible opportunity” to sell the benefits of Kentucky to manufacturers.

Bevin spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said the governor’s trip will not prevent him from issuing vetoes of the state’s two-year operating budget. State lawmakers approved the budget on April 15. Bevin has until Wednesday to issue vetoes, if any.

sigh…

173
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:07:58am

re: #168 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And yes, hyperbole like that will get attention and even votes.

But it will not run a government or even start to solve the problems plaguing so many Americans.

What you just said …

You are making my argument for me. I support Bernie because I am a bit more confident that he will beat Donald Trump.

If a measure of sincere emotion will get you elected, maybe Hillary should study it.

“The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”

174
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:09:53am

re: #171 S’latch

I don’t think Tim Robbins the Bernie supporter needs to be understood. He was once Tim Robbins the Ralph Nader supporter. More importantly, he’s Tim “nothing will happen to me if I burn the country down” Robbins. He gets to be as high minded as he wants to be because it won’t affect him.

As for other Sanders supporters, it’s rather easy to understand most of them: Deep down they know that Sanders is losing but don’t want to accept it. A lot of the stuff we are seeing right now is the same stuff Clinton supporters did in 2008. It’s very hard to accept that you are losing when you think you’re doing all the right things. And it’s really hard to accept that doing the right things doesn’t mean you win. And this is not some version of parents coddling their kids type of thing, it’s human nature.

But it’s also immature, and way too many people will suffer if these people can’t learn form this experience.

Luckily, based on past experience (2008), most people figure it out. But some of them will react based upon the attitude of the candidate they supported.

175
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:14:11am

re: #77 teleskiguy

Magnificent cross-section of an undersea cable. $400/foot.

I meant to say this last night, but I bet most of the world doesn’t realize that the continents are connected by giant cables. The scale of a cable that stretches across the Atlantic even makes my head spin and I like thinking about infinities.

176
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:15:41am

re: #173 S’latch

What you just said …

You are making my argument for me. I support Bernie because I am a bit more confident that he will beat Donald Trump.

I like Bernie and wish I could share your sentiment.

177
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:17:12am

re: #175 Belafon

I meant to say this last night, but I bet most of the world doesn’t realize that the continents are connected by giant cables. The scale of a cable that stretches across the Atlantic even makes my head spin and I like thinking about infinities.

When the first transatlantic cable broke in the late 1800’s, it had to be hauled up for repairs. And what astounded people at the time was that it was covered in organic growth. The bottom of the oceans was thought to be a vast lifeless waste until that point.

178
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:17:21am

re: #171 S’latch

I think you should try harder to understand their point of view.

I have tried. I have precisely one friend who is a Bernie supporter who doesn’t act like this, and every time I see him we have long talks about this election. He’s as mystified by some of this shit as I am.

I think you lack a bit of self awareness yourself to say that your friends are being unreasonable, so now they are as bad as Right Wing Nut Jobs and you want to smack the shit out of them.

Here we go, it’s my fault.

This is exactly what I’m talking about. They are acting like RWNJs, there’s no other way to put it. And I do want to smack them up because these are not the people I know.

Be passionate about your candidate, fine. But are you a fucking liberal who carries a modicum of respect for women and tolerance for opposing viewpoints? Then fucking act like it. Being passionate about a political candidate does not give you carte blanche to turn into a misogynist douchebag. You don’t get the right to explain to me very slowly that my choice for president is the wrong one and that I should feel bad that I’m supporting who I do, like I’m some doddering old idiot who doesn’t know what’s ‘best.’

Fuck. That.

I don’t do that to them. I expect that same consideration.

179
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:19:48am

re: #173 S’latch

What you just said …

You are making my argument for me. I support Bernie because I am a bit more confident that he will beat Donald Trump.

If a measure of sincere emotion will get you elected, maybe Hillary should study it.

“The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”

I don’t think Sanders will make anywhere near a good president. His attitude on things says senator. It might not show up running against Trump - because the only vibe Trump gives off is bankruptcy - but it shouldn’t be tested in the White House. And with things like Trump’s remarks about how he’s way more handsome than Clinton and would make a better looking president, he’s going to get creamed by every group that is not misogynistic white males.

180
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:19:54am

re: #174 Belafon

I do not really disagree with what you wrote.

I think it is important to distinguish between those who are incorrigibly unreasonable in their expectations and desires, and those who are just expressing their anger at a system that is very corrupt and rather dangerous to our existence.

… (not to mention those who don’t trust Hillary Clinton whose persona in my opinion comes off as almost Nixonian.)

181
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:22:58am

NIXONIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

182
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:23:26am

good grief…

183
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:24:35am

Oh, sweet Jesus.

184
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:24:53am

re: #179 Belafon

I think you missed my point. It wasn’t about whether Sanders or Clinton would make a better president. It was about which one will get the most number of people to the voting booths to beat Donald Trump. It does not matter which one would be better if Donald Trump gets elected.

re: #181 Backwoods_Sleuth

As a measure of creepiness, yes. That is how she comes off to me.

185
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:25:02am

re: #155 S’latch

I voted for Bernie in the primary, contributed to his campaign, and still support him. But, if he loses the nomination to Hillary, I will vote for her. However, I don’t trust her uninspiring, robotic, flat, and kind-o-creepy presentation to get people to the voting booths to beat Trump. So, she scares and worries me. I think maybe Bernie might do a better job of winning against Trump. Because I think that more people are motivated to go vote when they connect with a more sincere emotional appeal. Before you yell at me, remember, I’m going to vote for Hillary if she’s it. I’m just sayin’. I think Bernie supporters, like Tim Robbins, need to be understood.

Please do not take this as yelling at you…but lately Bernie and sincere are two words that I feel do not belong together.

Also, Hillary hasn’t even begun to really run a national election against Trump. We have no idea if Trump is really going to be the candidate because we have no idea what kind of tricks the GOP will try to pull to stop him.

So isn’t it a little early to judge her run based on your admiration for a candidate she is currently ahead of?

If you are basing Bernie being able to defeat Trump at this time on his claims he is slightly ahead in polls comparing him and Hillary against Trump I think you are not considering a lot of things that have yet to be revealed. The biggest is the nature of attacks that Bernie will face against the Republicans.

Hillary is already a known entity and has all the GOP tools tossed at her, Bernie not so much. And please consider how Bernie handles attacks. He hasn’t seen anything yet from the GOP.

186
Great White Snark  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:25:40am

re: #180 S’latch

I agree with you about the distinction, but Nixonian?

187
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:27:56am

re: #185 ObserverArt

Hillary is already a known entity and has all the GOP tools tossed at her, Bernie not so much. And please consider how Bernie handles attacks. He hasn’t seen anything yet from the GOP.

Those are GOP election tactics. They want to take it easy on Bernie because they see him as the more beatable candidate. I cannot imagine what sort of slime they would sling at him should he somehow win the nomination.

188
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:29:06am

re: #187 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Those are GOP election tactics. They want to take it easy on Bernie because they see him as the more beatable candidate. I cannot imagine what sort of slime they would sling at him should he somehow win the nomination.

I know this. You know this…but…

189
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:29:43am

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area, where I’ve been working undercover for the Clinton campaign all along and didn’t even know it.

Pointing out basic math, how delegates are computed, and how superdelegates work, seems to be the work of the devil. Or a Clinton shill.

Right. If Bernie were leading, I’d be pointing out the same exact math. But Bernie hasn’t led since February 9, when he took a 36-31 lead over Hillary after NH. Since then, Hillary’s built up a significant and impossible to overcome 244 delegate count, and with supers, she’s over 1,900.

Why is it impossible to overcome that 244 delegate count? Simple. Democrats don’t do winner take all states. They do proportional representation, which means even if you lose you get some delegates. Bernie’s had a major upset win in Michigan, but netted a grand total of 4 delegates 67-63. On that same day, Hillary ran up a big advantage in delegates from the other race in Mississippi, 32-4. Who won? For the day, Hillary widened her delegate lead even further.

And that’s the only thing that matters come convention time. Who has the delegates.

This isn’t a conspiracy. This isn’t a fix. And I’m not getting paid (but maybe should be by someone to write this stuff, since it’s a whole lot more accurate than pundits making asinine claims about a horse race or that things are really a lot closer than they are).

The math says otherwise. Bernie needs to win by more than 17 points in every state race from here on out, and as of today, he’s down in the polls in several big states by that figure or more. PA, MD, DE all are going for Hillary by double digits. CT and RI are also going for Hillary by a wide margin.

If NY didn’t seal it, then today will. Frankly, this has been over since Super Tuesday, when it showed Bernie couldn’t get closer than 200 delegates, and that’s even with that 7 state run from the end of March to April. Hillary continues to rack up wins in states with large numbers of delegates, and her lead hasn’t gotten below 200.

Her magic number is still in easy reach, while Bernie’s is closing on mathematical impossibility. Every state he comes up short with means the margin of victory needed in remaining states must go up.

It’s not a conspiracy. It’s math.

Now where’s my check.

190
Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:30:38am

good morning fellow Lizards it appears my number came up and have Jury Duty today which wouldn’t be bad if it wasn’t for the fact I need to go to downtown L.A. ><

191
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:31:16am

re: #187 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Those are GOP election tactics. They want to take it easy on Bernie because they see him as the more beatable candidate. I cannot imagine what sort of slime they would sling at him should he somehow win the nomination.

Actually, it’s real easy. Do you know how many ways we have to say communist? And a few of them, Sanders has said about himself. And then imagine the ads of Sanders talking about raising everyone’s taxes by $1400 or more per year. Sanders has been filling in the holes.

192
S'latch  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:32:03am

Thank you, everyone, for discussing the Bernie vs. Hillary thing with me. Please remember, come November, I’m going to be quite happy to vote for Hillary when it comes down to a choice between her and Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. I just hope she can actually get all of the young and the restless to the polls so she can actually win. Historically, it has been the failure to get out the vote that has gotten us where we are today.

193
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:32:42am

re: #191 Belafon

Actually, it’s real easy. Do you know how many ways we have to say communist? And a few of them, Sanders has said about himself. And then imagine the ads of Sanders talking about raising everyone’s taxes by $1400 or more per year. Sanders has been filling in the holes.

And voting against additional aid to Israel.

Kiss of death.

194
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:34:26am

re: #192 S’latch

Thank you, everyone for discussing the Bernie vs. Hillary thing with me. Please remember, come November, I’m going to be quite happy to vote for Hillary when it comes down to a choice between her and Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. I just hope she can actually get all of the young and the restless to the polls so she can actually win. Historically, it has been the failure to get out the vote that has gotten us where we are today.

I remember a conservative friend calling me before the 2012 election and saying that Obama no longer had the ability to get the voters out.

Thank God Mitt did it all by himself with his 47% comment…

195
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:35:14am

Here’s a sample of one friend’s FB wall…

She needs to quit the race, check into jail, and live the rest of her life in disgrace. But… she is the 1% and she is protected from justice. Can she be stopped?
She will stop herself, with all of the scandals and cheating in the open, she is headed for a hard fall and deserves worse, whatever happens.

[…]

If any of my friends still think Hillary is ok, just because she is female and the corporate media praises her?

She is a female Dick Cheney.

Please watch this excellent video and you will finally see why she is toxic to democracy and only cares for her fellow 1%ers! Please open you eyes… now!!!

[…]

She is an ugly lying and cheating fraud, taking her corporate legal - and some illegal, bribes… thru her “foundation” and her minions are out there every single day, cheating and fixing.

She and the major networks that are still pushing her are fine with stealing the election for the 1%. Resist the BS! Boycott the networks and make corrupt Billary feel the Bern!

I’ve known this guy since high school. Life-long, self-identifying liberal.

Now somebody point out to me how that screed is any different from what you’d find on Free Republic or Breitbart.

And tell me why I have to try harder to understand this point of view.

196
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:35:15am

re: #186 Great White Snark

I agree with you about the distinction, but Nixonian?

Does have that fallen-away Quaker vibe.

197
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:36:03am
198
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:37:39am

re: #175 Belafon

I meant to say this last night, but I bet most of the world doesn’t realize that the continents are connected by giant cables. The scale of a cable that stretches across the Atlantic even makes my head spin and I like thinking about infinities.

I went looking. Here’s a map dated 2016 showing all submarine cables worldwide.
Image: submarine-cable-map-2016-x.png

199
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:37:43am
200
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:38:23am

re: #137 BeachDem

Charles Pierce’s comment on that: I have oftentimes gone out of my way to appear to be Pierce Brosnan. It has never worked.

Heh.

esquire.com

From the same quote:

PRIEBUS: Well, I mean it’s pretty split. I mean obviously, you can see it out there. I mean it’s a—it looks like a, you know, on the delegate front, obviously Trump’s got a little bit of a lead.

I wonder if he means it. /

201
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:39:49am

re: #195 makeitstop

Here’s a sample of one friend’s FB wall…

I’ve known this guy since high school. Life-long, self-identifying liberal.

Now somebody point out to me how that screed is any different from what you’d find on Free Republic or Breitbart.

And tell me why I have to try harder to understand this point of view.

It definitely has the “all wealthy people are evil” vibe. But, one of the things I think they fail to notice is that wealthy Democrats are willing to raise taxes on themselves. When Democrats in Congress, and the White House, raise taxes on the wealthy, a lot of them are raising their own taxes; when Republicans lower taxes on the wealthy, they are lowering their own.

202
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:40:34am

re: #201 Belafon

It definitely has the “all wealthy people are evil” vibe. But, one of the things I think they fail to notice is that wealthy Democrats are willing to raise taxes on themselves. When Democrats in Congress, and the White House, raise taxes on the wealthy, a lot of them are raising their own taxes; when Republicans lower taxes on the wealthy, they are lowering their own.

A good point.

203
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:44:06am

Well today’s gonna be interesting. I expect Clinton to win all five states and a lot of excuses from the Sanders camp.

204
FormerDirtDart  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:46:35am

Donald Trump, ex-cops joined on stage by felon from LI

…Standing under the banner of the New York Veteran Police Association at a news event on Staten Island on April 17, the men were identified by CNN and other media as retired New York City cops. One of the men, standing just behind Trump, cheered the loudest, shouting “Absolutely!” as Trump excoriated the “rigged system” of the delegate-selection process…

…But the enthusiastic supporter, Dale Robert Javino, 55, has never been a law enforcement officer, the association’s president acknowledges….

…Javino did see law enforcement from the other side, serving time in federal prison for possessing a Molotov cocktail outside the home of a couple he “had threatened to kill,” according to a federal judge’s summary of the case…

Seems like just the sort of supporter Trump’s campaign would associate with

205
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:48:49am

re: #204 FormerDirtDart

Embedded Image

Donald Trump, ex-cops joined on stage by felon from LI

Seems like just the sort of supporter Trump’s campaign would associate with

The eight to threaten with Molotov cocktails shall not be infringed upon.//

206
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:48:51am

re: #204 FormerDirtDart

Embedded Image

Donald Trump, ex-cops joined on stage by felon from LI

Seems like just the sort of supporter Trump’s campaign would associate with

The kind of guy Trump would tap as Director of Homeland Security.
//

207
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:50:07am

re: #203 HappyWarrior

Well today’s gonna be interesting. I expect Clinton to win all five states and a lot of excuses from the Sanders camp.

Have you gotten the preview?

208
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:50:35am

re: #203 HappyWarrior

For all the talk of how Bernie’s got the energized voters, his actual voter count is millions short of Hillary. Enthusaism gap? It doesn’t mean what they think it means.

Hillary’s voters aren’t running all over Twitter fixing the polls or outcomes. They aren’t manipulating the exit polls, or trying to unskew the polling (and vote tallies). Bernie’s supporters are a very loud group, but they are a minority of voters in the Democratic primaries.

Bernie’s problem is that he’s got fewer supporters than Hillary in the Democratic primaries.

So, no matter how much Tim Robbins thinks the fix is in or there’s a conspiracy to keep Bernie from the nomination, the fact is that Hillary’s beating Bernie badly according to the rules of the primaries that were drawn up decades before either ran for the nomination in 2016. If Bernie doesn’t know what those rules are, that’s on him and his campaign. He has no one to blame but himself.

And for all the talk of changing the rules for this caucus or that primary to make them open or closed, the results are the same. Everyone yammers about problems every 4 years, and then do nothing to fix them in the interim until they show up again. And the reality is that they aren’t so much problems, but choices that the respective parties made decades ago to allow open or closed primaries, how and when individuals can switch party affiliations to vote in said primaries, and to continue holding caucuses even though they end up deciding delegates with far fewer people involved in the process than a primary election.

209
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:51:10am

re: #203 HappyWarrior

Well today’s gonna be interesting. I expect Clinton to win all five states and a lot of excuses from the Sanders camp.

The total number of “we’re in it to win it!” Bernie supporters posting online is going down generally as reality sinks in. The ones that are left are racheting up the rhetoric and performing circle-jerks in places like the Great Orange Satan, telling each other the stories their grandfathers told about Hillary the Evil and Bernie the Good, their faces lighting up at the Tale of the Bird and hissing when Wall Street is mentioned.

Six months from now that will all be forgotten, like the Deaniacs and the Goldwater Girls have forgotten their own wishful self-delusions.

210
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:54:44am

re: #203 HappyWarrior

Well today’s gonna be interesting. I expect Clinton to win all five states and a lot of excuses from the Sanders camp.

The 538 state-by-state gives Bernie a decent lead in Rhode Island, but who can trust people who call themselves “Islanders” when they’re not surrounded by water?

211
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:55:31am

heh

212
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:56:11am

What happened last night?

213
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:57:25am

re: #212 MsJ

[Embedded content]

What happened last night?

Bernie said it wasn’t his responsibility to support Hillary if she gets the nomination; that it was up to her to sway his supporters.

214
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 6:59:46am

re: #213 Backwoods_Sleuth

Bernie said it wasn’t his responsibility to support Hillary if she gets the nomination; that it was up to her to sway his supporters.

then why the fuck did he not just run as an independent candidate?

215
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:00:14am

re: #213 Backwoods_Sleuth

Bernie said it wasn’t his responsibility to support Hillary if she gets the nomination; that it was up to her to sway his supporters.

Oh, right. I remember now. Thank you!

I am saddened by what Bernie has shown himself to be. He’s woefully ill informed, especially for someone who’s been in DC for decades. He is all talk with not a single plan of action…want it and it magically happens! And he’s a spiteful asshole.

I used to really like him. Now I can’t stand him, his rhetoric and bullshit.

216
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:00:19am

re: #213 Backwoods_Sleuth

Bernie said it wasn’t his responsibility to support Hillary if she gets the nomination; that it was up to her to sway his supporters.

In other words, add Bernie to the list of people who won’t be affected by the fallout of a Republican being elected president.

OK, maybe a bit harsh, but his reaction to her statement about how supporting the nominee is what you’re supposed to do is telling. And it points out that he’s not going to be a Democrat any longer than it’s convenient for him to be one.

217
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:00:46am

re: #214 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

then why the fuck did he not just run as an independent candidate?

As he has already said, he did it this way to get the money and media attention.

218
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:01:43am

re: #217 Backwoods_Sleuth

As he has already said, he did it this way to get the money and media attention.

without any of the responsibilities…

219
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:02:30am

re: #217 Backwoods_Sleuth

As he has already said, he did it this way to get the money and media attention.

And the operating-level structure.

220
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:03:11am

Indeed.

221
Dave In Austin  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:04:33am

Facebook Video

222
Smith25's Liberal Thighs  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:08:53am

re: #208 lawhawk

For all the talk of how Bernie’s got the energized voters, his actual voter count is millions short of Hillary. Enthusaism gap? It doesn’t mean what they think it means.

Hillary’s voters aren’t running all over Twitter fixing the polls or outcomes. They aren’t manipulating the exit polls, or trying to unskew the polling (and vote tallies). Bernie’s supporters are a very loud group, but they are a minority of voters in the Democratic primaries.

Bernie’s problem is that he’s got fewer supporters than Hillary in the Democratic primaries.

If all of this revolution thingy were true, and all bajillions of these new voters were feeling the Bern, then they would be dwarfing the numbers for Obama from 08. Like that idiotic Shaun King tweet(now deleted) about never having a person inspire people as much, and bring crowds as much as Bernie.

223
GlutenFreeJesus  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:11:15am

re: #214 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

$$$$$$$

224
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:12:32am

re: #223 GlutenFreeJesus

$$$$$$$

That and the fact that an Independent candidate would have almost no viable chance in a general election.

225
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:12:54am

re: #203 HappyWarrior

Well today’s gonna be interesting. I expect Clinton to win all five states and a lot of excuses from the Sanders camp.

I’ve been hearing from Berniebros that if their boy doesn’t win, they are voting for Trump or Jill Stein.

226
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:13:43am

re: #219 Decatur Deb

And the operating-level structure.

Oh, you mean the Nixonian machine.

Bernie shouldn’t have needed that!

227
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:14:53am
228
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:15:58am

re: #225 The Vicious Babushka

I’ve been hearing from Berniebros that if their boy doesn’t win, they are voting for Trump or Jill Stein.

Which could be an explanation for those polls berners love to point out saying Bernie is more electable than Hillary.

229
weave  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:17:32am

What a fucking douche. And to think I *just* got back from the polls to vote for this scumbag.

Sanders: If Clinton Wins, She’ll Have To Win Over My Supporters Herself

I swear, if I read this before I drove out there I would have switched my vote.

Why did I vote for him? Mainly because he polls better against all the Republicans and I want to win. I don’t for a moment think he’d be able to pull off what he wants.

But fuck him. Most of his supporters from whom I’ve spoken to claim they won’t vote if he doesn’t get it so I was counting on him throwing his support behind Clinton if he loses to convince them to vote. In the past he always said that Clinton was far better than the best Republican candidate so I thought he’d do the right thing…. Guess not.

230
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:17:55am

re: #227 MsJ

Maybe Donald Trump has really lost his mind: What if the GOP frontrunner isn’t crazy, but simply not well?

What if he is just not qualified?

DT and the media seem to be really good at ignoring that aspect of his candidacy and going off at great lengths about anything and everything else.

231
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:18:39am

re: #228 Backwoods_Sleuth

Which could be an explanation for those polls berners love to point out saying Bernie is more electable than Hillary.

Self fulfilling.

Or, self gratifying?

232
Sherlock Hound  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:22:45am

re: #211 Backwoods_Sleuth

“Odinist”

We call them neo-Nazis.

233
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:23:00am

re: #232 Sherlock Hound

“Odinist”

We call them neo-Nazis.

yep

234
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:23:49am

re: #230 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

What if he is just not qualified?

DT and the media seem to be really good at ignoring that aspect of his candidacy and going off at great lengths about anything and everything else.

He’s most definitely not qualified. That’s on display at all times.

But I am starting to wonder if there really is something wrong with him. Like clinically wrong with him beyond being narcissistic. Some of what he says goes beyond just not knowing anything.

235
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:25:45am

re: #234 MsJ

He’s most definitely not qualified. That’s on display at all times.

But I am starting to wonder if there really is something wrong with him. Like clinically wrong with him beyond being narcissistic. Some of what he says goes beyond just not knowing anything.

As long as we are talking about that, we are ignoring the elephant in the room.

236
Sherlock Hound  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:28:51am

re: #215 MsJ

“Oh, but Bernie (and Shawn) just have to be understood !
///

I voted for Hillary seven weeks ago and I so want this primary season to be over! The more I hear from Bernie, the more I despise him.

Don’t I deserve to be understood ? ///

237
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:33:17am

re: #195 makeitstop

Here’s a sample of one friend’s FB wall…

[…]

[…]

I’ve known this guy since high school. Life-long, self-identifying liberal.

Now somebody point out to me how that screed is any different from what you’d find on Free Republic or Breitbart.

And tell me why I have to try harder to understand this point of view.

I agree, he sounds like a commenter at Free Republic.

238
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:38:35am

re: #230 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

What if he is just not qualified?

DT and the media seem to be really good at ignoring that aspect of his candidacy and going off at great lengths about anything and everything else.

QFT - Trump is in no way qualified to be President. He lacks the character and judgment to be president. He shows himself to be unstable, on top of being a xenophobe and bigot, and is willing to torch longstanding commitments w/allies in favor of cozying up to despots and autocrats (hiya Putin!). If anything, Trump fashions his campaign after those of the Kim clan in North Korea. Cult of personality.

Which leads me to my morning jam:

Living Colour - Cult Of Personality

239
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:41:32am

re: #238 lawhawk

QFT - Trump is in no way qualified to be President. He lacks the character and judgment to be president. He shows himself to be unstable, on top of being a xenophobe and bigot, and is willing to torch longstanding commitments w/allies in favor of cozying up to despots and autocrats (hiya Putin!). If anything, Trump fashions his campaign after those of the Kim clan in North Korea. Cult of personality.

I am not even delving into personality traits, which are damning enough.

He does not know the difference between the nuclear triad and a pitchfork up his ass, he does not understand the functions and limitations of various branches of government and he has no experience in the sort of horsetrading that goes into making and enforcing legislation.

And he cannot even count his Corinthians…

240
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:43:51am

re: #239 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

That’s all too true too. He simply doesn’t know basic government facts or processes. Doesn’t understand the Geneva Conventions, how the nuclear arsenal works, or anything else that a President is required to do. He thinks snapping his finger will make it happen.

241
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:44:34am

re: #240 lawhawk

That’s all too true too. He simply doesn’t know basic government facts or processes. Doesn’t understand the Geneva Conventions, how the nuclear arsenal works, or anything else that a President is required to do. He thinks snapping his finger will make it happen.

And a lot of people are convinced that all we need is a strong personality and everything will suddenly and magically work “right” again.

242
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:45:42am

re: #241 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And a lot of people are convinced that all we need is a strong personality and everything will suddenly and magically work “right” again.

“All those rules and conventions are just holding us back. We’re superior and should be allowed to act as such.”

243
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:50:20am

re: #241 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

And a lot of people are convinced that all we need is a strong personality and everything will suddenly and magically work “right” again.

You hear this from Trump fans and Bernie fans.

244
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:51:19am

re: #243 withak

You hear this from Trump fans and Bernie fans.

Bernie at least has some experience in how things function.

245
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:52:32am

re: #236 Sherlock Hound

“Oh, but Bernie (and Shawn) just have to be understood !
///

I voted for Hillary seven weeks ago and I so want this primary season to be over! The more I hear from Bernie, the more I despise him.

Don’t I deserve to be understood ? ///

I’ve pretty much used up any capacity to understand people who insist upon being smug and condescending while telling me that I’m wrong and should feel bad for being a Democrat.

Hey, if Bernie somehow wins Lotto while being struck by lightning (roughly in the neighborhood of his chances) and gets the nomination, I’ll vote for him. I’m what people used to call a ‘Yellow-Dog Democrat.’

But if they’re gonna try to make me feel bad for supporting the most qualified candidate my party is offering, they can take that shit somewhere else.

246
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:54:07am

re: #245 makeitstop

But if they’re gonna try to make me feel bad for supporting the most qualified candidate my party is offering, they can take that shit somewhere else.

I can admire BS supporters and their “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” attitude, but yeah, that attitude about HRC and her supporters really puts me off

247
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:54:25am
248
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:55:51am

Wingnuts are orgasming at the thought of millions of Teamsters losing their jobs==>

249
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:56:34am

Greetings from the Acela Primary, which I’m told is not Normal America.

Anyway, here in Maryland I voted for HRC and for Chris Van Hollen for Senate. No line at the polls, which was good because we voted using paper ballots. Fill in the circle with a pen. Weird.

I arranged to take this week off as feline overlord Abbie spent the weekend in the hospital and I’m generally exhausted. Abbie is about 16 and has a number of problems it now appears, the main one being a sudden onset of constipation. I’m dispensing four medicines to her. We have a follow up blood check today and an appointment with the internal medicine specialist in Bowie on Thursday. So I thought it was about the right week to take some annual leave.

Everybody get a read of that wacky Vandehei column? The takedowns have been amusing so far.

250
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:58:10am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are orgasming at the thought of millions of Teamsters losing their jobs==>

[Embedded content]

Driverless trucks are the best things ever and How Come Nobody Works At A Job Anymore Because Food Stamps and Welfare!!!!11??????

251
Fourth Football of the Apocalypse  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:59:05am

re: #247 Backwoods_Sleuth

[Embedded content]

Wait, that doesn’t work?

/

252
No Depression  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:59:19am

re: #229 weave

What a fucking douche. And to think I *just* got back from the polls to vote for this scumbag.

Sanders: If Clinton Wins, She’ll Have To Win Over My Supporters Herself

I swear, if I read this before I drove out there I would have switched my vote.

Why did I vote for him? Mainly because he polls better against all the Republicans and I want to win. I don’t for a moment think he’d be able to pull off what he wants.

But fuck him. Most of his supporters from whom I’ve spoken to claim they won’t vote if he doesn’t get it so I was counting on him throwing his support behind Clinton if he loses to convince them to vote. In the past he always said that Clinton was far better than the best Republican candidate so I thought he’d do the right thing…. Guess not.

The DNC should just start running Democrats against him in every Senate race he has from here on out. Make the peevish little fucker sweat for his seat for once.

253
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:59:39am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are orgasming at the thought of millions of Teamsters losing their jobs==>

The driverless truck will mean driverless cranes and driverless forklifts and automated shelf stockers and automated farm equipment.

254
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 7:59:49am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are orgasming at the thought of millions of Teamsters losing their jobs==>

There was the famous exchange between the GM exec and the UAW boss when viewing the first fully automated production line.

The boss remarked “I don’t see a single union member on that floor!”, to which the union boss replied, “And neither do I see a single GM customer!”

This is exactly the sort of thing that governments need to step in on and help get redundant truck drivers back to work earning and spending money and paying taxes.

255
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:00:13am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Wingnuts are orgasming at the thought of millions of Teamsters losing their jobs==>

[Embedded content]

Sharing the road with humans driving these things is bad enough.

Sharing them with robots… no thank you.

256
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:00:36am

re: #120 jaunte

Probably distracted by preparations for Jade Helm 2 Civil War.

There, fixed.

257
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:05:40am

re: #254 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

The people cheering don’t seem to grasp that most of their jobs are going to be impacted by the same automation. And while I’m actually in favor of automating a bunch of the monotonous tasks (which humans are lousy at dealing with), our version of capitalism is not set up for a lot of out of work people.

258
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:06:54am

re: #250 Fourth Football of the Apocalypse

Driverless trucks are the best things ever and How Come Nobody Works At A Job Anymore Because Food Stamps and Welfare!!!!11??????

“You lazy liberals need to get out there and get a job! Earn your keep! Don’t come looking to me for a handout!”

*following day*

“The boss just announced that most of our jobs are moving overseas to be worked by foreigners that get paid pocket change! And the jobs that aren’t moving are being changed over to machines! They gave my job away to foreigners/machines! DAMNED LIBERALS!”

259
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:10:04am

re: #248 The Vicious Babushka

Automated trucks?

Which means driverless cars too, putting cabbies, Lyft, Uber, and all other car services/taxis out of business too.

Buses too.

How many people can we put out of work with this? I’d say millions - both in the 1099 economy and those who have union jobs (some bus drivers). And that doesn’t count the manufacturers put out of work by reduced demand for vehicles due to efficiencies from not having to buy vehicles.

Heck, it opens door to car sharing and no need to own cars.

Reality is that new tech usually overcomes old technologies and jobs that exist in some industries will disappear over time.

And new jobs/industries are created over time.

None of this is happening overnight.

260
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:10:26am

re: #257 Belafon

…our version of capitalism is not set up for a lot of out of work people.

our version of morality sees out-of-work people as lazy and undermotivated, not as the victims of technical progress or other forces beyond their immediate control

261
Big Beautiful Door  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:22:06am

re: #257 Belafon

The people cheering don’t seem to grasp that most of their jobs are going to be impacted by the same automation. And while I’m actually in favor of automating a bunch of the monotonous tasks (which humans are lousy at dealing with), our version of capitalism is not set up for a lot of out of work people.

We simply are going to have to rethink things if the wealth this automation generates doesn’t produce other jobs for people. Even with lots of automation there should still be plenty of service and intellectual jobs available for people. We just need appropriate legislation to ensure that all the benefits of economic growth doesn’t only go to the investor class. That is one reason I think we will eventually have a universal basic income.

262
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:22:53am

re: #259 lawhawk

Automated trucks?

Which means driverless cars too, putting cabbies, Lyft, Uber, and all other car services/taxis out of business too.

Buses too.

How many people can we put out of work with this? I’d say millions - both in the 1099 economy and those who have union jobs (some bus drivers). And that doesn’t count the manufacturers put out of work by reduced demand for vehicles due to efficiencies from not having to buy vehicles.

Heck, it opens door to car sharing and no need to own cars.

Reality is that new tech usually overcomes old technologies and jobs that exist in some industries will disappear over time.

And new jobs/industries are created over time.

None of this is happening overnight.

I’m still not convinced that driverless anything can handle severe inclement weather a) safely and b) reliably with current or even near-future tech. Until then, we’ll either have to accept that you won’t be able to use driverless services to get people or goods from point A to point B during a severe rainstorm or snowstorm, or we’ll have to rely on actual human “backup” drivers.

263
BeachDem  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:22:57am

re: #222 Smith25’s Liberal Thighs

If all of this revolution thingy were true, and all bajillions of these new voters were feeling the Bern, then they would be dwarfing the numbers for Obama from 08. Like that idiotic Shaun King tweet(now deleted) about never having a person inspire people as much, and bring crowds as much as Bernie.

I’d also like to know what it is that the revolution has accomplished thus far. They keep talking about their great accomplishments and how they’re going to keep going and build on them. I see that: Bernie can attract large crowds and he can raise a lot of money from small donors. Beyond that, I don’t really see what all the revolutionaries have done.

And, although there are multiple cries that “this is only the beginning, and win or lose, the revolution goes on”—I predict that once Bernie loses the nomination, he will pretty much go back to being the Independent Senator from Vermont who talks a good game, but doesn’t get a whole lot done; and many of his enthusiastic young supporters will fade from the political scene and go back to doing whatever it was before Bernie caught their eyes.

I don’t mean to be cynical, but I’ve been to this movie before.

264
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:23:26am

538 creates a graph that tries to illustrate the nature of this year’s GOP contest:

Image: wasserman-quadrant-1.png

It won’t have the impact that the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram has had, but still, it paints the US political landscape in a way that we can see how the Republicans have crafted their appeal, or not.

265
CuriousLurker  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:24:50am

re: #229 weave

I’ve been avoiding the Clinton/Sanders squabble, but that crap is a bridge too far.

266
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:26:12am

re: #229 weave

What a fucking douche. And to think I *just* got back from the polls to vote for this scumbag.

Sanders: If Clinton Wins, She’ll Have To Win Over My Supporters Herself

I swear, if I read this before I drove out there I would have switched my vote.

Why did I vote for him? Mainly because he polls better against all the Republicans and I want to win. I don’t for a moment think he’d be able to pull off what he wants.

But fuck him. Most of his supporters from whom I’ve spoken to claim they won’t vote if he doesn’t get it so I was counting on him throwing his support behind Clinton if he loses to convince them to vote. In the past he always said that Clinton was far better than the best Republican candidate so I thought he’d do the right thing…. Guess not.

Just had a chance to read that TPM article link.

I watched the Bernie Town Hall a bit last night but seeing this part in print really brings up a concern that Bernie followers should be aware goes to the man.

“We’re not a movement where I can snap my fingers and say to you or to anybody else what you should do, that you should all listen to me. You shouldn’t. You make these decisions yourself,” Sanders replied.

How does this stand against him basically campaigning on a revolution that is going to bring sweeping change? Doesn’t he basically sell people to vote for him because he can muster the power to make that change by having millions and millions of people back him?

So, on the flip side the pied-piper leader can’t snap his fingers and have his followers vote for Hillary it is up to them?

Isn’t he admitting that he also just can’t snap his fingers and have congress fall in line to accept the oncoming revolution?

I think he does admit it. If he can’t get his followers to accept that they need to vote for Hillary because it is the right thing, then he must admit he won’t be able to get congress to follow his revolution because that congress is from the other party.

It sure is a hell of a lot easier to get them to support the people that were gracious enough to allow him to use their party structure for his run than it would be for the opposition to allow him his revolution.

I’m sorry, the more this guy rattles on the more he makes me think it would not be good for him to be the Democratic nominee.

This is the epitome of the phrase “All Hat and No Cattle” and it is coming straight from his own mouth.

267
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:26:23am

re: #261 Big Beautiful Door

We simply are going to have to rethink things if the wealth this automation generates doesn’t produce other jobs for people. Even with lots of automation there should still be plenty of service and intellectual jobs available for people. We just need appropriate legislation to ensure that all the benefits of economic growth only goes to the investor class. That is one reason I think we will eventually have a universal basic income.

I work as a translator and already see that a lot of basic boring gruntwork is automated. I have to concentrate on specialist texts, especially in sales and marketing, where a creative translation is called for.

Translation software is still generally poor, but translation memory is the big thing nowadays: it simply finds examples of similar already translated texts and puts them up for you to include or amend to save time on things that repeat themselves, like a company’s annual report. “Last year we cut the workforce by X% and increased management bonuses by 3X%”

268
sagehen  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:28:25am

re: #54 TedStriker

Does Purina make Coon Chow?

///

I wouldn’t want to risk the photoshop memes that would engender.

269
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:29:16am

re: #253 Belafon

The driverless truck will mean driverless cranes and driverless forklifts and automated shelf stockers and automated farm equipment.

China has avoided a lot of automation simply to keep jobs available for its huge population. For example, the water from the tap is not considered safe to drink without boiling it first. I don’t know why, nor have I put it to the test by drinking it straight from the tap. There is an entire localized drinking water supply system in each community. Everybody has a water cooler/heater in their homes. You call a water supplier up, and someone delivers a 5L jug of purified drinking water. My supplier has at least six drivers, who bring the water on motorbikes. There are dozens of other suppliers scattered around town, each with its own army of drivers, secretaries and water purifying staff.

It’s ridiculously inefficient, but it gives a lot of people jobs. And a vast population of unemployed and uneducated workers is just asking for trouble down the road. So, it makes a certain kind of sense.

270
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:30:01am

Still trying to find evidence of the Clinton Millionaire Whore March.

Seriously, I want to make a few extra bucks for Xmas.

271
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:30:52am

re: #262 withak

One place where driverless tech might work is in a place like a port loading/unloading setting - it’s like a warehouse situation, only bigger. You can get more vehicles and more cargo moved to staging areas with less congestion and delays. But you’d need a team of workers to program and maintain all that equipment, so you change the kind of workers being employed.

272
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:33:11am

re: #271 lawhawk

One place where driverless tech might work is in a place like a port loading/unloading setting - it’s like a warehouse situation, only bigger. You can get more vehicles and more cargo moved to staging areas with less congestion and delays. But you’d need a team of workers to program and maintain all that equipment, so you change the kind of workers being employed.

One big advantage of a driverless car: you need not park it near where you are working/shopping/living. You can send it off to a garage on the outskirts of town or even send it off on errands until you need to summon it.

273
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:34:32am

re: #257 Belafon

The people cheering don’t seem to grasp that most of their jobs are going to be impacted by the same automation. And while I’m actually in favor of automating a bunch of the monotonous tasks (which humans are lousy at dealing with), our version of capitalism is not set up for a lot of out of work people.

Too many wingnuts who cheer the oncoming automation fall into one of two groups: Those who are already retired and so don’t feel they have anything to worry about and those who think their jobs are “impossible” to automate. The former doesn’t consider that the jobs lost will mean more of a drag on the economy while the industries hurt by the reduced demand will affect their stock portfolios. And the latter is either too young or too dumb to have paid attention to the mountain of jobs once considered “too complicated” or “too vital” to be done by a machine rendered obsolete by increasingly sophisticated automation.

To give an anecdotal example, my hotel is presently joining a major chain, and we’re privately marveling at a lot of the things that the chain hotels take for granted that we’re so used to doing ourselves. We’re to immediately shunt all reservations calls to a central reservations center, and will actually get fined if we don’t. Likewise all refunds have to go through accounting, when previously managers or even front desk clerks could do it themselves directly. But the big thing that spun our heads was the new RFID room locks which can be opened with smartphones using the hotel chain’s proprietary app service. I remarked to the lady training us on the new property management system that before long, they won’t need more than an automated kiosk in the lobby. To which she assured me that there’s just too much stuff that happens at a front desk that a human needs to do. I’m trying to put a list together of those tasks and most are so mundane that I can easily see their being automated in my lifetime.

274
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:34:50am

re: #270 SoundGuy 2016

Still trying to find evidence of the Clinton Millionaire Whore March.

Seriously, I want to make a few extra bucks for Xmas.

I could use a million bucks right now, or later, even. Where do I sign up?

275
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:36:44am

re: #262 withak

I’m still not convinced that driverless anything can handle severe inclement weather a) safely and b) reliably with current or even near-future tech. Until then, we’ll either have to accept that you won’t be able to use driverless services to get people or goods from point A to point B during a severe rainstorm or snowstorm, or we’ll have to rely on actual human “backup” drivers.

I’d put it the other way around, driverless vehicles with lidar and geopositioning and all the other necessary hardware an autonomous vehicle needs would do a better job of driving in bad weather than humans armed only with the Mk1 eyeball (corrected if necessary, prone to degeneration by age or illness) and decision/reflex times in the tens of milliseconds (again prone to degeneration under the influence of drugs, hormones, tiredness, age and/or stupidity).

276
BeachDem  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:37:46am

re: #266 ObserverArt

Just had a chance to read that TPM article link.

I watched the Bernie Town Hall a bit last night but seeing this part in print really brings up a concern that Bernie followers should be aware goes to the man.

This comment on that article kind of says it all:

If standing before King Solomon, Bernie would insist that the only fair outcome is to cut the baby in half.

277
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:37:58am

re: #272 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

One big advantage of a driverless car: you need not park it near where you are working/shopping/living. You can send it off to a garage on the outskirts of town or even send it off on errands until you need to summon it.

That goes to vehicle sharing and potentially reducing congestion, as well as improved efficiencies in storing cars - reducing footprints for parking garages, increasing density of urban areas since less space is needed for parking deserts. Imagine shopping malls with a fraction of the parking areas needed (which are often required based on max periods like Christmas time, and are filled to capacity rarely during the course of a year). That’s land that could go to higher and better uses, like additional shops or housing.

278
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:38:41am

re: #273 Targetpractice

… I remarked to the lady training us on the new property management system that before long, they won’t need more than an automated kiosk in the lobby. To which she assured me that there’s just too much stuff that happens at a front desk that a human needs to do. I’m trying to put a list together of those tasks and most are so mundane that I can easily see their being automated in my lifetime.

It’ll start in Japan, I’ll betcha. Complete with an eerily lifelike robo-clerk behind the counter.

279
weave  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:39:05am
“We’re not a movement where I can snap my fingers and say to you or to anybody else what you should do, that you should all listen to me. You shouldn’t. You make these decisions yourself,” Sanders replied.

No. But after he loses he could meet with Clinton, they could come out together, she could say she supports many of the same goals he does, he could tell his supporters that he’ll support her and continue to fight in Congress with her to get these things accomplished — but that can’t happen if they don’t vote for her.

He could have a big influence. Instead he’s willing to risk the Republicans sweeping everything.

280
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:39:40am

re: #275 Nojay UK

I’d put it the other way around, driverless vehicles with lidar and geopositioning and all the other necessary hardware an autonomous vehicle needs would do a better job of driving in bad weather than humans armed only with the Mk1 eyeball (corrected if necessary, prone to degeneration by age or illness) and decision/reflex times in the tens of milliseconds (again prone to degeneration under the influence of drugs, hormones, tiredness, age and/or stupidity).

One of the biggest areas of development, beyond the technology of driverless traffic, will be the questions of liability and responsibility in the event of accidents or violations.

There was a recent New Yorker cartoon that shows an officer pulling over another vehicle and asking the driver “Does your car know why my car stopped it?”.

281
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:40:04am

re: #278 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Johnny Cab.

Total Recall Johnny Cab

282
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:40:43am

re: #278 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

It’ll start in Japan, I’ll betcha. Complete with an eerily lifelike robo-clerk behind the counter.

Nah, it’ll start out on a computer screen, then eventually upgraded to holograms. Robots still haven’t cleared the Uncanny Valley hurdle yet.

283
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:41:50am

re: #281 lawhawk

Johnny Cab.

[Embedded content]

My thought exactly. Though Johnny looks more like Charlie McCarthy than the silicone-skinned robots Japan is creating.

284
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:41:58am

re: #275 Nojay UK

I’d put it the other way around, driverless vehicles with lidar and geopositioning and all the other necessary hardware an autonomous vehicle needs would do a better job of driving in bad weather than humans armed only with the Mk1 eyeball (corrected if necessary, prone to degeneration by age or illness) and decision/reflex times in the tens of milliseconds (again prone to degeneration under the influence of drugs, hormones, tiredness, age and/or stupidity).

Show me a driverless car that can handle a Minnesota snowstorm as well as a trained driver and I’ll be convinced.

285
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:42:20am

Drumpfskind, the favorite of fascist wannabes everywhere:

Donald Trump gets my backing, says Italy’s Matteo Salvini

Trump reportedly responded to Salvini’s robust support for his candidacy by declaring that he hoped the Northern League leader would be the next prime minister of Italy.

Drumpfskind has fast become the spiritual leader of the global neo-fascist movement.

286
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:42:37am

re: #275 Nojay UK

I’d put it the other way around, driverless vehicles with lidar and geopositioning and all the other necessary hardware an autonomous vehicle needs would do a better job of driving in bad weather than humans armed only with the Mk1 eyeball (corrected if necessary, prone to degeneration by age or illness) and decision/reflex times in the tens of milliseconds (again prone to degeneration under the influence of drugs, hormones, tiredness, age and/or stupidity).

Plus, the automated cars and trucks can talk to every car and truck in the immediate area, automatically slowing down in unison. It won’t be nearly as impeded by fog or other low visibility situations. Until they become fully sentient, they won’t be affected by frustration.

287
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:42:42am

re: #283 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

He was actually modeled after Robert Picardo, the actor who voiced him.

288
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:43:50am

re: #282 Targetpractice

Nah, it’ll start out on a computer screen, then eventually upgraded to holograms. Robots still haven’t cleared the Uncanny Valley hurdle yet.

There are some restaurants and bars in China and Japan experimenting with robo-waiters. They look more like R2D2 or a Dalek, though, than Alicia Vikander.

289
Dr. Matt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:44:26am

re: #229 weave

What a fucking douche. And to think I *just* got back from the polls to vote for this scumbag.

Sanders: If Clinton Wins, She’ll Have To Win Over My Supporters Herself

At least he’s finally being forth-coming about not being actual Democrat. He’s actually using the Democratic Party for his own, selfish personal ambitions….wow, what a swell guy…a true visionary….feel the berrrrrrn.

290
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:44:32am

re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg

He was actually modeled after Robert Picardo, the actor who voiced him.

LOL! I never knew that, and now I see the resemblance.

291
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:44:37am

re: #284 withak

Show me a driverless car that can handle a Minnesota snowstorm as well as a trained driver and I’ll be convinced.

Give it a few years, but, having lived here in Dallas, show me a huge number of trained drivers. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that cars couldn’t do emergency braking. It won’t be too long before it’s standard in all vehicles.

292
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:44:41am

re: #278 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

It’ll start in Japan, I’ll betcha. Complete with an eerily lifelike robo-clerk behind the counter.

I’ve stayed in Japanese salaryman hotels with a minimal staff presence (one or two Office Ladies, typically) in the lobby. The check-in terminals take credit cards as well as cash and they can read printed-out or smartphone reservation QR codes or simple text-entry of reservation codes on the screens. After that you’re on your own. Sometimes there’s a rack of pillows by the eruvatas (elevators) of varying types, from down-filled to rice-husk for you to choose from.

293
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:45:09am

If we are discussing automated transportation are we in America ever going to get freaking trains???

Wouldn’t a modern thinking and designing of trains not only move people but also be used for moving goods? If we can use global positioning to position and move vehicles can’t that be also be the same for mass people movers. And those vehicles could be multiple size and multiple use. Not only transport you but also carry packages, mail, meals, pharmaceuticals, whatever all over just as we do now.

People up front…packages in the back.

I really can see a different type of rail/concrete highway system that would be running like the street and highway systems only it is designed for automated machines with protections to keep the machines on the tracks/rails/paths.

We might get the Jetson’s yet!

294
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:45:33am

re: #289 Dr. Matt

At least he’s finally being forth-coming about not being actual Democrat. He’s actually using the Democratic Party for his own, selfish personal ambitions….wow, what a swell guy…a true visionary….feel the berrrrrrn.

Bernie is a cranky old man.

295
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:45:34am

re: #287 Eclectic Cyborg

He was actually modeled after Robert Picardo, the actor who voiced him.

Who then played the Doctor on Voyager - the emergency medical hologram system.

296
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:46:42am

re: #293 ObserverArt

If we are discussing automated transportation are we in America ever going to get freaking trains???

Wouldn’t a modern thinking and designing of trains not only move people but also be used for moving goods? If we can use global positioning to position and move vehicles can’t that be also be the same for mass people movers. And those vehicles could be multiple size and multiple use. Not only transport you but also carry packages, mail, meals, pharmaceuticals, whatever all over just as we do now.

People up front…packages in the back.

I really can see a different type of rail/concrete highway system that would be running like the street and highway systems only it is designed for automated machines with protections to keep the machines on the tracks/rails/paths.

We might get the Jetson’s yet!

Everywhere but Wisconsin.

297
Dr. Matt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:47:14am

re: #294 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Bernie is a cranky old man.

At least many cranky old men (my father included) are quite entertaining in many ways….Bernie is just coming off as a prick.

298
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:47:55am

re: #297 Dr. Matt

At least many cranky old men (my father included) are quite entertaining in many ways….Bernie is just coming off as a prick.

OK, a cranky old prick.

299
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:48:50am

re: #295 lawhawk

Who then played the Doctor on Voyager - the emergency medical hologram system.

A show I never watched during its first run. I still probably have not seen all the episodes.

300
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:49:23am

re: #291 Belafon

Give it a few years, but, having lived here in Dallas, show me a huge number of trained drivers. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that cars couldn’t do emergency braking. It won’t be too long before it’s standard in all vehicles.

Emergency braking doesn’t mean much when you suddenly don’t have any traction. I’l be leery of any vehicle I buy that has that feature, especially if I can’t turn it off.

I hope I’m not giving the wrong impression with my comments on this issue. I’m optimistic that we’ll see a significant portion of automated or semi-automated vehicles on the road in the near(ish) future. I just think there are a lot of problems that have yet to be solved, or even thought of yet, and that’s without even considering the economic and social impacts.

301
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:49:35am

re: #273 Targetpractice

The thing about your industry, the hospitality industry, is that you need hospitality. Perhaps multiple concierge vs front desk but I do not see a kiosk taking over the human aspect which translates into feel good hospitality.

This from a all-too-seasoned traveler.

302
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:49:36am

re: #279 weave

No. But after he loses he could meet with Clinton, they could come out together, she could say she supports many of the same goals he does, he could tell his supporters that he’ll support her and continue to fight in Congress with her to get these things accomplished — but that can’t happen if they don’t vote for her.

He could have a big influence. Instead he’s willing to risk the Republicans sweeping everything.

And if that is in fact the case, he really is reflected by many of the actions of his supporters.

They sure figured that all out before I did. I trusted him at his word. They understand the man.

303
Dr. Matt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:49:48am

re: #298 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

OK, a cranky old prick.

Ha!

304
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:49:52am

re: #278 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

It’ll start in Japan, I’ll betcha. Complete with an eerily lifelike robo-clerk behind the counter.

Nah, it’ll be a robo-madam in the front room of a robot brothel. It’ll happen in Japan, though, I’ll give you that.

305
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:50:24am

re: #284 withak

Show me a driverless car that can handle a Minnesota snowstorm as well as a trained driver and I’ll be convinced.

By “trained driver” you mean a 17-year old graduate of driver’s ed out at night with half a dozen empty beer cans on the floor? Or did you mean someone who got their commercial ticket twenty years ago and has been driving 30 tonnes of steel and cargo for twelve hours straight on coffee and amphetamines, two breaths away from a heart attack that will kill half a dozen people a mile down the road, weather be damned?

306
Ming5000  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:51:06am

re: #284 withak

I think the driverless car would prohibit driving in conditions that it should not be on the road. Not so with humans who think they can handle conditions and have accidents.

307
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:51:38am

re: #299 freetoken

A show I never watched during its first run. I still probably have not seen all the episodes.

It had its moments. The later seasons got more and more crowded with beings who were supposedly thousands of parsecs away, and lots of MacGuyvering to make the ship go even faster so they all wouldn’t be codgers by the time they arrived back at Earth.

308
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:52:44am

re: #301 MsJ

The thing about your industry, the hospitality industry, is that you need hospitality. Perhaps multiple concierge vs front desk but I do not see a kiosk taking over the human aspect which translates into feel good hospitality.

This from a all-too-seasoned traveler.

The flip side to that is all the industries that we were once told could never be replaced because customers wanted a “human face” which have slowly gone the way of the dodo. Wasn’t too long ago that the business world swore that online shopping would not be more than a niche because people wanted to walk into a brick-and-mortar store and talk with a sales associate in-person.

309
Reality Based Steve  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:52:57am

re: #293 ObserverArt

If we are discussing automated transportation are we in America ever going to get freaking trains???

Wouldn’t a modern thinking and designing of trains not only move people but also be used for moving goods? If we can use global positioning to position and move vehicles can’t that be also be the same for mass people movers. And those vehicles could be multiple size and multiple use. Not only transport you but also carry packages, mail, meals, pharmaceuticals, whatever all over just as we do now.

People up front…packages in the back.

I really can see a different type of rail/concrete highway system that would be running like the street and highway systems only it is designed for automated machines with protections to keep the machines on the tracks/rails/paths.

We might get the Jetson’s yet!

I LOVE the idea of trains, have had some very enjoyable ones, for most of the country they simply don’t make sense for long distance travel IMHO. The distances are too far, Amtrak runs on the freight lines, so it tends to be switched to a siding to make way for the freight.

Along things like the NE corridor, maybe SOCAL, a few other locations trains make sense for people movers in a short / medium haul framework.

Where trains should (and do) shine is moving large bulky things long distances cheaply and efficiently. I foresee a day not long off where 90% of the freight hauling from ports / Manufacturers / Distributors is done by train, with OTR trucks taking the ‘Last Mile’ of it to the destination.

That said, I remember riding the train from Seattle to St. Louis 25+ years ago (can’t be that long ago… let me check… yep…. Damn, somebody is getting almost late middle aged). Fantastic experince, and we arrived in St. Louis almost exactly on time, 24 hours late, but on time.

RBS

310
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:53:38am

re: #305 Nojay UK

By “trained driver” you mean a 17-year old graduate of driver’s ed out at night with half a dozen empty beer cans on the floor? Or did you mean someone who got their commercial ticket twenty years ago and has been driving 30 tonnes of steel and cargo for twelve hours straight on coffee and amphetamines, two breaths away from a heart attack that will kill half a dozen people a mile down the road, weather be damned?

Well maybe it could be a automated truck that can be hacked and ran into oncoming traffic killing many.

311
wrenchwench  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:54:20am

It f’ing snowed here this morning. Supposed to get up to 70 degrees F tomorrow. 80 the week after.

312
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:54:25am

re: #301 MsJ

The thing about your industry, the hospitality industry, is that you need hospitality. Perhaps multiple concierge vs front desk but I do not see a kiosk taking over the human aspect which translates into feel good hospitality.

This from a all-too-seasoned traveler.

I agree with you, as a fellow traveler, but there are some situations where a person just needs a bed and toilet, like Japan’s capsule hotels, not an entire staff of hospitality workers.

Me, I’d rather talk to a person behind the desk, because they know stuff.

313
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:55:07am

re: #258 Targetpractice

“You lazy liberals need to get out there and get a job! Earn your keep! Don’t come looking to me for a handout!”

*following day*

“The boss just announced that most of our jobs are moving overseas to be worked by foreigners that get paid pocket change! And the jobs that aren’t moving are being changed over to machines! They gave my job away to foreigners/machines! DAMNED LIBERALS!”

Baby Whiplash is beside himself, he can’t wait for it to happen yesterday.

314
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:55:29am

re: #296 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

Everywhere but Wisconsin.

And Ohio.

That has frustrated me and some friends for years. A super train from Cincinnati to Cleveland would be just like our old State Route 3 or the 3C highway. It runs and connects Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. Side runs could cover many other Ohio cities easily. I would love nothing more than to be able to get on a train and go to a sportsball game or concert and be able to party and not have to worry about driving, etc.

315
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:55:31am

re: #305 Nojay UK

By “trained driver” you mean a 17-year old graduate of driver’s ed out at night with half a dozen empty beer cans on the floor? Or did you mean someone who got their commercial ticket twenty years ago and has been driving 30 tonnes of steel and cargo for twelve hours straight on coffee and amphetamines, two breaths away from a heart attack that will kill half a dozen people a mile down the road, weather be damned?

Yes, because those are typical drivers, right?

As I noted above, I’m not anti-driverless car. The benefits to society far outweigh the negatives. I just think it’s further out than we all think.

re: #306 Ming5000

I think the driverless car would prohibit driving in conditions that it should not be on the road. Not so with humans who think they can handle conditions and have accidents.

“Should not be on the road” happens quite frequently to those of us that live in the north. It can even change while you are already on the road. If everything is driverless, do we just stay home? I agree, that answer should just be “yes,” but there will be significant social and economic pushbacks and changes necessary.

As someone said above, this ain’t going to happen overnight, and not without significant growing pains.

316
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:56:05am

“It” - our coming automata overlords - will start in … brothels.

That’s right, you heard it here.

Once robots are good enough imitations of humans, the obvious use is for sex.

And being free from disease, they will be “safe”.

Also, not being human, it will technically not be prostitution.

Thus the robot brothels will proliferate, and the demand will drive the R&D into improving the technology.

317
sagehen  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:56:24am

re: #180 S’latch

… (not to mention those who don’t trust Hillary Clinton whose persona in my opinion comes off as almost Nixonian.)

Nixonian? As in the same Nixon who signed EPA, OSHA, Title IX, Title X, whose proposed health care plan was to the left of Obamacare, who supported a universal basic income, who saved Israel’s ass in 1973?

I’m okay with that Nixon. I’ve never met any Cambodians anyway, they’re an abstraction compared to a flaming Cuyahoga.

318
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:56:52am

re: #313 The Vicious Babushka

Ben Shapiro’s tweets could be automated. It’s not like he has anything original to say.

319
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:57:14am

re: #316 freetoken

We’ve already seen the future. Because the Internet is for Porn.

Porn porn porn….

320
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:57:31am

I think we’re likely to see drone trucks before we’ll see totally automated ones. By which I mean something like the Air Force’s use of drones with pilots thousands of miles away. You’ll get centers built in a handful of locales where drivers will come in, drive “their” rig for a shift,then hand off to another driver who will either finish the trip or switch to a new rig. Thus you have a “human-in-the-loop” but can totally design trucks to little more than a motor, a box of electronics, and wheels.

321
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:58:20am

re: #319 lawhawk

We’ve already seen the future. Because the Internet is for Porn.

Porn porn porn….

But not in Utah.

322
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:58:37am

re: #309 Reality Based Steve

Where trains should (and do) shine is moving large bulky things long distances cheaply and efficiently. I foresee a day not long off where 90% of the freight hauling from ports / Manufacturers / Distributors is done by train, with OTR trucks taking the ‘Last Mile’ of it to the destination.
RBS

They do that already. There’s just so much of it that needs “Last Mile” on the road and it’s in front of you on the highway. The real mass-mover in the US is rail anyway, stuff like hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal getting transported thousands of miles from the mines to the power stations around the country — the Labadie power station complex near St. Louis goes through about ten million tonnes a year and that’s just one consumer. What you see on the roads is a fraction of the freight moved every day.

323
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 8:59:47am

re: #316 freetoken

“It” - our coming automata overlords - will start in … brothels.

That’s right, you heard it here.

Once robots are good enough imitations of humans, the obvious use is for sex.

And being free from disease, they will be “safe”.

Also, not being human, it will technically not be prostitution.

Thus the robot brothels will proliferate, and the demand will drive the R&D into improving the technology.

Except in Utah, where they will be designated as “tools of pornographic gratification” and banned like Ted Cruz tried to do with dildos.

There is no Constitutional right to have your genitals stimulated by an android…

324
b_sharp  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:00:24am

re: #262 withak

I’m still not convinced that driverless anything can handle severe inclement weather a) safely and b) reliably with current or even near-future tech. Until then, we’ll either have to accept that you won’t be able to use driverless services to get people or goods from point A to point B during a severe rainstorm or snowstorm, or we’ll have to rely on actual human “backup” drivers.

I’m not convinced that human drivers can handle severe inclement weather.

325
b_sharp  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:01:39am

re: #284 withak

Show me a driverless car that can handle a Minnesota snowstorm as well as a trained driver and I’ll be convinced.

How many trained drivers are there on the road?

326
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:01:54am

The projection here is so huge, it makes IMAX look like kid’s play.

These folks seem to ignore Reagan’s reception. Or Ike. Or JFK.

Or any number of 19th Century presidents who traveled by caravans of wagons, trains, and later cars/buses. It was a whole lot easier to do it back then too.

327
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:02:45am

re: #323 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Except in Utah, where they will be designated as “tools of pornographic gratification” and banned like Ted Cruz tried to do with dildos.

There is no Constitutional right to have your genitals stimulated by an android…

“Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Naked Now (#1.2)” (1987)
Lt. Tasha Yar: What I want now is gentleness. And joy… and love. From you, Data; you are fully functional, aren’t you?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Of course, but…
Lt. Tasha Yar: How fully?
Lt. Cmdr. Data: In every way, of course. I am programed in multiple techniques. A broad variety of pleasuring.
Lt. Tasha Yar: Oh! You jewel, that’s exactly what I hoped!

He gives a similar line to the Borg Queen, as well.

328
b_sharp  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:03:03am

re: #322 Nojay UK

Where trains should (and do) shine is moving large bulky things long distances cheaply and efficiently. I foresee a day not long off where 90% of the freight hauling from ports / Manufacturers / Distributors is done by train, with OTR trucks taking the ‘Last Mile’ of it to the destination.
RBS

They do that already. There’s just so much of it that needs “Last Mile” on the road and it’s in front of you on the highway. The real mass-mover in the US is rail anyway, stuff like hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal getting transported thousands of miles from the mines to the power stations around the country — the Labadie power station complex near St. Louis goes through about ten million tonnes a year and that’s just one consumer. What you see on the roads is a fraction of the freight moved every day.

Trains have lost most of their use to trucks on the highway. Rail tracks are being abandoned. At least here in Canada.

329
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:05:41am

5 states up for grabs, 384 delegates, Clinton leading in most polls/states. Today should put her in striking distance.

Getting popcorn.

330
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:05:43am

re: #324 b_sharp

I’m not convinced that human drivers can handle severe inclement weather.

No argument from me. Every year, some portion of Minnesota drivers forget how to handle snow during the first severe snowfall.

re: #325 b_sharp

How many trained drivers are there on the road?

Not enough, and nor are they trained well enough, but that’s kind of beside my point, which I don’t really feel like restating again.

331
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:06:49am

eejit

332
Stanley Sea  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:07:07am

re: #273 Targetpractice

Too many wingnuts who cheer the oncoming automation fall into one of two groups: Those who are already retired and so don’t feel they have anything to worry about and those who think their jobs are “impossible” to automate. The former doesn’t consider that the jobs lost will mean more of a drag on the economy while the industries hurt by the reduced demand will affect their stock portfolios. And the latter is either too young or too dumb to have paid attention to the mountain of jobs once considered “too complicated” or “too vital” to be done by a machine rendered obsolete by increasingly sophisticated automation.

To give an anecdotal example, my hotel is presently joining a major chain, and we’re privately marveling at a lot of the things that the chain hotels take for granted that we’re so used to doing ourselves. We’re to immediately shunt all reservations calls to a central reservations center, and will actually get fined if we don’t. Likewise all refunds have to go through accounting, when previously managers or even front desk clerks could do it themselves directly. But the big thing that spun our heads was the new RFID room locks which can be opened with smartphones using the hotel chain’s proprietary app service. I remarked to the lady training us on the new property management system that before long, they won’t need more than an automated kiosk in the lobby. To which she assured me that there’s just too much stuff that happens at a front desk that a human needs to do. I’m trying to put a list together of those tasks and most are so mundane that I can easily see their being automated in my lifetime.

My experience recently at Kaiser Permanente: show up at building, go to kiosk & swipe your card. Your appt comes up, you swipe your debit card to pay the deductible. Go to waiting room & be called. Staff has received notice you are there with your swipe.

No front desk needed. And hell, I sat down for less than 1 minute before being called! I am so impressed by the efficiency.

333
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:07:33am

re: #328 b_sharp

Trains have lost most of their use to trucks on the highway. Rail tracks are being abandoned. At least here in Canada.

US DOT data map
rita.dot.gov

334
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:07:36am

Besides, there’s going to be somebody (companies, insurers, advocacy groups) who will insist for the first few years of “driverless” trucks that a human be kept in the loop. Just as the military presently does not totally automate drones, even though manufacturers are working hard to make their products totally automated down to landing on aircraft carriers, a task as challenging if not more so than driving a tractor trailer in the midst of a snowstorm. So don’t expect to see totally “driverless” trucks plying the highways in the immediate future. They’ll start out in city centers to begin with, where the lower speeds and tighter restrictions make the precision and efficiency of a totally automated delivery truck more appealing.

335
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:07:51am

re: #229 weave

What a fucking douche. And to think I *just* got back from the polls to vote for this scumbag.

Sanders: If Clinton Wins, She’ll Have To Win Over My Supporters Herself

I swear, if I read this before I drove out there I would have switched my vote.

Why did I vote for him? Mainly because he polls better against all the Republicans and I want to win. I don’t for a moment think he’d be able to pull off what he wants.

But fuck him. Most of his supporters from whom I’ve spoken to claim they won’t vote if he doesn’t get it so I was counting on him throwing his support behind Clinton if he loses to convince them to vote. In the past he always said that Clinton was far better than the best Republican candidate so I thought he’d do the right thing…. Guess not.

I hope Clinton cleans Sanders clock on all the primaries today.

336
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:09:27am

‘Hey guys, oh, my bad.’

337
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:09:27am

re: #315 withak

Going by the tens of thousands of deaths each year on America’s roads, a large number of which are attributable to the effects of alcohol, I’d say that kind of driver is not unknown.

Young inexperienced drivers have accidents out of proportion to their numbers. I recall staying with friends in an affluent suburb north of Atlanta. The girl across the street got a shiny new red pickup truck for her 16th birthday. Ten days later it was parked up in the driveway, the front smashed in where she had come off the road going way too fast and hit a lamp standard. She wasn’t badly hurt thanks to seatbelts, airbags and awesome structural engineers in the vehicle’s design team and nobody else got hit, so it didn’t count towards the slaughter total, it was just a no-fault accident that an autonomous vehicle wouldn’t have been in.

338
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:10:07am

re: #335 Tigger2

I hope Clinton cleans Sanders clock on all the primaries today.

Establishment Whore Fist Bump

339
wrenchwench  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:10:53am

Zager And Evans - In The Year 2525

340
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:12:26am

re: #339 wrenchwench

Still among the prime examples of “One Hit Wonders”.

341
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:12:35am

re: #337 Nojay UK

Going by the tens of thousands of deaths each year on America’s roads, a large number of which are attributable to the effects of alcohol, I’d say that kind of driver is not unknown.

Young inexperienced drivers have accidents out of proportion to their numbers. I recall staying with friends in an affluent suburb north of Atlanta. The girl across the street got a shiny new red pickup truck for her 16th birthday. Ten days later it was parked up in the driveway, the front smashed in where she had come off the road going way too fast and hit a lamp standard. She wasn’t badly hurt thanks to seatbelts, airbags and awesome structural engineers in the vehicle’s design team and nobody else got hit, so it didn’t count towards the slaughter total, it was just a no-fault accident that an autonomous vehicle wouldn’t have been in.

I’m really not disagreeing with you, or anyone else, on any of this.

Did I accidentally mistype zomg teh driverless cars are bad and going to kill everyones!!!1111 somewhere?

Meh, time for lunch.

342
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:12:45am
343
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:13:05am

More freight stats, 2011, from Wikipedia

Billions of tonne-miles and % of total, by mode
Truck 2,337 40.24%
Rail 1,518 26.13%
Water 434 7.47%

en.wikipedia.org

I only quoted the top three modes.

344
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:13:34am

BTW, that song and many, many others are being aggressively scrubbed off the internet (and I do search for these things.)

Yet somehow Youtube gets a pass (except by the Japanese when they want to get pushy.)

Google - I think there is a conspiracy at work here.

345
SoundGuy 2016  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:14:29am

I’ve been wondering if I should even try and find corroboration of all the Clinton Cash reports by Bernie Bots. Last night there was rumors going around Clintonistas shut down Facebook Bernie sites.. which miraculously came back a few minutes later because ‘We Fought Back!’

Mass delusion.

346
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:14:59am

re: #344 freetoken

BTW, that song and many, many others are being aggressively scrubbed off the internet (and I do search for these things.)

Yet somehow Youtube gets a pass (except by the Japanese when they want to get pushy.)

Google - I think there is a conspiracy at work here.

I cannot get it here in Germany because GEMA (The German ASCAP) is very strict about such things.

347
b_sharp  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:15:18am

re: #330 withak

No argument from me. Every year, some portion of Minnesota drivers forget how to handle snow during the first severe snowfall.

Not enough, and nor are they trained well enough, but that’s kind of beside my point, which I don’t really feel like restating again.

You pitted trained drivers against what are essentially robotically driven vehicles. You made the point that they would not hold up well compared to those trained drivers. I agree, but my point is that currently there are very few trained drivers on the road & that self drive vehicles are likely to be as good if not better than the average driver. If that’s the case then safety will not decrease.

348
weave  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:15:23am

re: #335 Tigger2

I hope Clinton cleans Sanders clock on all the primaries today.

The last time I regretted a vote a few hours after casting it was 1984 when I voted for Reagan.

349
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:16:00am

re: #339 wrenchwench

[Embedded content]

Video

I never understood why that song ever became a hit. It’s kinda just…there, and really doesn’t say anything.

350
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:17:31am

re: #349 makeitstop

I never understood why that song ever became a hit. It’s kinda just…there, and really doesn’t say anything.

It was the golden age of the singer/songwriter and they dug songs that had some attempt at social commentary…

351
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:18:34am

re: #345 SoundGuy 2016

I’ve been wondering if I should even try and find corroboration of all the Clinton Cash reports by Bernie Bots. Last night there was rumors going around Clintonistas shut down Facebook Bernie sites.. which miraculously came back a few minutes later because ‘We Fought Back!’

Mass delusion.

There’s a diary on Kos about that and a lot of the comments sound like they came from infowars. Alex Jones would be proud of some of the comments.

352
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:18:34am

re: #344 freetoken

BTW, that song and many, many others are being aggressively scrubbed off the internet (and I do search for these things.)

Yet somehow Youtube gets a pass (except by the Japanese when they want to get pushy.)

Google - I think there is a conspiracy at work here.

I found it on music.baidu.com, but if you visit that site from outside China it will say it doesn’t have the rights to share the music internationally. LOL

baidu has the entire Zager & Evans oeuvre, it seems.
music.baidu.com

353
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:18:58am

re: #349 makeitstop

1969 - the entire culture was shedding its skin like a snake in spring, and songs which addressed the cultural change pushed people’s buttons.

I’d argue that it was the high water mark, as far as pop music being more than just pretty tunes, and being more akin to art (i.e., addressed the nature of the human condition.)

354
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:19:34am

re: #308 Targetpractice

The flip side to that is all the industries that we were once told could never be replaced because customers wanted a “human face” which have slowly gone the way of the dodo. Wasn’t too long ago that the business world swore that online shopping would not be more than a niche because people wanted to walk into a brick-and-mortar store and talk with a sales associate in-person.

Understood (although I loved online shopping from day one). But after traveling, going through the TSA feel up at the airport, sitting in cattle coach…schlepping your stuff from the airport to a car rental facility or into a taxi to make a trek to the hotel…we want someone who can give us what we want, be it a room away from the ice machine or elevator or a first floor or what have you.

I had opportunities to use a kiosk at the O’Hare Hilton. I hated it. At least with a person I can ensure everything I need is done the first time and I don’t have to dick around with a finicky machine.

The thing I hate more than anything is to have traveled 10 hours to finally make it to my room, which is on the other side of the hotel, far, far from the front desk and have the key not work. And when that happens I take out my trusty phone, call the human at the front desk and ask them to bring me a functional key. I don’t travel as much as I used to, but even now I tend to be at the higher level of loyalty in the various rewards programs. The last thing they want is to lose someone like me. And I believe, correct me if I am wrong, that business travelers still make up the lion’s share of business at hotels.

355
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:19:59am

re: #352 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

I

baidu has the entire Zager & Evans oeuvre, it seems.

A sum total of … um… one hit.

356
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:20:00am

re: #343 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

More freight stats, 2011, from Wikipedia

Billions of tonne-miles and % of total, by mode
Truck 2,337 40.24%
Rail 1,518 26.13%
Water 434 7.47%

en.wikipedia.org

I only quoted the top three modes.

~.73 tonne/light-year between them!

357
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:20:20am

re: #345 SoundGuy 2016

I’ve been wondering if I should even try and find corroboration of all the Clinton Cash reports by Bernie Bots. Last night there was rumors going around Clintonistas shut down Facebook Bernie sites.. which miraculously came back a few minutes later because ‘We Fought Back!’

Mass delusion.

Their persecution complex is getting tiresome.

358
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:20:26am

re: #349 makeitstop

I never understood why that song ever became a hit. It’s kinda just…there, and really doesn’t say anything.

This is another one-hit-wonder of the era, almost indistinguishable from Z&E

the days of pearly spencer David McWilliams

359
b_sharp  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:20:35am

re: #333 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

US DOT data map
rita.dot.gov

That doesn’t tell us whether rail traffic is going up, down or is stable. It does tell us that most freight goes by truck.

360
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:21:00am

re: #356 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

~.73 tonne/light-year between them!

Nothing like doing the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, though.

361
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:21:32am

re: #312 wheat-dogghazi-mailgate

I agree with you, as a fellow traveler, but there are some situations where a person just needs a bed and toilet, like Japan’s capsule hotels, not an entire staff of hospitality workers.

Me, I’d rather talk to a person behind the desk, because they know stuff.

The day a business traveler stays at a capsule hotel is the day that travel no longer occurs. :-)

362
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:22:33am

re: #355 freetoken

A sum total of … um… one hit.

They apparently had other songs. Who knew?

363
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:23:28am

re: #335 Tigger2

364
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:23:46am

re: #335 Tigger2

I hope Clinton cleans Sanders clock on all the primaries today.

I would like that too. I want Bernie to see loud and clear he’s losing and if it happens in five reliable Democratic states, all the better.

365
wheat-dogghazi-mailgate  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:25:41am

re: #364 HappyWarrior

I would like that too. I want Bernie to see loud and clear he’s losing and if it happens in five reliable Democratic states, all the better.

I’ll hopefully get that news soon after I awake in the morning. I get to sleep while America votes.

Remember to vote early and vote often!

366
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:25:54am

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

367
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:26:05am

re: #354 MsJ

Understood (although I loved online shopping from day one). But after traveling, going through the TSA feel up at the airport, sitting in cattle coach…schlepping your stuff from the airport to a car rental facility or into a taxi to make a trek to the hotel…we want someone who can give us what we want, be it a room away from the ice machine or elevator or a first floor or what have you.

I had opportunities to use a kiosk at the O’Hare Hilton. I hated it. At least with a person I can ensure everything I need is done the first time and I don’t have to dick around with a finicky machine.

The thing I hate more than anything is to have traveled 10 hours to finally make it to my room, which is on the other side of the hotel, far, far from the front desk and have the key not work. And when that happens I take out my trusty phone, call the human at the front desk and ask them to bring me a functional key. I don’t travel as much as I used to, but even now I tend to be at the higher level of loyalty in the various rewards programs. The last thing they want is to lose someone like me. And I believe, correct me if I am wrong, that business travelers still make up the lion’s share of business at hotels.

They do, and the bolded is one of the scenarios I’m talking about. At my hotel starting later this year, you wouldn’t have needed to schlep all the way back to the desk for a new key. If you have a smartphone, you could just pull up the hotel chain’s app, access your reservation, and then use its wifi capability to unlock your door. That’s assuming something went wrong with the RFID chip in your room key. If neither option works, then odds are there’s something wrong with the door lock and maintenance will need to be called up to fix it.

Hell, in this scenario, you can even skip most of the check-in process. Just arrive at the hotel, pull up the app with your reservation, verify that you’ve arrived and are checking in remotely, then go to your room and open the door with your phone. You never have to see a human unless you want to. And if you’re a “preferred guest” with the chain, then they’ll even have your likes and preferences in their database and have it all set up for your arrival hours in advance. No need to call down to the desk for extra pillows because they’ll already be sitting on the bed.

368
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:26:32am

re: #332 Stanley Sea

My experience recently at Kaiser Permanente: show up at building, go to kiosk & swipe your card. Your appt comes up, you swipe your debit card to pay the deductible. Go to waiting room & be called. Staff has received notice you are there with your swipe.

No front desk needed. And hell, I sat down for less than 1 minute before being called! I am so impressed by the efficiency.

I would love that. But that is about as 180 degrees from hospitality as I can think of.

369
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:28:03am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

[Embedded content]

And then the GOP needs to deny Trump the nomination, and he needs to run as another third-party candidate…then something would happen, I’m not sure what./

370
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:28:06am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

[Embedded content]

Trump’s going for the Sanders supporters votes.

371
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:29:17am

re: #350 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

re: #353 freetoken

Points taken. Still, it just never did anything for me. Same with ‘Eve of Destruction’ - I just found both songs to be preachy and hard to listen to.

(And speaking of ‘Eve of Destruction’ - even worse than that was the ‘answer song,’ called ‘Dawn of Redemption.’ I went looking and it’s not on Youtube. Prolly for the best.)

372
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:29:48am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

DT has stopped making any 3rd Party noises for the time being.

373
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:30:42am

re: #367 Targetpractice

They do, and the bolded is one of the scenarios I’m talking about. At my hotel starting later this year, you wouldn’t have needed to schlep all the way back to the desk for a new key. If you have a smartphone, you could just pull up the hotel chain’s app, access your reservation, and then use its wifi capability to unlock your door. That’s assuming something went wrong with the RFID chip in your room key. If neither option works, then odds are there’s something wrong with the door lock and maintenance will need to be called up to fix it.

Hell, in this scenario, you can even skip most of the check-in process. Just arrive at the hotel, pull up the app with your reservation, verify that you’ve arrived and are checking in remotely, then go to your room and open the door with your phone. You never have to see a human unless you want to. And if you’re a “preferred guest” with the chain, then they’ll even have your likes and preferences in their database and have it all set up for your arrival hours in advance. No need to call down to the desk for extra pillows because they’ll already be sitting on the bed.

I am completely intrigued by this technology.

05t+wMKQtwjHeYrQHLD92q0ICCz5+E2urGyggTarchUxgC5ZMtmfURdNNIOYr/SsPBXfYNgpOeOxChUEtrp5tkcBAjOCA/y1

374
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:31:40am
375
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:32:15am

re: #371 makeitstop

Points taken. Still, it just never did anything for me. Same with ‘Eve of Destruction’ - I just found both songs to be preachy and hard to listen to.

(And speaking of ‘Eve of Destruction’ - even worse than that was the ‘answer song,’ called ‘Dawn of Redemption.’ I went looking and it’s not on Youtube. Prolly for the best.)

The ultimate answer from Neil Innes: “Protest Song”

“I’ve suffered for my music. Now it’s your turn.”

376
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:33:03am

re: #371 makeitstop

Barry McGuire continued his musical career for years with a religious gimmick.

There was a preachy element to much of the music of the time. Ironic, that in an attempt to get away from organized religion (among the Vietnam war, racism, etc.) that the popular singers were turning into preachers.

377
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:33:57am
378
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:34:12am

Much of the music of the time was still mindless escapism of course, or just the tried and true love song.

379
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:35:45am

re: #376 freetoken

Barry McGuire continued his musical career for years with a religious gimmick.

There was a preachy element to much of the music of the time. Ironic, that in an attempt to get away from organized religion (among the Vietnam war, racism, etc.) that the popular singers were turning into preachers.

C’mon: This was my absolute favorite Neil Diamond song:

Brother Love’s Travellin’ Salvation Show

380
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:36:27am

re: #373 MsJ

I am completely intrigued by this technology.

[Embedded content]

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381
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:37:36am

…

382
freetoken  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:38:20am

re: #377 Backwoods_Sleuth

Thing is, and I’m hardly an expert at this, Chyna really not was into the hard core bump taking. She was more a personality, part of the circus-freak-show aspect of WWE. Obits claim that her problems really started when WWE kicked her to the curb, when her boyfriend (and part of her act) dumped her for Vince McMahon’s daughter (and those two eventually got married and the guy is now a VP of the company.)

If so, then she was messed up more from a broken heart than from a busted up skull.

383
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:39:32am

Wait, wait, wait…

That ‘answer song?’ I had the title wrong it was called ‘Dawn of Correction,’ and it is on Youtube.

They must have used every word in the English language that ended with the syllables ‘—ation.’ LOL. It’s as bad as I remembered it.

Dawn of Correction by the Spokesmen

384
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:40:56am

re: #382 freetoken

More than likely, but she did take her share of chair shots and bumps to the head. I think research on her brain will help scientists learn more about how early the condition can onset and how it presents itself in those who haven’t had quite as physical a career as others.

I’m obviously hoping the results come back negative.

385
Franklin  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:41:24am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

[Embedded content]

Trump is tricky. Throwing in exclamation points where you would least expect them.

I always get to the end of his tweets and realize, in my head as I read, I was supposed to be excited!

386
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:42:18am

re: #385 Franklin

Some comedian should do a bit where Trump talks the way he tweets, grammar and all.

387
Jenner7  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:42:31am

lol What?

388
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:42:52am

re: #385 Franklin

[Embedded content]

Trump is tricky. Throwing in exclamation points where you would least expect them.

I always get to the end of his tweets and realize, in my head as I read, I was supposed to be excited!

He sounds scared.

389
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:44:00am

re: #380 Targetpractice

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

390
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:44:22am

re: #387 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

lol What?

Delusions of grandeur, lefty style.

391
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:44:45am

re: #387 Jenner7

I think that movie was on Channel 12 last night…

392
ObserverArt  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:45:00am

Back tonight for the returns on today’s voting. It will be interesting to see how close the polling was compared to the results in these states. I have a feeling some of the revelations of the last few weeks will figure in and maybe make the polling inaccurate. Later!

393
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:46:06am

re: #387 Jenner7

In 2012, I was arrested for trying to enter the @debates & held in a dark site with 16 guards.

You have 16 guards, and what do you get? :)

394
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:46:44am

re: #387 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

lol What?

oh dear…

395
withak  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:46:54am

re: #393 makeitstop

You have 16 guards, and what do you get? :)

Another day older and deeper in derp

396
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:46:59am

Snerk:

Today Is Clinton’s Chance To End The ‘Groundhog Day’ Campaign

397
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:47:08am

re: #388 HappyWarrior

He sounds scared.

My thought, too. He suddenly sees the necessity of splitting the Dem vote.

398
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:48:20am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

A Bernie supporter!

399
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:48:40am

re: #389 MsJ

[Embedded content]

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

400
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:49:17am

re: #396 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Snerk:

Today Is Clinton’s Chance To End The ‘Groundhog Day’ Campaign

Bern…I got you Bern…I got you Bern…

401
MsJ  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:49:42am

Meeting time. BBIAB

402
sagehen  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:50:10am

upworthy.com

To call Sweden, dial +46 771 793 336

That’s right, a phone number for the entire country. Call it, and you’ll get connected to “a random Swede” with whom you can talk about anything: IKEA, meatballs, gummy fish … seriously, anything.

It was created by the Swedish Tourist Association to help spread information about the general awesomeness of Sweden and its people, much like they did back in 2011, when they handed off Sweden’s official Twitter account to be managed by ordinary citizens.

403
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:50:11am

re: #387 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

lol What?

So you tried to push your way past the security (read: Secret Service) at a private function in order to muscle your way into the body politic and you’re surprised that you got hauled off like a terrorist?

They’re not scared of you, Jill. They think you’re a nut.

404
No Depression  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:50:48am

re: #387 Jenner7

[Embedded content]

lol What?

Yeah, because the system is soooo scared of a 3rd party candidate that has no shot in hell of being elected.

405
b.d.  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:51:19am

re: #366 The Vicious Babushka

LOL Someone wants Bernie to run 3rd party==>

[Embedded content]

I would have assumed that Donald would court the legion of butthurt BernieBros rather encourage their fruitless quest.

oh well….

406
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:51:49am

re: #383 makeitstop

Wait, wait, wait…

That ‘answer song?’ I had the title wrong it was called ‘Dawn of Correction,’ and it is on Youtube.

They must have used every word in the English language that ended with the syllables ‘—ation.’ LOL. It’s as bad as I remembered it.

[Embedded content]

Video

Christ, that is classic…an obvious inspiration for Bob Roberts

407
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:53:10am

re: #394 Backwoods_Sleuth

oh dear…

Luckily, we haven’t needed that person’s vote.

408
Kragar  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:54:04am
409
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:56:07am

The People’s View put up what I consider a very clear answer to the legions of Bernie Bros threatening to stay home or vote third party in November:

Do What You Want: An Open Letter to the Bernie or Bust Movement on Behalf of the Democratic Party

Won’t quote it in its entirety, but the beginning gives you an idea:

Dear Friends,

Over the past month, you’ve been in the news quite often for your political stance in which you’ve stated that the only candidate you will support this election cycle is Senator Bernie Sanders. This stance has drawn a range of reactions from people like Huffington Post’s H. A. Goodman that support your dedication to your candidate to those like political comedian Bill Maher who have advised you to “not be assholes.” Despite Bernie Sanders’ recent willingness to support Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee if certain conditions are met, a number of you have continued your stance to support Sanders and Sanders alone. Polls have come out showing that you represent one-quarter of Senator Sanders’ supporters. If we were to extrapolate that number out, it would mean over 2 million Democratic voters would be sitting out the 2016 general election, potentially creating an extremely close race or even a Republican victory. With so much at stake, you all are probably tired of all the advice you’ve been given so I’ll do my best to cut to the heart of what I’d like you to know:

The Democratic Party doesn’t want or need your vote.

410
Skip Intro  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:59:21am

Dr. Sleepy woke up today to say “Harriet Tubman would likely be turning over in her grave if she knew she would be the new face of American debt slavery,

talkingpointsmemo.com

411
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 9:59:36am

re: #370 Tigger2

Trump’s going for the Sanders supporters votes.

He’s got this one:

412
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:00:11am

re: #409 Targetpractice

If we were to extrapolate that number out, it would mean over 2 million Democratic voters would be sitting out the 2016 general election,

Except that most of them (if not all) are not.

413
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:00:34am

re: #409 Targetpractice

Yeah, but you have to include the next paragraph:

Oh, but it’s not Hillary’s policies you don’t like but it’s the person? Odds are you’ve come to trust Bernie and not Hillary. Well then you’d be surprised to learn that Hillary is the most honest candidate running according to Pulitzer-prize winning politifact.org. In fact, journalist Jill Abramson, who has frequently investigated Hillary Clinton for her alleged scandals, reached the conclusions that she is “fundamentally honest.” A lot of what you hear about Hillary Clinton is unfortunately based off of twenty-five years of Republican smears. That whole issue of Goldman Sachs speeches? Started by none other than Glenn Greenwald’s The Intercept. Hillary’s “superpredators” comment? That quote was taken out of context from a speech Hillary gave in Keene, New Hampshire. Her ties to big banks on Wall Street? Contributions for this presidential cycle actually shows that the big banks simply aren’t contributing large amounts to her campaign. Her big money fundraisers? That money actually is raised to help elect down-ballot candidates. Her excessive use of super PACs? Members of Hillary’s own super PAC are saving $70 million for the general election because they know they will need every single cent to compete with Karl Rove and other big wig Republicans who will stop at nothing to bring her down.

414
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:00:47am

re: #411 The Vicious Babushka

There is no way I am ever voting for HRC. I am not up for another war, more corruption, deal-making. No trust.

No words to deal with this sort of navel gazing hyperbole…

415
Skip Intro  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:01:07am

Elsewhere the Republican candidate for Attorney General of North Carolina said “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight”

huffingtonpost.com

416
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:01:21am

re: #408 Kragar

[Embedded content]

I suspect he’ll come around but I’ve lost all respect for him. He’s shown himself to be a whiny brat and the poster child for why the left fails. Bernie’s social station isn’t going to be adversely effected by a President Trump/Cruz/Kasich but many others including those he claims to represent will be and for that I say get over yourself you hypocritical asshole.

417
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:01:30am
418
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:01:50am

re: #413 Belafon

Yeah, but you have to include the next paragraph:

Well really the whole thing (from beginning to end) is a gut-punch aimed at every Bernie Bro talking point. But I included the beginning to give an idea of the general tone.

419
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:01:54am

re: #411 The Vicious Babushka

He’s got this one:

[Embedded content]

she sounds nice:

420
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:02:16am

re: #411 The Vicious Babushka

He’s got this one:

[Embedded content]

These people don’t deserve liberalism’s benefits if they’re going go constantly bitch.

421
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:02:21am

re: #356 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

~.73 tonne/light-year between them!

The key differentiator I was aiming for was bulk freight, moving stuff like oil, coal, chemicals, limestone, gravel, cement etc. from producer to plant. A lot of that sort of heavy materials is transported long distances by rail because it is not cost-effective shipping it by road. 20 tonnes of coal is worth less than a thousand bucks and shipping it a thousand miles by truck would more than double its price but rail can move that sort of load for cents a mile. What rail can’t do is reverse up to a loading dock in a Walmart out in the boonies and offload twenty thousand bucks worth of Chinese-made gas-fired BBQs, and that’s what’s in the 18-weeler wheeler in front of you on the interstate.

422
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:02:47am

re: #419 Backwoods_Sleuth

she sounds nice:

[Embedded content]

She sounds right wing with that shit.

423
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:02:58am

re: #416 HappyWarrior

I suspect he’ll come around but I’ve lost all respect for him. He’s shown himself to be a whiny brat and the poster child for why the left fails. Bernie’s social station isn’t going to be adversely effected by a President Trump/Cruz/Kasich but many others including those he claims to represent will be and for that I say get over yourself you hypocritical asshole.

Sanders is like a lot of his surrogates, namely he’ll get more attention and make bigger headlines opposing a Trump presidency than he will a Clinton one.

424
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:03:24am

re: #419 Backwoods_Sleuth

The Vagina Monologues has crept into the campaign. HRC promising 50% of candidates will be women. Affirmative Action run amok!

Hard to tell which end of the political spectrum her flitting brain haunts…

425
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:04:46am

re: #423 Targetpractice

Sanders is like a lot of his surrogates, namely he’ll get more attention and make bigger headlines opposing a Trump presidency than he will a Clinton one.

Very true. I’ve had it with this guy. He has no clue what running a country entails and I’m glad most Democrats see that.

426
No Depression  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:05:16am

re: #414 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

No words to deal with this sort of navel gazing hyperbole…

I have the perfect words for this: “Get your head out of your ass.”

427
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:06:14am

Hillary isn’t a real Democrat rabble rabble so we’re going to write in Bernie or Stein who have done little for the Democratic Party if anything at all.

428
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:07:21am
429
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:07:48am

re: Backwoods_Sleuth

she sounds nice:

[Embedded content]

430
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:09:28am

The shame of it is I agree with a lot of what Bernie stands for but he, his surrogates, and supporters have been so collectively off putting that I am at the point where I am now where I want him to lose big.

431
The Vicious Babushka  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:09:39am

HURR HURR U LAZY LIBRULS GET SOME SKILLS & A REAL JERB TO REPLACE UR WORTHLESS FORD ENGINEERING JERB1!!!!11

432
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:10:25am

re: Nojay UK

The key differentiator I was aiming for was bulk freight, moving stuff like oil, coal, chemicals, limestone, gravel, cement etc. from producer to plant. A lot of that sort of heavy materials is transported long distances by rail because it is not cost-effective shipping it by road. 20 tonnes of coal is worth less than a thousand bucks and shipping it a thousand miles by truck would more than double its price but rail can move that sort of load for cents a mile. What rail can’t do is reverse up to a loading dock in a Walmart out in the boonies and offload twenty thousand bucks worth of Chinese-made gas-fired BBQs, and that’s what’s in the 18-weeler in front of you on the interstate.

I live in Kent, WA—between the railroad tracks. This is where it all happens. Huge areas of warehouses where all the freight in offloaded from the trains and loaded onto trucks to distribute all over the Seattle-Tacoma area. Gets a little noisy at times.

433
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:12:47am

re: The Vicious Babushka

HURR HURR U LAZY LIBRULS GET SOME SKILLS & A REAL JERB TO REPLACE UR WORTHLESS FORD ENGINEERING JERB1!!!!11

Conservatives for all their supposed love of work seem to get tickled pink by people losing their jobs. Explains why they nominated the guy who liked to fire people I guess.

434
Charles Johnson  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:12:50am

I just noticed that the exit poll graphic Tim Robbins tweeted is from a Russia Today host, because of course it is.

It’s mind-blowing how some Bernie Sanders followers are eagerly letting themselves be manipulated by really bad people with obvious ulterior motives.

435
Kragar  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:15:02am

re: Charles Johnson

Got a source for that?

436
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:15:36am

re: The Vicious Babushka

He’s got this one:

[Embedded content]

I take it “deal-making” is Bernie-speak for “getting anything done politically”? Can’t have that! It’ll impurify our bodily fluids!

437
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:16:01am

re: Charles Johnson

It’s mind-blowing how some Bernie Sanders followers are eagerly letting themselves be manipulated by really bad people with obvious ulterior motives.

Idealism is easily manipulated. Once you have developed mechanisms to recognize when you are being manipulated, you have already lost most of your idealism…

438
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:16:43am

re: Charles Johnson

I just noticed that the exit poll graphic Tim Robbins tweeted is from a Russia Today host, because of course it is.

It’s mind-blowing how some Bernie Sanders followers are eagerly letting themselves be manipulated by really bad people with obvious ulterior motives.

It’s that part of the left that embarrasses me.

439
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:17:33am

Every 4-8 years, it’s the same song and dance.

For the first few weeks, it’s “Our candidate can’t get taken seriously because the party is holding him back!”

Then when he begins gaining in the polls, we get “See! The people are flocking to him! He’s the future of the party!”

Followed by a disastrous early primary performance, at which time it’s “The vote’s rigged and the party is playing dirty tricks! They won’t allow him to win!”

And when he finally crashes and burns, we get the angry screams of “Well, I never wanted to be part of your damned club to begin with! Me and my friends are gonna go and join another club, one that totally supports guys like us!”

Lather, rinse, & repeat.

440
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:17:41am

re: #436 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

I take it “deal-making” is Bernie-speak for “getting anything done politically”? Can’t have that! It’ll impurify our bodily fluids!

Of course, it’s far easier to be like Uncle Bernie and shout that the system is crooked then to actually work to improve the system.

441
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:18:47am

re: #440 HappyWarrior

Of course, it’s far easier to be like Uncle Bernie and shout that the system is crooked then to actually work to improve the system.

In an ideal world, Bernie would be my candidate.

But in a truly ideal world, we wouldn’t need a Bernie to fix things in the first place.

442
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:19:25am

re: #439 Targetpractice

Every 4-8 years, it’s the same song and dance.

For the first few weeks, it’s “Our candidate can’t get taken seriously because the party is holding him back!”

Then when he begins gaining in the polls, we get “See! The people are flocking to him! He’s the future of the party!”

Followed by a disastrous early primary performance, at which time it’s “The vote’s rigged and the party is playing dirty tricks! They won’t allow him to win!”

And when he finally crashes and burns, we get the angry screams of “Well, I never wanted to be part of your damned club to begin with! Me and my friends are gonna go and join another club, one that totally supports guys like us!”

Rinse, lather, & repeat.

It’s in that sense that they really do act like a left wing tea party. A shame really since there are legitimate issues that they raise but then discredit by being unable to admit defeat or understand why people may not share their ideals.

443
Stanley Sea  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:19:31am

re: #428 Backwoods_Sleuth

??

Tweets all of a sudden are just showing text.

444
The Engineer Lobuno  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:20:38am

re: #429 Tigger2

Bernie’s new campaign song:

3 Doors Down - Going Down in Flames

445
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:20:49am

re: #411 The Vicious Babushka

He’s got this one:

There is no way I am ever voting for HRC. I am not up for another war, more corruption, deal-making. No trust. Sorry. :-(

“My pacifism won’t let me support a bloody war. Let’s have a revolution!”

446
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:21:38am

re: #432 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

I live in Kent, WA—between the railroad tracks. This is where it all happens. Huge areas of warehouses where all the freight in offloaded from the trains and loaded onto trucks to distribute all over the Seattle-Tacoma area. Gets a little noisy at times.

Trans-shipping is another cost that folks try really hard to avoid as it eats time, costs money and storage space and introduces the possibility of damage to the cargo. The standard shipping container system has removed most of the manual handling involved in moving shit around the world but there still needs to be inter-modal sites like yours, or container docks replacing general-purpose ports which employed thousands of longshoremen in the past. The container is so ubiquitious these days there are even specialised ships that do nothing but transport container dockside cranes from the (usually Chinese) fabrication yards to ports around the world being built or refurbished.

447
makeitstop  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:21:51am

re: #443 Stanley Sea

??

Tweets all of a sudden are just showing text.

Same here.

448
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:22:04am

re: #443 Stanley Sea

??

Tweets all of a sudden are just showing text.

I noticed that, too

449
wrenchwench  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:22:07am

I just evicted a black widow spider from a baby carriage. It was in the hub of one of the side wheels. I was cleaning it with water because it was muddy. The water that went in the hub made the spider come out. It wouldn’t have gotten the baby, but it might have gotten me as I changed the inner tube (my only assignment on this job; I got into this on my own initiative.)

Now I’m seeing spiders in every corner. No good deed goes unpunished.

450
Kragar  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:23:05am

re: #444 The Engineer Lobuno

Trying out hashtags for tonight:

CrashandBern

BernNotice

ByeByeBernie

451
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:23:54am

re: #450 Kragar

Trying out hashtags for tonight:

CrashandBern

BernNotice

ByeByeBernie

My favorite.

452
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:24:05am

re: #449 wrenchwench

I just evicted a black widow spider from a baby carriage. It was in the hub of one of the side wheels. I was cleaning it with water because it was muddy. The water that went in the hub made the spider come out. It wouldn’t have gotten the baby, but it might have gotten me as I changed the inner tube (my only assignment on this job; I got into this on my own initiative.)

Now I’m seeing spiders in every corner. No good deed goes unpunished.

Stay organic. Just tuck something that eats Black Widows among the baby blankets.

453
Stanley Sea  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:25:17am

re: #448 Backwoods_Sleuth

I noticed that, too

Who’s funeral were you tweeting about?

454
wrenchwench  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:25:33am

re: #452 Decatur Deb

Stay organic. Just tuck something that eats Black Widows among the baby blankets.

A chicken?

455
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:25:43am

re: #417 The Vicious Babushka

That is fucking APPALLING.

Thanks, GOP shitbags!

456
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:26:22am

re: #454 wrenchwench

A chicken?

Free eggs! Synergy!

457
Nojay UK  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:26:36am

re: #452 Decatur Deb

Stay organic. Just tuck something that eats Black Widows among the baby blankets.

A baby? They will eat pretty much anything (apart from strained carrots, IME).

458
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:26:50am

re: #453 Stanley Sea

Who’s funeral were you tweeting about?

Lonnie Mack

459
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:28:19am

Jane Sanders on CNN saying she won’t release their tax returns until Hillary releases the speech transcripts.
She also says the tax returns are not an issue Americans care about.

460
Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:29:07am

re: #459 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane Sanders on CNN saying she won’t release their tax returns until Hillary releases the speech transcripts.
She also says the tax returns are not an issue Americans care about.

Why you make things so ugly, Jane?

461
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:29:34am

re: #459 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane Sanders on CNN saying she won’t release their tax returns until Hillary releases the speech transcripts.
She also says the tax returns are not an issue Americans care about.

I see Jane took a page from the Romney playbook there.

462
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:29:34am

Jane also whining that “all anyone talks about is delegate math”.

good grief

463
Eclectic Cyborg  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:30:26am

It’s refreshing to know that some religious people in this state DO fucking get it.

Religious leaders object to Religious Objections law

Dozens of Methodist leaders are objecting to Mississippi’s new religious objections law, saying it violates their religious principles.

More than 30 ministers from around the state and nation published an open letter Monday saying the so-called “religious freedom” law goes against Christian teachings to love and respect all people. The group joins major businesses, human rights groups and legal experts in opposing the incoming law, which they say discriminates against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The law lets churches and some private businesses deny services to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people because of religious beliefs. It’s similar to one vetoed by Georgia’s governor in late March. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed the measure into law earlier this month.

Pastor Bruce Case of Madison, Mississippi, was among those who signed the letter opposing the law. He said the law creates a problem where there is none.

“LGBT people have always been a part of the church,” he said. “They’re our friends and fellow churchgoers. This law is unnecessary and just feels mean-spirited to me.”

I would SO do a page on this if I had the time but I have to get to work.

464
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:30:32am

re: #459 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane Sanders on CNN saying she won’t release their tax returns until Hillary releases the speech transcripts.
She also says the tax returns are not an issue Americans care about.

Obviously she wasn’t paying attention to any news outlets throughout 2012. But that’s not surprising, as she also thought people would buy the idea that the Sanders campaign came out looking better than Joe Arpaio did for allowing themselves to be ambushed and used by him.

465
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:30:34am

re: #415 Skip Intro

Elsewhere the Republican candidate for Attorney General of North Carolina said “Go home, tell your friends and family who had to work today what this is all about and how hard we must fight to keep our state straight”

huffingtonpost.com

Who did North Carolina have sex with again? South Carolina? I wonder which state was male and which was female.

466
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:31:15am

re: #462 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane also whining that “all anyone talks about is delegate math”.

good grief

Seems she and Anne Romney shared notes.

467
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:31:25am

re: #462 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane also whining that “all anyone talks about is delegate math”.

good grief

Well with all respect ma’am, you need these delegates to win the nomination and your husband’s math isn’t good. Maybe he shouldn’t have brushed off the South as not going Democratic anyhow and not used what happened over 50 years ago as his civil rights record.

468
Tigger2  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:32:18am

re: #444 The Engineer Lobuno

Bernie’s new campaign song:

[Embedded content]

My daughter talked to their lead singer on the phone when she was staying with my niece and her husband in Nashville Tn, My nephew by marriage owned a tattoo shop in Nashville and he did some of the tats on some of the band members, My daughter had a fit when she found out who she had been talking to on the phone. lol

469
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:32:45am

re: #465 Belafon

Who did North Carolina have sex with again? South Carolina? I wonder which state was male and which was female.

North is the guy and South is the girl since North is on top of South.//

470
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:33:30am

Jane also insisting that all Democratic primaries should be open.

Well, Jane (“you ignorant …” — I have been waiting sooo long to use that SNL phrase), they wouldn’t be Democratic primaries anymore, would they?

471
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:33:49am

re: #466 Targetpractice

Seems she and Anne Romney shared notes.

Pains me to say it but she acts like Ann in that she does her best or worst to help her husband’s cause.

472
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:33:52am

re: #462 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane also whining that “all anyone talks about is delegate math”.

good grief

Let’s talk about the popular vote then? Oh, wait.

473
Agnostick  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:34:21am

re: #7 Testy Toad T

Because if we didn’t hold primaries, superdelegates wouldn’t know which candidate(s) to reject.

474
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:34:26am

re: #472 Belafon

Let’s talk about the popular vote then? Oh, wait.

Or the number of states won…wait…

475
Skip Intro  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:34:58am

re: #465 Belafon

Who did North Carolina have sex with again? South Carolina? I wonder which state was male and which was female.

I think at one time, long, long ago, North Carolina was supposed to be the smart Carolina.

Hard to believe.

476
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:35:06am

re: #470 Backwoods_Sleuth

Jane also insisting that all Democratic primaries should be open.

Well, Jane (“you ignorant …” — I have been waiting sooo long to use that SNL phrase), they wouldn’t be Democratic primaries anymore, would they?

Your husband is running for the Democratic Party’s nomination. That you guys still don’t get that in late April is pretty lame. Then again your husband isn’t a Democrat.

477
Romantic Heretic  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:35:16am

re: #457 Nojay UK

A baby? They will eat pretty much anything (apart from strained carrots, IME).

Like this?

fowllanguagecomics.com

478
Jenner7  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:35:42am

Most Americans don’t care about Hillary’s transcripts either, Jane.

479
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:36:28am

When do they ask for Hillary’s birth certificate?

480
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:36:49am

re: #478 Jenner7

Most Americans don’t care about Hillary’s transcripts either, Jane.

The tax issue bothers me far more especially since Bernie touts himself as a supporter of fair taxes.

481
Backwoods_Sleuth  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:37:34am

Kasich is so gonna win it all. LOL!

482
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:38:10am

re: #481 Backwoods_Sleuth

Kasich is so gonna win it all. LOL!

[Embedded content]

Go Johnny One State!

483
Targetpractice  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:38:19am

re: #480 HappyWarrior

The tax issue bothers me far more especially since Bernie touts himself as a supporter of fair taxes.

Just on what we’ve seen so far, he’s worse than Romney on that count. His tax rate in 2014 was 13%, a whole 1% less than Romney’s reported rate in 2011.

484
Kragar  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:38:59am
485
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:41:22am

re: #484 Kragar

[Embedded content]

And Brownback calls himself a Christian. Hope Kansans who gave this schmuck a second chance to wreck their state’s economy are proud. You really showed Obama!

486
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:42:36am

re: #483 Targetpractice

Just on what we’ve seen so far, he’s worse than Romney on that count. His tax rate in 2014 was 13%, a whole 1% less than Romney’s reported rate in 2011.

Dang. As I said, it bothers me a lot more than Wall Street transcripts especially since some of her speeches were about empowering women in the workforce.

487
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:44:03am

re: #455 Eclectic Cyborg

That is fucking APPALLING.

Thanks, GOP shitbags!

Voting should be as hard as making meth, says North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory

488
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:44:15am

re: #470 Backwoods_Sleuth

That’s the argument I’m having with some Bernie bro who thinks 3 million NYers had their votes suppressed because they weren’t able to vote. They’re referring to 3 million independents who didn’t change their party affiliation in time to vote for either D or R primaries.

Closed primaries aren’t voter suppression. It’s meant to reduce chances of fuckery by opposing parties/candidates from interfering with how a party chooses its nominees. If those independents wanted to vote, they could have followed the law and changed party affiliation accordingly. They didn’t. That’s on them, not because of suppression.

489
lawhawk  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:46:20am

re: #484 Kragar

Heritage has been touting the Kansas and Maine welfare roll reductions as proof of something. They ignore that Kansas’ budget is an absolute disaster, and the tax giveaways, particularly for certain corporate types, has been a disaster as entities have created new entities to take advantage of shielding their income from tax. No job creation, revenues cratering, and the education system on verge of collapse.

And that’s the good news.

490
Jenner7  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:47:32am
491
Belafon  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:50:01am

re: #490 Jenner7

It’s not a question of all but enough.

492
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:50:06am

Presidential:

Donald Trump Launches Verbal Food Fight Over John Kasich’s ‘Disgusting’ Eating Habits

493
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:51:01am

re: #489 lawhawk

Heritage has been touting the Kansas and Maine welfare roll reductions as proof of something. They ignore that Kansas’ budget is an absolute disaster, and the tax giveaways, particularly for certain corporate types, has been a disaster as entities have created new entities to take advantage of shielding their income from tax. No job creation, revenues cratering, and the education system on verge of collapse.

And that’s the good news.

Kansas as far as I’m concerned is proof in the pudding that economic conservatives and I use that term loosely here are economically illiterate.

494
Sherlock Hound  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:52:00am

re: #445 Decatur Deb

You know where this goes. Left-wingers are as susceptible to stochastic terrorism as any Trump fan.

495
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:52:11am

re: #492 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Presidential:

Donald Trump Launches Verbal Food Fight Over John Kasich’s ‘Disgusting’ Eating Habits

I still remember when Obama derided McCain’s eating habits. It was that moment I knew that he was the man this country needed. //

496
FormerDirtDart  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:53:01am

‘Bernie Math’

Why Bernie Sanders is Actually Winning

497
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:53:54am

re: #487 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

Voting should be as hard as making meth, says North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory

McCrory really has a lot of contempt for our system of government. Sorry Pat, we’re not a right wing dictatorship, I know that makes you sad but it’s America. Voting shouldn’t be hard. Of course, McCrory belongs to a party that wants to make buying a gun like buying candy but voting oh no we can’t have that, people may actually vote against the shit stain of a party caleld the GOP.

498
Kragar  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:55:35am

re: #492 The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

499
Dr. Matt  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:56:18am

re: #411 The Vicious Babushka

He’s got this one:

@viciousbabushka There is no way I am ever voting for HRC. I am not up for another war, more corruption, deal-making. No trust. Sorry. :-(
— Wendy Perez (@WendyTPerez) April 26, 2016

“I am not up for another war”. Which branch did Wendy serve in?

500
BeenHereAwhile  Apr 26, 2016 • 10:56:44am

re: #445 Decatur Deb

“My pacifism won’t let me support a bloody war. Let’s have a revolution!”

Marat we’re poor
And the poor stay poor
Marat don’t make us wait any more
We want our rights and we don’t care how
We want a revolution
Now

Peter Weiss

501
Jenner7  Apr 26, 2016 • 11:00:56am

re: #496 FormerDirtDart

That perfectly describes my sister.

503
HappyWarrior  Apr 26, 2016 • 11:02:27am

re: #501 Jenner7

That perfectly describes my sister.

And a lot of my Facebook feed. I swear these aren’t bad people but they just cannot admit the very simple fact that Bernie is losing. I do love the retort “Well Obama”, well Bernie isn’t Obama. Obama actually ran a competent campaign.

504
Decatur Deb  Apr 26, 2016 • 11:42:33am

re: #500 BeenHereAwhile

Marat we’re poor
And the poor stay poor
Marat don’t make us wait any more
We want our rights and we don’t care how
We want a revolution
Now

Peter Weiss

What’s a revolution without general copulation?

505
Eventual Carrion  Apr 26, 2016 • 11:46:18am

re: #280 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

One of the biggest areas of development, beyond the technology of driverless traffic, will be the questions of liability and responsibility in the event of accidents or violations.

There was a recent New Yorker cartoon that shows an officer pulling over another vehicle and asking the driver “Does your car know why my car stopped it?”.

Scientific American has a short article in the current issue about who may be responsible for self driving vehicle accidents. Pretty much all that is still up in the air as far as the law is concerned.

506
zerosumgame0005  Apr 29, 2016 • 8:02:55pm

re: #26 Kragar

Got a live one

[Embedded content]

3.3 MILLION a month is what Dirty Bernie pays Revolution Messaging


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