The FBI has set up a hotline for anyone who blows their fingers off with firecrackers and is willing to blame ISIS.
— David Swanson (@davidcnswanson) July 2, 2015
But what number do we call to report dildo flags? https://t.co/bBAE5nZhk2
— Billmon (@billmon1) July 2, 2015
If you hear something, say something. Our staff and media partners will take it from there. https://t.co/CrcSAklb2z #NavyYard
— U.S. Dept. of Fear (@FearDept) July 2, 2015
Sources tell @GarrettHaake a loud noise scared an employee, which sparked #NavyYard lockdown situation.
— WUSA9 (@wusa9) July 2, 2015
From the local paper, the Washington Post:
Facts are often the first casualty when news breaks. The confusion and speed of onrushing events can crimp the accuracy of the who, what and when of a story.
But some news reports of a shooting at Washington’s Navy Yard on Thursday didn’t just blow the details. In a few cases, reporters got the whole story wrong.
In fact, there was no shooting — only reports of one, apparently based on a single phone call to D.C. police from someone within the complex. But for a few brief and tense moments, some media outlets reported otherwise, summoning up grim memories of the September 2013 shootings that left 12 Navy Yard workers dead.
“Multiple sources confirm there was a shooting at Navy Yard just after 7:30 a.m.,” Washington’s Fox station, WTTG, tweeted as reporters and law enforcement personnel converged on the scene…
We’re tentatively planning to go watch the professionals set off fireworks tomorrow, so as to avoid traffic on the holiday itself. Anybody else got plans to watch what the Japanese call “fire flowers” this extended-for-some weekend?
Baud
And when the news reports on Republicans.
Baud
Why are those tweets blaming the authorities who responded to the report?
Poopyman
@Baud: And when the report is from Fox.
Tommy
People are already blowing up shit where I live. Went out to water the garden a few minutes ago and almost hit the ground. Dropped and rolled. Then I realized it was close to July 4th and those were not gun shots but people setting off fireworks. Apparently very large fireworks.
Little Boots
we seriously need a new country.
or maybe an old country that isn’t so full of shit.
what an embarrassment we are.
Felonius Monk
I certainly hope someone will be collecting photos of all the good ol’ boys and rednecks who will be waving their confederate flags this 4th of July to show their patriotism and love for the United States of America.
srv
Poor news crews can’t even report without being beaten and robbed.
Baud
Lawrence is showing Obama’s Wisconsin speech. Good stuff.
Geoduck
I can see the local professional show from my own yard, so that’s where I’ll be. We’re suffering a drought and high temperatures (WA state), so all the local governments are pretty much begging people not to set off their own stuff, and it’s actually been pretty quiet so far.
Baud
Now the idiot talking heads are on. Sucks.
opiejeanne
@Tommy: same here, sounds like WWIII every year. I’m in a semi-rural area. Some of the things sound like a shotgun, but we also think someone here has a cannon. He’s been practicing the past few days.
Corner Stone
@Baud: The absolute troll. Now I get why DougJ took a pause.
Tommy
@Geoduck: Yeah my little town does July 4th in style. I can watch it from my back porch. That will be where I watch it as I do every year.
Baud
Chuck Todd says Dems would like to run against Walker.
ETA: Todd is an idiot, but that was the first I heard of that theory.
Little Boots
no omnes?
Shakezula
Multiple sources = A bunch of people standing around the newsroom saying “Hey, I heard there’s a shooting at Navy Yard!”
Journalimism at its finest.
Pogonip
We go to the fireworks every year.
Baud
@Shakezula:
I think multiple sources = Twitter.
Felonius Monk
@Little Boots:
Naw, we just need some new people.
Little Boots
@Shakezula:
okay, it was seriously weird how LITTLE i heard about this today.
it’s just so routine about this time I hear.
Tommy
@opiejeanne: I am in a very rural area and it always amazes me the fireworks people have. I like bright and shiny things as much as the other person. But these seem like small bombs. Every couple minutes they are going off.
opiejeanne
@Geoduck: Bothell, in Snohomish county has huge fireworks sales tents. We live in King and haven’t seen them here. I’d have to check but I don’t think they’re legal here.
We used to go to an annual party on the 4th in Snohomish, and the first year we freaked out when some of the burning stuff landed in the trees and on the roof. We were visiting from SoCal, so we were shocked at the owners’ blasé attitude. It was too wet to cause any damage all those times we went, but not this year.
Corner Stone
@Baud: IMO, I personally am not seeing any threat in the R party to this 14 or so part.
Still need to beat the bushes (ha!) to get out the vote, for sure, but there are a bunch of clowns o’er yonder ways.
Little Boots
Scott Walker sucks ass, but yeah, he’s just another one falling out of the clown car.
SiubhanDuinne
I’d try 1-800-CNN-NEWS first.
Corner Stone
Jim Webb. What a dumbass.
Yatsuno
@Geoduck: I’ve only seen one place around here in the desert that is selling fireworks, which is kind of a surprise since there’s a LOT of idiots out this way. Granted I haven’t been around town much, but it was a bit surprising.
I’m more impressed the WA Legislature got its shit together and actually fixed some of the major budget holes. Saw some estimates in-state tuition is gonna drop by a couple thousand at the two big schools. That’s huge.
J R in WV
I like fireworks. You can buy really professional level fireworks in Ohio, although it is apparently not legal to touch them off in Ohio – go figure!?\
Many years ago I had a bunch of stuff a neighbor had bought and never used, there were fruitcake sized disks with over a hundred little tubes and one fuse. There were two big tubes, 4 x 20 inches or so. We were at a party on a ridge top farm owned by friends now departed.
I went out as it got dark, and got my explosives out of the bags and spread out on the nearly bare ground. It wasn’t wet with recent rain, but it wasn’t really dry either, so I felt safe, there was a pond full of water too. I lit the fuse on one of the fruitcake-sized groups of tubes – they were mostly roman candles, with a variety of other gadgets for, well, variety. It took a minute to get started, but then it ran steady for several minutes.
The kids were loving it, and their adults were keeping them far enough away for safety.
Then I lit the fuse for one of the big tubes… it burned into the tube, and there was a funny noise, FOOM but not that loud. I looked up and saw a tiny orange spark, then nothing. I looked away, thinking it was a dud – then I looked back up, and a huge airburst of color and sparks lit the sky, nearly from horizon to horizon. I bet if anyone was on a ridge top in Kentucky, looking east, they saw this mother.
It was fabulous, and everyone went WOW as it burst, and then faded. I lit another fruitcake, to get a chance to get my stuff together, and then set off the other high-altitude device for watchers in Kentucky and the whole county we were in. I was beginning to wonder if we needed to worry about the law, and then I realized we were an hour from the nearest blacktop road, and no deputy was going to wreck his cruiser coming up to the ridge where we were.
I’m not going to town for anything until at least Tuesday. I’ve got books to read, the innertubes to cruize, you guys to fuss with, and lots of good food. A pound of cooked and peeled shrimp from Joe’s fish shop, and two organic pork roasts, one for the slow cooker and one to smoke. The neighbors were picking chanterelle mushrooms along the drive way. We’ll have a nice old fashioned American weekend, here at home.
Isn’t that the way it was supposed to be?
Happy fourth of July, all !!
Baud
@Corner Stone:
I’m looking forward to the train wreck of the first debate. If Trump is in it, people might tune in and see the whole clown show.
Felonius Monk
@Baud:
I just watched him pull that out of his ass, too. He’s a two-bit hack and even that is giving him too much credit.
opiejeanne
@Yatsuno: where are you these days? Last I heard you were near us in Woodinville. I’m out of the loop.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tommy:
What most annoys me is that they start the fireworks several days early and keep them going several days beyond the 4th. It turns Independence Day into just another day in a week’s worth of noise instead of the once-a-year special day it was meant to be.
Now, get off my lawn.
Little Boots
@Felonius Monk:
everyone would love to run against Walker.
he’s a dick, and that will be the thing sooner or later.
ask Omnes, who is so annoying, by the way, but he’s right about walker.
Baud
@Felonius Monk:
I was speculating that Cruz would make a Wallace type third party run, but now I think it might be The Donald. Why not?
SiubhanDuinne
@J R in WV:
Can you still get those little charcoal tablets, about the size of an aspirin, that you put on the sidewalk, lit a match to, and they turned into YOOOGE meandering serpentine curving curling snakes made of ash? I loved those.
Tommy
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes. I am not sure what WWII sounded like but it sounds like it now where I live. Every three or so minutes boom.
Amir Khalid
A couple of nights ago, the neighbours — a group of restaurant workers sharing the house next door — were playing with small fireworks, God knows where they got’em, to warm up for Eid al-Fitri I guess. (Fireworks, once a big part of that celebration here, have long since been illegal in Malaysia.) My kitteh Bianca was more pissed off by the noise than scared by it. I could hear her grumbling as she lay at my feet. Eventually she gave up and fled the room.
Little Boots
@Amir Khalid:
and as for you!!!
Tommy
@SiubhanDuinne: I sure hope you can. That was the fireworks I played with as a kid.
Helen
@Little Boots:
O HAI. I’m here. I’m “no omnes”, but I’m here.
Felonius Monk
@Baud: I’m hoping that Trump makes it into the first debate — it will be very entertaining.
I’m also trying to get a few bottles of “Chinga Tu Pelo” to enjoy with my popcorn.
Anne Laurie
@Baud: Teddy the Cross won’t go third-party unless he’s got guaranteed backing from one or more right-wing millionaires. (Which could, of course, happen — this is America, where anything is possible!)
Trump might milk quite a few news cycles claiming he’s going to go third-party, but he’ll get bored with the grip’n’grin parts of politicking fast, so no.
The current candidate I can see going third-party, as of this evening, is Dr. Ben Carson. He’s frequently nuts, but he’s sincere in his deeply mistaken beliefs, and he seems to have an actual following of genuine supporters, not just paid shills and media enablers. More power to him, if he can irritate the Repub “powers” and make the pandering of candidates like Jeb and Walker that much more obvious.
Geoduck
I should add, I live in the Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater mashup, and the first two have outright banned private fireworks; it’s Tumwater’s mayor who is out beating the drum about Not Being Stupid.
Shakezula
@Baud: I’d like to think you’re wrong, but I don’t think you’re wrong, and that’s depressing. I regularly see “Twitter” named as a source in stories and it makes me want to smack people.
Little Boots
@Helen:
I’m okay with that. I may have been a little too omnes centric
Amir Khalid
@Little Boots:
What?
Little Boots
you know who I miss? omnes.
Poopyman
@Felonius Monk: I’m thinking they’re gonna have to brew more for that label. Very popular, very classy. It’s gonna be YOOGE.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tommy:
I believe you have a cat, right? Does she freak out at the noise, or is she cool with it? (Some of my cats used to be basket cases, but I had a couple over the years who were basically “Fireworks? Loud noises? Meh.”)
SiubhanDuinne
@Tommy:
Do you remember what they were called?
SiubhanDuinne
@Little Boots:
!!!!!
Little Boots
@SiubhanDuinne:
would you please not yell at me.
Poopyman
Richard M. Nixon tells me you want to run against Walker. He also has come out against peas for guacamole. Also
Cervantes
@Amir Khalid:
Restaurant workers from Bangladesh? Indonesia?
jl
I did not avoid holiday traffic on way out of SF Bay. OMG.
To tired and appalled to say much more, except to commenters in thread earlier today who informed me polling said Biden could too compete, I thank you. I am a Biden fan, and it would be nice to see him at the debates and do better than he has in the past. So, bring it on, Joey! If you feel like subjecting yourself it.
Poopyman
@SiubhanDuinne: Somethingsomething Snakes, IIRC, which is always iffy.
opiejeanne
@Geoduck: it’s so dry now that the Olympic peninsula is on fire. How do people not understand that it’s too dry?
Mike in NC
All of our local supermarkets sell elaborate fireworks, and if you venture over the border into SC they have many shops that sell nothing else, yet it also appears that every town has banned them. I guess tourists buy them and take them home to light off.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne:
Black Snakes — we always had them when I was a kid.
Cervantes
Hilarious.
Usually what crimps “the accuracy of the who, what and when of a story” — out of Washington, anyway, — is the prostitution of journalism to spin.
Little Boots
@efgoldman:
could you please not !!!!!
Poopyman
@Poopyman:Black Snake
Also too…
Helen
@SiubhanDuinne:
He’s “evolving.” That’s good.
opiejeanne
@SiubhanDuinne: flowers. Or snakes.
Little Boots
we need music.
music?
Corner Stone
@Helen: About fucking time.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felonius Monk:
Yes! Thanks.
Amir Khalid
@Cervantes:
From Malaysia. Young guys from other states, I reckon.
SiubhanDuinne
@Little Boots:
Not yelling, just expressing amazement.
Edit: THIS WOULD BE YELLING!
Corner Stone
I just made the apex of blisteringly hot salsa that still has full flavor.
Mary Shelley, go suck it.
Little Boots
fine. but just to annoy omnes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY&list=RDI_izvAbhExY
dogwood
@Little Boots:
Why don’t you and Omnes get a room. !!!!!!!!!!
satby
@J R in WV: That sounds like a perfect holiday! Enjoy!
Little Boots
@dogwood:
he won’t. so mean.
Felonius Monk
@Corner Stone:
Care to share the recipe?
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
Oh, my friend … how little you know me.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Got there way too late. The ever-vigilant efgoldman was there first, and in bold italics yet, at #63.
satby
@Poopyman: we used to call them snakes too.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne: Don’t know if this will work, but here’s some more pix.
Little Boots
no omnes? really?
opiejeanne
@Little Boots: I’m here. ?
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman: So, how did your first day as a retiree go?
Little Boots
@opiejeanne:
just, great.
I’m glad you are here.
Helen
@Corner Stone:
Dude. I was looking for you earlier. Joe Biden called my Dad.
And if you get hat reference, I love you. Once again.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman: I trust the Sagamore was backed up as well?
SiubhanDuinne
@Felonius Monk:
I’m going to have to buy some. Hadn’t thought of them in
yearsdecades, but for some reason I’ve been obsessing on them recently. I hope they end up being as wonderful in real life as they are in memory.Little Boots
needs more omnes.
Corner Stone
@Helen: Lots of paperwork though. Hated it sometimes. But wished he could have called all the dads! All the dads should have had the opportunity to fill out the paperwork!
lamh36
Ooh…last week XFILES…this week Batman Vs Superman!!!
Still not sold on ole girl as wonder woman though. And isn’t Wonder Woman supposed to have blue eyes?
Helen
@Corner Stone:
LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE
YOU!!!!!!!
opiejeanne
@SiubhanDuinne: we liked them as kids because they were the one thing we were allowed to set off before dark. Dad didn’t understand the appeal; he liked the fountains and sparklers. LA County didn’t allow much else.
Piccolo Pete! We loved those, especially after an older kid showed us how to pinch the end with pliers so they went BANG!! at the end.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne: I hope they are as much fun as you remember. I hadn’t thought about them for decades and decades until I saw your question. Thanks, it brought back some nice memories.
Corner Stone
@Felonius Monk: It’s a homemade mix. I used some homegrown peppers and other garden items.
I’ll give it a shot though.
2 ghost peppers
2 habanero
2 jalapeno
4 serrano
8 cherry tomato
half cup diced onion
8oz canned diced tomato and juice
half a bunch of cilantro (F the haters)
couple splashes of lime juice
coarse salt
ground pepper
Cut off stems then put the peppers and cherry tomatoes in a bowl and cover with water, then microwave for 6 minutes. Drain.
Add all items to blender and give it a whirl.
JordanRules
@Felonius Monk: I would also love a recipe. I’m also contemplating making some heat heavy bbq sauce this weekend.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman: I’ve been retired for a long time, but I still get the feeling sometimes that I’m just playing hooky from work. And, yes, retirement does require a new mindset.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felonius Monk:
Snakes, sparklers, punk. For personal fireworks, I like to keep things small-scale and safe and quiet. I live the big splashy displays but always want to leave them to the professionals.
SiubhanDuinne
@Felonius Monk:
I retired two years ago yesterday, and it still sometimes seems that I’m playing hooky.
Helen
Hey Guys (and fellow insomniacs) Bree Newsome is gonna be on Larry Wilmore.
Felonius Monk
@Corner Stone: Thanks. Sounds pretty good to me. I plan to give it a try. By your description, you didn’t take the seeds out of the peppers so I guess this will have a certain “brightness” to it. Love it.
Corner Stone
@Felonius Monk: No, I never do that. I’ve been having the most inconsistent level of heat in my jalapenos the last few years. I stopped buying them from the store because they all started being bland crunchy nothings. Once I started growing some in pots I get a handful that are tasty but no heat and then once in a while I get BLAM, TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING HONKY!
So I started growing ghost, habanero and some Chinese/Thai peppers to mix in.
ETA, forgot to say that I added some garlic powder in as well. I usually add garlic salt but I forgot I ran out, so added garlic powder and straight coarse salt.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: Don’t encourage him.
Little Boots
oh great, omnes is here.
Little Boots
miss billin and steeplejack.
Corner Stone
Thank goodness Omnes is finally here.
But thread needs more steep. Omnes is good but steep is steep.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman: Mrs efgoldman will adjust and soon will present you with her “honeydo list” and when you get in her way, she will tell you in her smiling way to go hang out with your pals and get out from under her feet for awhile. It’ll all work out or else she’ll just kill you. So, what’s to worry.
Corner Stone
No one cares about Miss Billin. Steep is all.
Omnes Omnibus
@dogwood: Look. No means no.
Little Boots
@Corner Stone: ‘
everyone loves billin. you are so mean.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: FWIW, I got it.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: Back off! She’s mine!
You’ve got Bootsie, what more do you need you covetous libertine?
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
She’s a patient soul. I’ll give her a full year.
Little Boots
I so want to do this, I so do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: Some people are never happy.
@Corner Stone: Sorry, I did not mean to intrude. Had I read on and seen your reply before I commented, I would have refrained.
SiubhanDuinne
@Corner Stone:
too many capital letters.
Helen
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeah. See me at 11:12. I love everyone who gets it.
opiejeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: me too, which isn’t worth much.
Corner Stone
@opiejeanne: That was some of the more awkward commentary I have seen from him, actually.
And that includes group sex and dead boddys, so we’re moving to new territory needless to say.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: No, I know you and Corner Stone have your thing, and I apologize for interfering.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: He’s done that one before.
opiejeanne
@Corner Stone: yes. It’s been fascinating.
Helen
@Helen:
But I love Corner Stone the mostest!
opiejeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Amanda Knox? Or Biden? I’ve only seen each of those once from our favorite poster.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: Where he admitted that his parents are such poor investors that they receive less than a 2% return on their money?
Omnes Omnibus
@opiejeanne: @Corner Stone: The Biden call.
opiejeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: oh man.
I missed it previously. I will have to pay more attention in the future.
Omnes Omnibus
@opiejeanne: I feel sad that I know this.
Helen
@Corner Stone:
I came THISCLOSE to saying ‘Where’s my medal for shutting the fuck up?” Really. I had many many things to say. But I restrained myself.
Omnes Omnibus
@Helen: I am very happy for the two of you.
opiejeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: maybe it’s not so bad; there is a tendency to repeat.
Corner Stone
@opiejeanne: And repeat, and embellish, and repeat, and embellish, and
opiejeanne
@Helen: I would make one for each of us: the Order of the Bitten Tongue.
Omnes Omnibus
@opiejeanne: I should stop now. I am, I hope, usually a kinder person, but some people bring out something different.
opiejeanne
@Corner Stone: true.
I have a tendency to over-share. My posts are often only 10% of what I started rambling on about, with a few exceptions. You all probably know more about my dad than you want to.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: I still say performance art.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’ve heard of those “instant snakes” but I’ve never seen one… so I don’t know if they’re still around. I like airborne images, as opposed to thing that go boom.
I target shoot, and booms make me want to take cover if I’m not at the range.
opiejeanne
@Omnes Omnibus: me too, I should also stop. I know that I’m a terrible mean little person with a cramped soul, but I shouldn’t bring it out for an airing so often.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: I don’t know, but I can’t reject your theory.
opiejeanne
@Corner Stone: I was wondering about that earlier today. Also, if maybe it’s trolling taken in a new direction.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus: It all seems a lot too much like “I used to be in a barbershop quartet in Skokie, Illinois.”
Helen
@opiejeanne:
Come sit next to me.
opiejeanne
@Helen: *scooches over next to Helen*
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: I get where you are coming from (and don’t dismiss the possibility that you are correct), but I think he might just be a real Pollyanna. It takes all kinds.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Felonius Monk: Reminds me of some chemistry:
1) H2SO4 + sugar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gG0UAX3V7c (6:45)
2) Explosive Polymerization of p Nitro Aniline – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4pNXAtPJp8 (1:43)
Neat stuff.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
Got sucked into a Lone Wolf mini-marathon on Get TV. Warren William and Eric Blore, interchangeable brunettes. Currently up: The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940). Interesting stock footage of a Pan American Clipper taking off and landing. Can’t believe it gets airborne.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
LOL. I got 1.7 percent and then was embarrassed that I was probably the only one who ran the numbers (with the omnipresent cell phone calculator).
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Asperger spectrum. (For the blog persona. Have no idea about the real person.) That’s the idea that helps me cope.
opiejeanne
@Steeplejack: I didn’t run the numbers but I thought that income looked incredibly low just by looking at my pittance and what I get for it. I
opiejeanne
@Steeplejack: That is a possibility. My cousin’s son was diagnosed with it in his 40s, after so many years of doctors saying it was all sorts of other things. He worked in tech, was very single-minded and dedicated to the point that he would have lived at the job if he were allowed, and there were other issues that do remind me of our favorite poster just a bit.