Pulptastic.

One of the right-rail Bridge stories is mine this week. A couple, actually, but this is the one I’m thinking of, about Proposal 6, about bridges past, present and yet to come. In the course of trying to nail down one fact — does any other state with an international border crossing over water have a similar law to the one being proposed? — a nice lady in the Texas Department of Transportation sent me a list of the four Rio Grande crossings in private hands.

One was the Los Ebanos Ferry, family-owned, a two-minute crossing across a narrow spot in the river. Hand-operated. It rang a bell that got louder until it finally pierced the fog — a John D. MacDonald novel, but not one of the Travis McGee series. What was it called? I know I own it. A glance at the bookshelf. Yes! “The Damned,” published 1952. A group of strangers find themselves at a Mexican ferry crossing, stuck — the ferry isn’t working, so they’re free to sit around in the broiling sun and fight, love and have interior monologues. In true JDM style, they’re vivid, pulpy characters with just enough realness to keep them from tipping over into parody.

A minute or two with Professor Google, and I found this marvelous review, with lots of quoted passages, so I don’t have to retype them. One of the marooned is a businessman who, two weeks previous, had found himself poleaxed by a juicy young thing, and on impulse, bundled her into his car and took off south of the border. A couple weeks later, the erotic heat having burned off, he’s coming back home, despising the girl, disgusted by himself and wondering what he had been thinking. What a wonderful picture MacDonald paints here; you can almost smell the sour booze coming off the philanderer’s pores:

He had tried to call it a deathless romance, a great love. And the rationalization had shattered suddenly, leaving him naked. He saw a gaunt foolish man of middle years spending his savings on a raw, big-bodied young girl with limited IQ. The pores of her cheeks and nose were unpleasantly enlarged. In conversation she repeated herself interminably, expressing childish infatuations with movie actors, TV stars, disc jockeys. Her love-making was an unimaginative compound of all the movies she had seen, all the confession stories she had read. He stared in wonder at the meaty mass of her hips, at the lactic, bovine breasts, startled that he should have thought this worth the risk of destroying his world.

It turns out the ferry in this book, fictional or not, isn’t over the Rio Grande, but the Rio Conchos. Oh, well. It was a nice trip down Pulp Lane.

Watching the debate now, enjoying my third glass of wine, so we’ll see how long I last. I’m having #3 because Kate had a great bass lesson today, and I’m entitled. She took on the upright a couple months ago, and is coming along swimmingly. Such a beautiful instrument, but as I always say when we load it into the car, in my next life my kid plays piccolo.

A little bloggage for those who

The latest variety of hoo-hah from Up North: (ominous chords, organ sting) Agenda 21!!!!!!

Back to the Joe and Paul show.

Posted at 12:53 am in Current events, Popculch |
 

104 responses to “Pulptastic.”

  1. brian stouder said on October 12, 2012 at 1:04 am

    Watching the debate now, enjoying my third glass of wine, so we’ll see how long I last. I’m having #3 because Kate had a great bass lesson today, and I’m entitled.

    Hah!! And double Hah! Let me beat Danny to the punch, and chortle in your general direction, as nancy admits that she’s part of the utterly worthless 47% in this country!

    Tomorrow I’m off to Indy for the Lincoln coloquium, which – given the political milieu (and all our latter-day ‘states rights’ yappers on the right) might better be described as the Lincoln colonoscopy…or something

    G’night

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  2. brian stouder said on October 12, 2012 at 1:25 am

    One last comment before lights-out; I read the Bridge bridge article, which was interesting and compelling…and I must say, the accompanying image was enthralling.

    I’m surprised there isn’t an environmental issue being raised, about that imposing-looking array of supporting cables. I bet that poses a risk to some endangered bird or another – no?

    (yeah yeah yeah – I hear you. G’night, already)

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  3. Sherri said on October 12, 2012 at 1:45 am

    I suspect that the actual bridge would look something like the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Tampa Bay. The cables probably aren’t really as close together as the artist’s drawing makes it appear, and unlikely to pose any danger to any birds.

    I liked the article. The problems of privatized infrastructure…

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  4. Danny said on October 12, 2012 at 5:11 am

    Brian, for the record, I think that everyone is entitled to three glasses of wine. Aloha.

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  5. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 12, 2012 at 5:59 am

    Darn libs like Danny, wanting to make wine drinking a right.

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  6. David C. said on October 12, 2012 at 7:38 am

    I was hoping for a Tigers – Reds World Series. I guess my next choice would be another Tigers – Cards series.

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  7. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 8:01 am

    Mr. Pierce:
    For years, Paul Ryan has been the shining champion of some really terrible ideas, and of a dystopian vision of the political commonwealth in which the poor starve and the elderly die ghastly, impoverished deaths, while all the essential elements of a permanent American oligarchy were put in place. This has garnered him loving notices from a lot of people who should have known better. The ideas he could explain were bad enough, but the profound ignorance he displayed on Thursday night on a number of important questions, including when and where the United States might wind up going to war next, and his blithe dismissal of any demand that he be specific about where he and his running mate are planning to take the country generally, was so positively terrifying that it calls into question Romney’s judgment for putting this unqualified greenhorn on the ticket at all. Joe Biden laughed at him? Of course, he did. The only other option was to hand him a participation ribbon and take him to Burger King for lunch.

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  8. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 10:22 am

    From that Agenda 21 article:

    As if the elimination of private property ownership, population control, and education, based on U.N. standards were not enough, Agenda 21 will eventually affect our lives in other ways like the relocation of people from rural areas into cities, limiting the type of vehicles we drive, higher gas prices, changing routes of transportation, banning human access to land, seizure of private property, restrictions on water usage, quotas on harvesting, prohibitions on plowing the soil, limitations on raising animals for meat, regulations on what we eat and drink, control of home energy usage, increased taxation, and even forced community involvement.

    How did the paranoiac ahole leave out enforced Esperanto? Funnisest thing is getting deeper into the piece and finding out this guy used to be a TV weather reader. Well, hell’s bells, that exudes credibility, but I might tend more toward agreeing with Sonny “Idiot” Elliot on his conspiracy bugaboos.

    Tigers, song. ’68 was a great Series. :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CBNo3JZpF8 and

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuCVNqmIK7w (Damnit, can’t find the full vocal version. I think this was the B-side.)

    Always despised the Cardinals, as the singularly most racist team in the Majors when Jackie Robinson came up. Cards players went after Jackie with spikes and bean balls, and they tried unsuccessfully to foment a strike to prevent playing against a black player.

    This week’s episode of the adventures of SAMCRO had a brief appearance by the great Walton Goggins. Even for non-fans of SOA, it would be well worth the 2 bucks on Amazon to watch the episode Orca Shrugged. This performance will never be topped if they are still making TV shows thousands of years from now. Now get back to Harlan Co., Boyd, and up to no good.

    The only other option was to hand him a participation ribbon and take him to Burger King for lunch. And a cardboard crown and a shit toy made in China. Gutdom, the guy has Eddie Munster hair.

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  9. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 10:38 am

    New Stones song:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/oct/11/rolling-stones-doom-and-gloom?CMP=EMCMUSEML1647

    Nice chunky guitar riff, political lyrics. Not bad at all. Produced by Don Was.

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  10. Deborah said on October 12, 2012 at 11:23 am

    Interesting Bridge bridge article.

    I got stung by a wasp this morning, while I was inside, boy howdy that hurt, still does. We think it got inside from the wood we brought in to make a fire and then never did, watched the debate instead. I thought Biden had the upper hand. Ryan is hard to watch. He’s smarmy.

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  11. nancy said on October 12, 2012 at 11:28 am

    It’s interesting to read the reaction to the debate. The Dems are convinced Biden handed Ryan his ass, while the other side thinks it’s just the opposite. (This is in contrast to the last one, which even D’s admit was a poor showing by the prez.) Do these events change any minds? Who, after all the events of the last year-and-change, is still undecided?

    Charles Pierce, however, gets the single best zinger:

    You know what’s the difference between Sarah Palin and Paul Ryan?

    Lipstick.

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  12. alex said on October 12, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Deborah, speaking of wasps indoors…

    I mentioned here recently that there must be something dead in the walls of one of my bathrooms. Well, we cut some holes in the drywall to investigate and lo and behold, a giant paper hornet’s nest is hanging like a tumor off the inside of the bathtub. So we closed things back up quick.

    Still didn’t find the source of the offensive smell, though. But we’re definitely calling an exterminator.

    Someone told me that wasps actually love the insides of walls because they prey on spiders and find lots of them there.

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  13. Dorothy said on October 12, 2012 at 11:40 am

    Good luck with the exterminator work, alex. And keep some Benadryl handy. And Lysol spray.

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  14. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 11:46 am

    Too bad Jim Lehrer didn’t take his job as seriously as Martha Raddatz. Some guy called Philip Bump tweeted: “Somehow at this debate Ryan came in third.” Pretty funny line. Axelrod’s comment that it was like watching the HS principal debating the student body president was pretty funny. It was nice hearing point out Ryan’s shameless scrabbling after stimulus money that he claims now was a failure and a waste of time.Every GOPer did this with a handful (tops) of exceptions. Perry turned down the money and hung Texas “out to dry”, quite literally.

    We just received a package sent by a friend from a duty-free shop in Kingston containing a bag of Blue Mountain coffee and a bottle of Appleton Estates rum. Nice way to begin the day.

    TO MAKE MONEY
    If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose – because it contains all the others – the fact that they were the people who created the phrase ‘to make money’. No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity – to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted, or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words ‘to make money’ hold the essence of human morality.

    — Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged
    Posted by teresa.frog.applause at 6:17 PM

    What an idiot Ayn Rand was. Making money waas certainly around in Ancient Rome. Cicero used the term, and not in a particularly good way.

    And I’d like to paraphrase Deborah’s thought about Ayn Ryan. Ryan is hard to watch. He’s undead and has an Eddie Munster haircut.

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  15. Jen said on October 12, 2012 at 11:48 am

    I love seeing the reaction of my friends on Facebook about the debate. The conservative ones are all clutching their pearls, about to faint over just how rude Joe Biden was to Paul Ryan, and how he kept interrupting, and how that mean ol’ moderator was definitely on Biden’s side. The liberal ones, meanwhile, are rather giddy, and understandably so considering how sleepy President Obama seemed in the first debate.

    I tried really hard to stay neutral while listening, and I think they tied. They were both pretty scrappy, bordering on rude a few times, but I’m OK with that in a debate. It made for pretty decent television, anyway. There was also a LOT of substance, which was nice. Biden was a little hot, especially at the beginning, but Ryan held his own, which is impressive considering how much more experienced Biden is at this sort of thing. Besides, Biden’s objective in the debate wasn’t really to sway voters – I don’t think many undecided voters are going to be swayed by a vice-presidential debate – but to fire up the base after a poor showing by Obama, and in that, he succeeded really well.

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  16. JWfromNJ said on October 12, 2012 at 11:52 am

    I would have bet $50 that Biden would grab Ryan by those dumbo ears and lay his ass out on the floor. If you looked past Biden’s grin the real message on his face was, “Get off my Lawn!”

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  17. Sue said on October 12, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Jen and JW, TPM’s liveblogging last night was pretty entertaining:
    “9:56 PM: This is getting brutal.
    10:00 PM: Perhaps if Obama gets a cold Biden can sub in against Romney?
    10:05 PM: Biden took 30 geritols this morning. Even getting in Raddatz’s face now.
    10:06 PM: I think we’re at the point of the fight when both boxers are hanging on each other.
    10:08 PM: I think there’s a smallish chance Biden might actually tell someone to get off his lawn.”

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  18. Joe Kobiela said on October 12, 2012 at 11:59 am

    I wished Ryan would have looked at Biden and told him it might be a laughing matter to you Joe but we have real problems here. Or just bitch slapped him
    Pilot Joe

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  19. Joe Kobiela said on October 12, 2012 at 11:59 am

    I wished Ryan would have looked at Biden and told him it might be a laughing matter to you Joe but we have real problems here. Or just bitch slapped him
    Pilot Joe

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  20. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Biden made Ryan his prison cooch, and couldn’t have traded that twink for a smoke when he was done with him.

    More numbers from the real world: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49388260

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  21. Julie Robinson said on October 12, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    Biden was just doing to Ryan what Romney did to Obama; interrupting, challenging his statements mid-sentence, and never allowing him to finish. He learned the lesson that nice guys finish last. I thought he was brilliant.

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  22. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    I thought it was telling that the cult of the fetus is threaded so deeply in Republican home fashion, that the Ryan family nicknamed their daughter after a clump of tissue. I’m surprised they didn’t name the child “Placentine” or “Episiotricia”.

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  23. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    At 22, I meant to type “Placentina”.

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  24. Charlotte said on October 12, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    I couldn’t watch because I hate Paul Ryan with the burning fire of a girl who went to too many bad dances with Catholic school guys, and who barely escaped the Reagan-era smugness of the University of Illinois greek system, and who grew up in Lake Forest with asshats who now work at Goldman etc and who like to mansplain to me when I’m home about how the mortgage crisis was *really* casued by those wily poor black people taking out loans they couldn’t afford. So I watched baseball instead. And then this morning, my friend Maryn posted a link to this: http://mansplainingryan.tumblr.com/ which did cheer me up.
    I also get spitting mad when people make fun of Biden — Biden and I come from the tribe of people with mostly-dead families, and the grace with which he carries that makes me a little territorial about Mr. White Teeth. So I’ve had to turn off Facebook this morning, because I’m spatting with old childhood friends ….

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  25. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 12, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Joe, the RNC did that for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCtemaHgjyA

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  26. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    And here’s the RNC position, expressed by the second interviewee in this clip.

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  27. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 12:48 pm

    Shit. Here’s the linkee.
    http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/10/outside-vp-debate.html

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  28. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    For Ryan to say”They keep misquoting him.” about RMoney is pitiful and deserving of nothing more than mockery, from whatever side you are looking at it. “You didn’t build that.” Why is it that when GOPers do vile shit they always cover up by claiming Dems are doing the vile shit. The mother of all of this was Scalia whining about liberal activist judges for three decades, then turning into the most shameless idealogue activist in the history of the SC.

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  29. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    My debate question for Willard Windsock:

    What is the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on.

    -Henry David Thoreau

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  30. beb said on October 12, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    All the news on the radio while driving to work had to say about last night’s debate was that Mr. Biden smiled a lot, or maybe too much or maybe it was a smirk. God, it sounded like somebody wanted to dump on Biden and couldn’t find anything better to use. Anyway who needs a debate when you could fill the airspace with clips of Ryan cutting off TV interviews because the questioners was asking painful questions (like how does you budget balance?) Nothing speaks more clearly to the hollowness of Romney-Ryan than that they refuse to answer even the simplest questions.

    In other news… caveat emptor
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/asian-seafood-raised-on-pig-feces-approved-for-u-s-consumers.html

    It’s enough to make you want to swear off fish (and shrimp) forever.

    There are so many proposals on the Michigan ballot this year and so many ads lying their asses off about what in any one particular proposal that it’s been hard, as a Michigooser, to know which to vote for. I’m for protecting the right of collective bargaining. I think home-care personnel should have a background check. I’m for a new bridge. but the others I don’t know.

    Just because a story appeared first in a pulp magazine does not mean its crap. There have been a lot of great writers who wrote for the pulps — Raymond Chandler, Max Brand, Cornell Woolrich, Louis L’Amour to name a few.

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  31. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    Dashiell Hammett, Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison.

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  32. DellaDash said on October 12, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    Is there any self-respecting woman in this country willing to vote for a ticket hellbent on overturning Roe v Wade, as Ryan couldn’t help confirming…no matter how much he pussy-footed around that hardcore bean-kernal of feudal-lord intention?

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  33. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Ryan is running for his Congressional seat at the same time as he runs for VP. And he is refusing to debate his opponent for his seat in the House.

    http://soundbible.com/871-Chicken.html

    Lameass.

    Remember when Willard was pallin’ aroung with that fundraiser date-rapist mofo. This is just as weird and disturbing:

    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/mitt-romney-video-wythe-glenn-beck-cleon-skousen

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  34. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Hella, Della. That’s not enough for them. They have both unequivocally supported “personhood bills” in the past few months, which would specifically ban “morning after” contraception. The people that vote for them think that sex ed and contraceptive curricula have no place in schools. Neither RMoney nor Ayn Ryan supports the Lily Ledbetter Act. In fact, during the debate he “won” Windsock proved he didn’t have a clue what the law entails. Ryan is a known associate of the blunderbuss buffoon Todd Akin, and believes there are both “forcible” rapes, and some other kind of violation that is or is not more legitimate. Here’s a typical GOPer attitude:

    How about this pathetic clueless Viagra addict?

    When a reporter asked Smith to clarify what kind of situation was similar to becoming pregnant from rape, the candidate responded, “Having a baby out of wedlock.”

    He added, “Put yourself in a father’s position. Yes, it is similar.”

    Did he really mean “Put yourself in a rapist’s position.”

    For me, Ryan’s gigunda briar patch moment in the debate was his needless talk about privatizing social security. Seems like this would be third rail politics for anybody with more of a brain than just the hindbrain, after what all the big banks and brokerages pulled four years ago. I’d also say, I get a document from Social Security Administration anuually that identifies my lifetime contribution to the fund. If GOPers want to give me all of my money tomorrow, with reasonable interest, they can send a check right this minute. How fracking likely is that to happen?

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  35. Little Bird said on October 12, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Delladash, every single one of my female family members would love to overturn that. Of course, I’m not sure they’re particularly self respecting.

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  36. Jolene said on October 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    Is there any self-respecting woman in this country willing to vote for a ticket hellbent on overturning Roe v Wade, as Ryan couldn’t help confirming…no matter how much he pussy-footed around that hardcore bean-kernal of feudal-lord intention?

    Are you kidding? There are millions. I haven’t checked the public polling lately, but, last I heard, about half the population wants to ban abortion. There are all sorts of state and national anti-abortion leaders who are women, and many organizations made up entirely or primarily of women who have overturning Roe as their primary mission–or one of them. Check out, for instance, Concerned Women of America.

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  37. mark said on October 12, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    Plus, not all women view abortion rights as the only/decisive issue in their political decision-making. Why, this young libertine, for example, will be voting Romney-Ryan. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/lindsay-lohan-romney-vote-employment_n_1960935.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

    She says it’s about “employment”, but that could be code for “don’t raise my taxes ’cause my bar tab is huge and my dealer’s got me on a cash only basis as it is”.

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  38. Suzanne said on October 12, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    I didn’t see the debate. I do find it interesting that most of my conservative Facebook friends are all about how rude Biden was and how he interrupted Ryan. Which was pretty much what Romney did to Obama…

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  39. MarkH said on October 12, 2012 at 3:33 pm

    Debate a non-event. Buffoon vs. “wonk” who can’t explain it. Next, please…

    Prospero, I have wondered who at nn.c would be SAMCRO fans, and I should have known. When that scene started Tuesday night, my mouth fell open. Is that…no…yes, Walton Goggins…no, the tits look too real…wait, it IS him. What a transformational performance (acting, makeup) in all ways for this guy, it’s still sinking in. And Tig’s (Kim Coates) (not so?)subtle attraction to him/her. Underplayed just right. And I agree: now, get back to Harlan County so I can forget about it. As if.

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  40. MaryRC said on October 12, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    The Dems are convinced Biden handed Ryan his ass, while the other side thinks it’s just the opposite.

    I think the other side may say the opposite, but I’m not sure they’re convinced of it. Why else are they all focusing on “Biden was rude! And smiled too much!”?

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  41. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    MarkH. Tig is an unreconstructed, unredeemable, and undiscerning pervert (necrophilia in Season 1), and those jugalettes looked mighty convincing. Naming the character Venus van Damme seemed like a lap at theat Dita von Teese stripper. I have never been so gobsmacked by anything on television as I was by that. That scene and Boyd’s performance put Neil Jordan and Stephen Rea in the shade.

    How the hell can you win a debate when you utter an outrageous howler, like “We don’t have people that die because they don’t have insurance.”??? I guess it hasn’t dawned on the Windsock that COBRA mandated emergency care is the main driver that causes American healthcare to double every other civilized country’s health taband not necessarily so civilized country. He still believes it’s tort awards that is the problem, though when you add all the CYA testing costs, all of the jury awards, and all of the malpractice premiums, you reach a grand total equal to less than 1% of all USA healthcare costs. Funny, first I heard of that fact in contradiction of GOPer healthcare scripture was from a Heritage Foundation report. But the scabrous curs of the GOP will never let go of that bit of ahole mythology.

    And something else bothering me about Willard Ananais’ 47% moocher Lucky Duckies. How is Federal largess distributed, you dick? Alaska, New Mexico, Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississppi get the most cash per capita. Know who pays it? Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Nevada, California and New Jersey, where the people live who have thaat well-known liberal bias toward reality, leading to voting Dem in national elections. Not to mention that much of the Southren red states are exceptionally dependent on defense spending, and that clearly includes Tejas. So who’s zooming whom, Mittens?

    Here’s a rambling blogpost from Driftglass, that sums up the political situation depressingly well, by comparison to 2004. I’m just trying to hold out hope that Americans will surprise on November 6, and not vote like mindless idiots.

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  42. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    Biden was rude and smiled too much? Yeah? Did they watch WillardHe had that Orthodox ikon smile plastered too his face the whole time, to the point that he looked like he’d been given Ketamine or some other hog tranq.

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  43. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    Driftglass link (it’s long, but a tour de force worth the time):

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2012/10/remember-remember-8th-of-november.html#links

    I parbly miss “edit” more than most of y’all.

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  44. MarkH said on October 12, 2012 at 4:21 pm

    So, Prospero, you’re saying Tig got what he deserved being forced to whatch his daughter burned alive? Fair enough. I’m still smarting over Opie’s demise. Tragic character that he was, still my favorite.

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  45. Prospero said on October 12, 2012 at 4:27 pm

    Nobody deserves seeing his child burned to death, Mark. But he did have sex with dead Mexican girls befor he disposed of their corpses in flagrante. Nothing like that happens accidentally on this show. The only conceivable chance for redemption for Tig is getting with Jemma, who he has loved for a long time.

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  46. Little Bird said on October 12, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    All the female relatives ON MY DADS SIDE of the family!!!!

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  47. Deborah said on October 12, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    Lindsey Lohan. Is lame, who cares how she votes.

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  48. Sherri said on October 12, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    Lindsey Lohan doesn’t have to worry about reproductive rights.

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  49. MarkH said on October 12, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    Ugh. Gemma. “You got a grandma fettish going here?” All in context of the show, Pros; nothing by accident, for sure, including the trials of Tig.

    My wife is the sweetest woman I know and therefore does not get my affection for SAMCRO and Justified. So, when she walked in during the last scene of the last season’s Justified where Limehouse hastened Quarles’ demise abetted by Raylan. “What the F*** IS THIS?!!” A little unnerving.

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  50. MarkH said on October 12, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    Deborah, please! EVERYONE cares. Just go to the internets for proof.

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  51. Joe K said on October 12, 2012 at 5:54 pm

    If your bored go see Argo,
    Best movie I have seen this year.
    Pilot Joe

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  52. alex said on October 12, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Smiling is a perfectly appropriate response when the GOP describes Obama’s foreign policy as “an apology tour” never mind that the rest of the world prefers diplomacy to bluster. We won’t be taken seriously by our allies or anyone else if our leaders treat their precious moments on the world stage as an opportunity to pander to the piss-ant racists and holy rollers back home who want to see some ass-kicking. This is why the Nobel committee gave Obama the undeserved Nobel; they’d have given it to anybody but the last Republican.

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  53. Jolene said on October 12, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    I’m interested in seeing Argo too. Got a great review from Ann Hornaday at the Washington Post.

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  54. coozledad said on October 12, 2012 at 8:35 pm

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/10/you_should_watch_this_video.php?ref=fpblg

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  55. Sue said on October 12, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    I thought it would be great to see Argo, but I believe I’ve already seen the whole movie in the commercials. I really, really hate when they do that.

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  56. Sue said on October 13, 2012 at 12:13 am

    I followed two live-blogs last night but just now had time to read up on the debate. It seems that while the party of Karl Rove and its media enablers are clutching pearls over how disrespectful Biden was to poor Mr. Ryan (don’t call him congressman, apparently he’d rather you not remember his profession), no one is noticing or commenting on Mr. Ryan’s managing to introduce a car crash story into the debate. A car crash story involving children. And no one thought that might be a little out of line? And no one figured that it was probably deliberate?
    What. A. Punk.
    Bitch slap indeed.

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  57. Jakash said on October 13, 2012 at 12:23 am

    Excellent video, coozledad. I didn’t really need to get all wound up by that right before going to bed, though…

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  58. coozledad said on October 13, 2012 at 6:20 am

    Maybe Darrell Issa and his clowns would like to investigate this shit:
    http://news.yahoo.com/shot-fired-obama-campaign-office-denver-013128940.html

    Looks like Joe Biden got the party of prosthetic dicks all fus-trated.

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  59. David C. said on October 13, 2012 at 7:04 am

    http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/letterman-mocks-paul-ryans-workout-photos

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  60. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:02 am

    I expect Argo to be excellent, mainly on the basis of the excellent Gone Baby, Gone and the Town. I love movies that get Boston right.

    FNL guy Peter Berg is pissed off about RMoney coopting Coach Taylor’s inspirational motto:

    http://www.vulture.com/2012/10/mitt-romney-peter-berg-friday-night-lights.html?mid=agenda–20121012

    And I know I’ve heard some derisory hooting from some of y’all about Gwyneth Paltrow, but appparently Gwynnie doesn’t give a shit what anybody thinks. I mean, there is no other way to explain this:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/gwyneth-paltrow-cameron-diaz-rap-chelsea-handler_n_1963548.html

    Linsay Lohan? I like her movies. Mean Girls is a classic, her Parent Trap was better than Hayley Mills”, and her Freaky Friday remake is hilarious. But politics? Doesn’t her criminal record make her a poster child for vote suppression? But I suppose if they can overlook Nugent’s adventures in pedophilia, blow and bad driving can be washed away by the RMonskeys with a quickie retroactive baptism. I mean, they already had a bigtime cocaine addict backing them, I.E. wife-beater Kelsey Grammer. Bocephus family values.

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  61. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:25 am

    Analysis of what experts say needs to done to keep the world safe in the penumbra of American and Russian nukes. Now I’d say a fare assessment of this situation is that I’d trust President Obama implicitly to weigh these recommendations and effect sound nuke policy. RMoney, he’s said several times that Russia is the USA’s chief geopolitical enemy. Asyonishingly obtuse, Mittens.

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  62. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:52 am

    Ian McShane is joining the cast of American Horror Story. Last season of this show was a fracking, trashy riot:

    http://www.vulture.com/2012/10/ian-mcshane-to-mosey-onto-american-horror-story.html?mid=agenda–20121011

    Georgia is having a battle over charter schools. It appears that existing charters really would rather limit competition, accentuating the profit rather than performance motive behind every privatization impulse from the right (and the desire to drown government in Norquist’s bathtub).

    Of course, GOPers are cheating:

    http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2012-10-12/ag-illegal-campaigning-could-cost-schools-money

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  63. LAMary said on October 13, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    charlotte, Ryan makes me think of the same sort of jerk. Smug fratboy all the way.
    Suzanne, I thought the same thing about the interrupting thing. The republicans are upset that Biden did what Romney did, without flat out lying while doing it.

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  64. MichaelG said on October 13, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    Those pix of Ryan playing muscle boy remind me of Vlad Putin, world famous narcissist.

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  65. alex said on October 13, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    Republicans and their whining points. When their guy looks bad it’s always a communist plot.

    Romney was a whirling dervish flinging shit with such force that I doubt even Martha Raddatz could have made him cut the cackle and answer the questions. Obama’s got his work cut out for him, no doubt, but I still have some hope that he’s both clever and forceful enough to put Romney in his place without compromising his integrity. If Obama comes out looking good, you’ll be hearing a Republican chorus of conspiracy theories and attacks on Obama’s character no matter how polite he is, so he might as well push the envelope. As I said before, I don’t think Biden’s sneering contempt for Ryan’s whoppers was out of place at all and I doubt it cost him anything with voters likely to go Democratic.

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  66. coozledad said on October 13, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    MichaelG: There was also a touch of Ferdinand Marcos. It’s the way authoritarian cultists have always sniffed each other’s asses.

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  67. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    I really hope that the President gets an opportunity when RMoney is talking abut taxes, to sayWillard means “Read my lips.” Because that is what the shitheel is doing. And if Willard wants to talk about doubling down on denial, let the debates get around to his astoundingly stupid comment on emergency room care for the uninsured:

    http://www.examiner.com/article/mitt-romney-claims-people-america-do-not-die-from-a-lack-of-health-insurance?cid=db_articles

    That is fracking stupidity on a par with Gerald Ford confusing Balkan and Baltic.

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  68. David C. said on October 13, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    If OFA isn’t banging the drum on this 24/7, they deserve to lose.

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/mitt-romney-s-tax-dodge-20121012

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  69. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Here’s another great opportunity to skewer Mittens in the next debate:

    http://front.moveon.org/what-a-little-town-in-illinois-can-tell-us-about-mitt-romneys-america/?rc=daily.share

    And the bastard didn’t build those Olympics either:

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829

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  70. coozledad said on October 13, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    Scott Walker: winning some more:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/kevin-kavanaugh-scott-walker-aide_n_1963072.html

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  71. Sherri said on October 13, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    I find it amusing that Republicans are complaining that Biden was mean to Ryan. What with all the P90X stuff, mountain climbing, marathon running, etc., Ryan is supposed to be the tough intellectual. They’re complaining that he was bullied by Biden, a guy they’ve made fun of for being a gaffe-prone lightweight for years? Some tough guy.

    Of course, they also thought that “what newspapers do you read” was a gotcha question.

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  72. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    Parbly time for Scott to whip it out. Classsic New Jersey kinda guy as Virginia Woolf might put it. No there, there. Like All Hat No Cattle you GOPers. Guy is a jackass and a ninny. He got to the Senate by running against Martha Coakely who clearly didn’t want to win and ran the stupidest race in the history of Massachusetts politics. His political ideas are Neeaduhthal. like Jimmy Castor Bunch, and who told this idiot rube was gonna garner votes in Massachusetts? Bracing pm swim in the Atlantic just now. When the weather service says riptides and undertows, I love to swim. It’s somewhat frightening at times, but a good rip will shoot you 200yds. offshore in a few seconds. You have to be a good enough swimmer to make the return swim. Undertow is trickier. it can churn up beach detritus like fairly large rocks and bash you about. I was once knocked unconscious at Nauset Light Beach Cape Cod by a fairly large stone, and thrashed around in the out=tide. Bleeding like a stuck pig back on shore and scared the crap out of my companions, my daughter and her nanny who was very dear to me. And this was after her mom and I were divorced. It was miraculous I didn’t drown I suppose. But to this day, I love riptides and undertows. Anyway, it was awe inspiring like no waterpark ever was. There were surfable waves too, but I haven’t done that nonsense in 40 years.

    I’ve been trying to figure out if I’d be unhappy about moving out of the USA. I doubt it. I’ll still be American, and my lover too, if she agrees to come with me. I say for sure, I’ll miss S more than I miss this country. And I have no clue how she’s end up taken care of. Remember that Steppenwolf song, The Monster. That is the deal these days, in my opinion. And who knew opinion can be typed with three fingers on one hand? And not use the index finger? Holy shit.

    When did pointing out dogass lies, in a news story, become political? I’m getting the same sinking feeling I did when Blackwell and the Diebold guy declared a win. Like when the Brooks Bros, rioters got away with that outrageous shit. Masters of the Universe. Scumbag dickheads, I say. Ever watch that show Revolution. US and RMoney in no time. No coffee, no alcohol, no smoke of any kind. LDS is Diana Moon Glampers, ya dumbasses. Purveying Handicapper General. Think Fahrenheit 451, what would we read? Acctually, what about red balloons:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZwhzf8NC4o

    My take? Fine satire by an incredibly gorgeous woman. She is clearly talking about destuctive American asshole capitalists. And those aholes crawl out of the woodwork. I’m interested in what women think of Nena’s performance. She’s gorgeous, multi-lingual; and wears leather to kill for.

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  73. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    SHERRI, GOPERS thought Kerri was an Ahole because he could eindsail without killing himself while Shrub wasn;t a fracking moron because he pitxhwd over the handlebars of a personal propulsion device. Aorry. biggest idiot to ever be President without being elected.

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  74. Sherri said on October 13, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    If you haven’t read Adrian Chen’s article exposing a troll, go now.

    http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web?post=53473431

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  75. Deborah said on October 13, 2012 at 9:00 pm

    David C, that Rolling Stone article about Romney seems quite damning to me, but does anybody care anymore. People like my rightwing sister think if you can get out of paying taxes more power to you. I do no get it.

    We had a glorious day in New Mexico, drove out to Abiquiu after going to the farmers market in Santa Fe. Snow up in the Sangre de Cristos, beautiful. It was quite windy, took us about a half hour to start a fire up on our land in our fire pit. But so satisfying when it took and we cooked our sausages. After that we cleared brush, ver physical labor, my fingernails were filthy but it felt so good to sweat and have my muscles hurt afterwards.

    Did that sky jumper from space actually jump this morning? I’d be surprised with the wind and all.

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  76. Deborah said on October 13, 2012 at 9:05 pm

    Very not ver. Miss edit.

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  77. Deborah said on October 13, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    Wait, this is only Saturday and the jump from space is to happen Sunday. See, when you are retired you lose track of the days of the week just as I suspected. Glory days!

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  78. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:35 pm

    YANKEES SUCK. There is no twp ways abour this. They suck and that is that. Sorry Shetti, but when you bring the only black player to the league, you aren’t in the Cards league for being despicable. Bo Tigers. Bawdamighty I despise the Yanks,

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  79. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:52 pm

    Dexter, Can somebody shut that shit about Ichiro not being a team player about now? Guy plays for the team always. Anybody that ever thoyfgr orherwise is ab uduit, And sonehow Yanks are playind five at home, What sort of shit is that? Gawdamighty I hate the Jiants, they suck. The Yamka EW Fweeinf Qt qirh ir

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  80. Prospero said on October 13, 2012 at 11:57 pm

    Seriously, Johnnu Da,pm or Gtandersom, Toges jomer you dumbasses.

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  81. Dexter said on October 14, 2012 at 2:50 am

    Prospero, I am finally calmed down from the Tigers game…Ichiro came through big-time, then Ibanez did it again, this time to Detroit, and then the Tigers came back and won…damn, it was exhausting. I think it was Ron Darling for TBS that made that crack about Ichiro. He also said “Oh he’s alright, he’ll get right up…” as Jeter lay on the ground with a broken ankle.

    I differ from you in that I love the San Francisco Giants when playoff time comes. I love watching The Freak Tim Lincecum pitch and The Panda Pedro Sandoval hit and play third base. I hope they annihilate the goddam cardinals from Saint Louis. I have not been to AT&T Park but I saw a few games in old Candlestick many years ago. I will spend a lot of time out there as soon as I hit the big lotto prize. 🙂

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  82. alex said on October 14, 2012 at 9:13 am

    It’s downright balmy around here since last night, although accompanied by gloomy skies. Great weather for working outside as long as it doesn’t rain too much.

    And one of the smells I took to be rotting animal carcass in the walls turns out to be pine cones from the farmer’s market—they’re coated in a very pungent cinnamon! It’s kind of reminiscent of a dead smell I encountered in the past. It was permeating the house and making me retch. Then a nonsmoker friend with an uncompromised sense of smell visited last night and led me to the source—the pine cones that my partner bought for making Halloween decorations.

    Even though I destroyed some drywall in search of something that was in plain sight, it’s a great relief.

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  83. Deborah said on October 14, 2012 at 11:00 am

    Alex, that is funny. Glad to hear it has been solved.

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  84. coozledad said on October 14, 2012 at 11:15 am

    I don’t think this will keep the Republicans from pissing on Ambassador Stevens’ grave, but it ought to give them pause.
    http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-14/libyan-ambassador-s-death-not-a-political-issue-says-dad.html

    In many ways, I wish we were setting up a gulag system for this trash.

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  85. coozledad said on October 14, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Aww. Miss Lindsey’s goin’ all “wingtip reverse cowboy”.

    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/sen-graham-obama-misleading-on-libya-region-about

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  86. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Dexter,

    In 2012 Clayton Kershaw owned Lincecum. I, too, love watching Lincecum pitch. There is no physical explanation for the guy. Like Guidrt or Fidrich. But the Gints are the team of Juan Marichal, who tried to kill Johnny Roseboro. They suck, bigtime.

    And now Representative Issa, and Willard Ananais RMoney, it turns out that the diplomatic staff’s requests for increased Libya security were for the station in Tripoli, not Benghazi, you fracking necro-creeps:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/world/africa/cables-show-requests-to-state-dept-for-security-in-libya-were-focused-on-tripoli.html?pagewanted=all

    RMoney is playing politics with the murder of a very brave and very talented public servant. He should be punished at the polls for his scurrilous lack of character.

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  87. coozledad said on October 14, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    Prospero: That’s just the Republicans aching for Quaddafi. What they’re really worried about is a democratic Libya whose people benefit from the sale of their country’s natural resources.
    Well, that and the usual treasonous Republican shite shovelling.

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  88. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Well, Quaddafi was all on board with Pretzeldent Shrub. Turning over the alleged rusted remains of Libya’s alleged nuke program was a great PR claim for tha Shrubistration. GOPers are pissed off about security for diplomatic missions in Libya because the Teabanger House voted to defund contracts with Blackwater/Xe, and Shrub W. Bushco never ignored the hair on fire PDB about flying planes into buildings, and it’s all the fault of the anti-coonial Kenyan usurper. I’ve pretty much decided that I will never understand why anti-colonial is bad.I mean, Thomas Jefferson was pretty fracking anti-colonial, wasn’t he?

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  89. Sherri said on October 14, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Dexter, AT&T Park is a wonderful place to watch a ballgame, much nicer than the Stick. I’ve been colder at the Stick than at any ballpark in the country, sometimes in the same game I was roasting earlier. (I also have a Croix de Candlestick.)

    When you hit the lotto, you should come up at watch some games at Safeco, too. It’s almost as nice.

    Lincecum is fun to watch, though I suspect he’ll be done by the time he’s 30. I’m glad the Mariners let the local boy slide down the draft board to the Giants.

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  90. brian stouder said on October 14, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/indiana/obama-dummy-halloween-decoration-has-rope-around-neck

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  91. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 2:13 pm

    Autumn almanac:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3AMWc6t3cc

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  92. Connie said on October 14, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    The space parachute jump seemed pretty anti-climactic to me.

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    • nancy said on October 14, 2012 at 4:03 pm

      You must have ice water in your veins, Connie. I was transfixed. When he stepped off the landing and seemingly disappeared in a second or two, I almost screamed. As I may have mentioned a million or so times, I’m terrified of falling.

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  93. brian stouder said on October 14, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20121014/LOCAL08/310149944

    So, what would you think of a billboard that “displays the image of a team of Navy SEALs running on a surf-splashed beach with the words: “The Navy SEALs removed one threat to America … the voters must remove the other.” The sponsor’s name is under the image of the SEALs.”

    In my opinion, reinforced ignorance, hate, and racist fear-mongering like this may lead us to another national tragedy. And when I read tripe like this:

    “This is not a direct comparison,” Ditton said in an email last week. “Osama bin Laden was an external threat to America. He openly declared ‘war’ against us from foreign lands. President Obama and his friends that he has appointed, as well as many Senators and Representatives, have openly expressed their desire to change America into a different form of government. This is an internal threat to America, and most definitely not protecting the Constitution.” Ditton also said: “President Obama is not in any way similar to bin Laden. They are simply different threats to the Constitution and the American way of life.”

    my first thought is that people like are laughable idiots. But my second thought is – any number of idiots are knocking around, and can do a terrible thing in a flash – and guys like this Ditton fellow apparently have access to lots more dollars than any sort of sense.

    I think President Obama will be re-elected, and I think the flying monkeys will luxuriate in their hate, come what may

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  94. brian stouder said on October 14, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    Arlen Specter, RIP. He is survived by his ‘magic bullet’ theory, which somehow fits this moment

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  95. Kirk said on October 14, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Yes, the space jumper was riveting. Seeing him stick his boots out of the hatch kind of gave me a chill. And then the overhead shot, looking down at Earth as he took the dive, was great stuff. That he could land so softly and right on target from that high up was awesome.

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  96. Charlotte said on October 14, 2012 at 4:32 pm

    Nancy — I’m with you on the space jump. Holy moly.

    And one of my favorite cheap evenings in the Bay Area was minor league ball in San Jose — five bucks got you in, the baseball was good, there were hot dogs and little kids and beer and dopey games between innings. Loved it.

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  97. David C. said on October 14, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    The part that gave me the willies was about 1:30 in, when the picture started to look like more than a pixel and you could see he was tumbling. I didn’t think tumbling was particularly good a over 600 mph. I guess it just took a while for aerodynamics to take over and stabilize him. I agree that the landing itself look anti-climactic though.

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  98. Sherri said on October 14, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    Charlotte, the BBQ chicken meal at the minor league park in San Jose was one of the best deals in the Bay Area. I did my 40th birthday party at a San Jose Giants game.

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  99. Deborah said on October 14, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Where did the space diver land? In New Mexico? I know he took off from Roswell, pretty far south from us, but haven’t heard where he actually landed. Photos show pretty flat terrain, no mountains seem to be in sight.

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  100. Charlotte said on October 14, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    Sherri — it’s the “horse race” at the SJ Giants game I really miss — for the rest of you, it’s four or five maintenance guys with cutout horse heads on huge long poles — they poke the heads up over the back wall and in the seventh, they race — hilarious. We once went outside to watch, and the guys doing it were cracking up.

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  101. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    Privitization of embassy security is largely responsible for the killing of American diplomats in Libya. Now, which pretzeldential administration and which party are the purveyors of privatization? Libyans don’t want Blackwater/Xe in their country? No shit Sherlock. They hire rapists and murderers. Psychopaths.

    Having Chop-Shop Issa investigating this in the House is a disgrace to the USA.

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  102. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    Detroit Loins come back from 16-6 and 23-13 to to beat the Philadelphia Dog-Killers 26-23.

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  103. Prospero said on October 14, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    According to GOPers, Shrub never existed:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRhDzpJV2TM

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