I once asked the owner of my gym what inspired him to put such a detailed sign on the entrance to the basketball court. He replied, “Years and years of experience.”
To paraphrase Homer Simpson: Testosterone: Fuel for humanity’s engine, and also useful for starting big fires.
UPDATE: And while we’re on the subject of hormones, I snickered at the picture accompanying the National Enquirer’s* story about Sarah Palin’s supposed extramarital affair, which could have carried the caption: “Gov. Palin explains why they broke up.”
* “…a more solid investigative outfit than many people think” — Rod Dreher
Catherine said on September 25, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Must… resist… temptation to snark.
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Dexter said on September 25, 2008 at 1:03 pm
ha! Great sign! When I was five years out of high school I found myself at the Y in a 5 on 5 choose-’em-up pickup basketball game. I noticed a familiar face on the other team, the center and star of the high school team who had edged us out in a Sectional Tournament game. I had not seen him for those five years, he had moved on to college basketball and I had not, so of course the first thing I had to do was challenge him by driving hard into the paint and try to beat him with a fake and jump shot. He stepped up to meet me and his bony knee met my thigh very sharply, hyper-extending my knee and disabling further basketball participation for two months. Let it go, young fellas…it’s over!
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Scout said on September 25, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Just to put the whole Enquirer thing in even funnier perspective, here’s what one of the biggest blowhards on the wingnut spectrum had to say recently:
>Whatever the merits of the whole Edwards love child story, are we really supposed to believe that one of America’s most famous trial lawyers wouldn’t sue a publication that printed defamatory and slanderous lies about him?
Also, it’s worth pointing out that while the Enquirer may or may not be scrupulous in its choice of stories — that’s in the eye of the beholder — it is pretty scrupulous about its facts. They win lawsuits. They’ve broken a host of stories the MSM guys couldn’t.<
-Jonah Goldberg
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Gasman said on September 25, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Even though I hold Sarah Palin in scant regard, I am dubious about anything in the Enquirer. They seemed to have gotten it right about Edwards, but they still make me cringe. What does it say about the mainstream media if the Enquirer is now doing the real investigative reporting? I’m willing to give this one a bit more time before I form an opinion. Lord knows, I’ve already got enough reasons to be disappointed with Gov. Palin.
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coozledad said on September 25, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I used the same gesture Sarah is making when my old cover band did “Whole Lotta Love”. You know, the part where Robert Plant squeals “I’m gonna give you every inch of my love.”
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Julie Robinson said on September 25, 2008 at 2:53 pm
She needs to learn to extend her foundation to her necks and ears, or else pick a color that matches. Theatre 101.
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ellen said on September 25, 2008 at 3:06 pm
This was not my hurricane experience: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/6020887.html
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moe99 said on September 25, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Julie,
I thought she had a tanning bed back at the gov’s mansion.
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Jolene said on September 25, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Interesting story, Ellen. I had wondered, actually, where GHW Bush and Barbara went–whether they stayed home, went to Maine, checked into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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moe99 said on September 25, 2008 at 3:33 pm
OMG, Couric interviews Palin on foreign affairs. You thought the other two parts of the interview were execrable? Just wait:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4478156n
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nancy said on September 25, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Well, now we see what this postpone-the-debate gambit is all about. How could they possibly have vetted this woman?
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Kirk said on September 25, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Hey, Russia is a very powerful nation right next to her state. Right next!
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Jolene said on September 25, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Vetted? It hardly seems possible that they even spoke to her. It’s not just that she doesn’t know anything. She can’t address herself to a question and finish a train of thought.
But I was just reading Marc Fisher’s WaPo web chat, which contained this exchange:
Arlington, Va.:”they see her as someone who would come in fresh and look at it with the same kind of distanced approach that you and I might.” This is what bothers me — as some people mentioned on your last chat, I don’t want “you or I” running the country. I want someone that has some mix of profound intelligence/experience/leadership abilility, not someone that I think I could be best buds with because we have stuff in common.
Marc Fisher: Yes, but you’re deep into the fact-based reality, when many of our fellow countrymen have adopted a new and different approach, one that is driven by affinity and identity, one that is deeply suspicious of the idea that fact, experience and knowledge are credible, trustworthy or useful.
For lots of people, being able to address yourself to a question and finish a train of thought doesn’t seem to be a requirement.
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Jolene said on September 25, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Sarah Silverman wants Jewish kids to get their grandparents to vote for Obama. NSFW or tender ears.
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Emptynest said on September 25, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Re: The National Enquirer and the MSM
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160082
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basset said on September 25, 2008 at 10:36 pm
that sign reminds me of over-forty noontime YMCA basketball games a few years ago – particularly one guy who kept throwing elbows, pushing, shoving, and generally acting like his life and honor were riding on who got to fifteen by two first.
told him to cut it out, it’s a friendly game, and he says “yeah, but you’re still leaving here a loser!”
well, whatever you say, pal. but calm down anyway. which he, of course, didn’t until he caught a couple whacks upside the head. you just can’t reach some people.
on the other hand, the best player in the whole place, couple years out of college and coming off a season in the CBA, was probably the cleanest. or maybe I was just too slow to bother hitting, I dunno.
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Dexter said on September 26, 2008 at 2:09 am
NYDailyNews:”Gov. Sarah Palin insisted in an interview to air Thursday evening her home state of Alaska’s proximity to Russia does, in fact, constitute foreign policy experience.
“Well, it certainly does because our – our next-door neighbors are foreign countries,” the GOP veep nominee, referring to Russia and Canada, said in a sitdown with CBS’ Katie Couric that aired last night.”
She then went into a rave about Putin rearing his head and violating US airspace. She mentioned “trade missions” with Russia.
OK, I was a huge detractor of Couric and the way she changed Uncle Walter’s sacred news from CBS, but she really did a job on Palin. Her interview is priceless!
A big thumbs-up for Katie Couric!!
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moe99 said on September 26, 2008 at 2:11 am
Now THIS is dirty campaigning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5_Xz0UAUck
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Jolene said on September 26, 2008 at 6:29 am
McCain-Palin yardsigns: Make your own!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/16545/2914/720/608457
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coozledad said on September 26, 2008 at 8:10 am
Since WaMu Has folded, I think it would be in the best interest of Alaska’s proximity to Russia and Canada to postpone the election until a sunny, happy day.
Cause that’s the neat thing about this American system we got us here. We can raise the Titanic also and, um, drop it with big helicopters into that body of water between us and Canada to use it as a reef to stop the Russian Navy. Terrorists, am I right?
What?
Sarahcoozle.
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John said on September 26, 2008 at 8:46 am
“She makes George W. Bush sound like Cicero.”
—Rod Dreher
Those Couric videos were painful to watch. All I could think of is that poor little Miss Teen South Carolina now has the confidence to someday be the leader of the free world.
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MichaelG said on September 26, 2008 at 8:46 am
I watched the Katie Couric / Sarah Palin interview yesterday and I was appalled. Not just at Palin’s utter lack of knowledge and understanding but at her lack of preparation as well. The questions were not that difficult. Every one of them was an expected question. There were no surprises, no “gotcha” questions. Where has the McCain campaign been for the last couple of weeks if not preparing this woman for these obvious questions? She should have had a pat, memorized answer for each one of them. Instead she looked and sounded like I did in grade school when the nuns called on me the day after I hadn’t done my homework. By the way, the Governor of California does have actual meetings with the head of state of our next door neighbor. Governors have traditionally met with the President of Mexico for years. And maybe the President of Mexico flies over California airspace on his trips to Alaska.
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basset said on September 26, 2008 at 8:57 am
Obama plays basketball, right? And his brother-in-law’s a coach? And they have basketball in Russia… surely that adds up to… something.
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Jolene said on September 26, 2008 at 9:05 am
Michael, I’ve been seeing references like yours–to unprepared students–on all sorts of websites. Given the near universality of the experience, we can hope that many will see her in that way.
In an essay in TIME, Sam Harris, who has lately made his reputation arguing on behalf of atheism, criticizes the other dismaying aspect of Sarah Palin: the certainty with which she holds her not very well-informed views. In a wonderful act of phrasing, he refers to her apparent intellectual outlook as “the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance”. Check it out.
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John said on September 26, 2008 at 9:13 am
I am sure Jolene meant to say Newsweek.
I know I called her pointy-headed, but I was just busting her chops. She sounds like a fun person to have a dinner conversation.
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Jolene said on September 26, 2008 at 9:49 am
You’re right, John. I had just read something else–a piece by David Von Drehle about the financial crisis and our candidates–in TIME, so got mixed up. This is a big-picture piece, insightful.
And, yes, I’m a blast.
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Kirk said on September 26, 2008 at 10:14 am
That’s what I can’t believe: Palin may be ignorant as hell, but she’s bright enough to get elected governor of a state, which means she has to be bright enough to be briefable on multiple topics. That she obviously hasn’t been prepared speaks of a slipshod campaign organization.
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