Never underestimate the power of a good headline, I always say. Take the Daily Mail on Monday:
Why does the devil in ‘The Bible’ look exactly like President Obama?
This is what I get for watching “Girls.” I’m missing “The Bible,” but fortunately, I have Jeff watching for me. Of course I clicked the link; if the Brits know anything, they know how to get you to look at their paper. He didn’t look exactly like Obama, but yeah, there’s a resemblance — maybe if Obama gay-married Frank Langella and they genetically engineered a baby. Well, I’d expect nothing less from the Mark Burnett production house.
How about another from the U.K.? The Scottish Sun: Meet the woman with the world’s strongest VAGINA. Yeah, “vagina” in all caps, just in case we might miss it. How do they know how strong it is? She inserts an egg-like thingamabob up there, with a hook attached. She attaches dumbbells to the hook and holds them there, with the power of her ya-ya. There’s a video; never mind the content warning, everything is discreetly hidden from view. She’s Russian, and says she’s achieved this power after “20 years of vigorous training.” OK.
Let’s pick an American newspaper at random. (Spins in circle, points finger at…The Columbus Dispatch.) “Bill would allow school safety levies.” OK, well — legislatures are notoriously difficult to brighten up, unless they’re fighting with canes on the floor. (Or fighting about vaginas.)
The problem with headlines (these days) is SEO. To attract search-engine interest — absolutely essential in this day and age — heds have to be dumb, obvious and boring. The Obama/Satan and strong-vagina stories had the advantage of being lurid stories where even dumb, obvious headlines couldn’t be boring. Although I’d like to try; I bet a few copy editors could muck those up. Groups claim depiction of demon resembles prexy, perhaps, or Russian woman lifts weights — intimately. Prexy is a great headline word, along with solon. And “intimate” has been standing in for dirty, dirty sex for a long time now.
And now here we are, and here are some less-alluring heads on some fare more interesting stories, eh?
The WashPost on the peculiar trend of “Moorish American nationals” squatting in unoccupied homes. This seems to be an African-American thing, but I recall a rural white version from my Hoosier days. I think they called themselves “sovereign citizens” and did much the same thing, declaring their homes tiny little nations.
Last year, the Michigan legislature repealed the motorcycle helmet law. Twelve months later, motorcycle deaths up 18 percent. Alan and I drove behind a couple riding a motorcycle through Grosse Pointe. Both unhelmeted, although the woman was wearing a straw hat with fluttering ribbons she was clasping to her head with one hand, the other wrapped around the man’s waist. She seemed to think she was the cutest trick in shoe leather, and she was. I hope she never does it again, however.
If, like me, you were bothered by the knee-jerk criticism of Rob Portman over his turnaround on gay marriage, please read this, about Debbie Stabenow’s personal stake in better mental health care. I take turnarounds however they come; we are all human, and shaped by the events in our lives.
And with that, I approach the hump of Wednesday.
Dexter said on March 20, 2013 at 1:57 am
My daughter posted the devil picture and I immediately knew who it was: basketball player Rudy Gay, + 25 years. http://wehoopny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rudy-gay-363435155.jpg
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Hattie said on March 20, 2013 at 2:15 am
My home is a sovereign nation. I call it Bitchistan. Our literacy rate is 100%.
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David C. said on March 20, 2013 at 6:42 am
The only motorcycle riders you see using helmets here in Wisconsin are young ones on crotch rockets. You almost never see a Harley rider with one. Oh well, transplant organs have to come from somewhere.
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alex said on March 20, 2013 at 6:55 am
Speaking of the Moorish nationalist movement, one of Nance’s former colleagues is quoted at length in this piece by the Southern Poverty Law Center regarding this very phenomenon and its emergence in Fort Wayne a couple of years ago.
The gal dangling a dumbell like a yoyo out her yaya is kinda meh. Now if she could shoot gourds across a room and shatter them against a wall as was described by Spalding Gray in Swimming to Cambodia, I might be impressed.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 20, 2013 at 6:58 am
Hey, I thought the personal was political. Were the Sixties and Seventies for naught?
For everyone’s benefit, “The Bible” is delaminating quickly. As a congregational pastor, I’m now watching defensively, for much the same reasons I read the first two and last one of the “Left Behind” series, so I know what I’m arguing against. It’s turned into “theoxploitation” cinema.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 20, 2013 at 7:06 am
Indian Country Today’s social media guru (shaman?) tells me the hed needs “sex” or anything to do with “astronomy” to bulge the SEO numbers. That includes “Fish hatchery reports sex of fingerlings mostly male” or “Sex of nouns in Dine language mostly female.” But anything to do with Sun, Moon, stars, planets, solstices & equinoxes is a close second.
Happy vernal solstice, everyone! And you know what the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox means . . .
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Suzanne said on March 20, 2013 at 8:03 am
Ah, yes, a county councilman or township trustee (I can’t remember which)in our area tried to declare his homestead a sovereign nation a number of years ago. A good church going Bible believin’ American he was, but it didn’t work. He lost his political seat and had to pay his taxes. He still writes letters to the editor though.
I watched one installment of the Bible miniseries and that was enough. Theoxploitation is a perfect word for it. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be a theme song by the likes of Isaac Hayes…
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alex said on March 20, 2013 at 8:12 am
You say that Jesus was a bad mutha…
Shut yo mouth!
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Julie Robinson said on March 20, 2013 at 8:16 am
And it’s Hattie for the win at #2!
I’m not watching The Bible and am loathe to defend Mark Burnett, but he did respond to the criticism by saying the actor has played the devil in other shows, and that he respects Obama’s Christian faith. It’s all a tempest in a teapot, stirred up by Glenn Beck, to drive people to his website. His own version of a sex headline.
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beb said on March 20, 2013 at 8:49 am
One of the editors at Lawyers, Guns and Money has a nice take-down on why the actor playing satan does not look like President Obama. Except when I looked at the side-by-side photos of the two men my first reaction was ‘he really does look like Obama! And one may well wonder why satan is seen as a black man. If you are going to malign blacks at least go all out with something like the Darth Maul face.
I always thought Moor were Semitic Arabs and not sub-Saharan Africans. The idea that there were Blacks living in North America before the Europeans arrived is crazy, and the idea that this somehow gives Blacks the right to seize property is foolish. The land was seized from the Indians and the Indians have never been allowed to claw any of that back.
My wife and I were invited to a party by a friend who I think was trying to make time with a woman who was actually hosting the party. It was in a nice rural setting, with a picnic and other things. Then as even came on a couple guys got up and started talking about how they were sovereign citizens and didn’t need ‘no stinking’ licenses to go about their business. They didn’t have driver’s licenses, or license plates on their cars. And I forget what all else they talked about. I realized they were just a couple of scam artists and this whole afternoon picnic had been a scam as well. Sovereign Citizens, like libertarians somehow think the world will operator more smoothly without laws. As if the whole point of laws was to reduce the friction of ass-hats in the world.
What gets a lot of people upset about Portman is the way Republicans will allow him to skate on the hating gays portion of the conservative package because his family is involved. Sarah Palin wants to shrink the size of government — as long as it continues to supply aid to family with handicapped children. But aside from these personal exemptions conservatives have no compassion for anyone other then themselves. These are basically sociopathic people. It’s good that he’s come around on one issue but it would be much better if he stopped being a sociopath about everything else.
Happy vernal solstice, everyone! And you know what the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox means . . .
…that it’s time to dance naked around the maypole? Time to spill seman on the land so that it might be fertile for the coming year?
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BigHank53 said on March 20, 2013 at 9:04 am
I do recall one state legislator with a pointed wit introducing a helmet-law repeal. For riders that carried organ donor cards only. I don’t think it passed.
It’s interesting to have another data point on the helmets/safety curve. Full disclosure: I am involved professionally with motor vehicle safety. I also ride. I would never get on a motorcycle without wearing a certified full-face helmet. And I’m somewhat indifferent to helmet laws.
A lot of what people stick on their heads is useless. I’ve seen people riding around in helmets that date from the eighties. Outer shells made of plastic age and deteriorate in UV. Five years used to be considered the maximum life of a helmet. Fiberglass and composite shells are probably longer-lived, but who knows? I have never even heard of used helmets being tested.
Have you seen cruiser guys in those slim, close-fitting skullcaps? If you go into a shop that sells them, there’s a great big sticker on them that says “FOR NOVELTY USE ONLY” that peels right off. In a crash, they’re as useful as a knit Green Bay Packers stocking hat.
Most helmet laws don’t define what a helmet is. One lawyer I’ve heard of regularly rides with a paper bag with the word “HELMET” written on it. With no standard in the law, that’s how people get away with selling and wearing those novelty helmets.
The most interesting research I’ve seen suggests that people who wear a lot of safety gear (helmet, gloves, boots, motorcycle-specific jacket with armor, etc) have a lower fatality rate because they get in fewer accidents. Being aware that bad things can happen and taking steps to mitigate them is the ounce of prevention, so to speak, as opposed to taking the attitude of “I’ll be fine–I’m just riding over to Bob’s.” Any of you who have ever been subjected to safety training is aware of the dangers of complacency…and not wearing a helmet is deliberate, self-selected complacency.
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Minnie said on March 20, 2013 at 9:14 am
Hattie @ 2 is strong, but check Alex @ 8. Must have breakfasted on razor soup.
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Peter said on March 20, 2013 at 9:19 am
Are they sure they’re Moors? Maybe they’re descendants of the Moops.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 9:33 am
We’re not watching The Bible, but my sons and I did trip over the Bible Quiz on Game Show Network the other day. It’s the same fool MC from Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. The teams were three sisters who run a food bank, some other guys who did something nice, and a group called The Power Team who go to schools and break cinder blocks with their heads while talking about Jesus and staying off drugs. My sons were seriously impressed with my knowledge of the Bible. All those years of Sunday School and Youth Choir paid off. I was amazed by the cheesiness of the show. It went sort of smarmy sexy when the questions were about Song of Songs.It was also stupid.
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Dorothy said on March 20, 2013 at 9:33 am
Speaking of heds – last week on the same day that Pope Francis was elected, about an hour before the announcement, my daughter said (tongue-in-cheek) that she was leaning towards this as the next day’s headline at her newspaper: Pope? Nope!
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Danny said on March 20, 2013 at 9:38 am
Are they sure they’re Moors? Maybe they’re descendants of the Moops.
There’s the guy who tried to kill the Bubble Boy. Get him!
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Danny said on March 20, 2013 at 10:14 am
“The Bible” series isn’t too bad. Last week’s episode brought it into New Testament territory with a small portrayal of the early ministry years of Christ that was okay. Somewhat moving. So far, our main complaint has been about what they have chosen leave out… like they cover a lot from Daniel on the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, even to the madness that gripped him for a year near the end of his reign, but then they did not even mention his later returning to his right mind and apparent conversion. Odd choice to leave out such a powerful redemptive refrain.
I am interested to see what the do with the life of Paul. Doubt they will reference the contention with Peter in Galatians 2, but that would be a good one if they did.
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Heather said on March 20, 2013 at 10:27 am
About ten years ago, my friend’s father, a Muslim who was born in Pakistan, told me that “Moor” was a slur, which was news to me, having learned the term in junior high Spanish class. There are varying opinions on the Interwebs, no surprise.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 10:57 am
There used to be a Cuban restaurant near me that called the black bean and rice dish moros y cristianos.
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Judybusy said on March 20, 2013 at 11:02 am
Alex, I went right to Swimming as well! However, it was a banana, not a gourd that was shot across the room.
Our -10 windchill wishes you are very happy first day of spring from Minnesota!
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Mark P. said on March 20, 2013 at 11:17 am
Anyone who has ever gone down onto pavement on a motorcycle wouldn’t skip the helmet. You might think you know that asphalt is hard, but you can’t really internalize that knowledge until you hit pavement with your head. And concrete is even harder.
I, too, welcome change, but I can’t give Portman much credit for his change. He claimed his original position was based on religious principles. Why does having a gay son change those principles? The change was based on self interest, not principle. What it demonstrates is that people like him base their principles on how their actions affect themselves, not on some universal code of morals that includes the interests of other people as well.
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Maggie Jochild said on March 20, 2013 at 11:19 am
Here in Dykeovia we have two cats for every human and vaginal powers which apparently cause Republican brains to come unmoored.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 11:23 am
If people are worried abotu Moorish American nationals (whatever those may be, exactly) squatting in unoccupied homes, they should consult ex-Philadelphia mayor Wilson Goode about deploying an urban air force to bomb ’em out. Sounds a lot like MOVE to me.
Jeff@5, who knew being a pastor involved hazardous duty. That Left behind crap could put a sane person with decent taste off reading. Seriously atrocious writing. As if Clive Cussler decided to pound bibles instead of deal with the adventures of the hilariously named spy, Dirk Pitt.
Is this any way to run the House of Representatives. This should get Boehner recalled. Not surprised this originated with Hastert, another House GOPer out to tar and feather Clinton, only to have his own pecadildos revealed.
I remember opposition to helmet lawsbeing a centerpiece for the incipient libertarian political movement up in Neh Hempsha back in the 70s. Bikers invaded the State House in Boston ranting against the laws. When some bikier told a committee in the Massacusetts House he had a Constitutional right to ride with no helmet, Rep Mel King told him pointedly that if that were the case, society had a right to tell EMS to leave on the pavement when he dumped. Down here at the beach, we see these fools riding barefoot and shirtless. I’ve gone down on a motorcycle before, and I’d want shoes on my feet and something between my skin and asphalt.
Why would anybody think going in that the Hitler Channel would do a good job of presenting the bible. I thought the guy looked enough like the President to suspect it was done on purpose.
Good academic news from the Women’s NCAA Hoops tourney:
http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/wcbk/story.asp?i=20130319121510959435608&ref=rec&tm=&src=
One thing to remember is that graduation rates for sports scholarship students are almost always higher than the general student population at big state schools. But 25 of 64 women’s programs in the tournament hit 100% That’s astonishing.
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adrianne said on March 20, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Here in the Hudson Valley we had our own brush with sovereign citizens, who ended up in the federal pen for threatening judges and public officials who dinged them on traffic tickets and non-payment of taxes. They are some way scary people, when they’re not being pathetic. Southern Law Poverty Center was a great source for our reporter who was trying to find out about these loons.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Depressing or horrifying? Some of both. A remarkable timetable of a decade of Bushco screwing over America and Iraq, while strengthening Iran, the Taliban and Al Quaeda, for profits and ideological kicks. Biggest screwup in US history, founded in an immense pack of lies, unadulterated venality, and pure intransigent ideological stupidity.
And at what cost?
http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/wreckless/
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Little Bird said on March 20, 2013 at 12:16 pm
I vaguely remember someone telling me that the pot shaped helmets were popular because there were states that didn’t specify HOW you wore a helmet and that style could easily be worn on your knee. I’m dredging this memory up from my teens, so it’s likely not the case anymore.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 12:17 pm
I think this judge may have an overinflated idea of his importance in the grand scheme of things. But great hedline.
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Danny said on March 20, 2013 at 12:26 pm
…and a group called The Power Team who go to schools and break cinder blocks with their heads while talking about Jesus and staying off drugs…
Mary, one of the oddest things I encountered as a young man was along these lines.
A while back, I mentioned that in 1982 a friend and I were camped out for three days to get tickets for the Who’s first “farewell tour.” This was in the parking lot at the now non-existent Washington Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland which is for all practical purposes, the Virgina, DC, Maryland metro area.
Having dropped several hits of blotter acid on Friday and Saturday, we hadn’t slept much and were fairly tired and burnt out come Sunday night. By then, we were mostly drinking beer and smoking dope to mellow the harshness of the speed that most of the acid of that era was cut with and we still had some residual visual artifacts like seeing minor “traces.” But most of the mind bending was over and I can’t be sure that the “visuals” couldn’t be chalked up to fatigue and not so much from any remaining amount of the LSD in our systems. Anyway, by Sunday night we were quite crispy critters and more than a little loopy and questioning of reality in a general, whimsical manner when, much to our surprise and delight arrives the evening’s entertainment… three busloads of evangelical Christians with a sound system and equipment for a karate exhibition and a gymnastics exhibition. What happened next was surreal and quite funny, but we could barely believe our eyes… and as events unfolded, my buddy and I often glanced at one another and wondered if we had finally done enough “Vitamin A” to have landed us in Syd-Barrett-land sans the stardom and the safety net of Pink Floyd residuals to carry us through the rest of our earthly days.
First, the Christians put on a karate exhibition comprised mostly of breaking cinder blocks with some subtle connection to the Gospel that was definitely lost on me at that time what with being three sheets to the wind and having never entered a church in all of my young life. The exhibition was alliteratively named, “Karate for Christ.” After the introductory moments, we spent most of the rest of this display of feats of strength trying to sneak onto the bus that housed the sound system in an effort to insert our cassette tape of “Quadrophenia” onto the evening’s aural palate. Unsuccessful at that, we opted for another bus that still had the gymnastics equipment in it and we relaxed on the tumbling mats for a while until one of the Youth pastors came and kicked us off. Everyone was good-natured about it and although we were being a bit of a nuisance, I think we might have even helped them unload the mats for the next exhibition, the gymnastics one which was aptly named… “Jumping for Jesus.”
So the “Jumping for Jesus” show started out with a brief and truncated foray into crowd participation. The evangelicals had set up a small, low trampoline with some mats behind it. I guess the idea was to get all of the burn-outs who had been part of the literal “Teenage Wasteland” for the last few days involved in a little harmless physical activity ala simple tumbling runs and that this would somehow translate into something leading up to getting us saved. The instructions were quite clear and adequate safety measures seemed in place with a spotter to each side of the small tramp and the mats behind, so what could possibly go wrong?
About 50 of us lined up and we were told that we were to one-at-a-time run towards the tramp and attempt a jump onto it and off of it, landing straight on our feet on the mats… a simple bounce… no fancy stuff… just a simple. straight bounce… got it. So the first two dudes follow these instructions fairly well despite being all gangly and uncoordinated and they were spotted assiduously by our friendly team of evangelicals. Then things devolved… quickly. The third guy ran down to the tramp and jumped, but instead of bouncing straight-forwardly, he tried an ill-fated, but harmless 360 twist that landed him on his face on the mat. Emboldened and not to be outdone, the fourth person more daringly creative, tried a very poorly executed front flip that ended badly and made it very difficult for the spotters to safely keep him from breaking his neck. And as they turned around to issue a further warning to the queue, their eyes widened to see the next two or three guys rushing the tramp in unison where the expected collisions and mayhem ensued.
Well, the well-meaning evangelicals belatedly saw where this was going and immediately put the kabash on further crowd participation before someone got injured. Sadly, my buddy and I would never get a chance to ply our gymnastics expertise this evening. Oh, well. Probably for the better.
And we didn’t get saved that night either. Drifting back to our vehicle, we missed the rest of the show and spent the remainder of the night drinking and smoking and reflecting disbelievingly on whether what we had just witnessed had indeed really happened. Next day Who tickets were on sale.
What a strange weekend that was.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 12:50 pm
The Power Team on the Bible Quiz wanted to win so they could use the prize money to visit schools that normally can’t afford their fee for a visit. I had to root for the food bank women, sorry. The cinder block breakers for Jesus didn’t convince me they were a worthy cause.
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Catherine said on March 20, 2013 at 1:03 pm
When you consider some of the other things that have been done in the name of Jesus, gymnastics seems pretty harmless. I’d give ’em a 6.7/10.
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Charlotte said on March 20, 2013 at 1:08 pm
We have some of those “sovereign” types around here — a lot of them seem to be former CUT members (Church Universal and Triumphant, our local cult, now a shadow of its former self). One got arrested a year or so ago — a black guy, no less — driving up East River road, armed to the teeth, with a homemade license plate on his truck. Called himself “the Pontiff” — now ruling from Deer Lodge.
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Scout said on March 20, 2013 at 1:10 pm
IF I watched the show, I too would have to go for the food bank ladies. I’m much more impressed by people who express faith by their actions, not by their eagerness to tell one and all how religious they are.
That guy looks nothing like Obama. Yes, he’s a brown guy with a lean build. That’s like saying Ashley Judd’s characters are based on me because we’re both white and small. Trust the likes of Glenn Beck to try to make something out of nothing.
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Bitter Scribe said on March 20, 2013 at 1:18 pm
JTMMO: Astronomy? Seriously? That’s still a thing?
I remember when the Chicago Sun-Times ran a correction for running a couple of the resident astronomer’s columns out of order, to which Eric Zorn, resident smartass of the rival Tribune, responded, in effect: How can they tell?
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4dbirds said on March 20, 2013 at 1:23 pm
I’ve posted this before and I think someone else did too, maybe even Nancy, but if they can get this invisible helmet perfected for motorcycles it will save a lot of brain damage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn65Bows0Ws
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MaryRC said on March 20, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Jeff(tmm), thanks for the new word. I had to look up the meaning of “delaminating” but now it’s mine.
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Sherri said on March 20, 2013 at 2:35 pm
I think you all mean “astrology” rather than “astronomy”.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 2:55 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Team
Maybe The Power Team should get that woman with the powerful vagina to join them.
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Dexter said on March 20, 2013 at 3:01 pm
He inspired me to greater highs…er…heights! THE best mc helmet…
http://i.imgur.com/hWz22.jpg
George Hanson: “I did some work for the ACLU…”
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brian stouder said on March 20, 2013 at 3:31 pm
I gotta say – from where I sit, the vajay-jay is already all-powerful.
The unconventional weightlifer-woman sounds about as alluring to me as an iron pipe-vice.
Today at lunch I ran errands and gave Oxy Rush 5 minutes…and I bet Lawrence O’Donnell runs with Oxy’s riff today.
In a nutshell: Democrats are horrible human beings! Horrible!! They politicize tragedy, exemplified by Senator Reid’s shameless mention of the word “sequester” after remarking on the terrible loss of United States Marines during an exercize if Reid’s state.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/harry-reid-commemorates-dead-marines-calls-for-end-to-sequester/
This just goes to show how low the D’s will go – exploiting a national tragedy for political gain.
‘Course, the Republican/Wacko-bird response to the Libyan tragedy is TOTALLY, TOTALLY different…
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 20, 2013 at 3:38 pm
ICT says astronomy articles get major hits: Native people still watch the skies. Astrology, not so much. I think that’s what Bitter assumed I meant, but nope, sex and the cosmic night show still pull in the eyeballs.
Astrology seems pretty much “over,” but that may just be around here. Growing up it seemed to be everywhere from the lady on the edge of town dressed in a bedspread who did your birth reading while checking what house the sun was in, to the zodiac medallions on a chain you wore to nestle into your chest hair. Ah, the Seventies.
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Peter said on March 20, 2013 at 3:40 pm
I remember when Weightlifters for Christ did a demo at our high school, and for weeks afterwards we would sing “Jesus loves me, this I know, for my muscles tell me so!”
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Really enjoyed your story Danny. I’ve been in similar situations in life. My brother Chris and I did a lot of tramp work when we were divers, and that would have been too much temptation, if we weren’t too wrecked.
Brian, of course Rush has always been pals with 911Rudy911Giuliani911, who is currently supporting himself by doing promotionsads for LifeLock as the best method for ensuring your tax refund isn’t stolen by identity thieves. Didn’t the founder and president of LifeLock have his identity stolen a few years ago. That’s right up there with having a mobbed-up guy for the NYC plolice commish, and suggesting Bernie Kerik to Shrub to run Homeland Security. What a clown.
Jumping for Jesus flat cracks me up. Reminds me of the great country opus Dropkick me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life.
4dbirds@34: I think it’s safe to say anybody that rides a murdercycle without a helmet is already somewhat brain damged. I mean, I do it occasionally, but then, I wouldn’t claim not to be somewhat brain damaged. What do they call motorcycle riders in emergency rooms? Yep, organ donors.
The vaginal weight lifter would be kinda scary, I think.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 4:01 pm
And I meant to add, this is an invitation to Kirsten Gillibrand’s online book club, from which a copy of the script for the show about Ann Richards is supposed to be available. I wasn’t to thrilled with Gillibrand when she first won Hillary’s Senate seat, mainly because she had an A rating from NRA, and because she went to college at the bastion of Ivy League conseraative bullshit, Dartmouth. She has turned out to be an excellent senator with a strong Liberal voice. I’ve given cash to her campaign funds, and get lots of interesting correspondence from her. She has a load of good ideas for getting liberal women elected to Congress, which is a very soothing in my opinion. Anyway, I thought some of y’all would like a chance to read the play.
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Bitter Scribe said on March 20, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Sherri: You’re right that I meant astrology. Oops.
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utterly disingenuous lying rightwad trollbag said on March 20, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Brian, I don’t know how you can stand to listen to Rush. I can’t and you would think that i might be tempted to agree with him more than you would. That said, not sure how you can continue to brush off the Benghazi story:
1. We have the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in office in over 30 years.
2. We have evidence of prior warnings from deceased ambassador that he did not feel safe and that security was specifically at issue and no added attention to security measures despite fact it was anniversary of 9/11.
3. We have an obviously stupid and bogus cover story trotted out, that everyone with half a brain knew to be false, blaming Libyan attack on “spontaneous uprising” of flash mob (despite all kinds of immediate evidence of detailed planning including the magical “spontaneous” presence of those wielding RPG’s) somehow inflamed by video they had never seen… check
4. And we have that the cover story was done probably to accomplish two specific political objectives of a) not damaging the current administration’s chance of winning the immediate election and of b) not destroying Hillary’s future viability as a future candidate.
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Danny said on March 20, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Sorry…. it’s me, obviously and I meant to write “future viability as a candidate”… strike second “future”
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brian stouder said on March 20, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Danny, if the game is to politicize the actions of the nihilistic enemies of the United States, then George W Bush ensures that it is a game that any apologist for the Republican party can never even credibly PLAY – let alone win.
For the record, and despite that President Bush ignored a hair-on-fire intelligence brief headlined “Bin Laden Determined to Attack the US”, I do not blame any of the 9/11 attacks on him.
But I do most certainly blame him, and him alone, for the pointless war he cynically started against Iraq, and (by extension) the Iranian problems we now have.
And for the record, your boy Mitt practically tripped over his saddle shoes getting to a podium the very night of those attacks in Libya, when no one really knew anything about what “really” happened.
Unless you are saying that the president himself committed treason and ordered the attack on our consulate, then the worst you can say is that the White House didn’t actively edit the talking points that the CIA put together and approved.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 4:36 pm
The source of the stupid and bogus cover story was the diplomatic folks on the ground in Libya, and in the end, what does it actually have to do with anything. And for all of the malarkey about Stevens fear of being in Benghazi, he want their of his own accord, and was apparently known by his staff as a swashbuckler type, who made a point of never showing fear of anything in dire circumstances. The diplomatic staff there was also deadset and outspoken against having Blackwater or Halliburton thugs for security, which by virtue of GOP initiaatives going back as far as the Lebanon embassy bombing and their current budgetary chicanery, was basically all that was available. How anyone ignores those facts aand pretends there was some terrible misfeasance is a mystery to anybody that gives it sane consideration.
That this whole charade has any life left has more to do twith the faact that right now Hillary Clinto would thrash the crap out of anybody GOPers could run in 2016 than with anything that actually happened.
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mark said on March 20, 2013 at 4:41 pm
“Danny, if the game is to politicize the actions of the nihilistic enemies of the United States, then George W Bush ensures that it is a game that any apologist for the Republican party can never even credibly PLAY – let alone win.”
Well. you couldn’t be more crystal clear than that.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 5:17 pm
This is the sort of insane bullshit NRA money gets turned into laws.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 5:48 pm
I love the Miyazaki movies from the Ghibli studios , and this one looks great to me. The animation leaves Disney and all the modern CGI junk in the dust. I would unabashedly admit I’d love to watch all of these while stoned, a condition for which something like Howl’s Moving Castle seems made expressly. I don’t think being high would diminish the joy of watching one of these Japanese animations a single bit. And anyoone is hard-pressed to find more evocatively written child characters in any movie than these are. And the cast is fantastic. Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks, Beau Bridges, Bruce Dern, Jamie Lee Curtis.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 6:48 pm
Individual cel images from Up on Poppy Hill. Gorgeous.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 7:10 pm
I keep wondering how Obama is being held responsible for Benghazi but Reagan never got blamed for 241 US servicemen being killed in one day in Beirut. Reagan made the decision to take sides in the civil war in Lebanon a month before that bombing when we were supposed to be neutral peacekeepers. You could reasonably say he made a very bad decision which had terrible consequences. But he was St. Ronald, so, you know.
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beb said on March 20, 2013 at 7:11 pm
The Princess and the Frog was the last hand drawn animated movie Disney produced and apparently the last they intend to make. I think this is a pity. While CGI has done some incredible stuff. Brave, Pixar’s most recent outing was spectacular there’s much to be said for hand-drawn art. There’s a different look, a different sensibility. It’s not superior to CGI or inferior, it’s just different. But you can’t make 3D movies out of hand-drawn animations and since that continues to be an obsession with Hollywood there’s no future for deliberatly flat paintings.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 7:19 pm
beb, I love the old hand drawn Disney movies like Pinocchio and Dumbo. To me there is a charm to them that CGI lacks. They are just as dazzling in their own way.
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Bitter Scribe said on March 20, 2013 at 7:55 pm
LAMary: Reagan also was cynical enough to invade Grenada immediately after the Beirut debacle so people would cheer and be distracted. I’ll never understand why that man is now considered a saint.
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Prospero said on March 20, 2013 at 8:05 pm
I think maybe the people still making hand drawn animated movies take more care with story, character and screenwriting. I wouldn’t sit through a Shrek movie if somebody held a gun to my head, and the Toy Story movies annoy the shit out of me.
Another Raygun golden oldie that keeps on giving:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/efrain-rios-montt-trial-genocide-guatemala_n_2917832.html
That senile old coot loved him some psychopathic murderers and there was always room for them in the budget. If more cash was needed, the bastards sold weapons to the Ayatollahs in return for keeping Americans hostage to influencee a Presidential election.As much the scum of the earth as the Shrubc criminals, and a lot trickier about their crimes.
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Mark P. said on March 20, 2013 at 8:05 pm
LAMary, you’re right about St. Ronald the Dense. But I think he did even more harm than that. I think he taught potential terrorists that the US would run away when someone bloodied our nose. After the barracks bombing, the Marines packed up and left. “These colors don’t run”? On Ronnie’s watch they sure did (irrespective of whether they should have been there in the first place).
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Charlotte said on March 20, 2013 at 8:35 pm
Elaine Stritch is leaving NYC and coming home to Michigan, at 88: http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/theater/elaine-stritch-announces-final-show-at-cafe-carlyle.html?hpw&_r=0
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coozledad said on March 20, 2013 at 8:51 pm
I think he taught potential terrorists that the US would run away when someone bloodied our nose.
Or trade them arms for hostages.
Or fund paramilitaries in Central America with arms sales to Iran, to bypass congressional authorization.
He taught our enemies we were ruled by coke rats.
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LAMary said on March 20, 2013 at 9:23 pm
The hospital where I work is across the street from Disney and our labor and delivery and postpartum units have animation cels from Dumbo on the walls, donated by Disney.
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Deborah said on March 20, 2013 at 10:38 pm
Have returned from our camping trip to Abiquiu. Jeff (tmmo) you might be interested to know that the log cabin out near the entry to Ghost Ranch (originally built for the movie City Slickers) is being restored for another movie, don’t know which one? Johnnie Depp and Denzel Washington have been shooting in the area for different movies? Ghost Ranch is as fabulous as ever.
My husband, Little Bird and I are leaving Santa Fe on Friday morning for a quick trip to Chicago in our Jeep to pick up the large scale architectural model of our place in Abiquiu, which we have scheduled to break ground the third week in May. Yay, finally after 13 years of designing and planning! My husband stays in Chicago then but Little Bird and I will head back from Chicago to Santa Fe in the Jeep next Thursday to deliver the model to the contractor etc. So a little diversion. My husband and I met with a structural engineer and our contractor this week so things are good to go.
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Jeff said on March 20, 2013 at 11:46 pm
I should have asked you to smile at Pedernal for me. 😀
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Jeff said on March 20, 2013 at 11:54 pm
Anyone wanting an argument for major health care reform in the US should sit in this ER with a patient, listening to the narratives unspoiled in the five cubes I can’t help but hear of the 22 filled tonight. But hey, good WiFi for my Kindle. I got to hold the suture tray, it’s that busy. Waiting to dismiss, elderly lady w 6 stitches here, 7 there, after a 7 pm fall. And yes, you can see the time stamp: she just got pt 1 of dismissal orders.
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Jeff said on March 20, 2013 at 11:55 pm
Unspooled, darn autocorrect.
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