I spent eight hours — no, nine — straight, staring into my computer today. What’s another? Let’s get it on!
Seriously, there’s nothing I’d like to do better than watch “The Choice” on “Frontline” and I think that’s what I’m going to do. Actually, I’m watching it now, and my takeaway: Mormonism is one strange faith.
Fortunately, I have some bloggage:
Crain’s took note of our work at the park last week.
A great blog post about one sports moment that’s a pleasure for everyone, even non-fans, to read. Not very long. If you’ve ever wondered what I’d like to see running in Mitch Albom’s place — in most sports columnists’ place — well, this is it.
For you Buckeyes, a fascinating story about OSU President Gordon Gee’s ex-wife, her new book and their time at Vanderbilt, when she — gasp! — smoked pot in the president’s mansion. (Medicinally.)
Boy, “The Choice” is great. Wish you were here. And sorry I’m so lame, but man, it was a long day.
Dexter said on October 10, 2012 at 1:50 am
Blogger Tom Scocca’s post made me think he was entered in a Bernard Malamud contest. After all, Ichiro is a Natural.
New York Yankee hatred is also natural. In the mid-1950s, owner Dan Topping set up a deal where his friend Arnold Johnson would buy the Philadelphia Athletics and move them to Kansas City, where the A’s would essentially become a stocking pond for the Yankees, and a dumping ground for washed-up players from the Yankees. Check this out from Baseball Almanac:
“December 11, 1959 – KC sends Roger Maris, Kent Hadley, and Joe DeMaestri to NY for Norm Siebern, Hank Bauer, Marv Throneberry, and Don Larsen.
This is one of the most lopsided trades in history.
Siebern was a good hitter, but he fell out of favor with Casey Stengel after a few fielding lapses in the 1958 World Series. He performed well for the A’s for several years after this. However, Bauer was at the end of the line (he became the A’s manager in 1961), Larsen went 1-10 on the hill in 1960, and Throneberry never lived up to the potential he displayed in the minors. The A’s let go of their starting shortstop, DeMaestri, because they thought Ken Hamlin was ready to step in. However, Hamlin hit only .224 in 1960. Maris, on the other hand, belted 39 homers for the Yankees in 1960 and 61 more in 1961, winning the MVP Award both years. Advantage – Yankees, by a wide margin.”
Yes, even as a kid I heard the jokes about how crooked the entire set up was, but no commissioner was going to chastise mighty New York.
Gordon Gee was wise-cracking about his “high salary” during the Buckeye’s halftime radio show Saturday. Gee is a bowtie-wearin’ weirdo. Speaking of the Buckeyes, have you seen the Best Damn Band In All the Land recently?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yLR9gSurSM
1790 chars
Jakash said on October 10, 2012 at 1:53 am
The part that struck me the most about The Choice was the Romneycare/Obamacare section. Romney, as a not particularly severe(ly) conservative governor of Massachusetts, decided it would be a swell legacy for him to enact a health care law. The Democrats, who controlled the legislature, went along and passed it, even though they knew he’d get the credit, because it was a good idea that would help people. Ted Kennedy, though he knew that this was a signature achievement for Romney, which would bolster Romney’s national prospects, helped out and appeared on stage with him in a jovial mood when it was being signed into law.
Fast forward to Obamacare. Obama campaigned against the individual mandate, an idea evidently devised by the Heritage Foundation, but which was a linchpin to Romneycare. He conceded that, if that was the only way it could work, he’d support the mandate. Though it was far from ideal, it was based on Romneycare and the Republican mandate idea, and will clearly be, if nothing else, a step in the right direction with regard to healthcare in this country as a whole. When it was voted on in the House, it eked through, though not a single Republican voted for it.
And now the guy that passed Romneycare is a severe conservative, but the guy that passed Obamacare is a Socialist. Fascinating.
To me, this is where all the equivocating about both parties being the same runs up against simple fact-based reality. Similarly, when Reagan was President, Tip O’Neil worked with him and helped him pass his agenda, even though it was diametrically opposed to what the Democrats wanted. Because he was the President, and the goal was to try to do what the voters had decided was best for the country. With Obama as President, guess what, the #1 priority for Republicans was not what was best for the country, but ensuring that Obama was a one-term President. The fact that Mitch McConnell actually stated this as being his goal should be considered treasonous, rather than political gamesmanship. IMHO, of course.
2056 chars
Dexter said on October 10, 2012 at 1:56 am
Alas, also a bleak baseball day Tuesday, as both the Reds and the Tigers lost in the playoffs…more baseball today, though.
124 chars
Sherri said on October 10, 2012 at 2:08 am
Not so bleak if you’re a Giants fan, Dexter!
My biggest problem with Ichiro going to the Yankees is that the NYTimes now writes about him regularly, and the NYTimes changes their style guide for no one. So, after years of reading about Ichiro, I’m puzzled by this player “Suzuki” who plays for the Yankees.
310 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 3:32 am
Sherri and Dexter, Ichiro is one greaat baseboru player, No matter how you look at it. A few years back when the Mariners needed Homeruns, Ichiro hit homeruns. When they needed him to switch to centerfield, he switched to centerfield, he is and has been one great ballplayer, without a doubt. His get out of lefty stance and down to first base is something everybody should emulate. Incredibly fast. Ichiro is one great ballplayer, and anybody that doesn’t think so does not understand baseball. Ichiro is a quintessential ballplayer. And that is that. I hate seeing him on Regggie Jackson’s team. Reggie could not play any better than Pete Rose. I mean, you could not find a place to hide his lack of fielding ability. Nor his assholism. Who was a better baseball player, Pete Rpse or Ray Fosse begore Pete crashed into him? I’d say it was Fosse, and if Rose had balls he would have tried that shit on Bill Freehan. Good luck ahole.
934 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 3:53 am
Extremely well put, Jakash. And what we are left with is Grandma Mc, and ain’t no uppity negroe. These bastards just cannot stand a brown President, Neither can Danny, despite his wormtongue. Racist shitheel. Sorry you bastard. Sherri, how about the Times pieces about Mr. Prince? Who do these aholes think they are? If you have a soul, you do not call Lou Mr. Reed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FdWPeHFAMk
Or Patti Ms. Smith. Even though she chose to be Mrs. Sonic, and how cool is that? And Sonic was a better guitar player than Dick Wagner, possibly. Amd this may be the greatest rock song that isn’t God Save the Queen.
633 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 3:55 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FdWPeHFAMk
42 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 4:27 am
Far as sports columnists are concerned, we have Peter King, who is earnest to a fault. And there is Sally Jenkins, who is a better writer than Nancy. And she chose to write about sports. I know that’s impossible, but yeah, I think its likely.
242 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 4:31 am
One way or another:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlsSXNT2bg
65 chars
ROGirl said on October 10, 2012 at 5:39 am
This is perfect.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/romney-proudly-explains-how-hes-turned-campaign-ar,29845/
110 chars
Suzanne said on October 10, 2012 at 7:12 am
I watched most of the Frontline piece until I got too tired.
What struck me was my memory of watching the same program about Al Gore and G.W. Bush and how similar their stories were. W had some floundering around in his younger years (ok, but with lots of money unlike Obama) and ingested some illegal substances along the way. Gore, like Romney, had spent his adult life trying to be president because that had been his father’s un-achieved goal.
Maybe we just need a presidential candidate who does not have “daddy” issues? The program did make me have even more respect for Michelle Obama. What a classy lady.
And it made me have a bit more concern about Romney’s religious background, which really had not bothered me much before. I figure he worships money.
780 chars
nancy said on October 10, 2012 at 7:33 am
And I was struck anew by the ugliness of the Tea Party movement. When you’re carrying signs of the president dressed as a Zulu warrior, why aren’t you chased down the street like the animal you are?
198 chars
Joe Kobiela said on October 10, 2012 at 7:50 am
Dexter,
Just read in the Auburn paper that Duke Davis died. He lived down the street from me and I went to school with his sister and brother. Figured you might want to know.
Pilot Joe
186 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 7:51 am
I just googled an old band member to see if he was in jail for slapping around yet another wife, or if he’d finally put one of the sawed-off shotguns from his collection in his mouth and fulfilled his (often stated) destiny.
Nossir.
He done joined hisself up with the Tea Party patriots in Fredericksburg VA.
That tells me more than I need to know about those motherfuckers.
383 chars
alex said on October 10, 2012 at 8:01 am
Was going to watch Frontline but got distracted and forgot about it. Is it repeating at any time?
97 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 8:05 am
Check your local listings, alex. Frontline generally repeats w/in the same week, though sometimes late at night. Can watch it online at anytime on the PBS site.
160 chars
alex said on October 10, 2012 at 8:37 am
Just spent the last 45 minutes or so watching Frontline on the computer. Mesmerizing. Have to tear myself away and go to work. Will resume this evening.
152 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 8:55 am
Anybody that thought WShrub actually won an election is deluded, He was handed one by Scalito and the next one by Kenneth Blackwell and the CEO of Diebold. And look at what that bought us as a country. RMoney wants to double down. Like I said. Remember when we all got drunk 12 years ago and wrapped the car around a tree? Yeehaw, let’s do that again. We will all end up in the hospital with no health care. And the miscreants will skate on jail time like Casino Jack.
468 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 9:14 am
Dexter, I know it beat the Tigers, but you had to love that catch by Coco Crisp, one of my favorite players of all time and a greater name than Purnall Goldie, sort of.
168 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 9:23 am
More proof that Mittens is full of bullshit. How does one argue with somebody that is committed to a flagrant lie when everybody listening seems to be so fracking stupid they believe the flagrant lie above simple arithmetic?
428 chars
KLG said on October 10, 2012 at 9:23 am
Aside from the time Reggie almost hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium that is the only thing I remember about an All-Star game in more than 40 years of watching. I also wish Rose had tried that on Freehan. Would have been like trying to run over a concrete utility pole…Never would have gotten all those subsequent hits, that’s for sure.
337 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 9:26 am
Nancy, your Zulu reference is apt. I rooted for the Zulus while watching that Michael Caine movie. I suppose it’s just that I have such a deep-seated hatred of freedom. And I’m anti-colonial.
191 chars
Bitter Scribe said on October 10, 2012 at 10:03 am
I’ve never been more indifferent to any set of postseason baseball teams than I am to this bunch. The only one I can work up a tiny flicker of interest in is the Reds, and that’s just because I like Dusty Baker and thought he got a raw deal from the Cubs.
255 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 10:08 am
Unemployment down, national debt at six year low. Remind me why Republicans even exist.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-09/u-s-downgrade-seen-as-upgrade-as-u-s-debt-dissolved.html
186 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 10:14 am
Today is Cyril Neville’s b’day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCsD9aIieM
A curtis song by a Neville brother. Tasty.
Scribe, the Cubs are tops in sports stupidity. I have wanted the Dodgers to hire Dusty to manage since LaSorda. Really? Yankees? Donny Baseball inherited the stupidity about managing pitchers from Joe Torre, the most over-rated manager not named Tony LaRussa. Had Matt Kemp and Billingsley not missed several weeks, LA would be in the mix and Kershaw would be mowing ’em down. When I see Johnny Cueto, I get an instant picture of Marichal hitting Roseboro on the head with a bat. Can’t trust them Dominicans.
636 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 10:21 am
Oh, and it’s Midge Ure’s birthday too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9WdUgn0XkU
Ultravox? An acquired taste? A decent hint of 80s music. But to me 80s music is Mark Knopfler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQBKUPwG_Gk
228 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 10:39 am
cooze, Dems are making that shit up. Unlike Willard Windsock the human being Etch-a-Sketch. They have the cash so everything is what they say it is. Koch Bros. Kriminal Konspiracy is still parking those oilers offshore to fuck with gas prices. I’m waiting for Dannytroll to explicate what exactly Mittens said in that “debate” that was true.
And for no reason but that I love it, the best Dire Straits song ever, and best live version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAczi8DsqBQ&feature=related
504 chars
mark said on October 10, 2012 at 10:58 am
Speaking of lies. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/libya-consulate-attack-protests_n_1953057.html?ncid=webmail1
What, for ten full days, did Obama, UN Ambassador Rice, Jay Carney or any other Administration official say about the Septermber 11 Libya attack that was actually true? Without the pressure of Congressional hearings beginning today, would we even have the current admissions?
400 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 11:01 am
This would all have been so much better if we’d have let John McCain keep sucking Qaddafi’s cods, wouldn’t it Mark?
Who are you gonna bomb to put this right?
160 chars
brian stouder said on October 10, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Who are you gonna bomb to put this right?
Snarky answer: IRAN!!
Serious, sober, inside the beltway, take-the-Republicans-at their-word,-no!-seriously! answer: VENEZUELA!
Birther/Truther/lyin’ polls/Lyin’ Bureau of Labor Statistics/Sol Alinski answer: Chicago!
275 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Brian: Romney’s national security team, headed up by Liz Cheney, is going to have to reconstitute Checkoslovakia first, so they will never be forgotten again.
That’ll show the fucking Ottoman empire.
200 chars
Charlotte said on October 10, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Coco! I was cheering in the living room — *that* was a great save. I actually like the Tigers’ chances better in the long run, but was really happy to see the A’s win one at home. One of my brother’s friends was in charge of the parking concession at the A’s stadium, so we used to go on occasion when we lived out there. Have a soft spot for them …
352 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Mark, speaking of lies, how bout Mitt claiming the President apologized for the GOPer issue Daniel Pipes produced video? When Where? Congressional hearings? What? Issa the criminal on the investigation again? You have got to be joking. Meanwhile, you are such a deluded moron you’ll vote for RMoney despite the fact that everything he says is dogshit and he’ll say something diametrically opposite tomorrow if he thinks somebody wants him to.
Actually, Obama never said anything about the attack other than to give tribute to the brave ambassador. And has anybody but Faux and your grandmasters at Newsmax and Free Republic proved the attack wasn’t spontaneous. And would the reactionary PNAC types that provided cover actually admit it. Those are some aholes that ought to be sent to Gitmo for waterboarding.
You are full of shit. As is your robot Willard. Pisants. And I’m still waiting for news of anything Windsock said in that “debate” he ran so roughshod over (had the President behaved as boorishly, you’d be howling) that remotely approached truth. The President and his administration are actually running the country and dealing with foreign affairs. Willard is just putting his foot in every cowpie.
1217 chars
beb said on October 10, 2012 at 12:26 pm
While eating breakfast this morning I read where Alex Karras was desperately ill. Now while eating lunch I read where he has died. *sigh*
137 chars
Sue said on October 10, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Mongo sad, beb.
15 chars
Chris from Iowa said on October 10, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Brian Stouder @30 FTW.
22 chars
MichaelG said on October 10, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Dexter, it’s not the end of Midwest civilization. The Reds and the Tigers are each still up two games to one. Dusty Baker is from Sactown.
140 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 1:20 pm
I once saw Karras in person talking about how the Loins were laughing about Tom Dempsey trying the 63-yarder. Hilarious fellow. I also met him when I was in the theater school at Cranbrook. A very nice man, as were Darris McCord and Roger Brown and Sam Williams. If those boyos were playing today, Stafford and Megatron would win the Super Bowl. Alex also described a college game in which he gouged, bit and otherwise abused an offensive lineman, only to find out after the game, it was his brother Ted. Didn’t wear his glasses on the field. His post-NFL career wasn’t quite up to Justice Alan Page, but he was a helluva good guy with a great deal of talent. And we all thought Carl Wannaberger was a coot, but nobody took advantage of his poor eyesight to run him into a closed door as Mittens did, hilariously. Stupid and a bully. Doubling down on Shrub?
Mittens wants to bolster the armed forces to make sure he’s got a crew when he next decides to give a classmate a haircut. What a creepy POS. And how the hell does anybody claim he won the debate who saw his K-hole grin and staring performance when he wasn’t lying…err…talking? Personally, I’d like the President to mention that he’s never strapped the dog to the roof for a speedy trip to Canada. That sort of animal cruelty and horrendous judgement isn’t an issue? Guy is an asshole that delighted in shitcanning American jobs to get richer. Obama rescussitated, Willard will administer the coup de grace. It’s hilarious that dumbass Americans see free trade as some sort of liberal conspiracy aimed at One World, when GOPers are backing a schmuck that wants one corporate world without bounds.
1668 chars
Diane L. said on October 10, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Er, re baseball playoffs, has anyone noticed that the Orioles are in them? I know that there is a generation of kids who probably don’t even know that the Orioles were once a real baseball team but as a Baltimorean of a certain age, I am beside myself with excitement.
(Count me as another reader who found this site from Laura Lippman’s and who lurks daily. Only a rare phenomenon like the Orioles playing baseball in October could draw me out to comment.)
461 chars
MarkH said on October 10, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Prospero, you need to pay attention more. Or at least be more honest. From the violent event in Libya forward for at least ten days, as mark said, Obama and his spokespeople, Carney included, attributed the carnage to that stupid film. They knew better all along. It is documented everywhere. Just watch the Letterman segment, if nothing else.
343 chars
MarkH said on October 10, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Prospero — Since you are a former “Cran”, as we used to call the Cranbrook boys back in the ’60s, and about my age, did you ever visit Cincinnati and be a guest at the McPhail family residence?
196 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Republicans: Playing politics with the dead since, well, after they lost those 200 Marines in Lebanon:
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/12008755850115/mother-of-navy-seal-killed-in-libya-speaks-out/
214 chars
Bitter Scribe said on October 10, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I really don’t understand this obsession Obama’s opponents have with who did or didn’t call what terrorism as opposed to attributing it to a video. In the first place, getting a handle on violent, chaotic situations halfway around the world is not easy, and in the second place, who fucking cares??? Those people are just as dead either way.
348 chars
Jerri said on October 10, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Diane L., we’re also enjoying the Orioles Magic. My husband and I have been in Maryland since 1998 and started following the O’s then so it’s been a long dry spell.
(Perhaps a nn.com lurkers meet-up sometime? If you’re up for a Keys game, I’m in Frederick.)
264 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Nope, MarkH: theater school was a summer camp sorta thing. I was born in Cincinnati, but have never visited the Queen City.
And those 200 dead marines in Lebanon, that is why Congress decided not to fund Marines at embassies. It was not some sort of anti-coonial, Zulu Mau Mau socialist plot, Mark and Danny. And the decision was a long while ago. Shock and awe got Ambassador Stevens killed, and that is clearly a fact. And please, don’t make an ass of yourselves by claiming President Obama “skipped” PDB briefings. He just didn’t need anybody to read it to him as W did.
576 chars
Jakash said on October 10, 2012 at 2:07 pm
I really enjoyed that Onion article you linked to, ROGirl. Thanks.
67 chars
Danny said on October 10, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Mary and JudyBusy, right you are about Big Island. We spent 3 nights in Hilo (loved the frogs at night.. great white noise) and now we are on the other side for a few more nights. Kinda winging it as we go. I ahd to cancel three vacays this year at work and so we are doing 21 day roll-our-own, seat-of-the-pants, trip, booking all our flights and accommodations night before
I know that there are probably very savvy travelers in this forum, but I feel like we are really getting a handle on how to to Hawaii on a budget. If anyone is interested, I’ll give more details at a later date. But just for some perspective, we are staying at the Sheraton in Kona (4 star) for the same price as I would stay at a Holiday Inn Express in Anytown, USA. Last night, we had light dinner overlooking the ocean while watching a family of Manta Rays feeding on plankton and frolicking in the surf under the spotlights. Amazing.
Brian, not sure if we will make Oahu this rime. Though I would love to do Pearl Harbor, the surfing on much of Oahu is beyond my skills at this point… way beyond.
1093 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Typical whited sepulcher GOPer elected official:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/scott-desjarlais-abortion-pro-life_n_1953136.html
142 chars
Scout said on October 10, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Yeah, republicans, let us know how that investigatey finger pointy thing works out for ya:
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/10/breaking-protecting-our-embassies-costs-money
>I see that Darrell Issa might have a wee problem on his hands when holds his hearings today about inadequate security at the Benghazi consulate. Dana Milbank reports:
House Republicans cut the administration’s request for embassy security funding by $128 million in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012….Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Republicans’ proposed cuts to her department would be “detrimental to America’s national security” — a charge Republicans rejected.
Ryan, Issa and other House Republicans voted for an amendment in 2009 to cut $1.2 billion from State operations, including funds for 300 more diplomatic security positions.<
But by all means, let's "investigate" stuff like this instead of passing a jobs bill or something.
1013 chars
Deborah said on October 10, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Early voting started yesterday in NM, Little Bird voted today. I got my absentee ballot from Chicago, but haven’t opened it yet, probably will this afternoon. I went with Little Bird to the County Clerks office where she voted. There were quite a few people there. I was trying to figure out who they were voting for by their attire. Really impossible to tell. Santa Fe is a fairly Republican place, there are a lot of wealthy retirees here, or at least there used to be. I have sat next to many a retired financial professional at restaurants around town.
Just for the heck of it I went to the diner at the back of the five and dime to see if I could get a look at a Frito pie. They cost $4.95 on the menu board and are listed as “the world famous Frito pie” All I could see were a bunch of bagged fritos and a stainless steel tub with a ladle in it, assuming that’s the chili sauce with ground beef?
906 chars
Sherri said on October 10, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Yes, let’s talk about Libya, but let’s focus on what really matters. It doesn’t really matter whether the proximate cause of the attack was a film or not. What matter is this:
For fiscal 2013, the GOP-controlled House proposed spending $1.934 billion for the State Department’s Worldwide Security Protection program — well below the $2.15 billion requested by the Obama administration. House Republicans cut the administration’s request for embassy security funding by $128 million in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012. (Negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate restored about $88 million of the administration’s request.) Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Republicans’ proposed cuts to her department would be “detrimental to America’s national security” — a charge Republicans rejected.
Ryan, Issa and other House Republicans voted for an amendment in 2009 to cut $1.2 billion from State operations, including funds for 300 more diplomatic security positions. Under Ryan’s budget, non-defense discretionary spending, which includes State Department funding, would be slashed nearly 20 percent in 2014, which would translate to more than $400 million in additional cuts to embassy security.
The Romney campaign argues that such extrapolations are unfair, because Romney and Ryan haven’t specified which programs they would cut and by how much. And that’s the problem: The danger in Romney’s plan is not in the few cuts he has detailed but in the many he has not.
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-forget-about-big-bird/2012/10/09/5f9a411c-1258-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html
1691 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 2:54 pm
Yay Sherri.
11 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 2:55 pm
And Scout!
10 chars
Dexter said on October 10, 2012 at 3:00 pm
MichaelG, I didn’t know Dusty was from SacTown, but I knew he lives in San Francisco and he has a love for the Giants deep in his heart, as even though he is the Redlegs’ manager, he donned a Giants jersey this past summer to celebrate a reunion of one of his Giants teams. ( He used to manage SF, and he played for the LA Dodgers years ago.) Dusty is my age, he loves dogs and has a few, he rides a very cool Harley Davidson mc…and yet he got called a fucking idiot by the fans and the press in Chicago and he takes a helluva lot of undeserved flak in Cincinnati, also, even when the Reds are dominating the league kick-ass style. I just hope his TIA was a one-time event and hot the start of “it”…I have had a few older friends whose TIAs became “cluster strokes” and it got really bad for both of them…killed them, but one was 84 and the other was just 58.
Pilot Joe K. : Thanks for telling me about Duke. He was a good friend. Damn.
952 chars
Sherri said on October 10, 2012 at 3:02 pm
My only exposure to Frito Pie was taking my turn working concessions back when my daughter played softball. Bag of Fritos, ladle of chili, sprinkling of grated cheese on top. Never tried the concoction myself, but it was a decent seller at the softball field.
259 chars
brian stouder said on October 10, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Diane – if I wasn’t a Reds fan, back in the day, I’d have been an Orioles fan. As it is, professional baseball (other than our local A-ball team, the Tin Caps) lost me many years ago.
But if you LL_lurkers (I like the sound of that!) ever do set up a meeting in western Maryland, let me know and I’ll crash the party!
Spent the night in Frederick once; but the cake taker was in Hagerstown, about 20 years .
There was a refrigerated semi trailer in the out-lot at the local WalMart – and a big banner that said something like “SEE THE WHALE”; and for 50 cents, you could walk into the trailer and see a big cold dead whale, which I did.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than the colorful mountains of Western Maryland in autumn (in fact, right about now).
I-68 has to be – flat out – the most scenic highway you can drive across
854 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 3:38 pm
True, Brian, but I-64 is parbly the most beautiful to drive up and down.
72 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I can understand why they would want to know what really happened in Benghazi. Knowing who attacked with what kind of weapons has implications for understanding the political environment in Libya, including whether it is or isn’t becoming a base for terrorist organizations. It’s also important to assessing the security arrangements currently in place and whether they need to be modified in any way. I’d even say that it’s a reasonable subject for Congressional hearings, as Congress must appropriate funds for security at embassies all across the world.
That said, of course, everyone is being an asshole about it. It appears that the Obama administration was too eager to protect itself from criticism that the security situation there hadn’t been managed well, and the Repubs are doing everything they can find reasons to call them incompetent liars, ignoring, as others have pointed out above, their own role in funding security operations.
Will we ever get to an era of rational information-gathering and problem-solving? Seems about as unlikely w/ regard to this topic as in all the other areas in which finger-pointing and self-serving analyses dominate public discourse.
Staying in bed w/ the covers over my head is beginning to look more and more like the best way to get through the day.
1308 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Finished watching The Choice>/I> this afternoon. A very fine program all around. Among the many details and stories included, one that particularly struck me was a story about how, before the primary campaign had even begun, Mitt and Ann Romney visited w/ a party poohbah in Iowa who wanted to talk with them about what he referred to as “the three Ms”–Mormonism, money (i.e., the Romneys’ wealth)’ and Massachusetts (its liberalism),
In describing this conversation, the guy from Iowa reported that he was struck by how closed, clueless, and defensive the Romneys seemed. They were reluctant to discuss their religion at all, and Ann, in particular, acted as if she’d been insulted when the topic of their money came up. In fact, she left the room, and the Iowa guy and Mitt finished their conversation w/o her.
First, this struck me as politically obtuse in the extreme. After all, they were there to curry favor–to gain supporters among the local pols and, presumably, to,learn whatever they could that might help their campaign, including how to address issues that local people might find offputting. So that’s bizarre. But this story also confirmed my growing impression that Ann Romney is a person who thinks of herself as being pretty much the way people should be and does not brook any criticism or second-guessing. As much as I dislike her husband’s smirking and his awkward attempts to show that he is human, I have come to dislike her condescension and sel-righteousness even more.
Not that all this matters a great deal, as I’m sure they’re not counting on my vote, but we can hope, I guess, that she will begin to rub other people the same wrong way.
1686 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 4:29 pm
This asshole can’t make up his mind about anything. And people will vote for this moron?
Staying in bed w/ the covers over my head is beginning to look more and more like the best way to get through the day.
Well, yeah, but I’m going to be doing that in El Libertad, Ecuador if the Liar for the Lord gets elected. Darrel Issa investigating anything is a joke. He began his life of crime as a car thief and chop-shop operator and moved smoothly as a spiv into Congress. His brother took the rap and did jail time. He was investigated for arson and insurance fraud in torching of buildings he owned. This guy is a hoodlum, plain and simple. He should not be in Congress, nor should he be in charge of investigating anything. His “Fast and Furious” gunwalking investigation is a freaking joke. The only person that did any actual “gunwalking” is Issa’s mentally challenged star witness. That’s why you don’t hear much about that shit any more. Anyway, it was all just a Kenyan plot to take away our guns.
If Obama is just sick and tired of the whole mess, that is understandable. Meanwhile, he has straightened out the American economy, by getting as Keynesian as possible (i.e. realistic, supply follows demand, except in Bizarro World.). Willard will FUBAR it further, but who the hell cares. USA will be Eusa soon and the Windsock will let the little shining man out of his bottle for his BFF Bibi, who is probably already baptized retroactively. And if Israel is such a great ally, why did Mossad steal nuclear material from the USA? These aholes want to see Armageddon. Me too, I guess.
1734 chars
nancy said on October 10, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Jolene, I was struck by her conversion to Mormonism under the guidance of George Romney, not only before they got married, or even formally engaged. The script said they “agreed to get married” at the high-school prom, but it sounded pretty casual. I’m trying to imagine how I’d feel, an upper-middle-class parent at midcentury, with a daughter converting to a faith as odd as Mormonism, in hopes that a boy serving a mission in France would marry her upon his return. Wikipedia says her brothers AND HER MOTHER eventually followed her into the church, but her father held fast to his opposition to all organized religion. They scooped him up after he died, of course; talk about rolling in one’s grave.
And yeah — imperious and all that.
743 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Yes, apparently there was a lot of “looking after Ann” while Mitt was in France. Among the “artifacts” that were discussed on the Frontline web site was a letter from George to Mitt. In it, he responds to Mitt’s discouragement about not having been able to convert any of the French people he was meeting by pointing out that Mitt had converted Ann and her brother, which was a better outcome than pulling in any old Frenchmen anyway. So, it seemed that George wanted to give Mitt credit, but Ann actually converted while Mitt was out of the country.
550 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 5:27 pm
And no, I don’t thing all GOPers are assholes. In fact, if people actually look at Ayn Rands budget that RMoney endorses, the shameful manner in which the GOP has turned upon veterans and active duty military should cause more defections from GOPer voting ranks. Willard told some outrageous lie during the debate about the sequestration of defense spending funds. The President is not responsible for that business, Boner is. Blaming that on Obama is another flat-out Windsock lie. On the other hand, Ayn Ryan’s budget cuts $11billion from the VA. Apparently GOPers think that damaged vets aren’t entitled to health care. Will the real Martian please stand up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un8VPr6K3ps
Let’s be clear, Romney and Ryan would be disastrous for America’s service members, veterans and military families. Public praise rings hollow when you fail to mention an ongoing war in accepting your party’s nomination to be president, or veterans in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a so-called jobs plan or in a budget that should be a blue print of our nation’s values.
Larry Pressler
Former U.S. Senator from South Dakota (Rep)
Of course Congressional Teabangers couldn’t vote for a vets’ jobs bill. That might make the President look less uppity. Let’s vote to repeal ACA for the 100th time with no prayer in the Senate instead of doing our job. GOPer members of the House should pay back all of their salaries, and add in the cost of their Maybach health care plans. They refused to do the people’s business for the last two years.
Just stumbled upon this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGAuYBfYJjI&feature=related
But the hell with Nick Lowe’s greatest song, lets blow up Iran and really piss them Mooslems off.
Jolene, there is ample evidence that lots of Mittens’ LDS brethren saw him as the embodiment of the White Horse Prophecy from way back. I saw one Mormon quoted as saying “If not Mitt, who?”
No joke, if you choose PNACers and Robert Bork for your advisors, you will be a dangerous and lousy President. There but for the grace of God goes Daniel Pipes. Holy shit, this is a recipe for disaster. How are people so stupid this is not obvious to them? This asseyed dickhead says he will do what Shrub did, but double. How’d that work out, now that the USA is beginning to recover, despite the best destructive efforts of the GOP?
2523 chars
alex said on October 10, 2012 at 5:58 pm
I think the Mormon practice of na-na boo-boo baptism is pretty imperious, but I have to give them props for their enormous contribution to the fund of genealogical data.
Sometimes I wonder if the kids in the dark blazers aren’t being deployed as some sort of secret police. I remember a Mormon lady at one of my places of employment who would occasionally have a pair of these guys show up and she never looked happy about having to receive them. I think she was a later-in-life convert who did it in order to get married.
526 chars
MaryRC said on October 10, 2012 at 6:01 pm
I agree, Jolene, I find Ann Romney’s Lady Muck attitude grating. Oddly enough her thin-skinned How Dare You? approach to every criticism reminds me of the former half-term Governor of Alaska who also reacted to every single slight, although their personalities are otherwise different. When you think of the continual and vicious attacks on themselves and their husbands and children that Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton endured in stoic silence, you wonder how Madame Romney would last a day as FLOTUS.
506 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 6:04 pm
Alex, those were Sons of Dan. They come after LDS seen drinking caffeinated beverages or holding hands out of multiple wedlock.
127 chars
ROGirl said on October 10, 2012 at 6:10 pm
Maybe the fact that Ann was marrying the governor’s son helped her mother look past a lot of the strange Mormon stuff.
When I was in France during college there was a pair of Mormons in black suits, white shirts and ties, who would walk up and down the sidewalk of the main street lined with cafes where people were drinking, smoking and generally enjoying themselves. Those two probably had the same results that Mitt had.
426 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 6:38 pm
ROGirl: Mormons in France sounds like a topic for Jean-Paul Sartre, or Franz Kafka. And those Gauloise puffing Frenchies huffing wine, they probably thought correctly that those missionaries had figured a good game to get out of going to Viet Nam. I mean, France did.
268 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Mary RC: A very good point, very well put.
42 chars
LAMary said on October 10, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Update on my marital hell:
The court date has been put off for three months, and the opposing attorney is requestion ADR, altenative dispute resolution, which is free and includes a neutral party provided by the court. I sense the intimidation phase is ending.
I also have a job interview on Friday. I still have my current job, but I’m looking. It’s a very nice job.
369 chars
Catherine said on October 10, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Jolene, if you do wind up in bed with the covers up, I hope you will at least come out to comment here. Thank you for sharing that story of the Romneys in Iowa. Having more than my fair share of family there, the image of Ann Romney getting a dose of Iowa attitude cracked me up.
279 chars
Deborah said on October 10, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Seems to me that the Mormons want to get their kids hitched up as soon as possible so they can avoid the premarital sex. I read somewhere that half of the students at BYU are married before they graduate. Of course Ann wanted to glome on to Mitt, he was the Govs son and the world was his oyster. She probably would have crawled on her hands and knees through shit for the chance to be Mrs. Romney. And besides he was a good looking kid, still is good looking.
460 chars
Catherine said on October 10, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Clicking the non-existent “Like” button on LAMary @69.
54 chars
Catherine said on October 10, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Deborah, do you really think he’s good-looking? I have trouble seeing past the smirk that reminds me all too much of my stepbrother.
132 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Am I mistaken, or did Willard channel $Palin in the debates regarding “death panels”? Do even idiot Teabangers still believe in that moronic horseshit? But there was young master RMoney talking $Palin bullshit and people fawning over his drug-induced rapture while he wasn’t speaking. I believe there was a box on his back, to feed ketamine when it was Barack’s turn and greenies when it was time for Mittens to lie. He spent half that night trying to look like a n Eastern Orthocdox icon. Creepy as hell.
506 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 10, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Huzzah for ADR, LAMary; that’s my patch of legal turf. Hope you get the best mediator in the area to serve you.
111 chars
Charlotte said on October 10, 2012 at 7:48 pm
When I taught at the University of Utah, nearly all my students were married, and had little kids. Even the non-Mormons — it’s contagious, the idea that you’re an old maid if you’re not married right out of high school …
And I too am clicking the non-existent Like button for LAMary! GO girl!
299 chars
LAMary said on October 10, 2012 at 7:49 pm
Thanks, Catherine. It’s weird. My company has been providing all sorts of “handling change” meetings because we all know some of us will be losing our jobs. I sit there thinking how losing my job is only half of the drastic change I might be going through, but at the last meeting we had to break into groups and discus strategies for dealing with change. I was volunteered as the spokesperson of my group, and I stood up and said, “you have to open up your stance. You might take a few hits buy your reach is a lot longer.” When I heard myself say that, I realized that I should take my own advice. I’m approaching this shitty situation knowing I’ll take a few hits but knowing I’ll land a few good ones too. I’ve got a long reach and a lot of stamina.
754 chars
MichaelG said on October 10, 2012 at 7:58 pm
That’s great to hear, Mary. I’m so happy that things are looking up. Good luck with the job.
I’ve never met Dusty Baker but he comes around Sacramento regularly. He has family here. He is apparently a very nice guy from all I’ve heard.
I guess a few of us have seen Doonesbury lately.
294 chars
Brandon said on October 10, 2012 at 8:15 pm
“And people will vote for this moron?”
@prospero: No one is really voting for Romney, just against Obama.
115 chars
Deborah said on October 10, 2012 at 8:18 pm
LA Mary, you seem like a surviver. I mean that in the best possible way. Good luck to you.
90 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Have you folks been paying attention to this situation w/ people dying from taking contaminated cortisone shots? It’s pretty shocking. So far, 12 people have died, and many more are ill. The number exposed is in the thousands.
This medication came from a compounding pharmacy, and these organizations are not regulated by the FDA. God only knows why.
I want to hear Barack Obama give a speech in which he says, “Governor Romney feels that corporations are overregulated, but, since I became president, we have had 29 miners die in WV because the mineowners did not meet safety standards, 11 oil rig workers die off the the coast of Louisiana because of safety violations, and, now, we have these sad deaths due to contaminated medication. Regulation must be smart, but it won’t do to start overturning regulations whenever business owners claim inconvenience.”
866 chars
Deborah said on October 10, 2012 at 8:29 pm
And Catherine, I do think Mitt is good looking in a purely Anglo Saxon way. I think he looks better now than as a young teenager and just the opposite for Ann, she was a looker as a young woman, less so now, as is not unusual for older women. Her face seems overly wide to me now, from her photos it did not seem that way in her youth. Is that a result of botox? I have no idea. I know she has health issues and that could have exacerbated her aging. She is by no means an unattractive person, she just isn’t as attractive as Mitt right now. IMHO. I can’t stand the guy and it turns my stomach to look at him, but that has nothing to do with his status as an attractive person. I think Obama is an equally attractive person in a totally different way, Michelle is stunning to me, way more than they all are.
807 chars
MarkH said on October 10, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Well…this’ll make coozledad’s day.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/mitt-romney-family-campaigns-new-strategy-call-president-obama-a-boy/
And, adding my kudos to LAMary as well.
183 chars
Jolene said on October 10, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Another GOP pol with unusual ideas about rape.
181 chars
alex said on October 10, 2012 at 8:50 pm
New lingo lesson learned today in the course of some polite business banter: “Afro-engineer” is the new “put together with spit” which was the old … well, I’m sure most of you know what.
Mentioned it to my partner who informs me that I must have been out of the loop and this is old news. Really? Most of the people I encounter with these attitudes don’t bother to pretty it up.
384 chars
coozledad said on October 10, 2012 at 8:51 pm
I’m not sure if I got the scansion right on this. Someone ask Becker and Fagen.
While they brainwashed Ann you worked among the French
They yanked you from the bench
And saved your white ass from Vietnam
Just by chance the Tet offensive passed you by
It was champagne when you cried
All them Catholics refused your spam
Did you feel like Jesus
Twisting on a cross
cause you couldn’t make them see who’s boss
When you rang the bell the concierge would crawl
Discreetly down the hall
And warn the slackers dans l’hotel
Seemed every Frenchman had your number from the start
Made avoiding you an art
Like a snail curled inside a shell
If you lived forever
would you see the day
when the olive oil and eggs would emulsify your way
CHORUS:
Get along, get along Kid Mayonnaise
Get along Kid Mayonnaise
Now your handlers want you calling all the shots
they’ve brushed out all the spots
keeping you from the driver’s seat
All those college freaks , they’ll help you hold them down
or run them out of town
shaken down for their Sunday meat
they were all mistaken
Evidence is bunk
Look at all the white men in my trunk
CHORUS
Clean this mess up else we’ll all end up in jail
The business model failed
Take the cash, get it out of here
Is there room on the yacht?
Yes, there’s room on the yacht.
I think the people on the hall
Know who you think you believe you are
Careful what you carry
‘Cause the IRS is wise
You are still a scumbag in their eyes
1547 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Those of you rooting for the Os, I’m with that. Anybody playing the Yanks is my team:
http://sportsandwrestling.mywowbb.com/forum3/14506.html
I’d like both Dexter’s and Sherri’s opinion about Reggie Jackson cheating his ass off v. Dodgers in the World Series. My opinion? Hip-checking the relay throw halfway into the outfield is cheating, and Reggie would never admit it. Typical Yankees and typical Reggie.
I despise the Cards (for racism), and the Reds (for overblownism), and the Phillies (for ump fucking over Bert Hootonism), But you Phillies fans, I say Zoio Versalles. And hahaha. Johnny Cueto reminds me of Marichal, who should still be in jail.
664 chars
Sherri said on October 10, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Hey Prospero, I didn’t give an opinion about Reggie hip-checking the ball! He did, of course, but I also think Dodgers shortstop Bill Russell intentionally dropped that soft liner to try and get the double play. In other words, a pox on both your houses! (I hate both the Yankees and the Dodgers!)
297 chars
Sherri said on October 10, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Sticking to a baseball theme, here’s a nice article about Walter Johnson’s daughter. Yes, Big Train still has a living daughter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/sports/baseball/walter-johnsons-daughter-links-washington-to-its-baseball-past.html
242 chars
Julie Robinson said on October 10, 2012 at 9:50 pm
Great news, LAMary, and let’s hope for more of the same!
56 chars
alex said on October 10, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Just finished the Frontline program and found that both had compelling stories but I feel I know where Barack Obama stands and believe he has everyone’s best interests at heart and I have no clue what his challenger believes about anything. In troubled times like these, I’ll have to go with Door Number One.
308 chars
Sue said on October 10, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Sherri, Walter Johnson is one of my dead ball era crushes. I have a whole list of them.
88 chars
Deborah said on October 10, 2012 at 10:12 pm
I just heard Little Bird hold up her end of a phone conversation with her father about politics. He claims he voted for Obama in 2008 but will vote for Romney this time because he doesn’t get what Obama has done to improve things. First of all we’re pretty sure he was drunk as usual while she was talking to him, but I was so proud to hear her defend herself it was amazing. Here was someone who could have intimidated her just because of the power he has over her because he’s her dad and yet she held her own and then some. I’m not sure at all that she made a dent in his thinking, but she was so passionate in her attempt it made me proud.
643 chars
Prospero said on October 10, 2012 at 10:52 pm
Willard isthete Reggie Jackson of politics, He stidks is ass into center and just cheats. I’ve played sports and been fairly successful. If I got to play in the World Series, I wouldn’t cheat no matter what. Somebody that would get to a Presidential debate and just lie his ass off
/ How does anybody vote for that mofo?
324 chars
LAMary said on October 11, 2012 at 9:12 am
Not sure if it was Colbert or Jon Stewart, but one of the described Mitt Romney as a Lands End Khakis model.
108 chars