In the last two days: Two round trips to Lansing, multiple long drives around the Metro, a couple fingers of scotch, a Christmas party at the gov’s mansion, a lot of work, and coming tomorrow? House guests. You can see why I’ve been a slacker around here the past couple of days.
Also, this was the scene yesterday at the Capitol. Wisconsin II: The Madisoning could be opening here any day now.
And I don’t have my shopping done. Not even close.
But I do have some weak-ass bloggage.
Dave Brubeck at the Kennedy Center Honors, having what looks to be the peak experience of his life:
This is a terribly sad story about a woman with a terribly sad — and misunderstood — condition, with an even more terrible and sad denouement — suicide.
The final days of a Detroit institution. One of my FB friends, an old music-scene hand, recalled when the Pogues were about to go on next door, and the lead singer couldn’t be found, until he was, having a couple with Steve.
It’s 11:30. I think I may die soon. So g’night.
nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 1:14 am
wow wtf?
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beb said on December 6, 2012 at 6:51 am
the next time you see the governor kick him in the crotch with s pair of union-made boots for me.
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alex said on December 6, 2012 at 8:17 am
Meanwhile, my embarrassing state senator is today’s featured laughingstock at Think Progress. His new legislative proposal would prohibit the punishment of teachers who teach creationism alongside evolution and would allow fundamentalist schoolchildren to get surly with teachers who don’t.
You’d think they’d be happy now that they can give vouchers to the willfully ignorant to send their children to schools that eschew science, but no, they’ve still gotta stick it to everyone else.
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coozledad said on December 6, 2012 at 8:20 am
Roy’s on fire today:
But saving money is the least of it; what they really want to do is grind their heels a little harder in the faces of the indigent. Their main argument is that welfare is not part of our common obligations to one another, but the property of Them That Gots, to be grudgingly dispensed with ever-more-onerous conditions to those creatures whose subhumanity is proven by their bad luck.
Whether they’re commanding the poor to pee in a cup or demanding that the childless procreate to fulfill the will of Heaven, always remember that these people are not animated by a desire to realize a common good, but by the need to assert their superiority against all evidence.
I would only add that they can’t seem to shuck the medieval notion that disease is a judgement from their bastard god. It would be nice if they’d go ahead and lock themselves down on their prayer compounds.
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Dorothy said on December 6, 2012 at 8:50 am
I had tears in my eyes after watching the Dave Brubeck clip. I am positive I watched that year – DeNiro and Springsteen were along side him in the seating section for honorees. I was trying to listen to some Brubeck at work yesterday via Pandora but I could not get it to work for some reason.
I’m so sad for that woman in Tampa Bay Times article. I read your link, and I read the follow up article about her suicide. I had no intention to make a comment, but I clicked on the comments link out of curiosity. I assumed they had someone monitoring them very closely considering the nature of the stories. And I was relieved to see that comments had been disabled. If any subject matter didn’t need comments from the peanut gallery, this was the one.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 6, 2012 at 9:02 am
For Ohioans interested in the Jefferson discussion yesterday, I put together a Google Map from notes I had on a column I did back when Obama was first elected. At least one, if not two (depending on how you read the Thomas Woodson evidence*) of Jefferson’s sons are buried here, and there’s a good chance than Sally Hemings herself was brought here by Madison Hemings in the last year of her life, and so is buried at the Barnett-Williams Cemetery in Pike County as well.
Eston Hemings, also a remarkable historical figure in his own right, is buried in Madison, Wisconsin where I know Nancy has a number of readers – Forest Grove, I think? But his grave is well-marked and easy to find, unlike these others.
http://goo.gl/maps/8AIiU
*Thomas Woodson, if you read the info at the Monticello link in the Google Map header, is simply an amazing figure in Ohio history, or should be, and I love pointing people to his story, for which the possible paternity is frosting on the tale. Someone with more time and ability should write a book on him.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 6, 2012 at 9:39 am
Oh, and regarding the tragic story in the Tampa Bay paper, whatever you call it, it’s very much a variant of OCD, and it is a *bear* to get a disability claim thru for someone who is struggling to manage OCD. More than depression, even, people including judges see it as something the sufferer should be able to tough it out and bootstrap themselves over. Treatment helps, and people do get better, but it takes a while and even an ideal patient will often continue to get pulled back into their compulsion a few times before they get back into a manageable pattern. We’ve had not a few OCD folks in transitional housing because of their inability to hold down most jobs and a lack of family support. We include helping re-apply (and re-re-apply) for disability in the resiliency plan, but we know we can’t count on that happening to get them back into stable, independent housing.
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Peter said on December 6, 2012 at 9:40 am
Sorry for my absence – had to take care of a few items.
Prospero, sorry I didn’t say this yesterday, but I concur about B. B. King – let’s just leave it that he’s no Buddy Guy.
And Alex, Cooz, and all of you who think that their state politicians are nuts, bow down before me!:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-state-senator-charged-with-trying-to-board-plane-with-weapon-20121205,0,6048413.story
The guy’s excuse is that he works for a security contractor when he’s not in Springfield, and he worked the late shift, and he forgot he put the loaded gun in the garment bag on the way home from work, but that’s not all:
He also does legal services, and he runs a church, so I guess he never sleeps, but there’s more:
He’s a candidate in the race to replace 3J (Jesse Jackson Jr.), and he has the support of the two committeemen who control the largest block of votes in the district.
For you trivia fans, this isn’t his first run for the US House – in 2000 he and some newcomer named Barack Obama challenged Bobby Rush, and they were both handily defeated.
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alex said on December 6, 2012 at 10:02 am
Jefftmmo, I read somewhere not long ago that DNA testing had ruled out Thomas Woodson as a Jefferson descendant. I happen to know some local Woodsons, in fact it’s the family of former NFL player Rod Woodson. Thomas Woodson’s children (or at least one of them) ended up in Wilshire, a pioneer settlement of free people of color along the Old Piqua Road in Van Wert County, Ohio, that’s just outside of Fort Wayne. Last I spoke to Rod’s brother, Jamie, which was quite a few years ago, he was still under the impression that the Woodsons were Jefferson descendants, though I suspect the DNA testing hadn’t taken place yet.
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Jolene said on December 6, 2012 at 10:04 am
Dorothy, as an alternative to Pandora, you might want to check out this NPR “artist page”. Lots of links to performances and interviews, including a 30-minute interview w/ Terri Gross on Fresh Air.
Also, here’s a WaPo profile by Ann Gerhart published when Brubeck received the Kennedy Center Honor featured in the video above. As with those Nancy linked to a few days ago, it’s a lovely piece.
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Charlotte said on December 6, 2012 at 10:53 am
Saw the Pogues open for Elvis Costello in Dublin in 1984 (?) — the “national stadium” which was a boxing ring, and actually quite small. They were so drunk that they were, essentially, just beating one another over the head with their traditional Irish instruments, and we were seated so close that we had to stifle our laughter because we were afraid they’d leap off the stage to beat *us* with said instruments. Finally, Elvis came on and played some actual music (I think it was the era when he married the female singer from the Pogues).
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coozledad said on December 6, 2012 at 10:55 am
Peter: Check out North Carolina’s premier argument for gene therapy to counter Republican tendencies- Virginia Dentata Foxx
Eating her own shoats, and proud of it.
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Connie said on December 6, 2012 at 11:06 am
As to not having your shopping done, I have spent several hundred dollars on Amazon in recent days and will need one trip to Penney’s for hubby gym clothes, and a drugstore run for stocking stuffers. Favorite Amazon discovery: smart wool socks. They’re washable! And expensive! And come in sizes! Most fun item: My grownup daughter is getting a life size cutout of Sheldon Cooper. And I still need to place a Harry and David order for the best pears in the world. So far all my shopping has been done at my kitchen table.
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nancy said on December 6, 2012 at 11:09 am
Sierra Trading Post carries Smartwool closeouts, and depending on your luck, you can usually get a bargain. I love them beyond all reason, and have asked for some this Christmas. The first time I put one on, I thought, “Great. Another expensive thing that I can’t live without.” It’s like your socks are loving your feet.
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Dorothy said on December 6, 2012 at 11:15 am
My daughter and I knit wool socks now and sometimes give them away as gifts. We have to love the recipients very, very much to justify all that time and work. But boy oh boy are they worth it. Daughter is much faster than I when it comes to knitting.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 11:24 am
Shane McGowan was in a public house drinking with a publican when he was supposed to be performing. Say it ain’t so.
That army band sax soloist is great on Take Five, and the Chris Brubeck ‘bone solo on Blue Rondo is superb. Take Five is the Brubeck Quartet’s most famous tune, but it was actually written by the saxophonist Paul Desmond.
Songza.org is a user-friendly alternative to Pandora, as is last.fm.
The Pogues member that Elvis Costello married was Cait O’Riordon, bass player until the mid-80s. She cowrote songs with Declan and played on some of his 80s albums. McGowan wrote tehm into the lyrics of the ridiculously riotous song Fiesta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifO7AwBtNjE
I’d defend SC’s nutcase GOPer politicians against any other state’s cortege. Last two governors, one male one female, can’t keep it in their pants on the Ol’Appalachian Trail, and we have Sen. Jim Demented, Sen. Lindsey Lord Fauntleroy, and the boneheaded Cong. Joe Wilson, who might not lose if caught with dead woman or live boy in his bed, yet fills our mailbox with campaign lit 24/7 and actually financed a fake democratic candidate during the 2008 state primary to make sure he wouldn’t have a credible opponent in the general, the manifestly insane Alvin Greene, who nobody has heard from since.
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Jolene said on December 6, 2012 at 11:37 am
One of your senators has jumped ship, Pros. Demint is resigning to take a job as head of the Heritage Foundation. Not sure whether that’s better or worse for the rest of us, but there’s a small chance you could elect a sane person instead of him.
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 11:39 am
And speaking of lovely pieces, let me say that ol’ Jeff tmmo wrote a marvelous post yesterday, full of delicate observation and incisive thinking regarding our third president. His post exemplifies why I love to read non-fiction; there’s plenty of nuance and irony and dramatic tension (assuming the history is well researched and written), hiding in plain sight. Regarding Andy Jackson – I liked Meacham’s book about him, but I’ve no great admiration for Old Hickory (unlike the youthful Lincoln, who idolized him).
Andy Jackson would fit right into the 2012 NFL; make him mad, and gunplay is sure to follow*. Didn’t really understand his visceral hatred for the Bank of the United States, but DID admire how he reacted to an attempt on his life, in the capital (the assailant’s gun misfired; as did his back-up gun**. The president, reacting to this, began beating the would-be assassin with his cane, and had to be pulled off him!).
Anyway – run – don’t walk!- right back to Jeff’s post late in yesterday’s thread.
*And maybe for the exact same reason. Andy Jackson had a craggy scar across his head, from where a British soldier whacked him (with the flat of his sword?) – so again, a head injury early in life…
**George Washington, or at least his unused tomb, is credited (by some historians) with saving Andy Jackson’s life that day. The thought is that the cavern beneath the capital, which was put there for Washington’s use (and which his family declined), kept the air much moister than it would otherwise be, and that this contributed to the failure of the assassin’s weapons.
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Sherri said on December 6, 2012 at 11:43 am
The two best things I ever did for my feet were Smartwool socks and Superfeet insoles. I have a pair of custom orthotics, but I find that the Superfeet insoles make my feet feel better. I’m asking for more Smartwool socks for Christmas, too.
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Catherine said on December 6, 2012 at 11:47 am
Jeff’s post is indeed interesting and nuanced, even dramatic, but for me, Della boils it down nicely: Jefferson was a sweet talker who didn’t walk the talk.
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Judybusy said on December 6, 2012 at 11:52 am
Jeff TMMO, I disagree that the woman’s condition was OCD. I’ve never heard of this condition before, but it appears that she was experiencing an intense, pervasive biological arousal that was momentarily released by masturbation. She wasn’t having intrusive sexual thoughts or trying to rid herself of a compulsive fear, which is the function of OCD-related ritualistic behavior.
On a happier note, I’m glad Nancy linked to STP for the SmartWool socks. They are still great quality for nearly half the price. We both have them on our Christmas list. I can’t recommend them highly enough; there is a huge difference in heating ability compared to any other sock I’ve ever had.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 12:05 pm
We buy wool and silk blend socks from REI. Almost affordable with the member discount and free shipping. Incredibly comfortable and never sweaty, even by a campfire. Wigwam socks, from Zappos are also really nice and extremely comfortable. Both brands have no discernible seams, which is the gold standard for me.
Demented may be going to Heritage, but SC will elect somebody to carry on in his irrational traditions, like his insistence that the American tax system should be replaced altogether by a 23% national sales tax. In Demint’s mind, that would not be regressive taxation. Full-goose looney. People will certainly have to reconsider calling Heritage Foundation a “think tank” if that much-for-brains is running the place.
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Little Bird said on December 6, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Judybusy, I agree with you that OCD seems an incorrect diagnosis. She had a nerve issue, that in order to have a few minutes of reprieve required a specific action. Compelled behavior, not compulsive. That the compelled behavior has such a social stigma attached to it just made everything worse, the poor woman.
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Jolene said on December 6, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Two more end-f-the-year links of potential interest–
The Atlantic’s Year in Photos/a>: There are three sets of photos. The links to the second and third sections are at the bottom of this page.
NPR’s 50 Favorite Albums. Of course, being old, I’ve never heard of much of this music, but the list is cool because it has a link to a selection from each album so you can get a sense of whether you might like it.
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Jolene said on December 6, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Well, damn. I obviously didn’t end those links correctly, but they both work. What was the story on the edit button again?
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adrianne said on December 6, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Thanks to Detroitblogger for the lovely tribute to the Detroit dive bar. Now I want to have a beer and a shot at Steve’s Place.
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Julie Robinson said on December 6, 2012 at 1:08 pm
Hmm, I am very intrigued by the Smartwool socks, as the supposedly warm ski socks I bought at a local sporting goods store were a huge disappointment, and I’ve also been underwhelmed by silk liners. Any of you who use them, are there certain ones that are fairly thin? And they really don’t itch?
Like you, Sherri, I have very expensive custom orthotics that I rarely wear, having found a couple of Birkenstock styles that work better for me.
We have finally convinced family members that we don’t want to focus on presents at Christmas. We just don’t need more stuff that will eventually end up in the basement, waiting for the next Goodwill run. Our kids will be thrilled to receive cash, and we can enjoy getting together with loved ones. So far my only shopping has been buying gifts for a couple of little girls for a neighborhood Christmas party at church. Knowing that they won’t receive anything else helps a lot with my perspective, and made shopping for them fun, rather than a burden.
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coozledad said on December 6, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Jolene: I have to second one of the NPR picks. This is one talented kid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23bifAbWWs
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coozledad said on December 6, 2012 at 1:13 pm
He’s pretty good live, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjjc59FgUpg
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Jakash said on December 6, 2012 at 1:26 pm
I enjoyed both the long reflections on Jefferson yesterday, by Brian and Jeff (tmmo). Even conceding the validity of Coates’ remark that we must move beyond an “infantile desire to know whether Daddy was a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy'”, I find myself agreeing more with Brian’s analysis. Jeff’s nuanced exploration of the background of Jefferson’s relationship with Hemings was excellent, but I don’t think it absolves him of his responsibility for participating in an institution that he well knew to be wrong. And I still find no explanation there for why he would not have, at the very minimum, freed Hemings herself, at least upon his death, when he did free 5 slaves, including her children by him. Anyway, I don’t know whether anybody will find it to be a worthwhile addition to the discussion, or not, but this op-ed column from the N. Y. Times last week dealt with the same topic. The title, “The Monster of Monticello”, gives an ever-so-subtle indication of the opinion being expressed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121201&_r=1&
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 1:40 pm
I bought a few of those albums, and enjoy them. Particularly excellent is the Sharon Van Etten album, and anybody that ever appreciated Motown music at all would like the Bobby Womack (Sam Cooke’s old compadre and the author of It’s All Over Now) album (a bookend for Curtis Mayfield’s brilliant New World Order). Was unaware of the Iris Dement, but that is already purchased five minutes ago. The woman is what Lucinda Williams will be if she ever reaches adulthood. I got Leonard Cohen’s new album at the same time as the latest Bob Dylan, and I think one is as good as the other. Listen to Dylan’s more frequently because it is raucous, like the marvellous Duquesne Whistle (grrreeeaaattt vocal!!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mns9VeRguys
Oh, and that Brooklyn Rider Beethoven album is astounding, but I’m a sucker for string quartets. As we both are for Pink, the real RIOT GRRRL. Haven’t heard the Debo Band album, but I saw the band play live last time I was in Boston. Great live show, and I will buy that album, for sure. Energy like Sunny Ade’s band. I’m also thinking that Alt-J album sounds good, sorta Floydish and King Crimsonish. And somebody needs to show that Fiona Apple album cover to her psychiatrist. Scary.
And who in the world knew somebody selects a Perrenial Plant of the Year
http://www.perennialplant.org/education/plant-of-the-year
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Sue said on December 6, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Re: nitewatcher’s comment from yesterday – Can you give us any background on the development and your take on how likely it is to go forward? If I read the information correctly, when the Citadel is built out your county population might be doubled in size or maybe more, which means a very solid voting/candidate bloc from a community dedicated to practicing exclusion within its own geographical confines. How might it affect county government?
Your thoughts?
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Jakash – thanks for the great Jefferson link. The nut paragraph –
As president he acquired the Louisiana Territory but did nothing to stop the spread of slavery into that vast “empire of liberty.” Jefferson told his neighbor Edward Coles not to emancipate his own slaves, because free blacks were “pests in society” who were “as incapable as children of taking care of themselves.” And while he wrote a friend that he sold slaves only as punishment or to unite families, he sold at least 85 humans in a 10-year period to raise cash to buy wine, art and other luxury goods. Destroying families didn’t bother Jefferson, because he believed blacks lacked basic human emotions. “Their griefs are transient,” he wrote, and their love lacked “a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation.” Jefferson claimed he had “never seen an elementary trait of painting or sculpture” or poetry among blacks and argued that blacks’ ability to “reason” was “much inferior” to whites’, while “in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous.” He conceded that blacks were brave, but this was because of “a want of fore-thought, which prevents their seeing a danger till it be present.”
Maybe it was in the Wilentz book that I first read about TJ’s tight-money situation, and the resultant ‘need’ to sell the human beings he owned, rather than simply emancipating them. There’s another great book, about Jefferson and Madison (in fact, that might be the title), by a wife and husband research team (if memory serves), that gave me an appreciation of Madison (who mostly wrote the Constitution, for starters) moreso than TJ
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Judybusy said on December 6, 2012 at 2:57 pm
The Smithsonian Magazine recently had an excerpt from Wiencek’s book. I found the description of the nail factory to be the most disturbing, with its accounts of boys being whipped to produce more nails. Last year, I also read most of Annette Gordon-Reed’s book on Hemmings, and was very puzzled why Sally did not leave for freedom when living in Paris, as she could have done. Perhaps the pull of family remaining in Virginia was enough to make her return.
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BigHank53 said on December 6, 2012 at 3:01 pm
If you live in the Northeast, the LL Bean factory outlets frequently carry Smartwool factory seconds at huge discounts. Darn Tough also makes some good wool socks.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 6, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Re: Alex’s note off of my post from today (and the little bonus for Ohio readers, http://goo.gl/maps/8AIiU) —
The Woodson family DNA problem is noted in the Monticello link under the header of my Google Map. Some historians tried to discreetly warn the family of a potential complication, which turned out to be an issue. There’s the chance that Jefferson (in all the Hemings’, too) was not the father, but that another maternal lineage male was, and that DNA would be largely indistinguishable at this point and using the tests they did. In fact, the Hemings line has been tested and retested to the point that another Randolph paternity is more of a stretch than Jefferson.
But the Woodsons ran into the other pre-testing concern historians raised. What if Jefferson was the father, but a woman in the genealogy subsequently was impregnated by a man not her Woodson husband, and the line continued from there? After some initial discomfiture (mitigated by the fact that no one was pointing a finger at a particular woman, nor one still living or even in living memory), the family has settled back into that hypothesis: Jefferson was Thomas Woodson’s father in 1790, but a later link in the line was, um, complicated by variant DNA. And it’s just possible.
More likely is that Woodson’s line goes back to a Wayles or Randolph male and a slave mother not Sally, but regardless, I think the Woodson family has made enough history on their own to have earned the connection if only to keep their story out there!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 6, 2012 at 3:16 pm
And I would not argue with anyone saying Little Jemmy was a better man than TJ . . . and as I said yesterday, I suspect Tom would agree. I’d love to visit Montpelier someday; it’s only been open to the public for a while. But Madison . . . what a guy.
To make the case for Madison’s merits “against interest” as my legal colleagues would say, enjoy this link:
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions64.html
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Well, and a contemporary question that should have been asked of our presidential candidates back in the primary season, and which is another example of how the past ain’t really all that far past: How, precisely, would draconian anti-immigrant policies (mass-arrest/mass-deportation and walls and electrified fences and barbed wire and dogs and drones, and so on) really differ from Andy Jackson’s “Indian removal” (read as ‘trail of tears’/death march) policy. How would it not be a genocidal act, by white Americans against non-white Americans?
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Connie said on December 6, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Maybe the past ain’t really all that far past, but this old history major has always thought that it just isn’t right to judge historical personages and events by today’s new and different standards, be it slave owning or the trail of tears.
Even the Little House on the Prairie books had lots of scary Indians.
And don’t get me going on the question of erasing all the cigarettes being smoked in Humphrey Bogart movies. (Having quit almost 14 months ago I could still cheerfully light one up. But I won’t.)
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 4:03 pm
There may be a ‘local angle’ playing out regarding the NFL/gun culture/Fox News sandstorm that has been swirling since Bob Costas dared to sharply comment in the aftermath of the murder/suicide by the Kansas City Chiefs guy.
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/fbi-conducting-safe-streets-investigation-at-multiple-fort-wayne-locations
Up ‘til today, I’d not heard of the FBI’s “Safe Streets” initiative, but the G-men hit a couple of houses in Fort Wayne today, as part of that program. Checking that term, one finds that they focus on gun and meth trafficking…and to that extent, it gives me a fair amount of pleasure that, rather than occurring in southeast Fort Wayne (low income/lower class/where I grew up!), it is occurring in northeast Fort Wayne (Cherry Hill/high income/upper class…but not quite gated)
Jason Fabini, and his brother, and others appear to have some splain’n to do (and surely they’ll have some “lame excuse” or another, eh?)
Connie, we’ll have to agree to disagree. In my opinion, what’s wrong is wrong; and in the case of slavery, it was a wrong that only a relative few actually surfed upon/benefitted from (the 1%ers!) – and that got lots and lots of southern/non-slave-holding mothers’ sons killed.
Classic Romney-omics; indescribable suffering for millions, and the benefits for a very very (very) few
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mark said on December 6, 2012 at 4:18 pm
If “what’s wrong is wrong” and mass deportation equals genocide, then Obama must be guilty:
Obama has removed 1.4 million people during his 42 months in office so far. Technically, that’s fewer than under George W. Bush, whose cumulative total was 2 million. But Bush’s number covers eight full years, which doesn’t allow an apples-to-apples comparison.
If you instead compare the two presidents’ monthly averages, it works out to 32,886 for Obama and 20,964 for Bush, putting Obama clearly in the lead.
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mark said on December 6, 2012 at 4:19 pm
or maybe genocide was a poor choice of words
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Mark –
I don’t disagree with you.
http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/lessons/raphael-lemkin-exploring-lemkins
The term “genocide” is a relatively new one…I learned about Lemkin and the UN and the genesis of the term “genocide” in Samantha Power’s excellent book “A Problem from Hell”….and it represents any orchestrated effort to systematically remove or destroy a racial or ethnic or religious group.
By that definition, going after hispanics in the southwest in a big way (as the president has, and as his potential opponents wanted to do LOTS more of) is essentially indefensible
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Scout said on December 6, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Just ordered some hiking socks from Sierra. Got them for 5.69 each with a 35% coupon I found online. Thanks for the hat tip, Nancy.
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mark said on December 6, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Using that defiition, asking your 16 year-old daughter’s Hispanic boyfriend to get out of your living room and go home, because it’s after 11 pm, is genocide.
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brian stouder said on December 6, 2012 at 4:39 pm
No – but if you advocated for a law that said no hispanic youths can be out after 11:00 pm – or that specifically banned them from the locality…..that might be on the path (as I – no doubt imperfectly! – understand the term)
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 4:42 pm
Sue @ 32… Hey that rhymes 🙂 If just a few of them wanted to come up to Benewah County it would go over but when there talking about doubling the county size & telling the rest of us living here too damn bad were coming anyways. They have grossly underestimated the people of Benewah. So I challenged them to take it public in Benewah County & see what kind of reaction they would get. Take out a full page ad in the local gab & blab, go to a county commissioners meeting, talk to people in the local restaurants, knock on doors etc, Well you can guess how that went over. 🙂 I have showed there web page & blog to several of my friends here. Most said who the f*%k are these nuts & they want to build what!!!!???? with how many people?? They have no idea what they are in for here weather aside. Theres a reason this county has stayed at 9000 +- population for YEARS. They are not being truthful with prospective applicants about the harshness of this country and the leave us the F*%k alone feelings of the locals. This will bring the liberal media & for sure the splc up here. You wanna talk about pissing off the locals. And think about this… they want to build a wall to enclose a square mile? Not a fence but a wall. I guess like a freeway sound wall from how they describe it. Just think about that for a minute. Their founder behind this citadel thing had to be best friends with Timothy Leary. Anything else ?? 🙂
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 4:50 pm
The grotesque thing about FUX and the NRA vs. Costas is this. These are the same shitheels that ranted about Limbaugh’s 1st Amendment rights when he gave his intellectually challenged assessment of Sarah Fluke’s contraception comments. Unlike Limpballs, Costas is a credible journalist, and this is a pretty clear case of his speaking a protected opinion in a venue in which he had every right to do so. His employers could fire him, I suppose, but that would clearly produce damage to the employers. Meanwhile, Wayne “Monkey Death Grip” LaPierre is free to try generating a consumer boycott. Good luck with that one, Dr. Death.
Mark@45, that’s an intellectual bluescreen of death right there, pard.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 4:54 pm
The tragic end result of Greg “Teacups” Mortensen’s egotistical hoax and $million dollar scam.
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Sue said on December 6, 2012 at 4:55 pm
nitewatcher:
So, the developer isn’t a local guy/guys? If not, any idea why your county is the chosen land, so to speak?
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Julie Robinson said on December 6, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Scout, would you be able to share where you found the coupon? I’d like to try them.
And as far as historic values, there’s a big difference between the Little House books and what TJ did, buying and selling humans. The Ingalls simply repeated what they had been told about native Americans without perpetrating any acts of violence. How many of us can honestly say we have no prejudice, or had none in the past?
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 5:00 pm
#48 How long ago did the “straw fairy” come & visit you?
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Sue said on December 6, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Julie, the Ingalls took advantage of the aftermath of their own government’s policy of removing people from their land by treaty backed with force or by force itself. They got their land through the forced removal of other humans from their homelands. That close in time to when it happened, participation in the Homestead Act signaled agreement.
I know, revisionist history but in 2012 Laura needs to move over and let other sides in on the telling.
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Scout said on December 6, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Julie – here you go: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/sierratradingpost.com
I used the 4th one down, it expires today.
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Julie Robinson said on December 6, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Sue, I didn’t know that and I stand corrected.
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Julie Robinson said on December 6, 2012 at 5:10 pm
And thanks Scout!
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Sue @ 50 No from what I can make out the “leader is from SC or NC ?. (theres a youtube vid on there III arms link) There is no 3000 acre parcel. There is no nothing but them trying to sell/lease snake oil. They have purchased 20 acres & have a permit/license from the state of Idaho & the batfe to manufacture firearms. Our county could have been chosen because of it size & small population, very low crime rate. Very Conservative. Extremely pro 2nd amendment. It is also a poor county to somewhat & part of it is Indian reservation. Go take the time & read thru there web site & blog. It is very…uhhh Yeh thats all I got 🙂
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Sue said on December 6, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Oh Julie, I’m not correcting you, just making an observation. Sometimes I sound more serious than I intend to, I don’t have Mr. Stouder’s gift of discussing dark stuff with a light touch.
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Sherri said on December 6, 2012 at 6:08 pm
To tie together Lincoln, the Ingalls, and the Indians, the episode of This American Life that ran over Thanksgiving weekend was about the largest mass execution in US history. Thirty-eight Dakota warriors were hanged by order of Abraham Lincoln in 1862 in Mankato, MN, which Little House readers will recognize as a town near Walnut Grove.
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LAMary said on December 6, 2012 at 6:16 pm
I’ve found random good stuff at Sierra Trading Post. Sweaters, turtlenecks, rain jackets. I’ve never been disappointed or felt I paid too much.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Never been a secret I think fracturing shale to extract natural gas is, well, fracking stupid, and needs to have the brake slammed on big time. Another object lesson:
http://front.moveon.org/whats-the-big-deal-about-fracking-this-this-is-the-big-deal/
What the hell is the “straw fairy”? Rumplestiltskin? La fee vert, that one I know.
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del said on December 6, 2012 at 7:17 pm
I’ve had a few beers with Steve. I always park in the lot next to his bar when I go downtown. It’s run by a guy named Pervez (who goes by “Pete”). He sits in a booth the size of an outhouse eight hours a day. He was born in India and smiles easily, a good guy all around. More than once I’ve seen him peel dollar bills off his wad of cash and pay a homeless alcoholic to pick up trash in the lot. When Pervez leaves for the day he takes all the remaining car keys and leaves them with Steve at the bar. Steve usually tries to talk you into having a beer with him before he gives up the keys, so, I’ve had a few with him. Pervez might be another interesting guy for Detroitblogger John to profile.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 7:33 pm
#61 Straw Fairy must have visited you some nite and sucked your brain out threw your ear or could have been your ass. Your wild name calling RANT was my first clue… #48
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Sorry, bud. Wayne LaPierre is a malignant force in American politics, as is Rush Limbaugh the famous Costa Rican utrou bandit. Sorry if that opinion offends you, but it is certainly not out of the ordinary in the USA. And if you think that constitutes a “wild name calling RANT, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Had the NRA never corrupted the American political system in any other way, it’s ALEC foray into writing bullshit “model” legislation should be enough for decent Americans to shun the organization as a pariah.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 7:46 pm
And, I guess I missed “straw fairy” back around third grade. Fracking infantile.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Hmmm you libs sure got the name calling down. bummer you were always picked last for dodge ball
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Actually, I was usually doing the picking whatever the sport was. Never had much use for dodgeball, though. Seems kind of mindless.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 8:41 pm
So let me introduce myself. Hey Prospero. Im Nitewatcher from North Idaho 🙂 I come in peace 🙂
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 8:47 pm
I suppose that asinine dodgeball comment doesn’t qualify as name-calling or the even more odious internet tough-guy gambit. I do, indeed, have liberal political convictions, but deciding it’s somehow stereotypically “liberal” to find NRA and FoxNews bullying unAmerican and unacceptable is stupid. Spending immense amounts of cash to misinform Americans and to buy state legislature’s going along with inhuman and unAmerican, and, flatly, illegal, bullshit like SYG, those things are a vile perversion of what this country is supposed to stand for, and anybody true to a respectable form of American conservatism would find that bullshit as repugnant as I do.
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Danny said on December 6, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Nancy, I worry for you. Stop staying up so late and posting. Instead, wake up super duper early and write something ultra-coherent before the first cup of coffee.
There, problem solved.
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Dexter said on December 6, 2012 at 9:03 pm
‘Tis the season.
R.I.P., Kirsty MacColl…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAwK9juhhY
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Julie Robinson said on December 6, 2012 at 9:04 pm
No worries, Sue, you made me think in a new way and that’s a good thing!
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 9:20 pm
It’s striking me as funy that some Idaho yahoo is calling me an effete wimp lib, when tomorrow, I’m going out with my hand-carved-stock Mosberg over under on my annual hunting trip. For mistletoe. Only safe way to hunt the stuff. Blow it the hell out of trees. Way too old to climb anymore.Tied to ribbons and raise cash for the county food bank and NGO social services org. And it is fun shooting that gun. And here’s another bit of Christmas music, and it’s a long way from Little Drummer Boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUlR8Jb__aM
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Connie said on December 6, 2012 at 9:49 pm
I was always picked last for everything. Except the math contest. If I had been picked first I might have actually had to play basketball or something.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 10:13 pm
That “well-regulated militia” part is clearly a very intentional definitive phrase. How thugs and gun anarchists claim it doesn’t count is astounding. Connie, had I ever been involved in a math contest, I’d have been lower than last, and I’d certainly have picked you ahead of me. It’s strange, I can do all sorts of math in my head, but when somebody put trig tables in front of me, I gagged. Like, so the fuck what. Geometry makes practical sense as well as being physically beautiful. Algebra, so the hell what?. I enjoyed sports and was good at them, and the idea that some dumbass can impugn that bit of my self by calling me a “lib” is infuriating, and I have punched aholes out for that before. Sorry, but that Porky’s -intelligence -level shit about dodgeball pretty much fried my ass. The worst Detroit FB team when I was in HS would have kicked the best team in Idaho’s ass black and blue. No question. And there would have been Panther’s kids beating shit out of white supremacist asshats. Just forget it. I would say, being strong, fast, well-coordinated, that doesn’t make anybody a political neanderthal, and that implication is revolting and moronic.
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 10:40 pm
How is it that gun nuts and phony Constitutional originalists try to claim the opening preclusionary and definitive clause doan actually mean shit? Connie, my bed-wetting liberalism always caused me to pick the unlikely good players. Generally, I was good enough to win anyway and let the nerdly kids enjoy it. Is that more annoying than claiming “you libs got picked last”? What an idiot. I was an all -state swimmer and all-city in track and a very good football player. Your mindless attack is a tad hurtful, but I was actually quite good at sports and also a sensible and liberal thinker. I don’t get that sort of rank stupidity (sorry about the name calling) but I once ran a 4:45 mile as a HS freshman. Now that is kind of more amazing than AYn Ryan making up a marathon time. I did it for sure, and I ran a 1:54 880. Not so wimpy you wimp. What a crock of shit from this bastard Mark Fuhrman devotee.
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Danny said on December 6, 2012 at 10:41 pm
nitewatcher, fret not. This is normal for this time of night.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 10:49 pm
🙂 Danny im not fretting im 6’4 292 if #75 ever wants to come west on I90 id be more than happy to have him kick my white ass
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 11:01 pm
When some dumbass shit claims I must have been som athletic failure, I want to just say fuck you, you moron. I played FB at a high level, was an all state swimmer and was all city in track. in Detroit. Where so-called tough guys like Nitewatcher are creepers around that Night Ranger claim. I seriously find this bullshit that I have to put up with shit like this. I used to be a very good athlete before arthritis clubbed my physical abilities.
fast as shit. Good at middle distance. Crappy baseball player but pretty good at hoops. Now that ahole claimed I couldn’t play dodgeball? I think it’s because I was a much better player than his fat ass ever was. Lay off the PBR, moron.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 11:09 pm
#79 you were a swimmer??? HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA you mouse!! Fuck dude smacking you would be like smacking a miniature pony. HAHHAHHAHAHAHH man thats the hardest ive laughed in ages. A little swimmer boy. no wonder your a lib you been picked on your whole life. whewwww thanks for the gut buster “Mouse”
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Seriously, I was the alpha male you cowered in front of. I always acted like elvis, and made fun of bigtimers like you.
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nitewatcher said on December 6, 2012 at 11:55 pm
HAHAHHHAHAHA whatever swimmer boy or hey tell you what i’ll call you alpha swimmer boy make you feel better?? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH my wife keeps asking me what im laughing at
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Prospero said on December 6, 2012 at 11:55 pm
I mean to take everything back about myself. Kiss my ass for sure, You have got to be kidding about myself. I really thought you were full of it keedos. I was smarter than y’all, for a surety. Are we jokeing? I mean I love you, and no kidding, what the hell I’m not joking. How do we consider Like you are my whatevers? Sarah. I am missing you. Whatever we might say. I will say one of my favourite afternoons ever was ice cream with you after a baseball game. We were mistaken for
Emily’s mom more than once. It wwS SURE NOT MY FAULT. THERE WAS A TIME YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND EVER.
what the hell.
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Sherri said on December 6, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Can I play? My mom wouldn’t let me play sports in high school (she wanted me on the math team, not the basketball team), but I have a black belt in karate and can bench press 170 lbs.
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:05 am
Hey Sherri I bet you could whoop swimmer boy too 🙂 170 for a gal is pretty damn good. for years i wanted 400 so bad, all i could get was was 365. but 170 you got it going on 🙂 goof for you
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:06 am
goof = GOOD big fingers small laptop 😛
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 12:18 am
I CAN BARELY BENCHPRESS 170, BUT I CAN CURL 160. THAT SORT OF SHIT ABOUT DODGEBALL WASN’T BULLSHIT. We could make fun by having played serious football. And Football didn’t mean dick, But it did. Because you were so such a shitheel moron you felt you had to make fun.
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 12:21 am
I give up, this ahole is obviously smarter than I am and a better athlete. What a flaming idiot.
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:22 am
nite nite swimmer boy 😛
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 12:28 am
Not a better athlete by any stretch. a useless turd. Are we kidding? Whatever I say about are you joking? Are you kidding? I was a way better athlete you stupid piece of shit.
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 12:29 am
You had no conceivable consideration you worthless shit.
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Dexter said on December 7, 2012 at 12:31 am
I wanna play! My grandson’s dad was Detroit All-City as a wide receiver…must have been 1989. He went on to play the same position at University of Toledo.
My cousin Wayne Schurr
played for the Chicago Cubs in 1964.
I hit two free throws with seconds to go to tie Fremont High School , then after my teammate stole the basketball and passed off to the other forward who launched an air ball, I caught the errant shot and hit a short hook shot as the buzzer sounded, 68-66, my best moment.
I also won a ribbon for track; I was not a for-real runner, but was forced to run track by our basketball coach, and I led the 880 until the last five feet ; I was the rabbit , and I was caught, but I won a ribbon.
I worked my ass off at baseball and I played in many, many professional ballparks on a team which existed to showcase young players to pro scouts. More than a few of my teammates were signed to pro contracts and kicked ass in the minor leagues but none of them made the major leagues . Before I joined, several made the Bigs. Outside of Henry Aaron, who played on the team back about 1954, Paul Casanova was the starting catcher for the old Washington Senators team for a while…anyway…my chance went up in smoke because my invitation to come to Florida for the minor league tryout camp in 1970 had to be skipped as Uncle Sam owned me via the US military draft. My baseball career was over before it started. After the army I had to scramble just to survive , working part-time jobs and going to the satellite campus of Indiana University at Fort Wayne. It’s all good, because just as John McGraw, the old NY Giants manager said when a young prospect was killed in a train wreck on the way to New York City for his tryout, “…if it was meant for him to play Major League Base Ball, he’d be here now.” John McGraw was sort of a …what? mystic? or hard ass?
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:31 am
swimmer boy, a girl could whoop your ass
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:35 am
I wrestled all thru jr high & until my jr year in HS then I got wheels and discovered I like drinking beer & pussy more than wrestling lol 🙂
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 12:36 am
Dexter: Fremont HS in Calif?
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Danny said on December 7, 2012 at 1:00 am
This is truly Festivus. Airing if grievances and feats of strength.
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nitewatcher said on December 7, 2012 at 1:15 am
Danny: good one 🙂 1 point for you, 0 for swimmer boy
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MichaelG said on December 7, 2012 at 1:48 am
Somebody gave us a disc of those Irish River whatever dancers. I opined that they were talented and so forth. My Portuguese then wife laughed and said that they were the stiffest, most repressed dancers she had ever seen. On second thought I had to agree with her. They, in the end, sucked. But there is hope for the Irish. The Pogues.
Always thought that ‘Danny Boy’ was a mawkish, syrupy song? I give you the Pogues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs
When the cup comes around, I’ll toss in a buck to help get Shane McGowan’s teeth fixed. Replaced. Whatever.
I played football in HS. Third string.
At 68 years old I can still do the 16 oz curl.
Can’t swim for shit.
Danny, looks like you’ve had a cup or two of Prospero juice. I know I have.
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 2:05 am
Swimmer Boy? Are you a fucking moron? Were you ever anything but a high school bully? I didn’t bring this shit up. You did. And you are a foolishly bad POS.
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Prospero said on December 7, 2012 at 2:11 am
Somebody actually didn’t act like a fucking moron? How did I not figure liars for liars. What a buncha fucking idiots. You can all kiss my ass. I was a successful HS athlete and you weren’t. So the fuck what. I ever said that meant dick? Nope. Didn’t think so. Stupid shit notwithstanding. Kiss my ass.
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del said on December 7, 2012 at 7:30 am
Danny’s Festivus comment is the clear thread winner. I was looking to link to a clip from Boogie Nights where John C. Reilly’s character meets a rival in the swimming pool and immediately asks, “How much can you bench?”
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Basset said on December 7, 2012 at 7:44 am
“Compliments pass when the quality meet.”
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beb said on December 7, 2012 at 8:03 am
Wow! What a way to kill a party.
My wife was over visiting her sister and came back with a recipe for Spaghetti pie. Well, it’s more of a lasagna kind of thing. In a casserole layer pasta, riccota cheese, sauce (with a egg blended in) and finished with parmesian cheese. Bake. Sounds delish and it can be made vegetarian so our whole family can enjoy it.
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Basset said on December 7, 2012 at 9:22 am
Mrs. B. makes that with egg noodles, quite tasty.
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