I said we weren’t going there, and then we went there: the cave where Jon Snow lost his virginity. Like losing one’s virginity itself, it was wildly overrated by its TV appearance. Pretty, sure, but very cramped, and the only surfaces for virginity-losin’ were rocks. The “Game of Thrones” wizards CGI’d a waterfall into the thing, and apparently added about 1,000 square feet to the place. But I got a snap, just the same.
It’s a natural grotto with a warm spring feeding into it. The signage said it was once quite moderate but volcanic activity in the 1970s pushed the temperature to blistering ranges. Bathing is currently forbidden, and with few other surfaces to display an actual human, this is the best I can do:
Jon Snow may know nothing, but I know Alan bonked his head on that sharp triangle of rock hanging down. That would take the wind out of your romantic sails p.d.q. (And unless I’m mistaken, that graffiti reads “Thor.”)
On the way there, Hverfell, which looks like a “Star Trek” alien planet set (on the other camera, sorry), and Godafoss, another waterfall that makes Niagara look like a cheap ho’:
This is Iceland around every corner. Just one OMG sight after another.
Tomorrow is the final day — driving back south and that milky-blue tourist trap, the Blue Lagoon.
Try not to shoot each other before I get back.
beb said on June 14, 2016 at 7:16 pm
A knock on the head is of no consequence when you’re on the verge of losing one’s virginity….
95 chars
Sherri said on June 14, 2016 at 10:12 pm
Any claim that Bernie’s campaign represents the future of the Democratic party because young voters needs to address this fact, via Nate Silvers:
Sanders won 20 of 30 states/territories where non-Hispanic whites are 2/3 or more of the population. Clinton won 24 of 26 where they aren’t.
Yes, yes, I hear the Sanders people saying but, young minorities liked Bernie better! Maybe so, but Clinton won with the Obama coalition. Bernie, especially if you look at the things he said before he started his run, is focused on the white working class. I think Bernie’s success was an accident of effect overtaking cause, of Bernie being the option that a Occupy force coalesced around, but unless and until that force deals with the fact that solving inequality doesn’t solve racism or sexism, they’re not taking over the Democratic party. Getting rid of Debbie Wasserman Schultz won’t change that, rewriting the platform won’t change that, and moving to open primaries won’t change that. (Open primaries are a double-edged sword, one more likely to hurt progressives and socialists than to help them.)
Bernie probably should have shut his campaign down a while ago; he’s losing popularity and leverage the longer he stays around. But as soon as he does, his adoring fans are going to turn on him, because he was never in control of the ship.
1350 chars
Sherri said on June 14, 2016 at 10:47 pm
I guess now we’re going to spend several days debating whether the Orlando shooter was an Islamic terrorist, a sexually confused self-loather, or an angry mentally unstable man. Anything to avoid discussing whether we should maybe stop selling AR-15s to every man with a grudge and a credit card.
But hey, Chris Christie thinks we should bomb someone. That’ll help, I’m sure. He wasn’t really clear on who we should bomb, though. Maybe it was a cry for help.
461 chars
Sherri said on June 15, 2016 at 12:39 am
Cover your ears, basset.
Turns out, not only did the media incorrectly call the weapon the Orlando shooter used an assault rifle, they also called it an AR-15. It’s actually an Sig Sauer MCX. It’s a gas piston system rather than direct impingement for ejecting the casing and loading the next bullet from the magazine (hence, semi-automatic.) The MCX was originally designed for US Special Forces, not for the regular army grunt like the AR-15 was.
So, totally different from the AR-15. Except for the semi-automatic, useful only for shooting lots of people in a short amount of time sense.
597 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 12:46 am
Wow Iceland seems even better now than I thought before. I have got to get there.
My husband leaves for NM tomorrow to observe the installation of the roof membrane on our Abiquiu project. The doors and windows will start being installed on Monday. I go back next Weds and stay for 3 weeks. More gardening takes place there, I can’t wait to see the progress of the lavender.
Today I went to my interview for my permanent TSA number, it was easy, they asked me about 3 questions and took my fingerprints, then collected my $85, that was it.
545 chars
Dexter said on June 15, 2016 at 1:44 am
I can’t recall anyone else I know who’s been to Iceland, but a work-friend was in the US Air Force stationed in Greenland. I asked him what he did there…”You kidding? The whole place is covered in snow…we drank whiskey and played cards and waited for the next day.”
https://nsidc.org/sites/nsidc.org/files/images//greenland_01.jpg
Now I hear the place is really melting quickly.
388 chars
basset said on June 15, 2016 at 6:04 am
Thought I had posted this last night, maybe it went to moderation or something… anyway, what’s the meaning of that two-fingered hand sign in one of the cave photos?
166 chars
alex said on June 15, 2016 at 6:20 am
It’s called the “two-fingered salute.”
And when it’s raised over one’s face it means Fuck You, You Whore.
206 chars
basset said on June 15, 2016 at 7:02 am
Well, that’s not very nice.
27 chars
beb said on June 15, 2016 at 7:57 am
Chris Christie thinks we should bomb someone. Doesn’t Christie have a manwich to deliver to Trump or something? When all you have are bombs everything looks like a bombing target.
186 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 10:31 am
Talking Points Memo has a rundown of all to the folks who have endorsed Trump, those who say they will support the nominee no matter who, those who are fuzzy and those who are Never Trump. It’s pretty interesting http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/elected-official-trump-endorsement-scorecard
As I said here before we ordered some furniture from Design Within Reach, there’s a store here in Chicago.We ordered 2 corbusier LC2 chairs and a corbusier LC4 lounge chair, they were supposed to be here by the first week in June. I just got a call from the delivery service that they have 1 chair to deliver. I’m boiling mad because I ordered the stuff months ago, I knew there was a waiting period but now it’s going over that and especially if we still have to wait for the other items for awhile. I’m waiting for DWR to open so I can give them a piece of my mind. They’ve had our money for these items all this time of course and they weren’t inexpensive.
954 chars
MichaelG said on June 15, 2016 at 10:34 am
More fun in Orlando. Do they have alligators in Iceland?
Here’s all you could ever want to know about that Sig Sauer:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/10/foghorn/gun-review-sig-sauer-mcx/
Also it costs almost $2000.
231 chars
MichaelG said on June 15, 2016 at 10:35 am
Forgot the other link.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/
98 chars
alex said on June 15, 2016 at 11:00 am
And that family will doubtless sue Disney, never mind the No Swimming signs posted all over the damned place, and receive a fat settlement check instead of the Darwin Award they so richly deserve.
196 chars
Dave said on June 15, 2016 at 11:15 am
Alex, already this morning on one of the local TV news websites, they added a disclaimer that they wanted to make it clear that the signs said, “No Swimming”, they did not say, “No Wading”, or “Stay Out of the Water”.
217 chars
Jolene said on June 15, 2016 at 11:24 am
The sheriff pictured in the alligator story has been on TV in connection with the nightclub shooting. Not surprisingly, he looks a little frazzled. He’s had quite a week.
170 chars
Suzanne said on June 15, 2016 at 11:34 am
When I heard about the alligator thing, after the initial shock, I couldn’t help but think what in the heck is going on down there?? It’s one tragedy after another.
I feel so sorry for the parents of the two year old. Yes, the signs say “No Swimming” but being from Nebraska, I am fairly certain they had no clue about Florida wildlife. Probably thought the swimming ban was because the water wasn’t clean, or too deep, or something. If they’ve never been to Florida before and are like many of my rural neighbors from the heartland, rather naïve about the rest of the world, I’m sure alligator attack never crossed their minds. I cannot imagine what they are going through.
678 chars
Bob (not Greene) said on June 15, 2016 at 11:36 am
A little bit of the review of the civilian model of the Sig Sauer MCX:
The SIG SAUER MCX sports a pencil profile (a.k.a., superlight) barrel (this version in 5.56 NATO). The weight savings is significant; an unloaded MCX tips the sales at a scant six pounds. The gun also has excellent balance, which makes it incredibly easy to maneuver. When it comes to getting shots on multiple targets quickly – especially when shooting with a silencer attached – an MCX-wielding rifleman will have a distinct advantage.
So, basically, this is an ad targeted at your all-American hunter who apparently needs a “distinct advantage” when it comes to killing lots of deer apparently. With a silencer, no less.
718 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 11:43 am
This is good https://medium.com/@michaelarnovitz/thinking-about-hillary-a-plea-for-reason-308fce6d187c#.krnyxm97n well worth the read,
134 chars
Jolene said on June 15, 2016 at 11:50 am
I feel bad for those parents too. It’s hard to imagine what it might feel like to leave for a vacation with two children and come home with one. And, whatever they say, there’s no way they could avoid blaming themselves or the sense that others will blame them.
261 chars
beb said on June 15, 2016 at 12:48 pm
I stumbled across an article discussing the initial field test of the military version of the AR-15 back in Viet Nam. One of the most commonly used phrases was “head looked like it had exploded.” Why–why would anyone want a civilian version of such a blood-thirsty weapon? It was designed to massacre people. It is the favorite weapons of people who try to massacre people. There’s no justification for a civilian version of this weapon.
439 chars
ROGirl said on June 15, 2016 at 1:00 pm
Deborah, really good article about Hillary. A lot to unpack, especially that Bill Safire was the originator of what has become the go-to anti-Hillary rap. The guy worked for Nixon and wrote for Agnew.
200 chars
brian stouder said on June 15, 2016 at 1:52 pm
Read Deborah’s linked article at lunchtime; very good stuff.
As fate would have it, the Donald was doing his Mussolini schtick in front of a crowd, and msnbc was giving it live coverage.
Shutting that off was the second highlight (after the HRC article) of the day!
271 chars
Scout said on June 15, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Deborah’s link was excellent. I read it through twice and then posted it on my private politics page on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/553260334833366/
162 chars
Sherri said on June 15, 2016 at 2:32 pm
I don’t agree with Hillary on every single aspect of policy. Yes, she’s too hawkish for me. I don’t agree with Obama on education, the use of drones, the continued expansion of the surveillance state, and any number of other policies. I still think, on balance, he’s been a good President, and I think, on balance, Hillary will be a good one as well. Hillary’s major fault is that she is an ambitious woman and shows it; she’s not deferential enough to men, and she’s not eye candy. The vast right wing conspiracy has blown smoke at her for decades and then claimed that because there’s smoke, there must be fire.
The article is right, sexism is still tolerated in our society. Vox and Morning Consult just put out a poll that shows than half of people think Clinton’s nomination is historic. Worse:
Fifteen percent of voters said they were proud that a woman had been nominated by a major political party, another 18 percent said they were angry about it.
More people are angry about woman being nominated than are proud. Sad!
But I’m sure it’s just because it’s “that woman,” right? It’s not really sexism.
https://morningconsult.com/2016/06/14/poll-less-half-voters-view-clintons-nomination-historic/
1226 chars
basset said on June 15, 2016 at 2:56 pm
Bob (not Greene), I suspect that “multiple targets” business refers to competitive target shooting – there are a number of events which involve aiming at several targets one after the other while they pop up and down, the shooter runs around, or other movement takes place.
273 chars
brian stouder said on June 15, 2016 at 3:18 pm
I bet we can agree that – if a person is not allowed to go for a plane ride aboard a commercial airliner, than that person also should not be able to purchase a semi-automatic firearm and lots of ammo and extra magazines, eh?
Or maybe – we can just make all the gun-sellers relocate to airports, just beyond the security clearance areas
339 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 15, 2016 at 3:21 pm
A hapless Mike Pence volunteer just called, and with great pleasure I told him I despise everything about his candidate, and to call again if he’d like further details. That was fun.
182 chars
brian stouder said on June 15, 2016 at 3:32 pm
Here’s a local Fort Wayne story that just went national –
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/boy-couldn-t-afford-football-equipment-tryouts-gets-203706058–abc-news-topstories.html
it is supposed to be uplifting, and it essentially is….but the imagery and the narrative end up leaving me….queasy
297 chars
Sherri said on June 15, 2016 at 3:39 pm
Some people are surprised, given my reproductive history, that I’m so staunchly pro-choice. I tell them it’s because of my reproductive history that I’m staunchly pro-choice. I’ve had to think hard about what can go wrong. I was lucky. Not every one is.
http://jezebel.com/interview-with-a-woman-who-recently-had-an-abortion-at-1781972395
341 chars
Suzanne said on June 15, 2016 at 4:24 pm
If you aren’t already depressed, read the comments on this piece: https://theamericanscholar.org/common-sense/?utm_source=social_media&medium=facebook#.V2G3YqL3arU
167 chars
beb said on June 15, 2016 at 4:51 pm
Here’s the link to the article about the AR-15 that I mention @21.
http://gawker.com/the-ar-15-was-built-for-slaughter-in-war-zones-1781891338
A competition where you shoot at pop-up human silhouettes. Yeah, that sounds peaceful….
237 chars
adrianne said on June 15, 2016 at 5:32 pm
For me, the worst people in my Facebook feed have been the Bernie bros – and I’m talking about a specific demographic here, not all Bernie supporters, obvs. They are over-40 leftists who are as crazy as the Trump supporters about Hillary and what an f-ing, lying bitch she is. Really, this is the language that they use. They also love to use ALL CAPS in making their arguments and deny, strenously, that opposition to Hillary has anything to do with sexism. I’ve unfriended one of these idiots, something that I don’t do lightly, and have ceased to engage with others. They’re horrible.
587 chars
basset said on June 15, 2016 at 5:32 pm
Please note, everyone, that I have not responded to Beb’s recent “STFU” in kind. Even though I didn’t mention human silhouettes.
Meanwhile, this:
https://psmag.com/how-donald-trump-demolished-the-media-3ef7634637b3#.vplvhk7w5
232 chars
Scout said on June 15, 2016 at 5:33 pm
And then there are the loons who are posting shit like this on Facebook. And yes, I have included the loon’s name, because she obviously doesn’t care if people know she’s whacko.
Nancy Frances Herrera: The shooting was a bunch of actors. No one really died. Also it’s another one of the governments ways to hide a lot of truth.
My Friend: Nancy that is probably one of the most paranoid things I’ve heard in a long time.
Nancy Frances Herrera: Just do your research.
My Friend: How about you enlighten me. What exactly should I be looking at? What is it that you have seen that I haven’t?
Nancy Frances Herrera: The link between Sandy Hook shooter and this current one. They worked for the SAME COMPANY.
Nancy Frances Herrera: It’s just another tactic to take away our guns and freedom.
Scout: OMG Nancy Herrera. You cannot be serious.
Nancy Frances Herrera: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5tDJTIzPQ
I almost cannot believe I just witnessed that. There’s more, but you get the gist.
996 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 5:46 pm
This week’s New Yorker cover is cute, similar to my link earlier http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/cover-story-2016-06-20 She’s definitely a fighter, more power to her.
180 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 5:56 pm
A dear friend of mine who lives in France with his husband and children posted this on Facebook today:
Every time a straight person says ‘you cannot live in fear’ in the wake of Orlando, I realize how unaware they are of the exhausting calculus gay people endure in evaluating every aspect of our daily lives.
Even those of us who were fortunate enough to create a sense of security by living in diverse cities, surrounding ourselves with the college educated, entering accepting professions, and rising to a socio-economic level of relative comfort are constantly assessing situations for risk.
Is it safe to be openly gay at a new job, at my childrens’ school, at a sporting event, the gym?
What happens if a boss has a problem with who I am? What about a neighbor, a contracter on my project, a customs official, a police officer, a doctor?
Is it safe to greet my husband with a kiss? Can we hold hands in this park, go to this country for a vacation, accept a proposed business trip to a certain part of the world?
Do I have the mental energy to not care when my family boards a tram and everyone falls silent, when I sense an administrator is treating me poorly because they have figured out I am gay, when someone uses a gay slur in front of me because they haven’t?
When an event like Orlando happens that whisks away the sense of security a gay person has tried to build for themselves with every life-decision they have ever made, they may not have the energy to keep their fears at bay, to face the challenge of recreating a sense of safety all over again.
There are many things you can say that will help, but saying not to live in fear is not one.
There is a lot for us to fear, and sometimes there just isn’t the capacity to pretend otherwise.
1769 chars
Sherri said on June 15, 2016 at 6:02 pm
While obviously the idea that you could be prohibited from flying because you’re too dangerous but be allowed to buy a gun seems stupid, from a civil libertarian point of view, it is a little problematic. The biggest problem I have is that the no-fly list is handled in a secretive, non-transparent way, with little means of appeal. I don’t really want to see its power extended, as much as I hate guns. And the fact is, most of these mass shootings are committed by angry white men, not by people with even the most tenuous links to Islamic terrorism.
There are some other approaches we could take. Federal law already bans people convicted of domestic violence from purchasing guns, but it doesn’t require them to relinquish the guns they already have. Even in states with relinquishment laws, judges often don’t order gun surrenders. Let’s get the guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders. We’re quick to seize the property of people we think might have been near drugs; let’s seize the guns of people when someone is arrested for domestic violence; if charges aren’t filed or they are acquitted, they can have them back.
Let’s do the same with DUI offenders. If you can’t be trusted to operate a vehicle safely, you can’t be trusted to use a gun safely. No gun purchases, surrender the guns you have. Put time limits on both of these, make the time limits longer for each subsequent offense.
These won’t necessarily do anything about mass shootings, but people die because of guns everyday, not just in mass shootings, but because some angry man (and it’s usually a man) had access to a gun, not for self defense, not for recreation, but to take out his anger on someone else.
As we talked about here recently, make gun owners responsible when a child gains access to their gun and uses it to injure or kill someone. Leaving a loaded gun where a child can simply pick it up and pull the trigger is not a tragic accident, it is irresponsible and negligent.
Finally, the 2nd Amendment is where the so-called originalists totally give away the game. No original meaning of the founders can possibly be construed to match our current state.
2169 chars
Sherri said on June 15, 2016 at 6:28 pm
Here’s something a group is trying to get on the ballot this fall in Washington: http://gunresponsibility.org/solution/extreme-risk-protection-orders/
150 chars
Jolene said on June 15, 2016 at 6:48 pm
Here is a more poetic version of the story about the story Deborah’s friend told about the strain of life as a gay person and the relief that a night at a club is meant to provide.
351 chars
Deborah said on June 15, 2016 at 6:56 pm
Jolene, that was beautiful.
27 chars
Suzanne said on June 15, 2016 at 7:31 pm
Scout, a former co-worker of mine is posting the same stuff. He’s fully in: Bilderbergers, Illuminati, contrails,etc. Sandy Hook, 9/11, Orlando, you name it, all staged. Your vote is useless, because the global Jewish banking network have already decided who will be president. Unreal. And now, thanks to Facebook, they can all find each other.
344 chars
Jolene said on June 15, 2016 at 8:02 pm
People who believe events like the Orlando shooting are “false flag” operations are utterly amazing. I just read a WaPo story about the grandmother of one of the victims traveling to Orlando for his funeral. Do they think such trips are part of the act? How about the many docs and other medical people? Are they also part of the show? Sheesh!
531 chars
Joe K said on June 15, 2016 at 10:17 pm
There are still tinfoil paper hat wearers that think the moon landing was faked, right those huge Saturn rockets were faked, thousand of people employed by nasa sworn to secrecy, You could go back to December 7-1941 and people thought it was a set up by Roosevelt, they have always been and always be with us.
Pilot Joe
320 chars
Dave said on June 15, 2016 at 10:29 pm
The remarks under the YouTube video that Scout mentions at #35 are, well, I just don’t know how you convince yourself to believe what those people seem to believe.
163 chars
Sherri said on June 16, 2016 at 2:37 am
Got home from planning commission in time to catch the last couple of hours of the filibuster. I just hope it does some good.
125 chars
Dexter said on June 16, 2016 at 3:10 am
My brain could not process the DisneyWorld tragedy. At first I thought it was a horror movie trailer, then as horror set it and I realized what happened, I began denying it and demanding more sources. They were there. So horrible. I remember in 1988 when I rode bicycle on paths in Myakka River State Park, Sarasota County, and alligators were everywhere…not fearing anything as I got pretty close. And this was just a mere toddler…it’s horrible.
Far off lightning flashes are near…here’s hoping we don’t get rocked too hard by winds and sain and lightning.
569 chars
beb said on June 16, 2016 at 8:28 am
You know, if we just banned all religions are hate crimes then those Christian evangelicals would learn what it’s like to be gay. Passing furtive signs of the cross, hiding when praying, having to decide if it’s safe to count one’s rosary… It would certainly seperate the wheat from the chaff.
There are lots of things that can be done to control gun violence
1.
368 chars
beb said on June 16, 2016 at 8:41 am
Memo to self, never hit the tab key while writing on-line
1. close the back-ground check loophole
2. Allow the FBI to create a fire-arm database.
3. limit sales of guns to one per customer per month
4. one-strike and you’re out for mishandling a gun
5. ban all semi-automatic long guns.
6. Ban armor-piercing ammunition
7. bullets that disintegrate on impact (hunters don’t use them because it destroys too much meat. They’re only used to kill people.)
8. Require gun safety class certification before gun purchase (and the class has to be substantial, more than one session, uniform across the country, with an a annual short review class to maintain certification.)
9. No concealed carry except for extraordinary reasons
10. No open-carry in public spaces. Hunting rifles to be locked to a gun rack while transported to private property.
None of these things prevents you from owning a gun, just not the assault kind) but places reasonable safeguards for the consideration of others
999 chars
Kirk said on June 16, 2016 at 9:59 am
The thing about the false-flag/Illuminati/black helicopters/Trilateral Commission/Bilderberger etc. nuts is that they’ve been spouting this crap for a long time. Don’t they get tired of waiting for the shit to come down?
220 chars
Danny said on June 16, 2016 at 10:11 am
Beb @ 48. those things you wish for are referring to New Testament times circa AD 62 when the Christian church was persecuted and had to meet secretly. And fast forward to now where Christians native to the Middke East and Northern Africa are in constant mortal danger. The Easter bombing in Pakistan is a good example. Happy now?
330 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 10:11 am
Happy Bloomsday!
16 chars
ROGirl said on June 16, 2016 at 10:14 am
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
121 chars
Hexdecimal said on June 16, 2016 at 11:22 am
Opening line to Ulyssis.
24 chars
brian stouder said on June 16, 2016 at 11:34 am
And further to Danny’s point – the white guy/Radical Christian terrorist of this past weekend got himself arrested before he could conduct a public slaughter
http://wane.com/2016/06/15/police-man-had-gun-rigged-for-fast-firing-explosives-ready/
so there’s that, eh?
280 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 11:51 am
When I was in Dublin on business a few years back I went to the Martello tower where the opening scene in Ulyssis took place, I took a short train ride to the sea town of Sandycove. This is from a Wikipedia entry about the tower:
“Possibly the most famous is the Martello tower in Sandycove, near Dún Laoghaire, in which James Joyce lived for a few days. Joyce shared the tower with Oliver St. John Gogarty, then a medical student but later to become famous in Irish history as a surgeon, politician and writer. In Ulysses, the fictional character Stephen Dedalus lives in the tower with a medical student, Malachi “Buck” Mulligan, whom Joyce based on Gogarty. The James Joyce Tower, as the tower is now known, houses a museum dedicated to Joyce.”
When you go up to the roof of the tower you can look down on Roddy Doyle’s house. I had one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in a little cafe in Sandycove.
911 chars
Jakash said on June 16, 2016 at 12:21 pm
How can #53 be the opening line from “Ulysses”?
a. I was able to finish the comment easily.
b. I understood it quite clearly.
133 chars
Charlotte said on June 16, 2016 at 12:26 pm
Completely off topic — but the strawberry plants I put in three years ago have decided to produce this year. Oh My Goodness. I just scarfed down a whole bowl (probably a pint)? There’s no comparison between a strawberry that just came out of your nice clean backyard free of fungicides etc … and one that’s been on a truck. I might just go out there and stare at them until some more get ripe.
396 chars
brian stouder said on June 16, 2016 at 12:29 pm
And a terrorist strikes again, this time killing a British Member of Parliament:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/british-member-of-parliament-reported-to-have-been-shot/2016/06/16/a9b988de-33c4-11e6-ab9d-1da2b0f24f93_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-world%252Bnation
and I’ll go out on a limb here, and say it’s another white-guy Christian terrorist
360 chars
Jolene said on June 16, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Is anybody watching the ABC/ESPN documentary re O.J. Simpson? I’ve watched the first three parts and thought it was really fascinating. An extremely well-made documentary. Hank Stuever, the WaPo TV critic, called it “nothing short of a towering achievement”.
It’s available through OnDemand, so you can catch up if you’ve missed the three (of five) parts that have already been shown.
591 chars
Jakash said on June 16, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Jolene, I’m kinda dreading another deep dive into OJMania, after having so recently watched the excellent dramatic version about the trial on FX, but plan on getting to it eventually. I’ve seen a lot of good reports about it.
226 chars
beb said on June 16, 2016 at 12:56 pm
Danny, am I happy about the Easter bombing in Pakistan? No, why would I be happy about anybody blowing other people up. But when I see cable-access “Christian” ministers praising the Orlando killer and sorry that he didn’t kill more of them I just want to scream. I want to see these people thrown into prison for fomenting hatred and encouraging copy-cat killers.
But my ct@48 was in response to Deborah’s posting at 37, about how ever today gay couples have to be careful about when and where they become affectionate. My comment was that if gay-hating “Christians” had to live underground the way gay couples do they’d felt a whole lot different about thing.
Jolene, I lived through the whole OJ trial. Why would I want to relive it? It was bad enough the first time. (OJ was a POS who got away with murder)
818 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Charlotte, there is nothing like a home grown strawberry and wild strawberries too. In Finland they sell wild strawberries from carts all through Helsinki. Those strawberries were very small, and just packed with deliciousness, they also sell raspberries and other berries from the same carts. It’s all fantastically tasty and beautiful to behold.
347 chars
Jolene said on June 16, 2016 at 1:17 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen: Your fellow Americans.
300 chars
Danny said on June 16, 2016 at 1:47 pm
Brian, you are really should pipe down with the straw-man rhetoric or do you just enjoy being (intentionally?) off-base with this “the white guy/Radical Christian terrorist” shtick.
The article you linked mentioned nothing whatsoever in regard to any Christian affiliation or any radical ideology driving the armed man arrested last weekend in Snta Monica, James Wesley Howell. It did paint the picture that he was an unstable gun nut type who was fleeing Ohio due to a pending investigation of sex with a minor. And from an IndyStar article below, friends and acquaintances described Howell as gay and this was confirmed by an ex-boyfriend:
[His friend] Greeson and others told IndyStar that Howell harbored no violent feelings toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. In fact, they said, Howell is gay.
“He didn’t like anybody to know about it,” said Zach Hambrick, an ex-boyfriend from Charlestown. Hambrick said he met Howell on a dating app. Although the pair were happy at first, Hambrick said, things soon went south. They haven’t spoken in several months, Hambrick said.
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2016/06/13/james-wesley-howells-ex-boyfriend-didnt-surprise-me-all/85836328/
1250 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 2:43 pm
The IndyStar link and other reports of the young man arrested in Santa Monica is another obvious example of another unstable person allowed to buy guns. I hope the filibuster has some effect and laws will be passed but I’m skeptical.
I’m unexpectedly going to the symphony tonight. My husband forgot that he had bought the ticket months ago for himself, I was going to be in Santa Fe we thought, but he is there now as it turns out. He called to tell me I should use the ticket since I’m here and I’m going to do just that. He’s a big fan of the CSO conductor Muti, so whenever Muti is conducting we try to go.
613 chars
Suzanne said on June 16, 2016 at 3:01 pm
I think the point is, Danny, that if that same guy from Indiana was named Ibrahim or Mohammed or something like that, the assumption would immediately be that he is Muslim and that his religion made him do it, not that he’s just an unstable guy who set out to wreak havoc.
272 chars
Danny said on June 16, 2016 at 3:48 pm
Suzanne, I do agree with that point, but Brian’s post was more of a non sequitur to my comment to beb.
102 chars
brian stouder said on June 16, 2016 at 3:55 pm
Danny, I will concede that point.
33 chars
Sherri said on June 16, 2016 at 3:58 pm
John McCain has decided to go Full Trump, I guess: http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/mccain-obama-directly-responsible-for-orlando-shooting/
163 chars
alex said on June 16, 2016 at 3:59 pm
Which was itself a nonsequitur. That hatemongering piece of shit from Tennessee bears no relationship to the Christians of 62 A.D. or those of the mid-east or north Africa. Christian in name only. He’s much closer kin with the Southern Baptists, who just voted to go easier on the coloreds but not the fags.
307 chars
susan said on June 16, 2016 at 4:06 pm
Nancy requested that we not shoot each other before she gets back…
68 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 16, 2016 at 4:09 pm
Oh, Charlotte, how yummy! Dad grew amazing strawberries. Everything he grew was amazing, and I took it for granted. My garden now is two tomato plants and a row of green beans.
I’m helping my mom in her last day packing up the old house. She’s so attached to her crap. Everything is preciousssssss.
302 chars
jcburns said on June 16, 2016 at 4:16 pm
Based on Nancy’s tweets this afternoon at the airport, she may end up committing an act of mayhem on travelers with enormous carry-on bags. They need to get her on the plane and drop the oxygen levels fast so she can have a nice transatlantic nap.
247 chars
nancy said on June 16, 2016 at 4:33 pm
This is the MPLS-DET leg, so just 2.75 hours of calm before we can really stretch our legs. I’m feeling ranty about these idiots who try to carry on enormous bags, and then complain because they’re told to check them, FREE, at the gate. It took forever to board everyone, because the overhead bins filled up fast. “But this is the stuff we NEED,” one woman said. I guess my (checked) bags contain only China owls and random paperbacks. Grr.
440 chars
alex said on June 16, 2016 at 4:49 pm
Just realized this site finally looks good in Foxfire. Word breaks are hyphenating. Sidebar’s where it’s supposed to be. Thanks to whomever fixed it.
149 chars
jcburns said on June 16, 2016 at 5:07 pm
Foxfire, you say.
By the way, do yourselves a favor and use the latest versions of Chrome or Safari to see this or any other website in a no-kidding “correct” way. Just some advice from someone who has seen what Firefox as done to a bunch of sites. And if you’re using IE, place your computer in the trash (maybe unplug it first) and back away from it slowly.
363 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 16, 2016 at 5:53 pm
Jakash, you’re thinking of “Finnegans Wake” — most of “Ulysses” is perfectly understandable to the casual reader. Now, in sum, as you go from chapter to chapter, there’s a “whaaaaa?” but each chapter, taken in its own terms, is pretty straightforward. Then you get to Molly Bloom’s closing soliloqy (so memorably read by Sally Kellerman to Rodney Dangerfield in “Back to School”) and the turn of the last page takes you right to “riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs . . . ”
Just got back from Bobcat Student Orientation, which has become semi-legendary for the discussion on the first day’s evening of . . . how to order a pizza. And is overall very impressive, says me, and says my higher ed administrator wife. O-H, oh yeah!
918 chars
Danny said on June 16, 2016 at 5:53 pm
JC, what about Netscape?
24 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 16, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Based, I am told, on this: https://www.ted.com/talks/al_vernacchio_sex_needs_a_new_metaphor_here_s_one?language=en
114 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 5:56 pm
Welcome back (almost) Nancy.
Here I go talking about the weather again like the old lady that I am, but it was HOT and humid yesterday in Chicago and today it’s cool. When I go to the symphony tonight I’ll need to wear a light jacket. I went for a bit of a walk earlier along the lake and didn’t wear a jacket, I walked fast to warm myself. I’ll take this over hot and humid any day.
387 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 6:17 pm
And speaking of pizza (that was cute Jeff) I just found out that Mrs. Malinotti (Lou’s widow) lives down the hall from us. We haven’t met her yet, she travels a lot I guess. One of our neighbors told us this. Hey, maybe she’ll have a pizza party sometime. I can always dream.
275 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 16, 2016 at 6:32 pm
THE Lou Malnati? Whoa. Top that, LAMary!
https://twitter.com/LouMalnatis (also see @MarcMalnati)
99 chars
Julie Robinson said on June 16, 2016 at 6:45 pm
Apparently I went to high school with the current generation’s Mrs. Malnati, though I don’t remember her. But I sure do like their pizza!
137 chars
Jakash said on June 16, 2016 at 7:07 pm
Thanks for the correction, Jeff (tmmo), but, for many, Ulysses is also considered quite a slog and difficult to understand, filled with all its allusions, e.g. I appreciate that it’s a masterpiece of a “modernist” novel, and will readily cop to being pretty much of a philistine, but I’m not retracting nor amending my earlier comment. ; )
Sample comments from a sample thread on goodreads: “Thousands of English lit majors suffer through this book…and some are willing to admit they don’t get it…don’t get why people utterly adore it…or why they should have been put through such literary torture.”
“Do not waste your time. The language is way too obscure and convoluted which makes this book no fun.”
From a fan!: “I’m over 50 years old now and it was hard sledding. I hated it many times. I wanted to quit… In my opinion 9 of these sections are easy to read and in fact quite enjoyable… Conversely, the 9 other sections are extremely difficult to understand and of those 4 are plain awful. …in fact there is no other novel I know written in English that is as great as Ulysses or as difficult to tackle.”
https://www.goodreads.com/questions/125336-i-have-tried-reading-this-book-twice-but
Now, Lou Malnati? There’s a genius! : )
1271 chars
Deborah said on June 16, 2016 at 7:25 pm
OK, today’s my day for spelling names wrong. Not that I don’t do it a lot other times too.
90 chars
Dexter said on June 16, 2016 at 8:12 pm
Chrome kicked me out cuz I use Vista. As soon as Firefox quits supporting Vista…it’s off to a store for a new Dell.
118 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 16, 2016 at 9:20 pm
We agree on the Malnati family, Jakash! I didn’t mean to correct so much as to suggest. Ulysses gets a bad rap, in my opinion, because of it being seen retrospectively through the mysteries of the Wake (which is a turgid mess with flashes of brilliance, also IMHO).
If you’ve never read any Joyce (saying this to anyone), pick up a copy of his short story collection “Dubliners” — but it’s kind of like my son watching “Citizen Kane” today. What was revolutionary then is so commonplace that the incredible innovations just don’t show unless you know what came before, and how it changed. But the tales in Dubliners still carry a punch.
641 chars