Every newspaper needs a pervert or two in a high enough position that they can stop disasters from happening — the headline that reads “you can put cucumbers up yourself,” the smartass in the bowling-team photo who gives his name as Dick Splinter, and, of course, this:
Eat out Catherine Cleary? With that smirk on her face?
And with that, we drag ourselves over the hump. Another week goes on the wane, we slide toward the weekend and, inevitably, that much closer to the grave.
Can you tell it’s November? I sure can.
How did we teach our children about the dangers of drinking before YouTube? This was a real teachable moment here this week:
As I told Kate, when someone says, “Hey e’rrbody, watch this,” it’s time to leave. As you may have heard, God takes care of babies and drunks, and the faller was only mildly injured. The guy he landed on? Head injury. However, I believe both will be fine, and I’m sure the lawyers will keep us all up-to-date.
Rob Ford doesn’t need YouTube; this is a man born to be a GIF.
OK, I have to roll. I’ve been in a medical office every day this week, and this is the last one — orthopedist. I’ll keep you posted.
Basset said on November 20, 2013 at 8:20 am
Remember the Leon Redbone tv ad for… I dunno, Long John Silver’s or some other chain fish place… with him doing a song about shrimpin’?
Didn’t think so, seems like it wasn’t around long for some reason.
209 chars
Basset said on November 20, 2013 at 8:21 am
Good Lord. I just googled that and the definition was even nastier than what I thought it meant. Don’t go there. Really.
123 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 20, 2013 at 8:57 am
Hey, just to see if this garners agreement or arguments I hadn’t considered.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/opinion/krugman-a-permanent-slump.html
Right, he’s got the Nobel Prize in Econ and I don’t. But while I frequently (usually) disagree with Prof. Krugman, here’s a case where I agree, but think he missed the obvious next step that rounds out his case. The economy is moving into a persistent state of “depression” in no small part because we ALL have realized that 5-6% growth is UNsustainable. We have too much junk, and the “buy more stuff” industry is getting tired of trying to figure out how to push our buttons, having come all the way down to opening the stores and starting the execrable Black Friday on Thursday morning, aka Thanksgiving, they’re out of ideas. Apple can’t figure out a new iStuff to improve our lives, cars are insanely reliable & durable, and anyone with a clue has realized they don’t need a 20,000 square foot house. Consumerist capitalism as a pet monster that takes endlessly more to keep fed every year is being turned loose, and we’re still trying to figure out what a sustainable free market economy looks like in an era of leveling population, both in nations like ours and Japan’s, and globally. But the exhaustion of the Western consumer is the factor I think Krugman is missing: we just don’t want any more storage lockers and American Pickers and Hoarders. We’re not gonna go all-out Shaker, let alone Amish, but we want permission to just stop buying stuff, and we’re starting to give it to ourselves.
1562 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 9:08 am
Jeff – Amen!, and – we’re sounding old (in the best sense)
I almost had to call our local lip-flapper yesterday afternoon, as he was ALL OVER this new meme about “Another Obama BIG LIE” is the unemployment numbers THAT SHOULD BE HIGHER than ‘those liars’ ever say!
Aside from that, I remember being quite impressed by Leon Redbone when he appeared on Saturday Night Live (or some such) many years ago; good stuff indeed.
And Basset – I’ll take your advice and remain ignorant about what the hell “shrimpin'” means!
523 chars
Minnie said on November 20, 2013 at 9:20 am
Ohhh, noooo. (I looked it up.)
Jeff(tmmo), agree wholeheartedly as I struggle to bring order to the chaos that is this house. Getting rid of as much stuff as possible so we can enjoy the rest. And that’s “rest” as in remainder and relax.
Back to the salt mines.
267 chars
John (not McCain) said on November 20, 2013 at 9:20 am
Physically mildly injured, true, but the slider was fired because of it. That’s a pretty severe self-inflicted wound right about now.
134 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 9:28 am
Charles Pierce calls Rob Ford the Human Spring Break, or sometimes the One Man Spring Break. Pierce has other great tags for people:
Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin.
Paul Ryan, the zombie eyed granny starver
Senator Aqua Buddha is of course Rand Paul
George W. Bush, C plus Augustus
405 chars
coozledad said on November 20, 2013 at 9:29 am
Cath’s a direct woman. “Hell with the salad and the wine, let’s see what that septum of yours is made of, hoss!”
112 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 20, 2013 at 9:51 am
Since I’ve barely recovered from learning the true meaning of teabagging, I think I’ll skip the shrimpin’.
106 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 9:52 am
I agree Jeff (tmmo), and I almost always agree with Krugman (I like that he admits it when he’s wrong too). I don’t have anything to add to the discussion except it will be interesting to see what recent college graduates will end up doing as they get older and eventually get good jobs. Will they continue to not have cars, and not spend lots on housing and clothes etc? My parents lived through the great depression and were extremely frugal their entire lives because of it.
477 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 9:56 am
Oh my, I just googled it too. Wish I hadn’t. The things people do…
68 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 10:01 am
Deborah, I’m guessing the Mayor Ford explanation* would usually apply
(*the classic explanation that his crack-use probably occurred during one of his ‘drunken stupors’)
172 chars
Dorothy said on November 20, 2013 at 10:26 am
Oh Julie I thank you for the hearty laugh you provided me with this morning!
A tractor trailer is at our house and so is my hubby , overseeing the operation. I am happily knitting in a hotel room. We get outta Dodge in about 30 hours. New adventures await! And I shall depart ignorant of the ‘shrimpin’ definition as we’ll.
327 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 20, 2013 at 10:35 am
Central Ohio says goodbye, and Godspeed! (Except I’m in Pennsylvania right now…)
82 chars
nancy said on November 20, 2013 at 10:40 am
I’m calling bullshit on shrimpin’. Just because someone made it up and put it in the urban dictionary doesn’t make it TRUE.
Meanwhile, those of you who had “ruptured ACL and tibial plateau fracture” in the Knee Pool, please collect your winnings. (Short version of the treatment horizon: Nothing. The pain is fading, I’m walking more or less normally, and as I’m headed down the road to bilateral replacement within a few years, we’re going to wait and see. Yes, even with an ACL flapping in the breeze.)
508 chars
MarkH said on November 20, 2013 at 10:57 am
Excuse me, Deborah? Krugman has actually been wrong? And admitted it? Oh, well, here goes another half day in the google haystack…
I suppose it’s possible as I know I’ve read Krauthammer columns complimentary of our president (not recently, though).
And yes, let me add my thanks an kudos to Jeff(mmo) who has once again hit the nail on the head. It is long past considering that we have reached the saturation point on ‘stuff accumulation’ as an economic driver. Maybe new valid models are emerging that point to a desired stability as opposed to gonzo chart-based strength of market appreciation as a goal. I fear the markets may soon find out about this the hard way as they are approaching nose-bleed levels based on…what?
Nancy, I hope that’s not from a Detroit paper at the top.
797 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 10:57 am
Dorothy – what Buckeye Jeff from the Keystone state said!
And- as usual – I think Nancy is right about the bullshit factor in this shrimping thing; although the discussion does mesh with Ms Cleary’s image in today’s post.
When I consulted Uncle Google regarding “shrimping”, and came across this (so to speak), it struck me that it must be missing a few steps (or else requires a 5′ long straw)?
Space Shrimping
Space Shrimping is when the man has his girlfriend lie on her back, stick her ass in the air, he straddles her facing away* and lines up orifices for a space docking. While in the middle of the docking procedure, he is to insert his (redacted) directly into her (redacted) and commence ejaculation. then a straw is inserted into the awaiting (redacted) and the semen is sucked out.
My bet is, this all stems back to one of those fictional letters to the editor (or whatever) in Playboy/Penthouse, back in the day. (Do those publications still exist on paper?)
*they confused me completely at that point.
1051 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 11:19 am
Brian, I can’t believe you repeated it here. Reading it once was enough. Only the definition I read was slightly different, more to it.
135 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 11:27 am
Over the years, I’ve had occasion to build one of those end-table or bookshelf deals, and invariably there comes a point where I’d have some damned fastener or bracket that seemingly is supposed to go “here”, but physically cannot…and then when I work backwards I’d invariably find another thing that I’d already installed – in the wrong place – whereupon the whole project teeters on the brink of abject failure.
And then Pam says “Well why did you put that over there, when clearly it goes over here – and then it somehow all comes together and works out.
583 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 11:29 am
Jeff tmmo, another thing about your comment at #3: the 1% seem to be consuming like mad. In the last 6 months 4 or 5 very high end fashion stores have opened up on Oak Street in Chicago. No one could afford to shop at these places unless they make a boatload of $.
Also Mark H, if you read Krugman’s blog you will see that he often admits it when he gets something wrong.
374 chars
nancy said on November 20, 2013 at 11:36 am
I guess none of you people care about my anterior cruciate ligament? OK, fine. *Shuts down blog in a snit.* TALK ABOUT SHRIMPIN’ ALL YOU WANT, PERVERTS.
152 chars
Heather said on November 20, 2013 at 11:38 am
Wait, I always thought shrimping just referred to sucking toes during sex or foreplay. I don’t want to look it up to check. I guess the definition has changed since my youth. Brian, I was trying to picture how that would work and I can’t figure it out. Sounds like a lot of work.
279 chars
LAMary said on November 20, 2013 at 11:49 am
Brian’s description sounds like a variation of that joke, “The Aristocrats.”
76 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 11:51 am
Sorry Nancy, I’m in Starbucks with a bunch of other old farts, on my iPhone so I didn’t see your comment. At least you know what it is and can brace yourself for the future surgery. Easier said than done, I’m sure.
214 chars
Jeff Borden said on November 20, 2013 at 11:57 am
Charlie Pierce argues today that the Supreme Court 5-4 decision yesterday (along partisan lines led by Nino, of course) refusing to hear an appeal to the draconian restrictions on abortion in Texas is greasing the skids to reverse Roe v. Wade. This would not surprise me as the Roberts court is going to go down as one of the most judicially active SCOTUS’ ever.
Meanwhile, I finally caught Bill Maher’s HBO show last night and he ripped the Court to shreds for Shelby County and Citizens United. And John Roberts is several years younger than me, so we have many, many, many years to watch him blow up what took so much blood, time and effort to accomplish.
Just one more turd left behind by W.
701 chars
Sherri said on November 20, 2013 at 12:02 pm
I care about your ACL, but I’m on the West Coast, so it takes me a while to wake up.
Wow, I picked the ACL, but not the tibial plateau fracture to go along with it, which sounds painful! Given what you told us here about your typical activities, I’m not surprised you chose not to do ACL reconstruction. If you were an avid skier or tennis player, it would be a big problem to not have an ACL in one of your knees, but biking and other activities that don’t require pivoting shouldn’t be a problem. The recovery from the surgery is not so much hard as it is tedious; six months of twice-weekly visits to a physical therapist is a lot. I’m glad I did it, because I’m not looking at knee replacement and the activities I enjoy require an ACL, but it was a slow process.
Did your orthopedist give you knee exercises to do? Even if you don’t repair the ACL, and don’t go to PT, it’s probably worth it to strengthen the muscles in your leg to help make up for the lack of stability in that knee. You don’t want it to give out on you when Wendy spots a squirrel and cause you to fall and break your wrist in the process (or something else.)
1140 chars
LAMary said on November 20, 2013 at 12:06 pm
I’ve got a movie being filmed outside my door today. Jennifer Anniston is out there. And Jason Bateman. And a lot of guys with ratty ponytails, wearing cargo shorts and backwards caps. It’s the required look for movie crew guys and has been for at least 20 years.
263 chars
coozledad said on November 20, 2013 at 12:31 pm
LA Mary: Well, yeah. But do you have Jack Nicholson climbing Meryl Streep in a trailer outside?
I wonder if she called him “cargo shorts”?
141 chars
J. Bruce Fields said on November 20, 2013 at 12:40 pm
My guess is that trying to answer macroeconomic questions with this kind of reasoning is no better than flipping a coin (and quite possibly worse).
(Among many other possible objections: supposing the average American has caught the anti-consumer religion. Does that apply to their consumption of health care, too? Education? Air travel? Entertainment? And what about the other 95% of the world? (We *do* sell to them too despite the over-simplified fall-of-an-empire stories people like to tell each other.).
But, hey, maybe.
I’m not an expert either. My policy is to listen to people with convincing stories that include graphs and evidence that someone could verify elsewhere. A relevant PhD and a Nobel or such wouldn’t hurt either. And I try to engage in some serious self-examination when the story they tell makes me nod my head because it seems to mesh with my other preconceived ideas with what’s wrong with the world.)
946 chars
MarkH said on November 20, 2013 at 12:55 pm
LAMary – Apparently *this* is what’s being filmed outside your door today:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170439/combined
Let us know if you have a brush with Spacey, Sudeikis, or Waltz.
190 chars
Jolene said on November 20, 2013 at 1:33 pm
According to this morning’s news, the guy who fell from the stadium lost his job. Not exactly sure what the justification for that was. Too stupid to be on the company insurance policy, perhaps.
194 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 1:38 pm
I bet banister-boy worked for some rightwing think-tank
55 chars
MarkH said on November 20, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Deborah, nice to know that about Mr. Krugman, seriously. I don’t go to his blog but do check into his column. I have a lot of respect for those more educated and smarter than me in their field. But, my problem with Krugman is he has become more of a political activist than an economist, in my view.
J. Bruce Fields, point well-taken. In light of all the error-filled views out there assessing economic direction, maybe a coin flip is the best solution. As you said, there are many components to the world economy, very much intertwined. There is not enough education on how this really matters, or should matter, when so many out there base their prediction of our survival on their ability to predict my next visit to Best Buy or the car dealership.
754 chars
coozledad said on November 20, 2013 at 1:55 pm
But it’s alright for governors to become political activists*, rather than you know, governing.
http://wonkette.com/534711/terrible-oklahoma-governor-mary-fallin-to-gay-soldiers-fine-now-nobody-gets-spousal-benefits-happy-now-hmmm
*activism, in Republican circles, means disagreeing with the people who brought us The Iraq War, the global economic meltdown, St. Zimmerman, The bungled Katrina response, and the whole Bush “I don’t think much about how history will judge me, because if I did it would spoil my day” shit we as a country will be scraping from our shoes until the last venture capitalist is strangled with the guts of the last cokesnorting Republican whore.
675 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 20, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Nancy, I care about your ACL but I was in a meeting. I really do care, because I’m sure I have the same thing and I was trying to get some vicarious medical care. You just saved me four or five co-pays.
202 chars
Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 2:08 pm
I think I’ll look up shrimpin’ because it sounds like something some GOPer hypocrite is certain to denounce in public in the near future, only to be caught performing in private. Like Trey Radel. Probation? For 3.5 grams of coke? He voted for a GOPer bill to retire public assistance recipients to piss in a cup. If he were a black kid caught with 3.5 grams in a NYC stop and frisk, he’d be living on Rikers Island for several months before the DA deigned to talk to him, and there’d be no One Year Probation plea deal. What a whited sepulcher dickhead.
Well having read the definition, it sounds like it would require zero gravity and a very long but flaccid (redacted). And maybe a catheter instead of a straw.
Mark H @16: Maybe new valid models are emerging that point to a desired stability as opposed to gonzo chart-based strength of market appreciation as a goal. I fear the markets may soon find out about this the hard way as they are approaching nose-bleed levels based on…what?
Oh, privatizing SSI, dumping Medicare, bogus mortgage-based securities, and, I guess, magic beans. And freedom to use old incandescent lightbulbs and Niagra-flush toilets. Probably limiting access to health care. And freedom to refuse service to black folks in your restaurant if you just don’t like ’em. Yep, that sounds like the solution on the right. Or, just gather the Israelites in Jerusalem and pray for the Rapcha and Endtimes. Then, I’ll get all of their stuff. This stability idea, corporate types and big stockholders are going to go for a model that does not involve increasing profits every quarter and paying out obscenely huge bonuses? Slim chance. And doesn’t it sound as if Mark is having a crisis of faith about the efficacy of Capitalism and free markets?
Nancy, I hope your knee is feeling better. I have heard of athletes rehabbing even torn ACLs with exercise. Perhaps one of these might help. There are a lot of them for sale, in a wide price range. I’d say, find a source of travelogue videos, set up in front of the TeeVee and bike through the Alps and over the Great Wall this winter, but not before checking the idea with the orthopedist. I damaged an ACL years ago playing hoops and use an expensive custom knee brace for Bball and skiing. Never feel a twinge.
The only thing that could interest me in Horrible Bosses 2 is a gurantee of a glimpse of LA Mary in her yard. Sudeikis in the credits is a kiss of death for me, like the dreaded Galifinakis, or the deadly Vince Vaughan
2897 chars
Jeff Borden said on November 20, 2013 at 2:32 pm
Dear Mr. Coozledad,
May I use this phrase if I give you proper credit?
“…until the last venture capitalist is strangled with the guts of the last cokesnorting Republican whore.”
I’m trying to recall exactly where the original phrase comes from, but remember it has something to do with the last king being strangled with the entrails of the last priest? Anyone help me out here???
391 chars
Mindy said on November 20, 2013 at 2:33 pm
My knee and I are concerned about you and your knee and wish you both a speedy recovery. Mine is a mild birth defect + torn meniscus + atrophied quadriceps / surgery + lots of physical therapy + time = full use of knee – ever riding a bicycle again. Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but…buy a cane and keep it in the closet with the umbrellas. Some day you will need it, it will be the difference between mobility and glowering on the sofa. Also, Crocs are your knee’s best friend. I have a pair I wear in the house like slippers that are not allowed outside. They have spared my knee tons of wear and tear. The classic Beach style worn with socks like clogs is like going barefoot only better. That is all.
722 chars
mark said on November 20, 2013 at 2:40 pm
“May I use this phrase if I give you proper credit?”
I think the credit belongs with Voltaire.
97 chars
coozledad said on November 20, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Jeff Borden: Denis Diderot.
I was actually in a discussion last night where Diderot came up. We were talking about the founders and how they were influenced more by Montesqiueu and the enlightenment, when as usual, the conversation was truncated by a yammerer.
My wife helped organize an informational program with Get Covered America, and we had a pretty good turnout. One Republican turned up to bitch, but he sat draped over his walker and slept during the presentation. His sole disruption was at the end of the program where he kept repeating “I didn’t hear nothin’ here any different from that Obama stuff!” at the usual old republican bastard pitch. The folks around him looked away in embarrassment.
A couple of folks in front of us had been told by their BCBS rep that Obamacare was going to force them into a more expensive plan. They couldn’t believe that it was their insurance company that would try to slip such a dick up their ass.
My wife set them straight, and gave them some information that will help them, because we must look out for each other, instead of letting a bunch of lying sacks of shit bend the whole country to the will of a few insipid losers.
1186 chars
4dbirds said on November 20, 2013 at 3:04 pm
I heard this somewhere; Rob Ford proves that white people shouldn’t be allowed to choose their own mayors.
106 chars
Kirk said on November 20, 2013 at 3:30 pm
I remember hearing that former U.S. communist leader Gus Hall supposedly had said he looked forward to the day when the last congressman was strangled on the last preacher’s guts. No idea whether he ever really said it.
219 chars
Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 3:36 pm
I don’t think much about how history will judge me, because if I did it would spoil my day
Or as Shrub noted gleefully, “We’ll all be dead.” Dumbass things he’s going to be levitated into heaven. Lot’s of people are in for well-deserved rude awakenings, but non as well-deserved nor as rude as W’s. Shock and Awe was mass murder, W.
344 chars
Connie said on November 20, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Nancy, you made Romenesko, or at least a screen cap of your facebook comment on the black on black crime post that was pulled by the Detroit news. http://jimromenesko.com/2013/11/20/detroit-news-pulls-politics-blog-post-about-the-negro-and-black-on-black-crime/
262 chars
Connie said on November 20, 2013 at 4:15 pm
And do not miss George Jone’s recently installed headstone. Or monument. Or something. http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/george-jones-receives-monument-in-nashville
166 chars
Judybusy said on November 20, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Nancy, my knee sends your knee best wishes for a speedy recovery! I have mild knee issues, kept in check with weights and spin classes. Pulling up on the clipless pedals strengthens the affected part of the knee. Also, I won’t be jumping down from low walls (18″) as I did in September, erasing years of good knee health in a spontaneous moment of fun.
352 chars
LAMary said on November 20, 2013 at 5:03 pm
I think my knees are just arthritic. They get stiff if I sit all day, which I usually do at work, and when I finally get up they hurt like hell for a while.
156 chars
LAMary said on November 20, 2013 at 5:10 pm
Prospero, they’re filming outside my office door, not my house. I work in a big honkin hospital in the LA area, surrounded by studios (Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers).
I don’t think anyone is here other than Jennifer A. and possibly Jason Bateman? They’re shooting in some patient rooms we don’t use anymore so I don’t think the whole cast is here. There is also a TV show shooting in our basement and gardens. Don’t know which one. Scandal has filmed here, and I think Revenge. I haven’t watched those so I don’t know, but a lot of shows use the exterior of this hospital as the generic hospital shot with some other name photoshopped in. I know we were Rocky Mountain Medical Center in something because they put signs all over the place that said that.
760 chars
brian stouder said on November 20, 2013 at 5:10 pm
Connie, the George Jones thing is definitely remarkable.
I’m not sure about the “He stopped loving her toady” header on the headstone; but indeed, I AM sure that no opinion that I would have is worth anything, as his art is lost upon me in any case
251 chars
MarkH said on November 20, 2013 at 5:25 pm
I completely understand, Brian. I stopped loving my toady last week and am regretting it. But it would take a while to explain…
129 chars
Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 5:35 pm
That GIF of Mayor Ford attacking the councilwoman? One of those “how does he not get arrested immediately?” moments. Maybe he was in a drunken stupor and thought he was a Taiwanese legislator. He does move pretty fast for an obese fellow, when he isn’t falling down.
353 chars
nancy said on November 20, 2013 at 5:37 pm
He didn’t attack her — she was just collateral damage as he barreled to his brother’s aid. Think bowling balls and pins.
121 chars
Sherri said on November 20, 2013 at 6:01 pm
The George Jones monument is even more remarkable in context: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?avis=dn&dato=20131118&kategori=tunein&lopenr=311180078&ref=ph
Nothing exceeds like excess…
221 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Off topic again: I went to Whole Foods (again) while there I stopped in at the restroom. The poor woman in the stall next to me was vomiting and retching, but get this, in between her heaving, she was on the phone! I kid you not. I hightailed it out of there as fast as I could. I hope to God she wasn’t a WF worker, spreading her germs far and wide across the store.
367 chars
Scout said on November 20, 2013 at 6:26 pm
Deborah @ 7 – you forgot the best Charlie Pierce name of all – Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods!
Nancy – bummer about the knee. Luckily they can build you a new one when you’re ready.
188 chars
Basset said on November 20, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Ruptured ACL here, accompanied by MCL damage and torn cartilage – sorry to hear about your situation, didn’t know you could break bone that way.
Shrimpin… I thought it was about toes, guess I’ve had a sheltered life
220 chars
Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Now that I’ve given it some thought, it dawns on me that Rep. Radel (R-Peeinacup) may have gotten prosecutorial leniency by invoking the Canadian Drunken Stupor Defense. Get that ensconced in common law, everybody gets away with everything. Nancy@52: So it was like an East Asian legislature.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.
–Oscar Goldman
I just took a look at Breitbart, and much to my surprise, the site reports that the sneaky Kenyan interloper left out “under God” from his part in the recitatif of the Gettysburg Address. Must have been some coded message to his Muslim masters, right? Apparently there is a first draft of the speech that does not contain those (blasphemous) words, and that was the Liberry of Congress version given the President to read from. I gather it is called the Nicolay draft. Perhaps Borden or Stouder know something about this. I left them a comment explaining that the Pledge didn’t say “under God” either, until the K of C got it added in the 50s under the influence of Joe McCarthy, and that the pledge was written by a committed Socialist named Francis Bellamy, who didn’t actually believe in God.
re: the George Jones monument. Where’s the John Deere ride-on lawn tractor? I personally can’t listen too anybody singing that hiccuppy, suppresed-yodelly, nasal style of tear-jerking, honky-tonk singing, unless it’s in the inimitable bass tones of a Red Sovine story song, like Teddy Bear or Phantom 309. It gets on my nerves, like American punk rockers with fake Brit accents.
1705 chars
Prospero said on November 20, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Personally, I think it’s very cool to have an American President that would produce this note. Last one remotely capable of such eloquence in describing a vision for the country was JFK.
363 chars
Judybusy said on November 20, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Deborah wins the thread with her WF story!
42 chars
alex said on November 20, 2013 at 8:30 pm
Sorry to hear about the knee, Nance. I think a lot of orthopedic surgeons are overeager to sell artificial body parts these days so take it with a grain of salt if they’re telling you it’s inevitable. I said no to a doctor wanting to cut on me a while back and I’m glad I did. A little physical therapy and a thorough understanding of how to self-manage pain with stretching was far better medicine than having a costly and invasive surgery with a long recovery. There’s a reason they make surgical patients sign informed consent papers absolving them of any responsibility in the event the results of the operation are FUBAR and you find yourself worse of than you were. I have a friend with a lawsuit against a doctor who convinced her she needed to undergo an arthroscopy where all kinds of unnecessary surgical procedures were performed, botched it and then left her even more maimed by attempting unsuccessful revisions. The informed consent won’t matter if it can be proven that the surgeon did not meet the standard of care, and from what other doctors have been telling my friend, he most assuredly did not.
1115 chars
Connie said on November 20, 2013 at 8:54 pm
I have two arthritic knees with no cartilage. Ortho says I am too young for new knees. He means under 60. Arthroscopic some ten years ago helped a lot with the pain.
My problem is spending any lengthy time on my feet – like the exhibit hall at a conference – leaves me crippled and in pain for several days. I go to these big conferences once or twice a year, and find myself stumbling around these interesting cities in too much pain to appreciate the sights. And barely able to walk for a week after I get home. I’ve had synthetic joint fluid injections twice, more effective the first time than they were last January.
My current job has excellent insurance and disability pay. This is the time and place.
I was going to say I want to be Dorothy (she has new knees) but as she is in the middle of moving I do not want to be Dorothy right now.
856 chars
Julie Robinson said on November 20, 2013 at 9:09 pm
Everyone! Go back to #54 and read Deborah’s comment. I’ll wait.
You’re back? Then altogether, ewww.
Alex, amen. Surgery is presented as the first option when it should be the last, and I’m doing everything possible to avoid it too.
237 chars
Deborah said on November 20, 2013 at 9:12 pm
Dorothy, I meant to say this earlier, it’s amazing how fast your house selling/moving went. From all the people I know who are trying to sell and still having a hard time, you guys did it in record time. Good for you and good luck in your new location.
252 chars
Sherri said on November 20, 2013 at 9:37 pm
I’m going to put in my usual plug for weight training. I’ve had surgeries on various joints (wrist, knee, shoulder, toe) but nothing made the pain go away like getting stronger. I still don’t understand how my weight training has made the arthritis in my big toe so much less painful, but it has. I had surgery on it about 8 years ago to clean out some bone spurs because it was hurting all the time, and while the surgery helped some, it still hurt regularly, I couldn’t wear heels at all, and vacations where we spent all day walking were very painful (like when you take your kid to Disneyland). Now, after a few years of regular weight training, my toe doesn’t hurt. It’s not like I do special toe lifts, I just noticed after a while that the pain was lessening the stronger I got.
I keep reminding myself of that on those mornings I don’t want to go to the gym…
871 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 20, 2013 at 9:38 pm
Ligaments. Cartilage. Past 50, it seems like these are the twin centerpieces of any conversation I have with friends that don’t involve cancer, divorce, or Medicare.
165 chars
Dexter said on November 20, 2013 at 9:55 pm
And now the best news from Detroit in some time…Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder was sent to Texas, to the Rangers, for Ian Kinsler, a terrific player. Fielder was non-productive in long regular season stretches and a total zero in the post-season. I wish him well, as he was just done in Detroit…he needs this change. Kinsler is awesome. This is front page news, as Fielder makes about $23 million per year.
419 chars
basset said on November 20, 2013 at 10:48 pm
George Jones’ grave marker… well, what in the hell did you expect? and I see Pros is continuing his usual process of commenting, usually negatively, on everything whether he knows anything about it or not – which most of the time I can just ignore, anyone who thinks the Possum did “hiccuppy, suppresed-yodelly, nasal style of tear-jerking, honky-tonk singing” just doesn’t get it, though, and should keep quiet about it.
I missed a plane in Montgomery once because I stayed too long at Hank Williams’ grave. Did some training for one of the tv stations down there and part of the deal was that they’d take me to Hank’s final rest before I left, so we went out there Sunday morning in a big Suburban live truck painted up like a circus wagon with antennas all over it; I had a good look around, figured the time wrong and by the time I got to the airport my plane had left. Well worth the wait for another one, though.
Not a big baseball fan but I remember seeing Prince Fielder with the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee’s AAA affiliate. We go with the guys from work on cheap beer night two or three times a season.
1125 chars
Bob (not Greene) said on November 20, 2013 at 11:33 pm
Basset, I’m guessing he’s talking about ‘White Lightning’ which is by the way a very fun, terrific song. Or maybe the Thumper Jones rockabilly stuff, but I’m not sure he’s familiar with those. And anyone who would run down Hank Williams, well I just don’t know what to think about that. If I ever get to Nashville I need to have you give me a tour.
348 chars
Bill said on November 20, 2013 at 11:35 pm
I had knee pain for several years, trying various things to reduce it. Finally my ortho and I made the decision to have a TKA (total knee angioplasty) at age 71. The knee pain is totally gone. There is some minor pain in the other knee and when and if the time comes, I’ll happily have it replaced.
303 chars
Basset said on November 20, 2013 at 11:37 pm
No, I think the basic question here is that if it’s not the damn MC5 how good could it be…
92 chars
Dexter said on November 20, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Before this blog thread, the biggest controversy over “shrimpin'” was when the Vietnamese came to the USA in 1975 and went to war with American shrimp boat captains from Texas to Louisiana in the Gulf.
Now I know what it means in a different way, very close to “snowballin”, which is more complicated but equally as disgusting, unless …well, unless you are a lot more adventuresome than more boring explorers with limits and er…different “tastes”.
But back to what the baseball world is all aghast over: Dave Dombrowski, General Manager of the Detroit Tigers, has the baseball experts shaking their heads over getting rid of Prince Fielder and all his money owed. Dombrowski had to sent Texas $30 mil of Mr. Illitch’s cash, but he also saved the Detroit payroll $76 million to acquire more good players.
815 chars
Bob (not Greene) said on November 20, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Well, that could be. In the meantime, I’m going to listen to Hank yodeling his way through ‘Honky Tonk Blues’
109 chars
Connie said on November 20, 2013 at 11:41 pm
I thought the leg angioplasty was for below the knee pain. My father is considering that, he called it stents for your legs. And I have been trying to find out if this has any connection to those leg arteries having been used for heart bypass surgery. Twice.
260 chars
Bob (not Greene) said on November 20, 2013 at 11:43 pm
I mean ‘Moanin’ the Blues’ darn that edit button
48 chars