Things you will want to read today:
This lovely, sensitive piece on a lesbian couple planning their wedding in Oklahoma, where the wind — and the judgment — comes sweepin’ down the plain. The main part of the narrative concerns what happened after they sent their invitations, and waited to see who would attend:
The person Kathryn wondered about most was her biological father. He had raised her; after his divorce from Jane, it was the two of them alone in a small, boxy house in the middle of open plains. He was a rural postman and the job suited him — a solitary route that took him down the same path, every day, a hundred miles of roads. His world was predictable and contained, and Kathryn hadn’t found the right way to talk to him about the wedding.
Tracy didn’t know they hadn’t spoken. She sent his invitation in a batch with all the others — and now Kathryn had no choice but to call her father, or he would learn about the ceremony by checking the mail. As the words about the invitation came spilling out, they became words about why she and Tracy had decided, despite all their worries, to have this wedding.
She told him that she didn’t think there was anything wrong with the way she and Tracy felt about each other. She said that marriage was an important rite in the history of humanity, something people had been doing throughout time, and something she wanted to be a part of. She told him that marriage, as a value, was American.
He didn’t say anything. There was only silence on the other end of the line.
It’s really wonderful. Read.
For comic relief, you’re going to want to watch this clip of Sarah Palin at the Iowa Freedom Summit last week. Whenever I see her, I think of the Republicans I knew who were head over heels for her in 2008, at least for a few weeks. Looking at her now must feel like the morning after a hot, fevered night with a beautiful stranger who looks so, so different in the cold morning light. That what have I done feeling must be overwhelming.
And back to sensitive: A good one about the evolving view of divorce by the Catholic church, and by “evolving” I mean “the same, but at least some people are fighting about it,” i.e.:
The battle lines are clear: Some high-level church officials, most notably the conference of German bishops, want the church to relax its rules so that divorced Catholics can more fully return to church life, particularly by receiving communion, even if they have remarried. Traditionalists are pushing back fiercely, arguing that the indissolubility of marriage is ordained by God and therefore nonnegotiable.
I’ve been done with the church for years, but in that time, I’ve come across some annulment-seeking Catholic divorcees, and given testimony in one. All were granted. Nothing seemed to make a difference; 20 years together and three children? Hey, sounds like it wasn’t a true spiritual marriage; go on and get married again, folks. I totally understand why spurned ex-spouses fight so hard against them, as one of the unfortunate Kennedy brides did — seriously, what is the point of being against divorce if you’ll de facto grant them for a few hundred bucks and some nosy questions?
In the testimony I gave — and don’t be deceived by the grand nomenclature; all I did was fill out some forms — there were questions about whether I had knowledge the couple used artificial birth control. Of course they did, as 90 percent of all Catholic couples do, but I thought, well, that’s clever. Talk about your built-in grounds for Catholic divorce.
And so the week begins. Snowpocalypse in the east, cold here, and I’m headed north.
brian stouder said on January 25, 2015 at 9:52 pm
Saturday Night Live/Tina Fey cannot parody that person! ‘The man can only ride you if you bend your back’???!!
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basset said on January 25, 2015 at 10:23 pm
Just forwarded that, titled “she seems medicated”…
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beb said on January 25, 2015 at 11:07 pm
That some Republicans seemed a bit disenchanted with her speech says something in itself.
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susan said on January 26, 2015 at 2:17 am
Maybe she will go away now, and we won’t be hit with her image and that nasal pinchy voice anymore. On the other hand, by staying in the 2016 goat rodeo she would keep the idiocy of the Republican contest in high gear, and its extreme entertainment value. But I really am sick of her and all the attention she gets, automatically. Pfffbt.
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David C. said on January 26, 2015 at 6:16 am
I’d much rather read whatever $P is braying about. Her voice is more irritating than running naked through a patch of nettles.
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alex said on January 26, 2015 at 6:58 am
My partner and I have wondered the same thing. Who in his large Catholic family would attend if we were to have a wedding ceremony? Not that I’d want a big wedding anyway. I’ve always thought I’d prefer a small, informal gathering with just an intimate circle of people.
I’m on my third Catholic, and no two have been alike. The first came from a family where infidelity was common but divorce was the ultimate taboo. The second came from a family where the cycle of marriage, infidelity and divorce was as routine as the cycle of menstruation, just a little less frequent. The third is from a family of straight-arrow churchgoers among whom divorce is rare, although unwed motherhood seems to be increasingly the accepted norm among the youngest generation. Out of all of these families, the serial monogamists were the most gay-friendly.
Indiana is probably a lot like Oklahoma. Though disingenuous religiosity is the last resort of the worst bigots, there are a lot of people who don’t think for themselves, are afraid to think for themselves and are torn between their genuine feelings and what they’ve been taught. Much of my early experience was shaped by people who could be my friends on the lowdown but didn’t want to be associated with me publicly. Though things are much better in this regard, it still hurts.
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adrianne said on January 26, 2015 at 7:32 am
From what I’ve read about “Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods,” as Charlie Pierce so memorably calls Sarah Palin, I’m convinced that she is undiagnosed manic-depressive. The woman needs help, but she will never seek out a mental-health professional because, of course, it’s all of her enemies who are wrong.
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Suzanne said on January 26, 2015 at 8:21 am
$P made fun of the term “status quo”?? Sadly, I know far too many people who would be nodding in agreement that ” those Washington politicians try to fool us with those fancy foreign words like she just said”. Happy Monday :-/
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Jolene said on January 26, 2015 at 8:23 am
I could be wrong, of course, but I don’t see evidence of bipolar disorder in Palin’s speech or behavior. She has never, that I know of, shown signs of depression. Her incoherent speech isn’t grandiose or pressured. I think she is merely stupid.
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coozledad said on January 26, 2015 at 9:31 am
A song for Sarah’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J-il4ELDH8
I need a lift,
to run this grift
to play the hooker with a crotch of gold.
It’s these impressions
I try to give
Keep old men searching for the crotch of gold.
And It’s getting old.
Keep old men searching for a crotch of gold
And It’s getting old.
Slapped on my white hood
And gave the base wood
Bill Kristol thought I was “The Crotch of Gold”
Once they hear my whine
A piece of my mind
They stop a thinkin bout a crotch of gold.
And the wood goes cold
They were a’ searchin for a crotch of gold
Now the wood is cold.
They keep a searchin for a crotch of gold.
They keep a searchin and I’m growing old.
Keep a searching for that crotch of gold
I’ve been a grifter with a crotch of gold.
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Julie Robinson said on January 26, 2015 at 9:44 am
Lordy, that’s gonna be in my head all day.
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jcburns said on January 26, 2015 at 9:50 am
…and I’m growing old.
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Jeff Borden said on January 26, 2015 at 9:54 am
One of the ugliest episodes I’ve had on the Internet occurred late last year, when I followed the link of a friend and found myself landing on a page featuring a photograph of Ted Nugent and his wife posing with $P and Todd Palin. I wrote a comment under the picture “Birdbrains of a feather flock together” and asked why any reasonably intelligent person would be interested in the words of a washed up and likely sociopathic musician and a failed veep candidate, who couldn’t finish one term as governor.
And then someone unleashed the pent-up feces from an industrial pig farm on me.
Wowser, folks. It’s not simply that $P’s defenders are convinced she is a heroic bringer of truth. They are convinced that if you don’t like her, you are not simply wrong, but an evil wimpy faggot commie muslim liberal zombie. I received more than 400 responses, most inviting me to perform some form of difficult sexual maneuvers, some offering to use me for target practice, etc. This was beyond devotion to $P. I’m not sure what it was, but it was damned ugly.
She will pop up periodically to freshen her brand, I guess, but the scorn from even the rightwing peanut gallery for this latest performance suggests she has crossed the Rubicon.
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Deborah said on January 26, 2015 at 10:00 am
Palin’s speech reminds me of a bad recurring dream I have, the gist of the dream is that I’ve got a major performance of some kind coming up and I haven’t prepared for it at all. When the big day comes I have to get in front of an audience and wing it, I know I’m doing a shitty job but I keep going and embarrass myself horribly. I usually wake up in a cold sweat. But Palin will just blame the press for criticizing her unfairly.
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2015 at 11:16 am
Well, wow.
A drone was found on the White House lawn.
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beb said on January 26, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Wow, indeed. Since hearing about this I have been wondering how do you defend the White House from a small drone like that, probably a quadcopter, if someone decided to load it up with a pound of C4? It’s almost too small to shoot out of the sky, too small to see at night, and too close to the target for radar. What a nightmare for WH security.
Deborah, I think you’re recurring nightmare about having to give a speech with absolutely no prep time is exactly what happened to she-who-must-not-be-named.
Instead of the tune for “Heart of Gold” I think I would have gone with “Old Man.” It has a more accusatory tone to it.
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Charlotte said on January 26, 2015 at 12:38 pm
When my parents divorced in the early 1970s my mother went to see about an annullment. Turns out there wasn’t any record of their marriage in the Archdiocese of Chicago — Mom never did figure out if her aunt, who ran the Madonna House (torn down when they built Pres/St. Lukes) had her married by a fake priest or just pulled the records. “The Duchess” as she was known, was all up in with the Catholic powers.
And that piece about the couple in Oklahoma just made me weep.
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2015 at 1:40 pm
The Oklahoma article was superb, indeed. It elevates the conversation from easily tossed platitudes, into human decency
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MarkH said on January 26, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Jolene, you’re not wrong and no one could have put it better, ’nuff said. Except that I’m floored that this outlier, now even on the tea party scene, was given this platform. Hopefully, this last garbage she spewed was the final straw for the all the right wing to turn away, and she disappears into an igloo. Yeah, good luck with that.
beb, I can’t remember the last time someone went to the effort putting the contraction in place of the possessive. Usually, it’s the other way around. You get an ‘A’ for effort. 🙂
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Scout said on January 26, 2015 at 1:56 pm
The best part of the latest $P word salad speech is that her teleprompter failed, which is what put the salad spinner on high speed spew. Oh the irony.
Crotch of Gold is my earworm for the day.
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Scout said on January 26, 2015 at 2:10 pm
Oh and one more thing – THIS is so very presidential, donchaknow:
http://thedailybanter.com/2015/01/good-christian-sarah-palin-poses-fuc_-michael-moore-crosshairs-sign/
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Scout, your link made me laugh out loud, with this passage beginning with Ms Palin’s comment about being open to running for the presidency:
“Yeah, I mean, of course, when you have a servant’s heart, when you know that there is opportunity to do all you can to put yourself forward in the name of offering service, anybody would be interested…It doesn’t necessarily have to be me, though, but America’s definitely ready for real change.” Let me be the first to say that yes, Sarah, it does necessarily have to be you. Who else is going to try as hard as you to get to 1400 Pennsylvania Ave.?
So – if a drone accidently crashes two blocks from the White House, we’ll know that it’s likely from an Alaskan separatist Truther/Birther
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Sue said on January 26, 2015 at 2:34 pm
Can anyone tell me how many people this had to get past before it hit the theaters? Hundreds? Thousands, including all the snickering crew members?
How many knew what this was and still didn’t say anything? I refuse to believe this got past EVERYONE.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/01/26/in_jennifer_lopez_s_the_boy_next_door_the_trashiest_moment_is_a_real_classic.html
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alex said on January 26, 2015 at 3:01 pm
C’mon. Even less plausible than a first edition of the Iliad is J-Lo playing an educated person.
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coozledad said on January 26, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Sue: They could just as easily have him given her a Loeb Classics edition of Sappho and Alcaeus. That would have said something complex, though. Something perhaps only lesbians, classics majors, or bookstore nerds would understand.
I wouldn’t know though.I never tried to get laid by my classics teacher. Except for the wool blazer and tie, he looked like one of the hairier creatures from Satyricon.
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adrianne said on January 26, 2015 at 3:38 pm
Hey, on Sarah Palin: This 2010 Vanity Fair profile is chilling. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/10/sarah-palin-201010#
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4dbirds said on January 26, 2015 at 4:06 pm
I’m hoping $P stays around. She’s my guilty entertainment pleasure.
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MichaelG said on January 26, 2015 at 4:30 pm
I don’t know what y’all’s problem with the ‘Iliad’ is. I have an original cast recording of Handel’s ‘Messiah’.
That was a very sweet article about the marriage in OK. I can only shake my head over those Jesus freak hypocrites the boss and father. Living in a sane place like Sacramento, it’s hard for me to realize the way things are for so many people.
Both my lovely EX and myself were raised Catholic. Both of us had been married and divorced before we met. We thought to get married in the Church (why, I’m not sure, but it was a long time ago). Went to see a priest at the Cathedral in San Francisco. Annulments required: reams of applications and forms to fill out. Testimony before priests including testimony from ex-spouses. Money required to change hands. Months of evaluations. Then months of counseling. We told the kind priest that we would think about it and left. We were barely out of the building before we busted out laughing to beat the band. Those people haddabe out of their rabbit assed minds. We were married by an Episcopalian priest.
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Deborah said on January 26, 2015 at 4:50 pm
It’s a balmy 57 in Santa Fe today, I still can’t believe I’m traveling to NY on Weds. I know whenever you schedule a trip in the middle of winter you take this chance that it could be all messed up because of the weather. We’ve been doing this for years and until now we haven’t had problems, it was bound to happen though. I can imagine Weds is going to be from hell since many of the flights today and tomorrow are canceled. I wasn’t expecting to get to LaGuardia until late Weds night anyway, now it seems like I will be lucky to make that. My husband was to arrive about an hour after me, coming from Chicago. What are the chances this is going to work out (?), probably zero.
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Jeff Borden said on January 26, 2015 at 5:12 pm
I think it’s interesting that the very epitome of marital fidelity, Newt Gingrich, was able to get his two previous non-Catholic marriages annulled so he could marry his long-time Catholic mistress, Calista.
While I can understand the viewpoint of 4dbirds, it’s not like $P is as harmless as other people famous for being famous such as the Kardashians. She has a small but very vocal following who exercise outsize influence on the direction of the Republican Party, moving it ever rightward so that even someone who a few years ago would’ve been considered a radical conservative is now seen as moderate.
As I’ve stated ad infinitum, she will never run for office again because, at base, she is a lazy attention whore. She also doesn’t need the aggravation when a few million dolts will spend actual money on the things she calls books. Her PAC is sitting on seven figures, but in the last election, it gave less than $30,000 to candidates, so it really looks like a huge slush fund to support her celebrity lifestyle. And the baggage she’d bring! She wouldn’t even be able to position herself as a good mother after the Thrilla in Wasilla, where three of her children were drunk as skunks and acting like the worst kind of snowbilly trash at someone else’s party. It will take a lot of Trig walking on the family dog photos to erase the tapes made by the Anchorage PD, which show her children as foul-mouthed boors, bullies and idiots.
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Connie said on January 26, 2015 at 5:35 pm
Well, i had surgery on my foot yesterday, and will be discharged tomorrow. I have a wound vac, which is high tech wound drainage. Walking restricted, I will be using a wheelchair at work. And have already borrowed one from my local senior center. No driving for a while, good thing I have my own personal retired husband chauffeur. All of the restrictions have to do with maintaining the seal on the wound vac.
So my hospital adventure is almost over, and an adventure in living physically impaired is about to begin.
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Connie said on January 26, 2015 at 5:37 pm
Talking points memo says Joe Scarborough/Morning Joe was very disappointed in Palin’s performance this weekend.
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Deborah said on January 26, 2015 at 5:42 pm
Connie, good luck to you on the rest of your healing. Hope it’s swift and efficient.
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Sherri said on January 26, 2015 at 7:45 pm
When a group from Oklahoma City purchased Seattle’s NBA team so they could move them to Oklahoma City, the WNBA team was part of the deal. But those guys didn’t want “those kind of women” down there in Oklahoma, so they sold the WNBA team to a local group. So, thanks to Oklahoma intolerance, we got to keep the Seattle Storm.
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Sherri said on January 26, 2015 at 8:41 pm
If you want to understand why Roger Goodell still has his job as NFL commissioner, and will keep his job as NFL commissioner, read this: http://www.gq.com/sports/201502/roger-goodell-season-from-hell
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Snarkworth said on January 26, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Connie, best healing to you! Despite all the hassles, it must be good to have the surgery behind you.
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2015 at 10:45 pm
Connie, good to hear that things are on the upswing for you.
Sherri – y’know – how hard would it have been for the referees – when they clearly discovered that the footballs were out-of-spec, to peremptorily pitch Belichick and/or Brady out of the playoff game?
In baseball, which I used to follow closely, routinely chucked pitchers out of games for altering the baseballs…and I’d submit that any change you can affect on a baseball will be less significant than reducing the air pressure in a football by 15%.
And if Goodell had a single ounce of actual integrity, he’d pitch Brady and Belichick out of the Super Bowl. the saying “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime” is double-edged.
Everyone knows that “the commissioner” is nothing more than a grotesquely over-paid buffoon, and that the “punishment” for undermining the integrity of the game itself is nothing more that some cash and a draft pick or two.
If you present it as a straight-up transaction, what team WOULDN’T grasp at any unfair advantage they can, to gain a berth in the Super Bowl!!! – when the cost is a little cash and a draft pick?
I’ve never been much of an NFL fan, and I suppose I never will be….and if this is the way they enforce their rules, then in fact the NFL really has no rules, do they?
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brian stouder said on January 26, 2015 at 11:00 pm
And a non-sequitur: First, our Bobby Knight look-alike Governor Pence didn’t like that Glenda Ritz GOT MORE VOTES THAN HIS SORRY ASS, when he was elected governor and she was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction; so he up and invented (by decree) a brand new Center for Education and Career Innovation (who the hell concocts these Orwellian agency names?), to run parallel to the Department of Education, but under his thumb. They’ve given up that hobby horse, although he now wants to supplant her with some new flunkie, that would be selected by his appointed flunkies on the state board of education.
But, completely aside from all of that (which truly fills me with contempt for that guy) – lookie lookie here what our own Hoosier Dear Leader has come up with now –
http://wane.com/2015/01/26/pence-to-launch-state-run-news-service-in-indiana/
NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is launching a state-run news service that promises to break news ahead of traditional media outlets and deliver stories written by state press secretaries. The service named “Just IN” will debut in late February, according to documents obtained by The Indianapolis Star. It will be overseen by a governance board consisting of department communications directors and an editorial board made up of former Star reporter Bill McCleery and the governor’s communications staff.
You cannot make this stuff up! Pence has a lap-dog local and regional media, that does nothing but kiss his ass, and STILL he wants his own “state-run media”??!! Isn’t that what Oxy-Rush always calls all of the real press, other than Fox News and rightwing radio?
Oh well – Good night!
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beb said on January 26, 2015 at 11:20 pm
I’m confused. Is this a ‘good guy with a gun’ stopping some malicious snowball throwers.Or is this the bad guy going ape-shit over some kids throwing snowballs at his car?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/new-york-man-shoots-15-year-old-boy-multiple-times-for-throwing-snowballs-at-his-car/
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Sherri said on January 27, 2015 at 12:31 am
Brian, if Roger Goodell were any good at his job, we would have never even heard about the deflated balls. Reportedly, the league office was told that the Patriots balls were less than spec weeks earlier, and rather than quietly telling them to knock it off, the league decided to mount a sting operation instead. So, they let the Patriots play half the championship game (and who knows, possibly the playoff game the week before?) with balls that potentially gave them an advantage before doing anything about it, and then did something about in a way to overshadow the biggest event on the NFL calendar? Smart…
But I’ll disagree with you about the relative effects on modifying balls. The changes you can make to a baseball are much more significant than slightly deflating the football is. A little scuff on a baseball, a little grease, and you can make a baseball dance like a wiffle ball. Joe Niekro once got thrown out of a game when the umpires discovered an emery board in his pocket.
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Sherri said on January 27, 2015 at 12:41 am
Here’s how you protect the White House from drones! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PgOk1Hjcc
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Dexter said on January 27, 2015 at 3:20 am
For the first time in years, I burst out in laughter when the drone story appeared last night on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Obama’s preferred method of destruction has come home to roost.
I was amazed in September when that clown made it way deep inside the mansion, because I assumed that anybody who pulled that stunt would maybe get a half step from the fence and be torn in half by multiple-angled assault weapons fire. As you know the White House lawn has become a playground for the insane and dangerous lately, many successful attempts at scaling the fence and even striking the building with rifle fire.
Now the drone, Obama’s answer to Richard Milhous’s B-52s, has come in play as a potential harm-carrier. Allegedly, this one simply got away from an amateur and crashed harmlessly at 1600 Penna Ave., but virtually anyone can learn to operate a drone, they are being used to deliver pizzas now fer crissakes…and with the ease enemies of the USA can pinpoint the explosion point of an IED in The Region, it is child’s play and nothing more for these assholes to scurry a drone packed with bad nasty things into that space. An expert was interviewed, there are defense systems available to stop these damn air-spiders, so someone better “get crackin'” and quickly.
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Julie Robinson said on January 27, 2015 at 8:20 am
Okay, I don’t follow football so maybe this is a naive question, but why-oh-why does each team get to bring the balls it plays offense with? Doesn’t this sound like a situation that tempts cheating? Is this also the case at other levels?
The whole thing could be avoided by putting all the balls into a pool which is managed by the refs. Each team never knows which ball they’ll get, therefore no incentive to deflate or scuff or anything else. Problem solved. And now I’ve thought about football more than in the last year, and I’m done.
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Charlotte said on January 27, 2015 at 10:34 am
Julie — apparently it’s because Tom Brady and Peyton Manning petitioned to change the rules in 2006: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/01/stats_show_the_new_england_patriots_became_nearly_fumble_proof_after_a_2006.html
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alex said on January 27, 2015 at 10:48 am
Well, Brian, the megalomaniacal buffoon’s “state-run news” is already dragging down his image in the local press. We’ll see how he spins it.
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brian stouder said on January 27, 2015 at 11:35 am
Well Alex, thanks to your update, that bizarre story has now given me my laugh-of-the-day on two different days!
So our imitation-pensive governor has decided to double-down on his state-run news agency by calling it nothing more than an electronic calendar of events, eh?
What a maroon
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Dave said on January 27, 2015 at 11:52 am
When our hostess’ former employer comes out against it, then I’ll know we’ll have something going. Until then. . .
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Julie Robinson said on January 27, 2015 at 11:53 am
The fox is in charge of the hen house, both in the NFL and Indy.
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MarkH said on January 27, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Those of you who live in or have ties to Dayton (Dorothy), and those of you in architecture or design (Deborah), or just interested in preservation, take a look at this (mostly) sad story of the Gem City. As a city in decline,there are some parallels with Detroit (and other cities in nn.c-land). But it mostly deals with the unbridled destruction of much of the city’s still-useful historical architecture along with blighted areas as a way to increase occupancy rate, which can lead to more renovation. But not always.
How does this ring with all y’all? From editorial cartoonist Ted Rall.
http://anewdomain.net/2015/01/21/gutting-of-dayton/
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Deborah said on January 27, 2015 at 12:42 pm
Mark H, interesting. Funny, I noticed your comment right after I watched this video about what makes an attractive city, in the end it boils down to political will https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy4QjmKzF1c
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adrianne said on January 27, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Hey, Brian, and other Hoosiers, looks like Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is the latest to throw in the towel and accept that damn Obamacare Medicaid money. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/01/27/us/27reuters-usa-obamacare-medicaid.html
And on the D.C. drone: Apparently the drone operator was drinking, leading to this time-honored advice: Don’t drink and drone!
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adrianne said on January 27, 2015 at 1:57 pm
As usual, Charlie Pierce has the last word on the Mike Pence network: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Mike_Pence_Show_Starring_Mike_Pence
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MichaelG said on January 27, 2015 at 1:58 pm
They gonna call that Indiana news agency ‘Tass’?
The NFL has punted. They have declared that the inflation controversy will take two more weeks to “investigate” which puts off any outcome until after the Super Bowl and well into the dark off season. Problem solved.
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brian stouder said on January 27, 2015 at 2:10 pm
Adrianne – I’m reminded of a great bit of metaphorical imagery that our Proprietress conjured, many moons ago, when Indiana finally adopted Daylight Savings Time.
My recollection won’t do it justice, but she imagined ‘Hoosiers stumbling into the 21st century, rubbing their eyes from the brightness’…
and it seems to fit this moment, too! (and the real question is – what will the Indiana state-run media have to say about this development?)
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 27, 2015 at 2:11 pm
Connie, may your wound vac suck well.
Wait, that doesn’t quite . . . anyhow, blessings to you.
And re: the first edition copy of The Iliad, I assume everyone’s seen: http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/3347390/Autographed+bible
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Dexter said on January 27, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Football rules are fine-tuned constantly. It’s fun to watch old videos of Art Donovan telling of the old days when football was really a violent sport. Any quarterback sliding to prevent being tackled? He’d have been booted out of football for being a coward, or just plain gutless. When I was a kid watching football on TV, the QBs got smeared with no protective rules at all. Old timers hated all the new rules protecting quarterbacks, but changes prevailed.
Also, the three down running play offenses went bye-bye as the passing game took over because fans wanted high scores. 7-3 games, 6-0 games became a thing of a bygone time.
Football owners want money in theor coffers, and if more people watched on TV if the games were 37-24 instead of 9-7…well, they tailored the game for explosive offenses.
And this is why no owners, no players, no fan who lopves the new game with all the scoring, ever cared at all what state the football was in, if THE QUARTERBACK LIKED THE FEEL OF THE FOOTBALL. And what’s the difference? Everyone’s hands are different sizes, and it takes remarkable accuracy to thread defenses and connect with receivers, and fans want offensive plays to succeed…oooh..ahh…YEA! and all the other noises fans make. Also, trying to inject basketballs and baseballs into this situation is a wasted effort. There is no way that can help solve this stupid “crisis”.
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Deborah said on January 27, 2015 at 3:05 pm
Adrianne, did you go into NYC today? If so how is it? I’m trying to figure out which boots to wear, either my combat type or something a bit dressier. I’m only bringing one or the other, either one will be the only shoes I’ll have there.
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MarkH said on January 27, 2015 at 3:11 pm
Deborah, that was a great video and I’m forwarding to some friends on our local town council. We have a severe housing shortage in our county due to lack of private land (97% of the county is government-owned), and the pressure is on for the town to increase density with zoning changes as scraper homes come down: mixed-zoning, multi-family dwellings, a fight to allow four-story buildings, etc. Not that we have the same issues as larger cities. But does go to long-term conflict over changing regs and a surprising number of supposedly environmentally friendly developers showing their true colors. Which is what developers do, eventually.
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Connie said on January 27, 2015 at 3:26 pm
Jeff(tmmo) that is exactly what we want. AKA as maintain the seal.
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adrianne said on January 27, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Deborah, I took advantage of my company’s generous work from home policy and stayed put, but the snow here and in the city wasn’t bad at all – only about 4 inches tops. The real chaos came because the transit system literally ground to a halt (and all those flight cancellations, too). The bus service I rely on didn’t even run buses to the city today. And Port Authority Bus Terminal was closed all morning!
So I would suggest any pair of warm winter boots should tide you over in the city just fine. The snow accumulation was meh!
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Deborah said on January 27, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Thanks Adrianne, I think I’ll bring the ones that aren’t combat type, they’re flat and they come up to nearly my knees, I also have add on cleats I can clamp onto the soles if I need to. They should be plenty warm. Hopefully the air travel will be sorted out by tomorrow evening. I fly from Albuquerque to Houston and then on to NYC. Fingers crossed.
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MichaelG said on January 27, 2015 at 5:57 pm
Dexter, what you say is entirely beside the point. Rules say no fooling with pressures. You fool, you cheat and should pay. That link to the fumble statistics is very instructive and indicates that pressures may, indeed, have a large effect.
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adrianne said on January 27, 2015 at 6:53 pm
Deborah, by Weds. night, the flight backlog to NYC should be cleared up. Just don’t think about going to New England: They are getting genuinely clobbered by this storm, up to 3 feet of snow north of Boston where our pal Jon and his wonder dog Artie live. And Nantucket is out of power and cut off – no ferry service from the mainland. Good lord!
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Bob (not Greene) said on January 27, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Hey, Chicago folks, if you’re wandering about on North Michigan Avenue next Tuesday, you just might run into my youngest brother http://www.chicagomag.com/style-shopping/January-2015/A-Live-Art-Installation-Is-Coming-to-the-Michigan-Avenue-LOFT/
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Deborah said on January 27, 2015 at 8:54 pm
Bob NG, that’s cool. I won’t be in Chicago then, but more power to your brother!
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Dexter said on January 28, 2015 at 3:02 am
Mr. Zorn posted this one on Facebook: http://thedailybanter.com/2015/01/so-few-fcks-so-little-time/
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brian stouder said on January 28, 2015 at 9:05 am
It was pleasant to see Rachel Maddow lead off her show last night with Indiana’s ridiculous governor, and his spankin’ ne State-run media concept!
Rachel went on about how Pence had the day set up to really score lots positive punditry buzz, with is (not)Obama-care/Obamacare plan – which would please people across the spectrum…and then he tripped over his own feet!
Really, truly and honestly – Mick Pence is a lot stupider than he looks!
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Kirk said on January 28, 2015 at 9:12 am
Dexter@67: I’m sure the Islam-hating “journalists” at Fox News will give Mrs. Obama plenty of props for her up-yours ensemble — not that I plan to waste any time watching to find out.
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Kirk said on January 28, 2015 at 9:12 am
Dexter@66, I mean. Sheesh.
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Dorothy said on January 28, 2015 at 10:22 am
MarkH, I’m probably not the best person to speak on the subject you broached at 49. However, in my limited knowledge of such things, I’d guess that if major employers move out of a city, leaving so many people jobless (and thus they search for new jobs which might necessitate them moving), luring new employers to a city by saying “look at these cool old buildings we have here…wouldn’t you like to set up shop in one of them?!” is not the way to get them occupied. I have heard that it is very often much too expensive to gut old buildings and replace the electrical, plumbing, drywall etc. needed to make the building safe to use again. It’s cheaper to tear it down and build something new. When I worked at Kenyon College, one old building on campus (Bexley Hall) was not air conditioned, had very narrow hallways and was damp and uncomfortable in many sections of it. But it was on the Historic Register, so of course they could not take it down. Rumor had it that my division (College Relations – which encompassed Development, Annual Giving, Advancement Information Systems, Alumni and Parent Programs and Public Affairs) was going to move into the building. But there were too many problems associated with a move for such a large division. It is now part of the next capital campaign to build a new building for College Relations. http://hcap.artstor.org/cgi-bin/library?a=d&d=p2099
Here at UD my husband actually works in a brand new building on the campus, but he’s a GE employee. Ground was broken for another new building recently very near his building (GE’s EpisCenter). Growth is going on, but not necessarily downtown. We like it here. Making new friends helps a lot, and the longer we’re here the more we’ll meet, I hope.
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alex said on January 28, 2015 at 10:33 am
If Michele Obama had donned a Saudi getup they’d be saying “I told you so she’s a Muslim.” I haven’t seen any right-wing media this morning, but I have no doubt they’re throwing a tizzy over it one way or another because Michele Obama.
Yes, it was a banner day for Mike Pence. He launched both his re-branded Obamacare and his ersatz news bureau to great ridicule. Even his most ardent right-wing defenders are showing their disdain, which is proof positive that hell really did freeze over this week.
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Dorothy said on January 28, 2015 at 10:37 am
Here’s a link to a recent Alumni Bulletin with an article about the Master Plan at Kenyon. The place is absolutely gorgeous. I believe they have introduced new buildings on campus with a keen eye towards maintaining the overall style of the village and its surroundings. The new student housing looks outstanding. It helps that Graham Gund is an alum and his architectural firm designs the plans. http://www1.kenyon.edu/newsdigest/bulletin/20141030kcab/ (go to page 18 to read about and see the new Master Plan) On page 21 there is a picture of the building where the Kenyon Review is currently housed. I remember seeing it go up on supports and moved on the property so the basement could be redone, and an addition put on the building. So it’s not always better to tear something down in order to rebuild.
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brian stouder said on January 28, 2015 at 10:41 am
Alex – the second comment got me laughing:
I’m just wondering why Pence needs to hire people to write fawning puff-pieces on his administration. Leo Morris does it every week for free!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 28, 2015 at 10:56 am
Kenyon is so pretty, it’s almost as beautiful as Denison!
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brian stouder said on January 28, 2015 at 11:27 am
When Dorothy is there, Kenyon wins!
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Deborah said on January 28, 2015 at 11:33 am
Dorothy, you make some good points about new vs renovated buildings. However, with a little creativity you can keep the facade of a cool old building. And of course new doesn’t have to be ugly. Unfortunately many developers just want to slap up cheap crap and then make a killing off of it. We need the political will not to let that happen.
The Kenyon magazine was interesting to peruse. Ohio sure has some good schools.
My husband mostly designs buildings on campuses since he started his own practice. In fact when I think about it all of his buildings since 2003 have been on college campuses. He really likes doing them.
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brian stouder said on January 28, 2015 at 11:44 am
Deborah, over the past couple years at the school board meetings, as they oversee an ongoing renovation project across the district, I learned the term “curtain wall” with regard to some of our ‘70’s era schools. Leaving aside how dated they look, anymore – they’re absolutely terrible when it comes to energy efficiency (cold and drafty in the winter, and pointless to try and air condition in the summer).
Whoever designed them (and whoever else approved then) went for a look, and really nothing else, at all.
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Deborah said on January 28, 2015 at 11:49 am
Brian, the 70s were among the worst years of architecture, it was when form followed finance. Unfortunately we still have much of that crap to have to look at in our cities, much less have to work in or live in.
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coozledad said on January 28, 2015 at 12:22 pm
The rich don’t pay their bills. Never have.
there wasn’t a lot of change in which income groups were getting mortgages from 2002 to 2006. But this chart shows that the dollar value of delinquencies for 2005-2006 mortgages was concentrated more heavily than ever among the richest borrowers. “Of course,” the authors write, “the total dollar value of mortgages that are delinquent went up dramatically for mortgages originated in 2006 relative to those originated in 2002, but clearly this is not driven primarily by low income borrowers.”
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2015/01/poor-responsible-financial-meltdown-spoiler-no
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brian stouder said on January 28, 2015 at 2:05 pm
No no no – see, these were business people, and they invested capital, and then things didn’t work out, and they had to cut their losses (and quit paying their bills).
Unlike free-loaders and people with Obama-phones, and the rest of the 47-percenters, these were entrepreneurs, who we should revere, even when….no – ESPECIALLY when things go bust and they’re the first to get smashed….
or something
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coozledad said on January 28, 2015 at 3:57 pm
GitmoGhazzi!!!!
http://fortressamerica.gawker.com/report-taliban-captured-an-isis-leader-that-bush-relea-1682349405/+adamweinstein
Do you reckon the House will set up three committees to investigate that terror lovin’ George Bush?
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Sherri said on January 28, 2015 at 10:13 pm
I still like my idea of using hawks to protect the White House better.
http://time.com/3685668/drone-dji-phantom-washington-white-house/
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Deborah said on January 29, 2015 at 7:38 am
I’m in NYC. Arrived late, slept badly in our tiny and cold hotel room (but what a deal we got). Lots and lots to do today and through the weekend. Better get started.
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Dorothy said on January 29, 2015 at 9:13 am
Hope you had lots of blankets to keep you warm, Deborah. I’ve only been to NYC a couple of times and yearn to go back. In a couple of years I’m confident we will – to see some Broadway shows. And shop til we drop!
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Peter said on January 29, 2015 at 9:18 am
Mark H, thanks for the Dayton link – it’s really quite sad, especially for a town like Dayton.
I visited Dayton when I was in architecture school – Dayton, Sidney, and Lima all had plants that made insulated curtain walls – and I spent a lot of time checking out downtown.
25 years later, we were in Dayton to see the Air Force Museum. I was walking through downtown, and I really looked like I was in late stage dementia: “I really thought that building was here – maybe it was in Lima”. My wife and son thought I was so funny, but at least now I know why I couldn’t remember where certain buildings were – they’re gone.
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coozledad said on January 29, 2015 at 11:02 am
Jonah Goldberg’s time has arrived.
http://internet.gawker.com/why-are-young-men-masturbating-to-pudding-filled-sneake-1670486070/+jparham
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brian stouder said on January 29, 2015 at 11:25 am
That one lost me at the bakery*
*old Rowan and Martin joke
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adrianne said on January 29, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Deborah, Thursday was bright but cold in Manhattan, good day for sightseeing/getting around!
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MichaelG said on January 29, 2015 at 2:14 pm
Governor Jerry Brown’s approval rating is at 61%. Imagine that.
Today is snow check day in the Sierra. They’re expecting about 25% of normal.
Finished a round of chemo today. Feel good. Hair is gone. Again.
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alex said on January 29, 2015 at 2:18 pm
This Just IN:
Pence scuttles his altruistic government transparency plan after suffering a humiliating drubbing by the liberal media.
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Julie Robinson said on January 29, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Bam! Maybe there’s hope for Indiana after all.
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brian stouder said on January 29, 2015 at 4:23 pm
I dunno, Julie.
Is it GOOD, or is it sad – that the main thing Pence seems to be accomplishing nowadays, is making Mitch look relatively sane, in comparison?
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Deborah said on January 29, 2015 at 4:27 pm
We are resting in our hotel room before our evening at the opera at the met. We figured out how to make it warmer in our room, thank goodness. We had breakfast at Cafe Sabarsky, one of our favorite places, it’s in the Neue Gallery near the Metroplitan Museum of art. Ii hadn’t eaten much the day before, a travel day, because I had totally miscalculated how much time I was going to have to get my connection in Houston. And when we got to our hotel the bar was closed and we were too tired to venture out. All I had to eat Weds was a hard boiled egg in the morning and a tiny bag of pretzels that they handed out on the first flight, and a beer on the second flight, that was it. Anyway today was a shopping day, my husband and I both got exactly what we were looking for. I walk a lot but walking here is something else. We walked everywhere, no cabs. My feet hurt. It was cold, but not too bad.
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brian stouder said on January 29, 2015 at 5:57 pm
Truly I say to you – none of the elected NC crackers that Cooz occasionally points to have ANYTHING on Mike Pence and his gang of Republigoon vandals in the Indiana State House:
http://in.chalkbeat.org/2015/01/29/despite-ritzs-pleas-committee-passes-bill-to-remove-her-as-chair/#.VMqwcC5y3-o
Pence’s stupid “state run media” idea pales in comparison to his (and their) ongoing dismemberment of Indiana’s public school system, and for that matter – for the expressed will of the voters of Indiana, state-wide.
Glenda Ritz won a statewide election at the same moment that Pence did, and with more votes than he got, and she is being treated as if her election was beneath contempt.
One would hope that those same Indiana voters that elected her, and paying attention to him.
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Suzanne said on January 29, 2015 at 8:56 pm
The Ritz episode makes me wonder if Pence just tossed out that news site so nobody would notice he’s trying to unseat a duly elected public servant.
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MarkH said on January 29, 2015 at 9:21 pm
Brian, I think you really need to go to North Carolina and hang with your buddy Cooz for a week before you make such statements. It may all be relative but you stand a good chance winding up counting your Hoosier blessings.
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beb said on January 30, 2015 at 8:11 am
In the matter of which is worse: Indiana or North Carolina, I’m reminded of the old joke: ‘It doesn’t matter if you win or loss the rat race, you’re still a rat.’
Meanwhile legislaters in Texas wants to make it legal for teachers to shoot up kids who vandalize school property.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/texas-bill-teachers-deadly-force-students
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brian stouder said on January 30, 2015 at 10:49 am
“Drop that spray-paint can, Johnny, before I ventilate you!”
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crinoidgirl said on January 30, 2015 at 11:21 am
Mitt won’t run.
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Dorothy said on January 30, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Here’s a little cray-cray for you to start the weekend with: http://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/01/viktor-rolf-spring-2015-couture-collection/
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adrianne said on January 30, 2015 at 2:16 pm
And talk about timing: A former colleague of mine in Middletown, Michael Kruse, is the new senior staff writer for Politico magazine. His first story he knocks out of the park: all about how Jeb Bush, “at his Jebbest,” continued to meddle in the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case long past the point of humanity. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says, “It was a living hell and I blame him. (Jeb)” Here’s the link to Kruse’s story: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/jeb-bush-terri-schiavo-114730_full.html#.VMvKsyxRrTA
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Dave said on January 30, 2015 at 2:41 pm
There was a story with the same theme in the Tampa Bay Times a couple of Sundays ago:
http://tinyurl.com/q24s8ek
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brian stouder said on January 30, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Adrianne, I am looking forward to reading the Jeb piece. I think the looming shit sandwich for Jeb will be schools/public education; his pro-voucher, anti-teacher, pro-endless high-stakes testing stance is sure to lose amongst the hard right base, and won’t gain him anything if he makes it to the general election.
Right now, Scott Walker seems to be the darling of the Oxy/Fox axis, which could become quite entertaining
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beb said on January 30, 2015 at 7:23 pm
I wanted to link this this in my post #97 but couldn’t find the story at the time. Also from Texas, ultra-rudness towards Muslems.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/protester-interrupts-texas-muslim-event
Someone must have called Mitt last night to tell him that that billion dollars in campaign money from the Koch’s weren’t for him since he dropped out today. I guess the skids have been greased for that Goggle-eyes homunculus from Wisconsin. He’s just weaselly enough to win.
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Deborah said on January 30, 2015 at 8:03 pm
So today in Manhatten I saw two celebs, first I’m pretty sure I saw Naomi Watts at the place we had breakfast this morning, the Mercer Kitchen in Soho. The second is not exactly a celeb, but I definitely saw former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner at the MOMA Matisse Cutouts exhibit this afternoon. He was with his wife (I presume) and he’s a lot smaller than I thought. Another busy day, more busyness tomorrow.
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Suzanne said on January 30, 2015 at 9:31 pm
http://www.jconline.com/story/opinion/columnists/dave-bangert/2015/01/29/bangert-attack-ritz-attack-voters/22544581/
Apparently, IN state legislator has a problem with librarians…
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Dexter said on January 31, 2015 at 3:42 am
Romney dropped out yesterday and Chris Christie dropped down…fell on the floor when his chair somehow moved: http://theinterrobang.com/chris-christie-gets-punkd-falls-chair-camera/
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David C. said on January 31, 2015 at 6:42 am
beb, the Koch Brothers can polish a turd like Walker enough to get him elected in Wisconsin, especially when the Journal-Sentinel and all the other Gannett rags in the state are happy to play on his tire swing. I don’t think he’ll play all that well to a national audience. He’s not very bright, he lies with the ease that most people breathe – even when the truth would be fine (Google Scot Walker bald spot), thanks to the John Doe investigation, there are thousands of none too flattering e-mails and a string of aides doing time, and so much more. He may get nominated, but in the general, he would be toast.
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Deborah said on January 31, 2015 at 9:11 am
Brian, we went someplace yesterday here in NY that you would have appreciated, the Morgan Library had an exhibit on Lincoln called “Lincoln Speaks”. It was quite good with letters and speeches in his hand, lots of commentary about him by others, about how carefully he used words to shape and heal the nation. Good stuff (as you would say).
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brian stouder said on January 31, 2015 at 11:34 am
Definitely good stuff!!
The man knew how to revise; and indeed – the one instruction he gave to the fellow who was going to read remarks he had written, about the then-ongoing civil war (I forget who the chosen speaker was, but the sanitary fair was in Illinois, and the president simply could not venture that far from the White House) was to ‘read it very slowly’
Lincoln was a tremendous thinker, and writer. Indeed, hard to beat his mixture of genuine, up-from-dirt understanding of the country country and the times in which he lived; and the towering genius that he possessed
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coozledad said on January 31, 2015 at 3:37 pm
If you’re going to arbitrarily jail a group of people like the US has in its fatuous “war on drugs”, you’d do better to jail the nits at the prep schools.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/jeb-bush-was-perma-stoned-bullying-d-student-at-chi-chi-prep-school-say-classmates/
Apparently Barb didn’t spit anything out her arse but wanton, heedless jerks with a penchant for substance abuse and torture.
Romney bowed out of this race after a good talking to by Jeb and his people. That’s how fucking stupid Romney is. He didn’t know up front that he would be out-bullied, out-crimed and out-moneyed by some of the world’s most vicious fucks until they took him to a quiet room and sweated him.
The Andover stories will improve Bush’s standing in the Republican imagination. They were dreaming of this sack of shite even before the crosseyed one slid out of the back door of the White House. He’s calculating, indifferent to suffering, compartmentalized, arrogant, and morally retarded. Their perfect creature.
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brian stouder said on January 31, 2015 at 4:40 pm
Cooz – let’s be fair to Jeb, and give the man credit for his reluctance to tell flatly untrue items –
Tibbetts also told the Globe that he and Bush worked together to bully a fellow classmate, a smaller boy who they routinely taunted and vandalized his clothing. Bush denies the bullying, saying, “It was 44 years ago and it is not possible for me to remember.”
Look at the artfulness of that bit, eh? Not “I NEVER did such a thing” or even “I would never DO such a thing” – but instead “if you can prove it, I won’t deny it, but otherwise I don’t remember”
And as the article points out – ol’ Mitt used the same “I don’t remember” non-denial, of his own aggressively violent intolerance and homophobia.
I cannot help but have essentially bottomless contempt for the modern Republican party, wherein the Oxy-Fox Axis of Idiocy presents an unending collection of emotionally retarded bullies as their “mainstream” personages.
Possibly some day this will flip over, and the shoe will be on the other foot (with regard to the “mainstream” Republican versus the “mainstream” Democratic party).
Afterall, visceral political and/or social intolerance is primarily a human impulse, and not intrinsically tied to a specific political outlook (‘the better angels of our nature’, etc, being a universal reference); but damned if it isn’t a current-day REQUIREMENT in the Republican party.
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brian stouder said on January 31, 2015 at 5:07 pm
It was a letter to James Conkling, in August of 1863
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/conkling.htm
You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you; but, no matter. Fight you, then exclusively to save the Union. I issued the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. Whenever you shall have conquered all resistence to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an apt time, then, for you to declare you will not fight to free negroes.
I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistence to you. Do you think differently? I thought that whatever negroes can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white soldiers to do, in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you? But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do any thing for us, if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest motive–even the promise of freedom. And the promise being made, must be kept.
and the grand finale –
Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that, among free men, there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost. And then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonnet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they strove to hinder it.
Still, let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a just God, in his own good time, will give us the rightful result.
Yours very truly
A. Lincoln
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Deborah said on January 31, 2015 at 6:48 pm
Brian, another interesting thing at the Morgan Library was a life cast of Washington’s face and in the Lincoln exhibit a cast of his face. It was amazing how big Washington’s face was compared to Lincoln’s. They were in completely different rooms but you could easily tell the differences in sizes. Even though Lincoln was tall, Washington must have been a huge guy.
We’re about to go to the theater tonight to see a play called “A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes” or something like that, it’s supposed to be very funny and high energy. It wasn’t my first choice, I wanted to get tickets to a play with Peter Dinklage in it, called A Day in the Country, but couldn’t get tickets. I tried to get those tickets weeks ago and the one we’re seeing is the best I could get.
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Deborah said on January 31, 2015 at 6:52 pm
A Month in the Country.
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Sherri said on January 31, 2015 at 7:01 pm
I’ve never understood why they’ve always claimed Jeb was the “smart one”.
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2012/02/hoisted-from-the-archives-unleash-chiang-kai-shek.html
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brian stouder said on January 31, 2015 at 7:25 pm
That was superb!
Since this is a multi-day thread, I nominate Sherri for the Saturday thread-win!
(today Shelby, our 16 year old, and her Winter Guard did quite well at a contest in nearby Monroeville, Indiana, scoring into the Silver range, and placing third in their Class [and looking strikingly better than last week; their many practices are paying dividends]…so it’s a winning day all around!)
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Sue said on January 31, 2015 at 9:58 pm
David C, the J-S editorial board has intoned that we need to be ‘skeptical’ of Scooter’s plan to Act-10 the UW system. The editorial was hardly wishy-washy at all. This is a major step forward in my opinion, it seems they’re waking up a little. I’m noting that Scott’s handling of the UW thing seems a little rushed – he’s doing the teacher-bashing himself and not even hiding behind the ‘tools’ diversion he used when going after public employees at the lover levels of education. It’s like he’s upped the red-meat throwing to the next level in case anyone’s not paying attention.
I’m anxious to see what happens when a) he has to leave his carefully-controlled environments to actually campaign and b) the other Republican candidates start throwing all the stuff at him that everyone’s been ignoring – or accepting – in Wisconsin for years. When we point out that maybe a guy who surrounds himself with criminals (or doesn’t know about ANY of the criminal activity going on around him, take your pick) doesn’t deserve to be in public office, we’re unpatriotic and picking on poor Scotty. When his Republican rivals do it, what is it then? Can’t wait to find out.
He’ll definitely get his share of the 2 billion Koch candidate-buying fund before this is over, it’s just a question of how much before he flares out.
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Sue said on January 31, 2015 at 10:04 pm
Oops, 1 billion, hit the wrong button. I mean it’s not like they just throw money around like it never runs out. 2 billion would be just unreasonable.
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coozledad said on February 2, 2015 at 11:20 am
Capitalist fundamentalism gets a big kick in the nuts.
http://gawker.com/american-oil-workers-are-on-strike-1683219950
Trickle down doesn’t happen. Fracking was another one of the bullshit bubbles dopes like to throw their money away on. Yet the petroleum industry will loom as a vast suckhole for capital for decades after its usefulness has expired. Why?
Republicans sucking that oil dick.
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Deborah said on February 2, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Something weird has happened to the posts here, we’re back to an older one??
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Kirk said on February 2, 2015 at 12:31 pm
Good, sort of. Thought my outdated computer was acting up.
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Dave said on February 2, 2015 at 12:31 pm
Yes, the entry from yesterday has disappeared. Where, oh where did it go?
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Jolene said on February 2, 2015 at 1:10 pm
The newer post has been restored, though not the comments posted there. But, who knows, maybe they’ll reappear too.
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