The Tudors is badass.
I just posted this earler but hopfeully others will enjoy it here.
My wife snuck off to the animal shelter yesterday. I didn’t have a chance. We now have a 4-6 year old lab-hound mix named Yeller. He managed to find the side gate was open a hair within 5 minutes of exporing the back yard. He bolted across the street into the neighbor’s back yard, ran through the creek along the train tracks, and crossed another main road before I caught him. I jumped a few fences, get mud up to my knees, and face planted in a matter of 2 minutes. He doesn’t know jack shit and must have been fending for himself his entire life. 15 minutes ago, he managed to jump onto the kitchen table and land all four paws onto our salads. He’s finall resting and had to yell at my wife b/c she wanted to pet him. Let sleeping dogs lie………
3.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Fortunately, President Obama promised in 2008 that when he was elected the earth would begin to heal. As promised, he has had Jane Hamsher and other much-too-Earth-fierce Tar Sands Sit-In protesters thrown in jail. The man simply doesn’t have a non-promise keeping bone in his body.
.
.
4.
gbear
Beautiful beautiful day in the Twin Cities today. I’m about to head out for another nice long scooter ride. On the earlier ride I stopped at the local Borders store to bargian hunt and got a couple of ‘best of’ collections by The Smithereens and (early) Dave Mason and the one-CD vesion of Dylan’s ‘Tell Tale Signs’. I’d never seen that Borders store so crowded. Too bad they went under but I heard lots of stories about how inept their management was.
5.
Dennis Doubleday
One thing to watch out for when streaming the Tudors from Netflix: the streaming catalog is badly hosed up. Check the user comments. I had to get the disk to see the final episode of season one because the streaming link was pointing to an episode we had already seen. According to other users who have gotten further than I have, there are additional problems later in the catalog.
6.
Nicole
I loved the first two seasons. They did their best with the last two, but it’s hard to follow Anne Bolynn.
7.
cathyx
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: First they came for the whistleblowers and you didn’t protest. Then they came for the Jane Hamshers and you didn’t protest. Then they came for you….
that’s right, Unk. Obama plotted the whole thing, right down to being on vacation on the day when Jane and her merry band of idiots did the civil disobedience thing. Regular Martinetta Luther King, that woman.
Look, why’n’cha go make a donation here. You wanna get in early — the phone lines are gonna be jammed tonight.
Edit: Full disclosure. I have a thing for homer – i even keep two photos of him on my desktop for easy viewing. i call them “sweet homer with a bee” and “homer and his dog buddy”.
@eemom: I am bandwidth-limited tonight. Can someone do a 15-word summary of the hamsher arrest story rather than send me to a link?
14.
lamh34
Let the good times roll.
Um I think you mean “Laissez les bon temp rouler”
15.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I just heard some idiot on NPR say that the danger for Republicans was being trapped by the extreme of their own party in the primaries, as they were ’64 with Goldwater, or as happened to the Democrats in 2004, with Howard Dean.
I was shocked to hear that said idiot was the usually estimable James Fallows
16.
lamh34
ok,
has anyone but me been watching “Torchwood: Miracle Day”?
If so, what do youse guys think? IMHO, the added American actors are dispensable, but I get why they felt they needed to add them.
But the heart of the show is still Gwen and Jack. If they got rid of the American actor, the show would be way better.
I was streaming Bleak House and like Raven said it’s excellent and now I’m watching Aljazeera. It appears that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is toast. People are amassing in the city waiting for the rebels.
Good luck. You’re in for some trying times but be patient, be firm and don’t lose your cool. You’re being tested.
I could tell some stories of a similar dog adoption experience. It took a couple years but I got her to a point where she was completely trusting. She’s like some kind of Australian sheep-herding dog that looks kinda like a lab. I gave her to my sister’s family when I moved and couldn’t keep her. My nieces tell me she’s just the best dog in the world. She keeps the kids herded and safe from predators too, so my sister is happy.
that’s right, Unk. Obama plotted the whole thing, right down to being on vacation on the day when Jane and her merry band of idiots did the civil disobedience thing.
Yes, of course you’re right, we all know that President Obama and his administration are powerless to prevent this kind of Executive action.
Regular Martinetta Luther King, that woman.
You’re right on the money once again, because it would be far better for the environment for her to go over to eemom’s house and drink cheap gin all night. Do you also too hate all the other Tar Sands Sit-In activists, both jailed by the Obama Administration and not, for their ideas and actions? Go shave your sideburns before answering, woman.
.
.
21.
JPL
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I left you a note earlier which including how nice it was to take a nap on the sofa surrounded by pups. What I didn’t mention was the part about the dogs waking me at four in the morning to go out. Hence the need for a nap.
(Bluto Blutarsky voice, after he smashes the guitar on the stairway) Sorry. Simply could not resist, the setup was too good.
24.
Keith G
I bought the Tudors first season box a while back. I stopped watching after the second episode. I thought it was too soap opera-ish for my tastes. The historic record of that time is amazing. “Dressing it up” for American prime time was unnecessary but typical.
Wait, James FALLOWS thinks that Howard DEAN was as extreme as GOLDWATER??
ETA: Let alone that it sounds as though he’s playing the both-sides-do-it game. How very unFallows-like of him.
The mind, it boggles.
29.
RandyH
Jane Hamsher was arrested? Surprise surprise. Link, please.
30.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m kind of pissed at Obama for always giving his critics exactly what they want. The super committee was bad enough, but now…. arresting Jane Hamsher? Granting her attention and victimhood? For shame!
(apparently she, Dan Choi and Bill McKibben were arrested at a WH sit-in protesting approval of tar-sand oil exploitation)
31.
boss bitch
The love scenes in The Tudors seemed a tad unrealistic.
just sayin’
32.
lamh34
I thinking of adding “Luther” with Idris Elba livestreaming to my netflix queue. Is it any good?
I took in an adult stray male cat a few years back. Almost shoved his ass back out the door for tearing through the house at all hours of the night breaking whatever got in his way. It took about a year before he calmed down. Now I can’t wake his ass up. I guess he’s happy and safe. I just have two new lamps and some more gray hairs…and a fabulous Sam.
34.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: I make allowances for people speaking off the cuff, but the idea that Howard Dean is/was “extreme”– a notion both for his supporters and detractors rooted entirely in his opposition to the Iraq War– is ludicrous, as is the idea that he “captured” the Democratic party in 2004. He barely made it to New Hampshire, fercrissake.
35.
kestral
Saturday night movie: The Thing.
Good GOD, it’s just as disturbing the second time through.
I second the need to be careful with the Tudors on Netflix. Episodes are mislabeled and out of order. Some episodes are on there twice and some are missing. Its a wreck and very frustrating. Of course, if you’re just into it for the naughty bits, you may not care.
I thought the Anne Boleyn parts were the best. By wife 3 or 4, it gets a little old, although I did prefer watching the older more crotchety King Henry to the young bratty one.
And the show takes a lot of liberties when it comes to historical accuracy, which is fine and all…just don’t confuse it for a lesson in history.
Yes, exactly. How bizarre of Fallows (whom I generally admire a lot, BTW).
38.
boss bitch
Everyone’s right about the mixed up episodes. I gave up on Netflix and found free full episodes on Megavideo. In their proper order.
39.
Marginalized for stating documented facts
Enjoy that streaming video while you can. As shithole America spirals down, down, down into third-world status, the bandwidth caps and speed throttling imposed by your local greedy cartel monopoly ISP will eventually prevent you from watching video online.
Our future? Canada, where bandwidth throttling has destroyed the experience of watching video online.
But not to worry: in shithole America, we’ll probably replace streaming video with traveling bands of minstrels.
The largest act of civil disobedience by environmentalists in decades began outside the White House this morning, as more than seventy activists were arrested at the north gates during a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline, which if approved by the administration would carry 900,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
Dan Choi was also cuffed and stuffed – becoming a habit. Is it the showers?
My initial glance at the text rendered me “Steaming Turds”, only after the double take and the re-read did it make sense …
44.
Yutsano
Liveblogging the Seattle BJ meet-up! In attendance (in no particular order): MikeJ, CaseyL, opie-jeanne, SoBeale, and spousal units. Great time being had by all so far, even though my car might get booted here soon. If they just ticket me, I’m cool with that.
Don’t kid yourself..Jane is only in it for the press.
Is your name Bill Frist? He could also make diagnoses at considerable distance. And what of her cellmate, Bill McKibben of 350.org? What can you tell us about him and his psychological need to publicize this action to help save the environment?
.
.
My father-in-law brought the Tudors DVDs last time he visited, and we’re almost through season 1. Seems a long way to go…
48.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@19 Randy H. Thanks.
@21 JPl I have no idea what to expect for bedtime. It will be interesting.
49.
Stooleo
I couldn’t make it past the 2nd episode of the Tudors either. Just finished up the 2nd season of “Sons of Anarchy” which you can also stream. Its a really good show.
50.
lamh34
“Country Strong” with Gwenyth Paltrow coming on STARZ tonight. Should I watch it?
Not a big fan of country music, but I do like Tim McGraw and I like paltrow enough.
51.
Anya
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: I didn’t know the President was the chief of police or a crowd control cop. So Hamsher got the ultimate publicity.
Dan Choi was also cuffed and stuffed – becoming a habit. Is it the showers?
I don’t know. He really seems to love getting arrested lately. But what does Canadian shale-sand oil have to do with gay rights? Maybe we don’t want to know.
I actually have a relative from Minnesota who is working on that pipeline. He thinks it’s the greatest thing, but it’s the best job he’s ever had. Probably the only one that’s ever paid more than minimum wage, so of course he would. But is there something wrong with moving oil that is going to be harvested anyway to Texas for refining by pipeline, rather than train cars or trucks?
Confused. I think Jane is protesting in the wrong country. Maybe she should be in Ottawa complaining that they’re harvesting oil from shale sands. Not the White House. Doesn’t she know the President is in MA on vacation, anyway?
Poor Jane lost her mind years ago. Someone send her to a special facility for the mentally disturbed or something.
53.
shortstop
Worst script ever; had us bursting out laughing at all kinds of non-comedic moments. Rhys Meyers is the worst actor ever, too.
But so worth it for the costumes and sets. And Henry Cavill. Y-u-m.
54.
Anya
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did President Obama personally issue the order to arrest the attention seekers?
55.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: We’re two-thirds of the way through South Riding with Anna Maxwell Martin of Bleak House. It’s wonderful and so is she!
Next up: Hanoi Jane and Don Blankenship partnering to reform the EPA.
60.
JPL
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): That was good but the series I really enjoyed this year was downton abby. BBC is doing another season and it should be on Masterpiece in Feb. You can stream it on netflix if you haven’t seen. It’s just the start of the women’s movement.
Palin recently made quips about Steinem, I wonder what she would think about that period.
If they ticket or boot you, just audit their asses
65.
NickM
Anybody involved in/have thoughts or observations on the Verizon strike?It’s ended today, possibly temporarily. On the whole, it’s good to see unions still pulling a draw in this kind of high-profile fight.
66.
JPL
Raven, I’m glad you mentioned South Riding because when I was watching Bleak House, I couldn’t place her.
67.
shortstop
We just watched Woody’s Scoop. Very charming little screwball comedy with lots of references to the classics, just the mind candy we needed after a cod liver oil week.
68.
Anya
@Yutsano: Have loads of fun. I’ve never visited Seattle but my betrothed says that he had the best breakfast burritos he’s ever had, in Seattle.
Enough people pissing in the wind becomes a storm and eventually a flood somewhere. The flood depends on the individual with the courage to unzip and aim.
On top of the “Proud to be a firebagger” and X2, X3, X4, etc.
I gotta say that it takes courage to plan and carry out getting arrested. I’m not sure what the point is here, but whatever. I’m positive that the commenters over there don’t know what the point is, either.
70.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anya: O-Bot, he invented tar-sands extraction so that someone would build the pipelin to provoke the protest so that he could arrest Jane Hamsher. (you can sing that to the tune of The Old Lady Who Swallowed The Fly)
Actually, I think this is the most useful thing Hamsher has done in years, but the real problem is our dependence on oil, about which Obama, as we all know, has done nothing.
Before 2009, the U.S. was supplying less than 2% of a tiny global market in advanced batteries. When the stimulus-funded factories are all complete, they’ll have the capacity to supply 40% of a rapidly growing global market, about 500,000 batteries a year. The stimulus will also boost our supply of electric-vehicle charging stations by more than 3,000%. And the Obama administration has provided loans to help Tesla, Fisker and Nissan build electric-car factories in the U.S., all part of Obama’s pledge to put 1 million plug-ins on the road by 2015. That is what change looks like, even if the President doesn’t beat his chest and call for mass beheadings on Wall Street while it happens.
I love Downton Abbey for a whole lotta reasons, that being one of them.
The original Upstairs Downstairs also had a story arc pertaining to the women’s suffrage movement, including one really harrowing episode focussing on forced tube feeding when the jailed women went on hunger strike.
I’m not sure what the point is here, but whatever.
Well then, it’s certainly worth everyone’s while for you to open your yap wide to comment ignorantly upon it. I guess that’s what open threads are for – open mouths. I counsel you not to get too near FDL with that open mouth, though, as they seem to be in a pissing mood as you observed.
p.s. The point is “saving the environment” in case you actually wanted to know. Do you care about that kind of shit, balloonemo?
.
.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Actually, Obama packs green energy initiatives into any bill involving money, and the stimulus was larded with them. It’s his favorite kind of stimulus. He loves him some reducing dependence on foreign oil. No, I imagine you don’t hear about this much. I’m predicting that by the end of next month people will be asking why he hasn’t caught Osama Bin Ladin.
84.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck: I hear the birth certificate issue may be making a comeback also.
I gotta say that it takes courage to plan and carry out getting arrested.
Yeah, tell that to Martin Luther King Jr.
86.
OzoneR
Let me clear this up for you; the daughter he didn’t want from the wife he beheaded becomes a better queen than any of the men in his family and rules for a long and glorious reign and kicks Spanish booty.
Also, Henry had two sisters, not one, and neither was Queen of Portugal, and the sister that married Charles Brandon was named Mary and died of cancer, not tuberculosis, later in life after Henry’s divorce from Catherine because she tried to lobby her brother not to do it since she didn’t believe in divorce and hated Anne Boleyn
Furthermore, Henry was fat, ugly and disgusting, not hot with chiseled features.
I hate when these shows fuck up history.
87.
maye
@Keith G: So true! If you want an excellent story about the Tudors, read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. And if you really want to be entertained, the audio version is outstanding.
88.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Poopyman: “I gotta say that it takes courage to plan and carry out getting arrested.”
I don’t know, there was a time when it was pretty easy for me without any planning.
It’s against the pipeline from Alberta to refineries here in the states to further refine the crud from the tar sand. I live in an area where fracking is a big problem so I can see the point of the sit-in. And I think Bill McKibben is a solid environmental activist who puts his money where his mouth is (right now all of him is in jail).
As promised, he has had Jane Hamsher and other much-too-Earth-fierce Tar Sands Sit-In protesters thrown in jail.
Pretty sure Jane Hamsher knew she was getting arrested and that was part of the point.
92.
Poopyman
@shortstop: I don’t think you’re alone in this, madame. By herself, I would agree. But she does command an army of-flying monkeys- front pagers and commenters. Sorta like Cole and his minions, only more unhinged.
You do have some strange little fantasies, Clarrie. What’s your obsession with piss-swallowing? Does it go back to the good old days when you toadied to Bush The Buggerer-Upper?
The largest act of civil disobedience by environmentalists in decades began outside the White House this morning, as more than seventy activists
Seventy activists is the largest act of civil disobedience by environmentalists? In the dictionary next to the word pathetic…
96.
SiubhanDuinne
@Anya: It was okay, not great but certainly not terrible. If the story gets a bit predictable (and it will, it will) you can always enjoy the lovely settings of Edinburgh, London, Paris, and someplace in rural France (Brittany maybe?). Eye candy with a couple of agreeable-looking leads. I’ve seen worse. You’ve seen worse.
It was a pleasant way to spend a couple of air conditioned hours on a hot Atlanta Saturday afternoon. Is it Oscar-worthy? Nahhh.
She says it matter-of-factly, rather than sadly. Anyway, she says, it’s far better to be the odd-looking type, and wait for the interesting roles. “For some actors, their star shines brightly and fizzles out. My star doesn’t shine that brightly, but it buzzes along. Hopefully, that means it will last longer.”
To repeat SiubhanDuinne, the brits do this stuff very well.
98.
Elizabelle
Any interest whatsoever in doing a SoCal Balloon Juice meet-up at Great Park in Irvine next Saturday? Behind the Orange Curtain.
Del McCoury. Free concert. 8:15 p, Saturday, August 27
$10 to park. Food, beer and wine available in cafe, or can picnic. (They don’t — ahem — allow outside alcohol.)
Preservation Hall Jazz Band the following Saturday.
But suspect Lucinda Williams last weekend was the highlight of this season. Excellent concert, and am kicking myself for not publicizing it more.
Let me know!
99.
shortstop
Cole, now you can do a Rhys Meyers and scream, forehead vein bulging, at your animals: “YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAHND!” And they’ll laugh as hard as we did.
If you think Jane Hamsher is involved in this for any other reason than raising money for “FDL Action” which pays her a salary, you are really fooling yourself. She looks for things that can generate outrage, gets in the middle of them and tries to make money off of the outrage. She’s like the Randall Terry or Grover Norquist or Ralph Reed of the “Left.”
Looks like Dan Choi has learned her formula, too.
This other guy you mention may be a principled activist and have a point but he’s just working with a couple of outrage-whores who could probably care less if they weren’t able to make money off of it.
But really – they are protesting in the wrong country.
102.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: I just read that to the princess, she likey too.
Wish me luck in the swim portion of the Tri To Beat Cancer Triathlon in the morning. There are a couple of people older than me in it but not many. (Some of the are doing all three legs)
Jane Hamsher is so important that there’s an administration policy to put her bony ass in jail? WTF are you on?
No, she’s not. Apparently the only way Cult of Personality Obamemos can understand anything is to make everything personal, to exclusion of larger questions, issues and trends. The administration law enforcement policy is general, but Jane Hamsher specifically is important to you for some reason. Oh yeah, because she doesn’t agree with you about the actions of the individual known as President Obama. I’ll bet you just love presidential “horse race” coverage also too, am I right?
.
.
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Experience matters but I’ll watch the local news just in case there is an unfortunate occurrence during the swim. It sounds like fun though especially in this heat.
But is there something wrong with moving oil that is going to be harvested anyway to Texas for refining by pipeline, rather than train cars or trucks?
It’s a two part problem
1.) the idea that the pipeline could be an ecological disaster waiting to happen. It goes right through tornado county.
2.) They don’t want to mine the tar fields for oil. This seems to be the bigger issue, but that’s Canada’s call, not ours. I guess they figure they won’t do it unless they have access to the Texas refineries because Canada won’t build their own. My guess is that if Canada really wants to harvest the tar sands, they’ll build their own if they have to or establish some sort of port at the St. Lawrence Seaway or in British Columbia (which they probably should do), so if their problem is the tar sands, they should be protesting in Ottawa.
70! Do they really think 70 people are going to stop a pipeline? I mean seriously? That’s pathetic.
108.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: It starts a 7am. It should only take me about 9 minutes to swim the 400 meters so I’m safe from the heat. The catfish fry I have to do at 5 will be another matter!
109.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@SiubhanDuinne: I went to see that last night with my wife and another couple. SPOILER ALERT:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Both women had read the book and my friend’s wife told him what happens. I had no idea that the Emma character (Ann Hathaway) gets drilled by a bus and dies. We had smuggled some beers in and I really had to go, so I got up and left right before she dies. I was gone maybe 4 minutes tops. I come back in and retake my seat during the scene where Dex is struggling with his grief and getting a beat down at a night club. They flash the date and year signalling the chapter change and I lean over to my friend and joke, “what a difference a year makes.” He leans over and in a serious tone and says, “she was killed.” Just then I realize my wife and several other women sitting around us are sobbing… Needless to say, when the movie ended, I got the “I can’t believe you left during that scene” lecture from my slightly less distraught wife, while my friend and I were howling with laughter at what had happened.
You do have some strange little fantasies, Clarrie.
That may or may not be true, for all you know about the subject.
What’s your obsession with piss-swallowing?
I don’t have one. Poopyman introduced the topic, so you should ask him why he has an obsession with it. The links are there for you to follow – if you want to comprehend the conversation as it unfolded. Since it’s an open thread, you may ask me about my obsessions if you wish, although DougJ may censor my descriptions in his thoughtful thought police manner.
.
.
111.
gbear
@chopper: Really late to the reply (just got back from my ride). My scoot is a Kymco People s250. Nimble riding it around town but fast enough to get out on the highways too.
Because 1) my words have weight, and 2) because I’m waiting for you to make me. Care to make a violent threat, balloonbagger? Y’all are real good at those, so you may as well play to your strength.
.
.
113.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Because 1) my words have weight,
I, for one, will state that you are every bit as effective as the Hamshter.
Furthermore, Henry was fat, ugly and disgusting, not hot with chiseled features.
Young Henry was hot; athletic and handsome. He got fat after falling off a horse in a jousting accident in 1536, the year he had Anne Boleyn beheaded.
I haven’t been watching The Tudors. I saw a little of the first episode, and it looked a little soapy to me. Read Allison Weir’s books for a good take on the real history.
Jane and co got the attention they wanted….and the consequences. No-one particularly cares. Poor old and tired mercenary Jane. Moving right along. Next!
They ARE protesting in the wrong country if their problem is oil from dug-up (not drilled for) tar sands. It is a process that takes alot of energy to melt the oil pout of the tar sands, but appears to be financially viable. More expensive than drilling for oil but it’s everywhere on the earth’s surface in that oart of Canada inside these sands. Digging this stuff up is the decision of Canada and all of the worldwide oil companies doing it. NOT the US government.
However, moving oil by pipeline in the safest and most efficient way to do it. And it’s underground so Hurricanes and stuff shouldn’t matter. What we have to worry about is 40 years down the line, after the pipeline owner has neglected their pipeline and not adequately maintained it, maybe it will have a break in some environmentally sensitive area. That’s it. The oil they’re sending through it is just as good as the stuff that comes on ships from Saudi Arabia. Canada is our largest supplier of imported oil. Did anyone know that?
And contrary to another person who just complained about my other comment about GI Jane and her Boy Wonder Dan Choi, this has nothing to do with “fracking.” That is an entirely different process where they drill deep deep deep into the earth until they reach these shale deposits found in the northeastern US. They use alot of chemicals and then bust up (or fracture, hence the term Fracking) the seep shale deposits to allow the trapped natural gas to come out. Entirely different! But the risk with fracking is that those chemicals will leak into the water table where our well water comes from. ENTIRELY different. But some people hear “shale” and think it’s the same thing.
I’ve got an ’86 Honda Helix that is the most comfortable 2 wheeler I’ve ridden in my 48 years of motorcycling. I did a 700 mile 3 day trip from Montana through Idaho last week and am heading out tomorrow for about 800 miles through southern Montana. Cruises along great at about 60 which is my speed these days. I’m retired and don’t have to hurry. Odd that it took me this long to discover scooters.
DougJ’s thought policing is more accurately understood as periodically flushing the toilet.
Of course all thought police defenders can be relied upon to make such a claim, but – what is your obsession with toilets all about? Is it just the shit, or is it also the piss you were talking about previously?
.
.
121.
Anya
The administration law enforcement policy is general, but Jane Hamsher specifically is important to you for some reason. Oh yeah, because she doesn’t agree with you about the actions of the individual known as President Obama. I’ll bet you just love presidential “horse race” coverage also too, am I right?
.
I don’t dislike Jane Hamsher because she’s a critic of the Obama Administration, but because she is a self-aggrandizing publicity seeker …. a first class grifter. She does what she does, not out of principles, but because she’s a phony profiteer, who follows everything she does with a fundraising appeal. Fuck her and fuck her mindless supporters. President Obama has many principled critics, such Robert Reich and Jared Bernstein and you will never see me or anyone attacking them. So go fuck your bitter self, asshole.
122.
gbear
@realbtl: The Kymco is my first venture into motorized two wheels. It’ll make it up to 70mph if I need to keep up with traffic, but both the bike and I are happier in the 50-60 range. Haven’t taken it on any road trips but I’ve been out for some 200 mile day trips. I’m in my fourth season with the bike and I just turned over 22,000 today.
The second best thing about it is that it’ll go 70mph and the best thing about it is that it can’t go 140mph.
@lamh34: I really, really enjoyed it, and very happy to find out that they got renewed. I found the relationship between Luther (always “Lewtha” in my head) and Alice creepy but fascinating.
So, if I understand you correctly, everyone who is involved with the Tar Sands Sit-In is a phony grifter, and you wish for Jane Hamsher personally to be fucked, and every individual who supports anything she does to be fucked, and that if you’re Jane Hamsher and you disagree with a policy for the same reasons that Robert Reich or Jared Bernstein disagree with it, she’s a bad individual and they’re good individuals, and that you want the individual known as Uncle Clarence Thomas to get fucked by the individual known as Uncle Clarence Thomas.
It is obvious to even the most casual observer that my point about your Cult of Personality derangement disorder is validated by your own words.
.
.
125.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve got an ad for Allen West’s re-election campaign. Is the whole blog-ads system so fucked up? Is somebody reading a right-wing blog getting ads for Barney Frank and Louise Slaughter?
126.
mike in dc
Wait, open thread, 120+ comments, and not one mention of the Battle for Tripoli taking place right now? I dunno, seems like kind of a big deal to me…
Though I’m mainly a lurker here, the Seattle BJ meet-up made me think we folk from SoCal should do one too. However, next weekend I’m having a b-day dinner with a recent escapee from gov. Goodhair’s state and who will be driving across the Orange Curtain.
ETA: The b-day dinner isn’t mine, it’s for my wife and her daughter. The kid, the escapee, is driving up from Irvine.
dude, you should emigrate. You’ll be glad you did. It’s a big world, lots of option, lots of choices. If you hate the place you are, move. Seriously.
disclaimer: expat for 14 years…
I don’t dislike President Obama because he’s a critic of Jane Hamsher, but because he is a self-aggrandizing publicity seeker …. a first-class grifter. He does what he does, not out of principles, but because he’s a phony profiteer, who follows everything he does with a fundraising appeal.
.
.
131.
Anya
@mike in dc: I was just reading Richard Engel’s tweets, while watching AJE. A Jazeera is reporting that untold numbers of casualty in the streets of Tripoli.
Fortunately, President Obama promised in 2008 that when he was elected the earth would begin to heal. As promised, he has had Jane Hamsher and other much-too-Earth-fierce Tar Sands Sit-In protesters thrown in jail. The man simply doesn’t have a non-promise keeping bone in his body.
LOL, you stupid bitch. You probably really believe all the bullshit you type.
133.
Maude
@OzoneR:
Hillary Clinton makes the decision. One of her campaign staff, high up, during the primaries is a lobbyist for Keystone. The pipe line goes through Nebraska and an aquifer. That caused concern and Ben Nelson and others wrote letters to the State Department. Further study was needed.
One thing was that Hillary Clinton gave a speech last fall and practically said she approved it. The studies hadn’t been completed.
Mother Jones covered this stuff and that’s how I know about it.
I doubt the protest will be effective.
I don’t know enough about that part of the country to have an opinion.
It doesn’t fit the narrative of Obama continuing refueling missions over the Med and unmanned drone flights as being his third endless war. Libya is turning out to be a textbook case for how to overthrow the tyrant dictator in the Middle East/North Africa: let your NATO allies do the heavy lifting while sending lawyers, guns and money. Very much unlike the Cheney/Bush effort in Iraq. But, yeah, Obama sucks. Tar Sands.
1. Typos really suck. Too bad there’s not a “preview” feature here for comments where you can actually see the comment as the other readers will before you submit it. And no, “Edit” is not the same.
2. Digging up oil shale sands is an inefficient and energy-intensive way of producing crude oil. But with prices for drilled crude as high as they are, oil companies find it to be cost-effective.
3. Using crude oil from any source and refining it into gasoline, diesel fuel and other derivatives is a bad idea but we really are addicted to it. So if you drive a car that burns fossil fuels, blame yourself.
4. Natural gas is a good clean-burning fuel and “fracking” can work as a way of harvesting it. But we need to hold sloppy “frackers” accountable for the damage they cause to the environment (through chemical contamination of water supplies.) We don’t currently do that so they don’t care how sloppy they are. There is alot of money to be made so they know they can afford to deal with a few squeaky wheels. How ’bout we show them an Orange Jumpsuit along with those fines?
5. Electric cars with on-board generators that use gasoline or natural gas when the generator needs to run (think Chevy Volt.) Natural Gas-powered big rigs. Geothermal (massive potential here. See: Iceland.) Solar panels on every rooftop and in hundreds of squre miles of the desert. Wind turbines where there is lots of wind. Local natural gas turbines to make up for local shortages automatically on-demand. And an efficient power grid that uses superconducting cable (preferably underground) to tie all of the metro areas together. ‘Nuff said. This could completely power the US. Don’t listen to the nuclear, coal and oil apologists. They’re just protecting their piece of the supply chain whether it is good for the earth and its inhabitants or not.
I might add, Randy, that “solar panels on every roof” really fucks up the centralized distribution system for electrical power, in that it squeezes all those precious sacred profits down something fierce.
If we generated a lot more energy in a non centralized distribution way, we’d be saving on numerous fronts, not just in the money sense, but in the energy sense as well. Which means less need for giant, carbon and radioactive waste producing power plants.
140.
Mark S.
Geez, Uncle Clarence is pretty loquacious tonight. Did someone hit the bourbon?
Does anyone use Webroot? Unless I turn off the firewall, I can’t get on the Internet. It’s seriously pissing me off.
Yes I know it would be just TERRIBLE if a suburban neighborhood could power all of the air conditioners for all of the McMansions on a hot sunny day without any outside help.
Terrible. Just terrible.
Just think of all the unemployed coalminers. It’s a JOB KILLER! Forget about all of those solar-power installers and solar panel factory workers who will be busilly employed. Those coal miners might not have a job and have the opportunity of dying from black-lung disease.
Sounds similar in performance to the Helix and I agree on the 2 best things. If you are interested I’ve got a couple of trip reports here plus there’s lots of Helix info and other scooter stuff.
I just had an Obot-Firebagger argument with my husband. It’s all fun and games here on BJ, but it’s not so much fun in your own living room.
146.
eemom
Uncle Clarence is pretty loquacious tonight.
Yerp. I’m thinking I was on to something when I pegged him for a Hamsher sockpuppet. Cuz this storied occasion on which Hamsher has become one with MLK, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela is the first and only time I’ve ever seen him aspire past his usual tedious, threadbare, lazy ass reiteration of the same old all-purpose Obama sux one liner.
How much is she paying you, Unkie? I mean considering how instantly anyone who disagrees with her is branded a paid troll over at her cesspool, I’ve gotta think the “lady” doth protest too much.
147.
Tom Q
Does anybody else find it especially gracious of Uncle Clarence Thomas do to that double-dot thing on every post? It makes it easy to avoid accidentally even starting to read one of his insipid declarations.
Yes, of course you’re right, we all know that President Obama and his administration are powerless to prevent this kind of Executive action.
Are you suggesting that the D.C Police serve at the President’s personal discretion, his very own storm troopers as it were. You seem upset that he can’t order them around at whim. “Chief, here is a list of names, I want you to drop all charges.” Imagine the shit fit You People* would have if he were to do that.
They’ll all go before a judge first thing Monday morning, plead to breach of peace or trespass, and pay a $500 fine or something. This is what is commonly called “civil disobedience” See: Thoreau, Henry David http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
* (You People = Conservatives, see also: Douche-Hats)
149.
dww44
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I, too, heard that and thought, “Say what?” Fallows thinks that Howard Dean represented the extreme of the Democratic party in 2004 and because he sucked up all the Dem energy ahead of the general, then that election, to Fallows, was analagous to Goldwater in 1964. Gee whiz, surely he has a better grasp of political history than that.
Having caught Fallows in several of his interviews on the weekend edition of “All Things Considered” over the last year, I long ago decided he’s one more of those we used to think of as being left of center, but in reality is perhaps only left of center by a teeny tiny millimeter. Besides we all know what’s happened to “The Center” in the last couple of decades.
Then that bit was followed by an interview with a psychiatrist professor from Tufts who’s written a book about the sanity or lack of in past Presidents. Suffice it to say that a bit of insanity seems to make for outstanding leadership qualities. The sane ones, like Bush, and NIXON!! and Obama perhaps needed or need to evidence some characteristics of mental illness to effectively lead during difficult times.
I thought, yep, there goes that NPR, sucking up to the right again, albeit ever so subtly. Let’s end the whole show by weighing in on the dearth of leadership qualities that our current President manifests,because, you know, he’s so sane. The country would be better off if Obama had to work through a couple of bouts of depression, or even manifest some bi-polarness and thus unleash his creative juices.
Telling you to shut the fuck up was maybe not the most diplomatic suggestion. Might I suggest you read this to perhaps better understand people giving a Bronx cheer at Hamsher’s arrest.
I’ve been lucky enough to keep the existence of Hamsher a secret from my husband. Cuz Gawd knows if he ever finds out about this gorgeous selfless martyr for the oppressed languishing in a prison cell, he’ll be off to join the zillion-car pileup on I-66E this evening caused by horny progressive kinghts in shining armour racing into DC to post bond.
152.
RandyH
Uncle Clarence Thomas seems a bit Troll-like, no?
Jane Hamsher probably got arrested because she deserved to get arrested. She will milk it for all it’s worth if she’s the Jane Hamsher that I am getting used to. She is a grifter and, in this case, a martyr for some “cause” that she only pretends to understand because it might make her a few bucks. Gotta pay that mortgage!
Maybe she should get a job at The Heritage Foundation or AEI or something. I hear they pay well for those that have no moral compass. She’d be perfect.
153.
dww44
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: I’m with you on this one. This is an issue well worth a sit-in. Tar Shale oil extraction will be very very damaging to our climate.
Go Hamsher, Choi, and McKibben!
154.
Anya
@Tom Q: I used to appreciate that graciousness, but i was too bored tonight.
155.
karen marie
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: False equivalency isn’t just for professional media types any more!
@RandyH: Hold sloppy “frackers” responsible the way BP was held responsible for the Gulf spill? Yeah, that will work. I’m sure people forced to take showers with bottled water will be fine with that.
156.
eemom
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….at least she didn’t get her car towed this time…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. bwaaahaaahaaaahaaaaa……………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iz I doing it right, Uncle?…………………………………….
157.
dww44
@RandyH: It’s the method of extraction, via tar shales, which has the potential for doing great harm to the earth’s environment. Not so much the pipeline itself.
They are going to do it. We have to regulate what they do. That is all. Making it illegal is impossible. We need to regulate what they do. That’s all. There is nothing wrong with extracting natural gas from the earth. How you go about it should be regulated to prevent damage to local water supplies. It CAN be done safely but we don’t regulate them well enough to make them do it right.
and 2) because I’m waiting for you to make me. Care to make a violent threat, balloonbagger? Y’all are real good at those, so you may as well play to your strength.
But they are protesting in the wrong country. Canada is allowing this. NOT the US. And the White House is the WRONG place to protest over this. Go to Ottawa and protest to their Prime Minister.
The pipeline that they’re protesting over is just stupid.
161.
dww44
@RandyH: Nope, they are not protesting in the wrong country. As McKibben states at his 360 blog, if the pipeline doesn’t get built, then likely the tar shale extraction of oil won’t go forward, certainly not on the scale that it would with a humongous pipeline. This is what McKibben and his fellow demonstrators are about. If Obama nixes the pipeline, then the damage can possibly be mitigated.
But there’s good news: the Keystone XL pipeline cannot be built without a “presidential permit” from the Obama Administration. Let’s turn up the pressure to make sure President Obama rejects the pipeline.
Mmm, breakfast burritos. Looking forward to getting some from District Taco here in NoVa tomorrow morning.
Although the best I ever had was at a little diner called Eats ’n’ Sweets in Virginia-Highland in Atlanta back in the ’80s.
163.
OzoneR
@RandyH: Well the other thing is they are probably arguing it does nothing to stop our addiction to oil. I’ve met quite a few environmentalists who think we should just stop using oil tomorrow and that would solve the problem.
164.
RandyH
BTW-
For the less cerebral among us, “Ottawa” is the Capitol of Canada. It is located in Ontario. Many Americans think Toronto (also in Ontario) is the Capitol of Canada but it is not.
That is where the Prime Minister and the central government are located. They certainly are not at the White House in Washington DC and Canada is not a part of the Untied States.
As McKibben states at his 360 blog, if the pipeline doesn’t get built, then likely the tar shale extraction of oil won’t go forward, certainly not on the scale that it would with a humongous pipeline.
It’s really sad that you believe this. OF course Canada is going to extract the oil from there either way, and what do you mean “not on the scale?” You think they’re only going to extract a little bit of oil?
167.
Anya
@Steeplejack: I can go there if they have a good breakfast burritos. My brother lives in Northern Virginia and I visit him regularly. Is it any good?
168.
OzoneR
@RandyH: Please don’t tell me there are people in America who think Toronto is the capital of Canada..
169.
Yutsano
@dww44: International. Market. For. Oil. Canada does not drill it for our sake alone. They also freely and willingly sell it to China among others.
@eemom: Thanks. It was really pretty upsetting. Now I’m torn between stress-eating and stress-walking (which would be the obvious choice if it weren’t past 11 at night).
EDIT: Lift weights! That’s what I can do. Channel that nervous energy into muscle.
That’s total F’ing nonsense. They already get the oil transported by train and truck and (even still) it’s extremely profitable. The best solution for them (and us) is a pipeline, as long as we’re addicted to oil. Fix that and then get back to me.
They should get that pipeline because it’s a better, more environmentally friendly way to transport their oil. Would you rather we import from Un-Friendly countries or from our peaceful neighbors from the north? But we’re going to get it anyway, so maybe we should do it right, don’t you think?
Maybe a better solution is to build a major refinery in North Dakota or Northern Minnesota. The locals in both locations would love it and the pipelines already reach them. Then we would be talking about building domestic gasoline pipelines from those locations to who knows where. And the same disputes would arise.
Face it. We’re going to get oil from Canada (a good, friendly place that doesn’t require wars,) no matter what. They are our biggest supplier, after all.
If you just can’t handle all of this complicated stuff, stop driving a car that burns fossil fuels. Seriously. This can be fixed and we can end the market for fossil fuels. But all of this bitching about how the oil is produced as opposed to where it comes form is really sad. It has to come from somewhere.
Get a clue. And again, Grow Up.
174.
OzoneR
@dww44: Besides, it’s simple logic. Rather than pressure the Obama administration to reject a pipeline that may or may not (probably not) stop environment-harming oil production, you could actually stop the Canadian government from producing in the first place. Jane Hamsher is stupid, but she’s not this stupid, which leads to me to believe this has nothing to di with the pipeline or the tar shale.
Seriously, this is like stopping construction of a highway by protesting the company that produces the concrete.
They are RIGHT! If we could pull off the amazing feat of just stopping our use of fossil fuels tomorrow, we really would fix the problem. That is a certainty.
But we need to figure out how to do that instead of complaining about pipelines, which are very efficient ways to move oil.
District Taco is very good. Short menu but fast service and excellent quality. They started as a food truck (which they still have) and then opened a sit-down/takeout restaurant in Arlington, which is where I go. My usual is breakfast burritos tacos (soft, with scrambled eggs, cheese and potatoes) with chorizo. And they have a bunch of different salsas that are excellent.
178.
OzoneR
@Yutsano: Well the other story is that much of the oil in that pipeline won’t be going to us, it’ll be going to other countries like China just via refineries in Texas.
Sorry. Capital is a term relating to money or finances. Capitol is a term relating to the government center of a state or country. Check your dictionary.
180.
Yutsano
@OzoneR: Yup. Pretty much how the universe of petroleum distillates works.
I stand corrected by Webster. Either should work though, when speaking of government centers. I am not the one who got so fussy about it all, you know.
Nothing personal. :)
183.
Anya
@Steeplejack: Next time I am in the area, I will make sure to visit it. Thanks!
184.
karen marie
@OzoneR: I’d be curious, since the Canadians would be using the pipeline to move oil destined for other countries, how much Canada (well, the oil companies, really) would be paying for its construction and maintenance. Seems to me they should pay for most, if not all, of it since any oil destined here could be dealt with more cheaply building a refinery in the northern US, as someone else above suggested, than building a pipeline long enough to reach the Texas coast.
You could have stopped right there, but, no, you had to go for the double-axel add-on “I wasn’t really mistaken” fucktard. Congratulations. The East German judge gave you a 9.
how much Canada (well, the oil companies, really) would be paying for its construction and maintenance.
I assume the entire thing is being constructed with private funds and maintained by a private company, that’s why it needs the administration’s approval, sorta like the Alaska pipeline.
No, I’m afraid Capitol refers to a building in DC, based on the old hill in Rome.
Capital is not only an economic term, it’s also the designation of the city that serves as a seat of government. Or a crime that involves the death penalty (from the head being lobbed off, you see). Or one of the major ships of a naval fleet.
188.
eemom
hmm…..what happened? Uncle has up and left us.
Perhaps he is nestled all snug in his bed, with visions of Hamsher prison pr0n dancing in his…..head.
Here’s the deal: You had a sarcasm fail with your original condescending comment “for the less cerebral among us.” Pro tip: It’s hard for sarcasm to succeed when you sound stupid because you’re misusing common words.
When I pointed out (with no judgment or comment) that you wanted the word capital, not capitol, you doubled down with even more condescension. “Check your dictionary.” Would it have killed you to entertain the thought, even for a second, that perhaps you were mistaken and that you should check the dictionary? No, that’s crazy talk. Full speed ahead. Hence you earned the fucktard.
Then, presented with the evidence of your mistake, you weaseled around and ended with a personal dig:
I am not the one who got so fussy about it all, you know.
__
Nothing personal. :)
Passive-aggressive much? So, yeah, that earned you the double fucktard with oak leaf cluster.
I am not normally a flamer, and I try to keep the copyediting pedantry in check, but you just got on my last nerve with your lamebrained, snotty response. Over and out.
192.
AA+ Bonds
BA BA BOOEY
193.
AA+ Bonds
I Googled “pedantry” and it linked to this thread, can someone please tell me what it means? Please, my IP address is “old in the knees” and has started talking about the war as though it hasn’t happened yet…
Okay. I’m just sitting here smirking over some jerk who wants to take the difference between “Capital” and “Capitol” to this level of craziness.
You go right ahead there.
This thread is dead. So keep arguing with yourself about your own god-damned obstinance. I tried to be nice and admit I made a stupid mistake in vocabulary but you had to get nasty about it with the “fucktard” bullshit. That’s no way to make friends.
I’ll give you the last word. I think I should end my words with your own term… Fucktard!
Have a nice night. It’s bedtime for me.
But be sure to tell me off properly, Fucktard.
195.
Yutsano
@RandyH: Here is the hole: -. Here is you. _. Stop going downwards.
196.
karen marie
@OzoneR: The easements alone will cost a shit ton. It’s hard to see how this can work without the price of oil being way, way higher than it is now.
@RandyH: If you’re going to pick on someone’s spelling, you’d better be goddamn sure you’re right. Otherwise, it makes you look like, well, an idiot.
198.
eemom
Wow.
I guess me and the General and fuckhead will just have to come to terms with the fact that we are no longer the reigning Champions of dumb ass name calling arguments over stupid shit on this blog.
Ain’t gonna be easy, though. [sniff]
199.
keestadoll
The Hollywood-raised twit in me must confess to a revisionist history ending to Lady Ann, but BRAVO BBC!!!!
Comments are closed.
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!
boss bitch
I loved loved loved loved The Tudors.
Old Dan and Little Ann
The Tudors is badass.
I just posted this earler but hopfeully others will enjoy it here.
My wife snuck off to the animal shelter yesterday. I didn’t have a chance. We now have a 4-6 year old lab-hound mix named Yeller. He managed to find the side gate was open a hair within 5 minutes of exporing the back yard. He bolted across the street into the neighbor’s back yard, ran through the creek along the train tracks, and crossed another main road before I caught him. I jumped a few fences, get mud up to my knees, and face planted in a matter of 2 minutes. He doesn’t know jack shit and must have been fending for himself his entire life. 15 minutes ago, he managed to jump onto the kitchen table and land all four paws onto our salads. He’s finall resting and had to yell at my wife b/c she wanted to pet him. Let sleeping dogs lie………
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Fortunately, President Obama promised in 2008 that when he was elected the earth would begin to heal. As promised, he has had Jane Hamsher and other much-too-Earth-fierce Tar Sands Sit-In protesters thrown in jail. The man simply doesn’t have a non-promise keeping bone in his body.
.
.
gbear
Beautiful beautiful day in the Twin Cities today. I’m about to head out for another nice long scooter ride. On the earlier ride I stopped at the local Borders store to bargian hunt and got a couple of ‘best of’ collections by The Smithereens and (early) Dave Mason and the one-CD vesion of Dylan’s ‘Tell Tale Signs’. I’d never seen that Borders store so crowded. Too bad they went under but I heard lots of stories about how inept their management was.
Dennis Doubleday
One thing to watch out for when streaming the Tudors from Netflix: the streaming catalog is badly hosed up. Check the user comments. I had to get the disk to see the final episode of season one because the streaming link was pointing to an episode we had already seen. According to other users who have gotten further than I have, there are additional problems later in the catalog.
Nicole
I loved the first two seasons. They did their best with the last two, but it’s hard to follow Anne Bolynn.
cathyx
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: First they came for the whistleblowers and you didn’t protest. Then they came for the Jane Hamshers and you didn’t protest. Then they came for you….
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Not to mention the heads.
eemom
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
that’s right, Unk. Obama plotted the whole thing, right down to being on vacation on the day when Jane and her merry band of idiots did the civil disobedience thing. Regular Martinetta Luther King, that woman.
Look, why’n’cha go make a donation here. You wanna get in early — the phone lines are gonna be jammed tonight.
jeffreyw
Please allow me to introduce myself…
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: So far, so good! What a cutie.
Edit: Full disclosure. I have a thing for homer – i even keep two photos of him on my desktop for easy viewing. i call them “sweet homer with a bee” and “homer and his dog buddy”.
Villago Delenda Est
…I’m a man of wealth but no taste…
WaterGirl
@eemom: I am bandwidth-limited tonight. Can someone do a 15-word summary of the hamsher arrest story rather than send me to a link?
lamh34
Um I think you mean “Laissez les bon temp rouler”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I just heard some idiot on NPR say that the danger for Republicans was being trapped by the extreme of their own party in the primaries, as they were ’64 with Goldwater, or as happened to the Democrats in 2004, with Howard Dean.
I was shocked to hear that said idiot was the usually estimable James Fallows
lamh34
ok,
has anyone but me been watching “Torchwood: Miracle Day”?
If so, what do youse guys think? IMHO, the added American actors are dispensable, but I get why they felt they needed to add them.
But the heart of the show is still Gwen and Jack. If they got rid of the American actor, the show would be way better.
jeffreyw
@Villago Delenda Est:
You, sir, are no Gentleman.
JPL
I was streaming Bleak House and like Raven said it’s excellent and now I’m watching Aljazeera. It appears that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is toast. People are amassing in the city waiting for the rebels.
RandyH
@Old Dan and Little Ann:
Good luck. You’re in for some trying times but be patient, be firm and don’t lose your cool. You’re being tested.
I could tell some stories of a similar dog adoption experience. It took a couple years but I got her to a point where she was completely trusting. She’s like some kind of Australian sheep-herding dog that looks kinda like a lab. I gave her to my sister’s family when I moved and couldn’t keep her. My nieces tell me she’s just the best dog in the world. She keeps the kids herded and safe from predators too, so my sister is happy.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@eemom:
Yes, of course you’re right, we all know that President Obama and his administration are powerless to prevent this kind of Executive action.
You’re right on the money once again, because it would be far better for the environment for her to go over to eemom’s house and drink cheap gin all night. Do you also too hate all the other Tar Sands Sit-In activists, both jailed by the Obama Administration and not, for their ideas and actions? Go shave your sideburns before answering, woman.
.
.
JPL
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I left you a note earlier which including how nice it was to take a nap on the sofa surrounded by pups. What I didn’t mention was the part about the dogs waking me at four in the morning to go out. Hence the need for a nap.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl: I think I know which is the one with a bee, but there are several with Homer and Buddy that come to mind.
Villago Delenda Est
@jeffreyw:
(Bluto Blutarsky voice, after he smashes the guitar on the stairway) Sorry. Simply could not resist, the setup was too good.
Keith G
I bought the Tudors first season box a while back. I stopped watching after the second episode. I thought it was too soap opera-ish for my tastes. The historic record of that time is amazing. “Dressing it up” for American prime time was unnecessary but typical.
Too bad.
boss bitch
@eemom:
oh. they really did get in trouble? oh do tell.
JPL
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Don’t kid yourself..Jane is only in it for the press.
chopper
@gbear:
what type of bike?
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Wait, James FALLOWS thinks that Howard DEAN was as extreme as GOLDWATER??
ETA: Let alone that it sounds as though he’s playing the both-sides-do-it game. How very unFallows-like of him.
The mind, it boggles.
RandyH
Jane Hamsher was arrested? Surprise surprise. Link, please.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’m kind of pissed at Obama for always giving his critics exactly what they want. The super committee was bad enough, but now…. arresting Jane Hamsher? Granting her attention and victimhood? For shame!
(apparently she, Dan Choi and Bill McKibben were arrested at a WH sit-in protesting approval of tar-sand oil exploitation)
boss bitch
The love scenes in The Tudors seemed a tad unrealistic.
just sayin’
lamh34
I thinking of adding “Luther” with Idris Elba livestreaming to my netflix queue. Is it any good?
Elisabeth
@RandyH:
I took in an adult stray male cat a few years back. Almost shoved his ass back out the door for tearing through the house at all hours of the night breaking whatever got in his way. It took about a year before he calmed down. Now I can’t wake his ass up. I guess he’s happy and safe. I just have two new lamps and some more gray hairs…and a fabulous Sam.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SiubhanDuinne: I make allowances for people speaking off the cuff, but the idea that Howard Dean is/was “extreme”– a notion both for his supporters and detractors rooted entirely in his opposition to the Iraq War– is ludicrous, as is the idea that he “captured” the Democratic party in 2004. He barely made it to New Hampshire, fercrissake.
kestral
Saturday night movie: The Thing.
Good GOD, it’s just as disturbing the second time through.
Nylund
I second the need to be careful with the Tudors on Netflix. Episodes are mislabeled and out of order. Some episodes are on there twice and some are missing. Its a wreck and very frustrating. Of course, if you’re just into it for the naughty bits, you may not care.
I thought the Anne Boleyn parts were the best. By wife 3 or 4, it gets a little old, although I did prefer watching the older more crotchety King Henry to the young bratty one.
And the show takes a lot of liberties when it comes to historical accuracy, which is fine and all…just don’t confuse it for a lesson in history.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yes, exactly. How bizarre of Fallows (whom I generally admire a lot, BTW).
boss bitch
Everyone’s right about the mixed up episodes. I gave up on Netflix and found free full episodes on Megavideo. In their proper order.
Marginalized for stating documented facts
Enjoy that streaming video while you can. As shithole America spirals down, down, down into third-world status, the bandwidth caps and speed throttling imposed by your local greedy cartel monopoly ISP will eventually prevent you from watching video online.
Our future? Canada, where bandwidth throttling has destroyed the experience of watching video online.
But not to worry: in shithole America, we’ll probably replace streaming video with traveling bands of minstrels.
Keith G
@WaterGirl:
from The Nation
Dan Choi was also cuffed and stuffed – becoming a habit. Is it the showers?
Villago Delenda Est
@kestral:
You must be watching the John Carpenter 80’s version, which indeed was very, very disturbing. Far more disturbing than Matt Dillon in a carrot suit…
Nylund
I also second the opinion that the Tudors is too much of a soap opera. Its a little draining and tiresome at times.
If you want to watch knights, kings, battles, and boobs, Game of Thrones is much better.
dopealope
My initial glance at the text rendered me “Steaming Turds”, only after the double take and the re-read did it make sense …
Yutsano
Liveblogging the Seattle BJ meet-up! In attendance (in no particular order): MikeJ, CaseyL, opie-jeanne, SoBeale, and spousal units. Great time being had by all so far, even though my car might get booted here soon. If they just ticket me, I’m cool with that.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@JPL:
Is your name Bill Frist? He could also make diagnoses at considerable distance. And what of her cellmate, Bill McKibben of 350.org? What can you tell us about him and his psychological need to publicize this action to help save the environment?
.
.
jeffreyw
You say that like it’s a bad thing. When I was young and restless, they were my guiding lights as this ol’ world turned.
punkdavid
My father-in-law brought the Tudors DVDs last time he visited, and we’re almost through season 1. Seems a long way to go…
Old Dan and Little Ann
@19 Randy H. Thanks.
@21 JPl I have no idea what to expect for bedtime. It will be interesting.
Stooleo
I couldn’t make it past the 2nd episode of the Tudors either. Just finished up the 2nd season of “Sons of Anarchy” which you can also stream. Its a really good show.
lamh34
“Country Strong” with Gwenyth Paltrow coming on STARZ tonight. Should I watch it?
Not a big fan of country music, but I do like Tim McGraw and I like paltrow enough.
Anya
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: I didn’t know the President was the chief of police or a crowd control cop. So Hamsher got the ultimate publicity.
RandyH
@Keith G:
I don’t know. He really seems to love getting arrested lately. But what does Canadian shale-sand oil have to do with gay rights? Maybe we don’t want to know.
I actually have a relative from Minnesota who is working on that pipeline. He thinks it’s the greatest thing, but it’s the best job he’s ever had. Probably the only one that’s ever paid more than minimum wage, so of course he would. But is there something wrong with moving oil that is going to be harvested anyway to Texas for refining by pipeline, rather than train cars or trucks?
Confused. I think Jane is protesting in the wrong country. Maybe she should be in Ottawa complaining that they’re harvesting oil from shale sands. Not the White House. Doesn’t she know the President is in MA on vacation, anyway?
Poor Jane lost her mind years ago. Someone send her to a special facility for the mentally disturbed or something.
shortstop
Worst script ever; had us bursting out laughing at all kinds of non-comedic moments. Rhys Meyers is the worst actor ever, too.
But so worth it for the costumes and sets. And Henry Cavill. Y-u-m.
Anya
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did President Obama personally issue the order to arrest the attention seekers?
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: We’re two-thirds of the way through South Riding with Anna Maxwell Martin of Bleak House. It’s wonderful and so is she!
JPL
@Anya: Maybe her buddy Grover will go visit her.
Suffern ace
I’m actually happy to hear about that protest and hope that they continue. I haven’t done much of that for 20 years, but it is probably time to start.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Anya:
He’s not. And I have a feeling you also too don’t know what the words “administration policy” mean.
.
.
Cat Lady
@eemom:
Next up: Hanoi Jane and Don Blankenship partnering to reform the EPA.
JPL
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): That was good but the series I really enjoyed this year was downton abby. BBC is doing another season and it should be on Masterpiece in Feb. You can stream it on netflix if you haven’t seen. It’s just the start of the women’s movement.
Palin recently made quips about Steinem, I wonder what she would think about that period.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@boss bitch:
The love scenes between balloonbaggers and President Obama seem a tad unrealistic.
just sayin’
.
.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: Maxwell hasn’t been in much. In know that there is a new one with McNulty from the Wire as 50’s TV reporter that looks good.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Cat Lady:
Next up: Mitch McConnell and President Obama partnering to reform Wall Street. And Social Security. And Medicaid.
.
.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yutsano:
If they ticket or boot you, just audit their asses
NickM
Anybody involved in/have thoughts or observations on the Verizon strike?It’s ended today, possibly temporarily. On the whole, it’s good to see unions still pulling a draw in this kind of high-profile fight.
JPL
Raven, I’m glad you mentioned South Riding because when I was watching Bleak House, I couldn’t place her.
shortstop
We just watched Woody’s Scoop. Very charming little screwball comedy with lots of references to the classics, just the mind candy we needed after a cod liver oil week.
Anya
@Yutsano: Have loads of fun. I’ve never visited Seattle but my betrothed says that he had the best breakfast burritos he’s ever had, in Seattle.
Poopyman
The comments at FDL are hi–larious.
On top of the “Proud to be a firebagger” and X2, X3, X4, etc.
I gotta say that it takes courage to plan and carry out getting arrested. I’m not sure what the point is here, but whatever. I’m positive that the commenters over there don’t know what the point is, either.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anya: O-Bot, he invented tar-sands extraction so that someone would build the pipelin to provoke the protest so that he could arrest Jane Hamsher. (you can sing that to the tune of The Old Lady Who Swallowed The Fly)
Actually, I think this is the most useful thing Hamsher has done in years, but the real problem is our dependence on oil, about which Obama, as we all know, has done nothing.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/11/stop-whining-about-what-obama-hasnt-said-look-at-what-hes-actually-done/#ixzz1VccYM8eo
Cat Lady
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Grover. Fucking. Norquist. Fuck her.
ETA: and you. also, too.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I love Downton Abbey for a whole lotta reasons, that being one of them.
The original Upstairs Downstairs also had a story arc pertaining to the women’s suffrage movement, including one really harrowing episode focussing on forced tube feeding when the jailed women went on hunger strike.
The Brits do this stuff very well.
boss bitch
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
you’re obsession with Obama is more disturbing than…..well, its just disturbing.
SiubhanDuinne
Completely O/T, I saw “One Day” this afternoon. The lead guy looks exactly like my brother. I’m not kidding.
Anya
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Jane Hamsher is so important that there’s an administration policy to put her bony ass in jail? WTF are you on?
Jules
@lamh34:
The only time I seem to be enjoying Torchwood is when Gwen and Jack are on screen, the rest of the time it’s a bit meh.
I need me some aliens!
Anyone with time on their hands and a Netflix account should take a few hours to watch the 3 episodes of Sherlock available for streaming.
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Masterpiece_Mystery_Sherlock_Series_1/70151278?trkid=2361637&fcld=true
Lots of lovely Englishmen with lovely accents running around doing this.
Anya
@SiubhanDuinne: Was it good? I want to see it with my friends tomorrow, but I am skeptical that it will be any good.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: Interesting piece about Anna and a new BBC production.
shortstop
I don’t think Jane Hamsher is very interesting in either a positive or negative way. I feel lonely holding this opinion.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Poopyman:
Well then, it’s certainly worth everyone’s while for you to open your yap wide to comment ignorantly upon it. I guess that’s what open threads are for – open mouths. I counsel you not to get too near FDL with that open mouth, though, as they seem to be in a pissing mood as you observed.
p.s. The point is “saving the environment” in case you actually wanted to know. Do you care about that kind of shit, balloonemo?
.
.
lamh34
@SiubhanDuinne: was it any good?
Baud
@shortstop: Don’t feel lonely. I feel the same.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Actually, Obama packs green energy initiatives into any bill involving money, and the stimulus was larded with them. It’s his favorite kind of stimulus. He loves him some reducing dependence on foreign oil. No, I imagine you don’t hear about this much. I’m predicting that by the end of next month people will be asking why he hasn’t caught Osama Bin Ladin.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck: I hear the birth certificate issue may be making a comeback also.
Villago Delenda Est
@Poopyman:
Yeah, tell that to Martin Luther King Jr.
OzoneR
Let me clear this up for you; the daughter he didn’t want from the wife he beheaded becomes a better queen than any of the men in his family and rules for a long and glorious reign and kicks Spanish booty.
Also, Henry had two sisters, not one, and neither was Queen of Portugal, and the sister that married Charles Brandon was named Mary and died of cancer, not tuberculosis, later in life after Henry’s divorce from Catherine because she tried to lobby her brother not to do it since she didn’t believe in divorce and hated Anne Boleyn
Furthermore, Henry was fat, ugly and disgusting, not hot with chiseled features.
I hate when these shows fuck up history.
maye
@Keith G: So true! If you want an excellent story about the Tudors, read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. And if you really want to be entertained, the audio version is outstanding.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Poopyman: “I gotta say that it takes courage to plan and carry out getting arrested.”
I don’t know, there was a time when it was pretty easy for me without any planning.
Ruviana
@RandyH:
It’s against the pipeline from Alberta to refineries here in the states to further refine the crud from the tar sand. I live in an area where fracking is a big problem so I can see the point of the sit-in. And I think Bill McKibben is a solid environmental activist who puts his money where his mouth is (right now all of him is in jail).
fhtagn
@shortstop:
Rhys Meyers did a very good Steerpike in the BBC version of Gormenghast.
OzoneR
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Pretty sure Jane Hamsher knew she was getting arrested and that was part of the point.
Poopyman
@shortstop: I don’t think you’re alone in this, madame. By herself, I would agree. But she does command an army of-flying monkeys- front pagers and commenters. Sorta like Cole and his minions, only more unhinged.
(Why does spell checker not flag “sorta”?)
fhtagn
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
You do have some strange little fantasies, Clarrie. What’s your obsession with piss-swallowing? Does it go back to the good old days when you toadied to Bush The Buggerer-Upper?
Poopyman
@Villago Delenda Est: Uh, you know I meant that literally, right?
OzoneR
@Keith G:
Seventy activists is the largest act of civil disobedience by environmentalists? In the dictionary next to the word pathetic…
SiubhanDuinne
@Anya: It was okay, not great but certainly not terrible. If the story gets a bit predictable (and it will, it will) you can always enjoy the lovely settings of Edinburgh, London, Paris, and someplace in rural France (Brittany maybe?). Eye candy with a couple of agreeable-looking leads. I’ve seen worse. You’ve seen worse.
It was a pleasant way to spend a couple of air conditioned hours on a hot Atlanta Saturday afternoon. Is it Oscar-worthy? Nahhh.
JPL
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Talk about having her head on straight..
To repeat SiubhanDuinne, the brits do this stuff very well.
Elizabelle
Any interest whatsoever in doing a SoCal Balloon Juice meet-up at Great Park in Irvine next Saturday? Behind the Orange Curtain.
Del McCoury. Free concert. 8:15 p, Saturday, August 27
$10 to park. Food, beer and wine available in cafe, or can picnic. (They don’t — ahem — allow outside alcohol.)
http://www.ocgp.org/2011/06/the-del-mccoury-band/
Preservation Hall Jazz Band the following Saturday.
But suspect Lucinda Williams last weekend was the highlight of this season. Excellent concert, and am kicking myself for not publicizing it more.
Let me know!
shortstop
Cole, now you can do a Rhys Meyers and scream, forehead vein bulging, at your animals: “YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAHND!” And they’ll laugh as hard as we did.
Villago Delenda Est
@Poopyman:
Ah, my detectors must be on the blink. Damn Poe’s Law overload is bad for calibration.
Apologies.
RandyH
@Ruviana:
If you think Jane Hamsher is involved in this for any other reason than raising money for “FDL Action” which pays her a salary, you are really fooling yourself. She looks for things that can generate outrage, gets in the middle of them and tries to make money off of the outrage. She’s like the Randall Terry or Grover Norquist or Ralph Reed of the “Left.”
Looks like Dan Choi has learned her formula, too.
This other guy you mention may be a principled activist and have a point but he’s just working with a couple of outrage-whores who could probably care less if they weren’t able to make money off of it.
But really – they are protesting in the wrong country.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: I just read that to the princess, she likey too.
Wish me luck in the swim portion of the Tri To Beat Cancer Triathlon in the morning. There are a couple of people older than me in it but not many. (Some of the are doing all three legs)
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Elizabelle: Damn, Del is playing here in Athens on the 2nd of September, old dude is gettin around. Hope he does 52 Vincent Black Lightning.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Anya:
No, she’s not. Apparently the only way Cult of Personality Obamemos can understand anything is to make everything personal, to exclusion of larger questions, issues and trends. The administration law enforcement policy is general, but Jane Hamsher specifically is important to you for some reason. Oh yeah, because she doesn’t agree with you about the actions of the individual known as President Obama. I’ll bet you just love presidential “horse race” coverage also too, am I right?
.
.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Hey, why don’t you shut the fuck up?
JPL
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Experience matters but I’ll watch the local news just in case there is an unfortunate occurrence during the swim. It sounds like fun though especially in this heat.
OzoneR
@RandyH:
It’s a two part problem
1.) the idea that the pipeline could be an ecological disaster waiting to happen. It goes right through tornado county.
2.) They don’t want to mine the tar fields for oil. This seems to be the bigger issue, but that’s Canada’s call, not ours. I guess they figure they won’t do it unless they have access to the Texas refineries because Canada won’t build their own. My guess is that if Canada really wants to harvest the tar sands, they’ll build their own if they have to or establish some sort of port at the St. Lawrence Seaway or in British Columbia (which they probably should do), so if their problem is the tar sands, they should be protesting in Ottawa.
70! Do they really think 70 people are going to stop a pipeline? I mean seriously? That’s pathetic.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@JPL: It starts a 7am. It should only take me about 9 minutes to swim the 400 meters so I’m safe from the heat. The catfish fry I have to do at 5 will be another matter!
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@SiubhanDuinne: I went to see that last night with my wife and another couple. SPOILER ALERT:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Both women had read the book and my friend’s wife told him what happens. I had no idea that the Emma character (Ann Hathaway) gets drilled by a bus and dies. We had smuggled some beers in and I really had to go, so I got up and left right before she dies. I was gone maybe 4 minutes tops. I come back in and retake my seat during the scene where Dex is struggling with his grief and getting a beat down at a night club. They flash the date and year signalling the chapter change and I lean over to my friend and joke, “what a difference a year makes.” He leans over and in a serious tone and says, “she was killed.” Just then I realize my wife and several other women sitting around us are sobbing… Needless to say, when the movie ended, I got the “I can’t believe you left during that scene” lecture from my slightly less distraught wife, while my friend and I were howling with laughter at what had happened.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@fhtagn:
That may or may not be true, for all you know about the subject.
I don’t have one. Poopyman introduced the topic, so you should ask him why he has an obsession with it. The links are there for you to follow – if you want to comprehend the conversation as it unfolded. Since it’s an open thread, you may ask me about my obsessions if you wish, although DougJ may censor my descriptions in his thoughtful thought police manner.
.
.
gbear
@chopper: Really late to the reply (just got back from my ride). My scoot is a Kymco People s250. Nimble riding it around town but fast enough to get out on the highways too.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Raven (formerly stuckinred):
Because 1) my words have weight, and 2) because I’m waiting for you to make me. Care to make a violent threat, balloonbagger? Y’all are real good at those, so you may as well play to your strength.
.
.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Because 1) my words have weight,
I, for one, will state that you are every bit as effective as the Hamshter.
Origuy
@OzoneR:
Young Henry was hot; athletic and handsome. He got fat after falling off a horse in a jousting accident in 1536, the year he had Anne Boleyn beheaded.
I haven’t been watching The Tudors. I saw a little of the first episode, and it looked a little soapy to me. Read Allison Weir’s books for a good take on the real history.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thanks, Jim! We both share the burden of trying to influence very bad people, if that’s any consolation.
.
.
jazzgurl
Jane and co got the attention they wanted….and the consequences. No-one particularly cares. Poor old and tired mercenary Jane. Moving right along. Next!
fhtagn
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
DougJ’s thought policing is more accurately understood as periodically flushing the toilet. You find this quaint custom upsetting?
RandyH
@OzoneR:
They ARE protesting in the wrong country if their problem is oil from dug-up (not drilled for) tar sands. It is a process that takes alot of energy to melt the oil pout of the tar sands, but appears to be financially viable. More expensive than drilling for oil but it’s everywhere on the earth’s surface in that oart of Canada inside these sands. Digging this stuff up is the decision of Canada and all of the worldwide oil companies doing it. NOT the US government.
However, moving oil by pipeline in the safest and most efficient way to do it. And it’s underground so Hurricanes and stuff shouldn’t matter. What we have to worry about is 40 years down the line, after the pipeline owner has neglected their pipeline and not adequately maintained it, maybe it will have a break in some environmentally sensitive area. That’s it. The oil they’re sending through it is just as good as the stuff that comes on ships from Saudi Arabia. Canada is our largest supplier of imported oil. Did anyone know that?
And contrary to another person who just complained about my other comment about GI Jane and her Boy Wonder Dan Choi, this has nothing to do with “fracking.” That is an entirely different process where they drill deep deep deep into the earth until they reach these shale deposits found in the northeastern US. They use alot of chemicals and then bust up (or fracture, hence the term Fracking) the seep shale deposits to allow the trapped natural gas to come out. Entirely different! But the risk with fracking is that those chemicals will leak into the water table where our well water comes from. ENTIRELY different. But some people hear “shale” and think it’s the same thing.
We really are a stupid people in this country.
realbtl
@gbear:
I’ve got an ’86 Honda Helix that is the most comfortable 2 wheeler I’ve ridden in my 48 years of motorcycling. I did a 700 mile 3 day trip from Montana through Idaho last week and am heading out tomorrow for about 800 miles through southern Montana. Cruises along great at about 60 which is my speed these days. I’m retired and don’t have to hurry. Odd that it took me this long to discover scooters.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@fhtagn:
Of course all thought police defenders can be relied upon to make such a claim, but – what is your obsession with toilets all about? Is it just the shit, or is it also the piss you were talking about previously?
.
.
Anya
I don’t dislike Jane Hamsher because she’s a critic of the Obama Administration, but because she is a self-aggrandizing publicity seeker …. a first class grifter. She does what she does, not out of principles, but because she’s a phony profiteer, who follows everything she does with a fundraising appeal. Fuck her and fuck her mindless supporters. President Obama has many principled critics, such Robert Reich and Jared Bernstein and you will never see me or anyone attacking them. So go fuck your bitter self, asshole.
gbear
@realbtl: The Kymco is my first venture into motorized two wheels. It’ll make it up to 70mph if I need to keep up with traffic, but both the bike and I are happier in the 50-60 range. Haven’t taken it on any road trips but I’ve been out for some 200 mile day trips. I’m in my fourth season with the bike and I just turned over 22,000 today.
The second best thing about it is that it’ll go 70mph and the best thing about it is that it can’t go 140mph.
Paddy
@lamh34: I really, really enjoyed it, and very happy to find out that they got renewed. I found the relationship between Luther (always “Lewtha” in my head) and Alice creepy but fascinating.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Anya:
So, if I understand you correctly, everyone who is involved with the Tar Sands Sit-In is a phony grifter, and you wish for Jane Hamsher personally to be fucked, and every individual who supports anything she does to be fucked, and that if you’re Jane Hamsher and you disagree with a policy for the same reasons that Robert Reich or Jared Bernstein disagree with it, she’s a bad individual and they’re good individuals, and that you want the individual known as Uncle Clarence Thomas to get fucked by the individual known as Uncle Clarence Thomas.
It is obvious to even the most casual observer that my point about your Cult of Personality derangement disorder is validated by your own words.
.
.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve got an ad for Allen West’s re-election campaign. Is the whole blog-ads system so fucked up? Is somebody reading a right-wing blog getting ads for Barney Frank and Louise Slaughter?
mike in dc
Wait, open thread, 120+ comments, and not one mention of the Battle for Tripoli taking place right now? I dunno, seems like kind of a big deal to me…
BillinGlendaleCA (aka 10amla)
@Elizabelle:
Though I’m mainly a lurker here, the Seattle BJ meet-up made me think we folk from SoCal should do one too. However, next weekend I’m having a b-day dinner with a recent escapee from gov. Goodhair’s state and who will be driving across the Orange Curtain.
ETA: The b-day dinner isn’t mine, it’s for my wife and her daughter. The kid, the escapee, is driving up from Irvine.
Comrade Kevin
Speaking of ads on the page, who the hell is “Fred N. Sauer”?
magurakurin
@Marginalized for stating documented facts:
dude, you should emigrate. You’ll be glad you did. It’s a big world, lots of option, lots of choices. If you hate the place you are, move. Seriously.
disclaimer: expat for 14 years…
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@Anya:
.
.
Anya
@mike in dc: I was just reading Richard Engel’s tweets, while watching AJE. A Jazeera is reporting that untold numbers of casualty in the streets of Tripoli.
AxelFoley
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
LOL, you stupid bitch. You probably really believe all the bullshit you type.
Maude
@OzoneR:
Hillary Clinton makes the decision. One of her campaign staff, high up, during the primaries is a lobbyist for Keystone. The pipe line goes through Nebraska and an aquifer. That caused concern and Ben Nelson and others wrote letters to the State Department. Further study was needed.
One thing was that Hillary Clinton gave a speech last fall and practically said she approved it. The studies hadn’t been completed.
Mother Jones covered this stuff and that’s how I know about it.
I doubt the protest will be effective.
I don’t know enough about that part of the country to have an opinion.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
@AxelFoley:
LOL, Ms Foley, I love that O-face you give me each and every time! I am The Greatest!
.
.
magurakurin
@mike in dc:
It doesn’t fit the narrative of Obama continuing refueling missions over the Med and unmanned drone flights as being his third endless war. Libya is turning out to be a textbook case for how to overthrow the tyrant dictator in the Middle East/North Africa: let your NATO allies do the heavy lifting while sending lawyers, guns and money. Very much unlike the Cheney/Bush effort in Iraq. But, yeah, Obama sucks. Tar Sands.
Villago Delenda Est
@mike in dc:
Well, Mike, reports are sketchy, and preliminary.
Let’s, for once, wait for the followups.
RandyH
I just want to add to my previous comments…
1. Typos really suck. Too bad there’s not a “preview” feature here for comments where you can actually see the comment as the other readers will before you submit it. And no, “Edit” is not the same.
2. Digging up oil shale sands is an inefficient and energy-intensive way of producing crude oil. But with prices for drilled crude as high as they are, oil companies find it to be cost-effective.
3. Using crude oil from any source and refining it into gasoline, diesel fuel and other derivatives is a bad idea but we really are addicted to it. So if you drive a car that burns fossil fuels, blame yourself.
4. Natural gas is a good clean-burning fuel and “fracking” can work as a way of harvesting it. But we need to hold sloppy “frackers” accountable for the damage they cause to the environment (through chemical contamination of water supplies.) We don’t currently do that so they don’t care how sloppy they are. There is alot of money to be made so they know they can afford to deal with a few squeaky wheels. How ’bout we show them an Orange Jumpsuit along with those fines?
5. Electric cars with on-board generators that use gasoline or natural gas when the generator needs to run (think Chevy Volt.) Natural Gas-powered big rigs. Geothermal (massive potential here. See: Iceland.) Solar panels on every rooftop and in hundreds of squre miles of the desert. Wind turbines where there is lots of wind. Local natural gas turbines to make up for local shortages automatically on-demand. And an efficient power grid that uses superconducting cable (preferably underground) to tie all of the metro areas together. ‘Nuff said. This could completely power the US. Don’t listen to the nuclear, coal and oil apologists. They’re just protecting their piece of the supply chain whether it is good for the earth and its inhabitants or not.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Now, where’s that Seattle meet-up…
.
.
Villago Delenda Est
@RandyH:
I might add, Randy, that “solar panels on every roof” really fucks up the centralized distribution system for electrical power, in that it squeezes all those precious sacred profits down something fierce.
If we generated a lot more energy in a non centralized distribution way, we’d be saving on numerous fronts, not just in the money sense, but in the energy sense as well. Which means less need for giant, carbon and radioactive waste producing power plants.
Mark S.
Geez, Uncle Clarence is pretty loquacious tonight. Did someone hit the bourbon?
Does anyone use Webroot? Unless I turn off the firewall, I can’t get on the Internet. It’s seriously pissing me off.
RandyH
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yes I know it would be just TERRIBLE if a suburban neighborhood could power all of the air conditioners for all of the McMansions on a hot sunny day without any outside help.
Terrible. Just terrible.
Just think of all the unemployed coalminers. It’s a JOB KILLER! Forget about all of those solar-power installers and solar panel factory workers who will be busilly employed. Those coal miners might not have a job and have the opportunity of dying from black-lung disease.
Stillwater
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
.
.
.
.
#*%( @@(*!& #)$$*()_@_ @(@*&$^^%!.
.
.
.
.
Mark S.
Here are seven ways Rick Perry want to change the Constitution. Lots of shout outs for states rights, but abortion and same-sex marriage must be banned by the Federal Constitution.
realbtl
@gbear:
Sounds similar in performance to the Helix and I agree on the 2 best things. If you are interested I’ve got a couple of trip reports here plus there’s lots of Helix info and other scooter stuff.
TooManyJens
I just had an Obot-Firebagger argument with my husband. It’s all fun and games here on BJ, but it’s not so much fun in your own living room.
eemom
Yerp. I’m thinking I was on to something when I pegged him for a Hamsher sockpuppet. Cuz this storied occasion on which Hamsher has become one with MLK, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela is the first and only time I’ve ever seen him aspire past his usual tedious, threadbare, lazy ass reiteration of the same old all-purpose Obama sux one liner.
How much is she paying you, Unkie? I mean considering how instantly anyone who disagrees with her is branded a paid troll over at her cesspool, I’ve gotta think the “lady” doth protest too much.
Tom Q
Does anybody else find it especially gracious of Uncle Clarence Thomas do to that double-dot thing on every post? It makes it easy to avoid accidentally even starting to read one of his insipid declarations.
Now that I’ve mentioned it, he’ll probably stop.
gocart mozart
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
Are you suggesting that the D.C Police serve at the President’s personal discretion, his very own storm troopers as it were. You seem upset that he can’t order them around at whim. “Chief, here is a list of names, I want you to drop all charges.” Imagine the shit fit You People* would have if he were to do that.
They’ll all go before a judge first thing Monday morning, plead to breach of peace or trespass, and pay a $500 fine or something. This is what is commonly called “civil disobedience” See: Thoreau, Henry David
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
* (You People = Conservatives, see also: Douche-Hats)
dww44
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I, too, heard that and thought, “Say what?” Fallows thinks that Howard Dean represented the extreme of the Democratic party in 2004 and because he sucked up all the Dem energy ahead of the general, then that election, to Fallows, was analagous to Goldwater in 1964. Gee whiz, surely he has a better grasp of political history than that.
Having caught Fallows in several of his interviews on the weekend edition of “All Things Considered” over the last year, I long ago decided he’s one more of those we used to think of as being left of center, but in reality is perhaps only left of center by a teeny tiny millimeter. Besides we all know what’s happened to “The Center” in the last couple of decades.
Then that bit was followed by an interview with a psychiatrist professor from Tufts who’s written a book about the sanity or lack of in past Presidents. Suffice it to say that a bit of insanity seems to make for outstanding leadership qualities. The sane ones, like Bush, and NIXON!! and Obama perhaps needed or need to evidence some characteristics of mental illness to effectively lead during difficult times.
I thought, yep, there goes that NPR, sucking up to the right again, albeit ever so subtly. Let’s end the whole show by weighing in on the dearth of leadership qualities that our current President manifests,because, you know, he’s so sane. The country would be better off if Obama had to work through a couple of bouts of depression, or even manifest some bi-polarness and thus unleash his creative juices.
karen marie
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: Food fight! Food fight!
Telling you to shut the fuck up was maybe not the most diplomatic suggestion. Might I suggest you read this to perhaps better understand people giving a Bronx cheer at Hamsher’s arrest.
And this too.
eemom
@TooManyJens:
sorry. : (
I’ve been lucky enough to keep the existence of Hamsher a secret from my husband. Cuz Gawd knows if he ever finds out about this gorgeous selfless martyr for the oppressed languishing in a prison cell, he’ll be off to join the zillion-car pileup on I-66E this evening caused by horny progressive kinghts in shining armour racing into DC to post bond.
RandyH
Uncle Clarence Thomas seems a bit Troll-like, no?
Jane Hamsher probably got arrested because she deserved to get arrested. She will milk it for all it’s worth if she’s the Jane Hamsher that I am getting used to. She is a grifter and, in this case, a martyr for some “cause” that she only pretends to understand because it might make her a few bucks. Gotta pay that mortgage!
Maybe she should get a job at The Heritage Foundation or AEI or something. I hear they pay well for those that have no moral compass. She’d be perfect.
dww44
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: I’m with you on this one. This is an issue well worth a sit-in. Tar Shale oil extraction will be very very damaging to our climate.
Go Hamsher, Choi, and McKibben!
Anya
@Tom Q: I used to appreciate that graciousness, but i was too bored tonight.
karen marie
@Uncle Clarence Thomas: False equivalency isn’t just for professional media types any more!
@RandyH: Hold sloppy “frackers” responsible the way BP was held responsible for the Gulf spill? Yeah, that will work. I’m sure people forced to take showers with bottled water will be fine with that.
eemom
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….at least she didn’t get her car towed this time…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. bwaaahaaahaaaahaaaaa……………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iz I doing it right, Uncle?…………………………………….
dww44
@RandyH: It’s the method of extraction, via tar shales, which has the potential for doing great harm to the earth’s environment. Not so much the pipeline itself.
RandyH
@karen marie:
Oh Come ON. That is low. Very low of you.
They are going to do it. We have to regulate what they do. That is all. Making it illegal is impossible. We need to regulate what they do. That’s all. There is nothing wrong with extracting natural gas from the earth. How you go about it should be regulated to prevent damage to local water supplies. It CAN be done safely but we don’t regulate them well enough to make them do it right.
Grow up.
gocart mozart
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
So does a horse’s ass.
You do realize this is the internet don’t you?
RandyH
@dww44:
I AGREE WITH YOU!
But they are protesting in the wrong country. Canada is allowing this. NOT the US. And the White House is the WRONG place to protest over this. Go to Ottawa and protest to their Prime Minister.
The pipeline that they’re protesting over is just stupid.
dww44
@RandyH: Nope, they are not protesting in the wrong country. As McKibben states at his 360 blog, if the pipeline doesn’t get built, then likely the tar shale extraction of oil won’t go forward, certainly not on the scale that it would with a humongous pipeline. This is what McKibben and his fellow demonstrators are about. If Obama nixes the pipeline, then the damage can possibly be mitigated.
From http://act.350.org/sign/tar-sands/
Steeplejack
@Anya:
Mmm, breakfast burritos. Looking forward to getting some from District Taco here in NoVa tomorrow morning.
Although the best I ever had was at a little diner called Eats ’n’ Sweets in Virginia-Highland in Atlanta back in the ’80s.
OzoneR
@RandyH: Well the other thing is they are probably arguing it does nothing to stop our addiction to oil. I’ve met quite a few environmentalists who think we should just stop using oil tomorrow and that would solve the problem.
RandyH
BTW-
For the less cerebral among us, “Ottawa” is the Capitol of Canada. It is located in Ontario. Many Americans think Toronto (also in Ontario) is the Capitol of Canada but it is not.
That is where the Prime Minister and the central government are located. They certainly are not at the White House in Washington DC and Canada is not a part of the Untied States.
This has been today’s sarcastic civics lesson.
TooManyJens
We do seem to have come a bit loose, lately…
OzoneR
@dww44:
It’s really sad that you believe this. OF course Canada is going to extract the oil from there either way, and what do you mean “not on the scale?” You think they’re only going to extract a little bit of oil?
Anya
@Steeplejack: I can go there if they have a good breakfast burritos. My brother lives in Northern Virginia and I visit him regularly. Is it any good?
OzoneR
@RandyH: Please don’t tell me there are people in America who think Toronto is the capital of Canada..
Yutsano
@dww44: International. Market. For. Oil. Canada does not drill it for our sake alone. They also freely and willingly sell it to China among others.
TooManyJens
@eemom: Thanks. It was really pretty upsetting. Now I’m torn between stress-eating and stress-walking (which would be the obvious choice if it weren’t past 11 at night).
EDIT: Lift weights! That’s what I can do. Channel that nervous energy into muscle.
Anya
Jane Hamsher’s Running Out Of Sheep – h/t the Obama Diary.
karen marie
@RandyH: Low? I’m just laughing at your contention that “regulation” will solve problems that will occur.
RandyH
@dww44:
That’s total F’ing nonsense. They already get the oil transported by train and truck and (even still) it’s extremely profitable. The best solution for them (and us) is a pipeline, as long as we’re addicted to oil. Fix that and then get back to me.
They should get that pipeline because it’s a better, more environmentally friendly way to transport their oil. Would you rather we import from Un-Friendly countries or from our peaceful neighbors from the north? But we’re going to get it anyway, so maybe we should do it right, don’t you think?
Maybe a better solution is to build a major refinery in North Dakota or Northern Minnesota. The locals in both locations would love it and the pipelines already reach them. Then we would be talking about building domestic gasoline pipelines from those locations to who knows where. And the same disputes would arise.
Face it. We’re going to get oil from Canada (a good, friendly place that doesn’t require wars,) no matter what. They are our biggest supplier, after all.
If you just can’t handle all of this complicated stuff, stop driving a car that burns fossil fuels. Seriously. This can be fixed and we can end the market for fossil fuels. But all of this bitching about how the oil is produced as opposed to where it comes form is really sad. It has to come from somewhere.
Get a clue. And again, Grow Up.
OzoneR
@dww44: Besides, it’s simple logic. Rather than pressure the Obama administration to reject a pipeline that may or may not (probably not) stop environment-harming oil production, you could actually stop the Canadian government from producing in the first place. Jane Hamsher is stupid, but she’s not this stupid, which leads to me to believe this has nothing to di with the pipeline or the tar shale.
Seriously, this is like stopping construction of a highway by protesting the company that produces the concrete.
Steeplejack
@RandyH:
Capital, not capitol.
RandyH
@OzoneR:
They are RIGHT! If we could pull off the amazing feat of just stopping our use of fossil fuels tomorrow, we really would fix the problem. That is a certainty.
But we need to figure out how to do that instead of complaining about pipelines, which are very efficient ways to move oil.
Steeplejack
@Anya:
District Taco is very good. Short menu but fast service and excellent quality. They started as a food truck (which they still have) and then opened a sit-down/takeout restaurant in Arlington, which is where I go. My usual is breakfast
burritostacos (soft, with scrambled eggs, cheese and potatoes) with chorizo. And they have a bunch of different salsas that are excellent.OzoneR
@Yutsano: Well the other story is that much of the oil in that pipeline won’t be going to us, it’ll be going to other countries like China just via refineries in Texas.
RandyH
@Steeplejack:
Sorry. Capital is a term relating to money or finances. Capitol is a term relating to the government center of a state or country. Check your dictionary.
Yutsano
@OzoneR: Yup. Pretty much how the universe of petroleum distillates works.
Steeplejack
@RandyH:
Yeah, well, I did check my dictionary, and definition 3 of capital is “a city serving as a seat of government.”
A capitol, on the other hand, is “a building in which a legislative body meets.”
Maybe you should get to know your dictionary.
ETA: Fucktard.
RandyH
@Steeplejack: @Steeplejack:
I stand corrected by Webster. Either should work though, when speaking of government centers. I am not the one who got so fussy about it all, you know.
Nothing personal. :)
Anya
@Steeplejack: Next time I am in the area, I will make sure to visit it. Thanks!
karen marie
@OzoneR: I’d be curious, since the Canadians would be using the pipeline to move oil destined for other countries, how much Canada (well, the oil companies, really) would be paying for its construction and maintenance. Seems to me they should pay for most, if not all, of it since any oil destined here could be dealt with more cheaply building a refinery in the northern US, as someone else above suggested, than building a pipeline long enough to reach the Texas coast.
Steeplejack
@RandyH:
You could have stopped right there, but, no, you had to go for the double-axel add-on “I wasn’t really mistaken” fucktard. Congratulations. The East German judge gave you a 9.
OzoneR
@karen marie:
I assume the entire thing is being constructed with private funds and maintained by a private company, that’s why it needs the administration’s approval, sorta like the Alaska pipeline.
Villago Delenda Est
@RandyH:
No, I’m afraid Capitol refers to a building in DC, based on the old hill in Rome.
Capital is not only an economic term, it’s also the designation of the city that serves as a seat of government. Or a crime that involves the death penalty (from the head being lobbed off, you see). Or one of the major ships of a naval fleet.
eemom
hmm…..what happened? Uncle has up and left us.
Perhaps he is nestled all snug in his bed, with visions of Hamsher prison pr0n dancing in his…..head.
Steeplejack
@eemom:
I think he used up his supply of one-paragraph dots. He was spraying them with abandon tonight.
RandyH
@Steeplejack:
You really love that term “fucktard” don’t you?
SO much fuss about Capital vs Capitol. As if it adds anything to the conversation, Fucktard.
Steeplejack
@RandyH:
Here’s the deal: You had a sarcasm fail with your original condescending comment “for the less cerebral among us.” Pro tip: It’s hard for sarcasm to succeed when you sound stupid because you’re misusing common words.
When I pointed out (with no judgment or comment) that you wanted the word capital, not capitol, you doubled down with even more condescension. “Check your dictionary.” Would it have killed you to entertain the thought, even for a second, that perhaps you were mistaken and that you should check the dictionary? No, that’s crazy talk. Full speed ahead. Hence you earned the fucktard.
Then, presented with the evidence of your mistake, you weaseled around and ended with a personal dig:
Passive-aggressive much? So, yeah, that earned you the double fucktard with oak leaf cluster.
I am not normally a flamer, and I try to keep the copyediting pedantry in check, but you just got on my last nerve with your lamebrained, snotty response. Over and out.
AA+ Bonds
BA BA BOOEY
AA+ Bonds
I Googled “pedantry” and it linked to this thread, can someone please tell me what it means? Please, my IP address is “old in the knees” and has started talking about the war as though it hasn’t happened yet…
RandyH
@Steeplejack:
Okay. I’m just sitting here smirking over some jerk who wants to take the difference between “Capital” and “Capitol” to this level of craziness.
You go right ahead there.
This thread is dead. So keep arguing with yourself about your own god-damned obstinance. I tried to be nice and admit I made a stupid mistake in vocabulary but you had to get nasty about it with the “fucktard” bullshit. That’s no way to make friends.
I’ll give you the last word. I think I should end my words with your own term… Fucktard!
Have a nice night. It’s bedtime for me.
But be sure to tell me off properly, Fucktard.
Yutsano
@RandyH: Here is the hole: -. Here is you. _. Stop going downwards.
karen marie
@OzoneR: The easements alone will cost a shit ton. It’s hard to see how this can work without the price of oil being way, way higher than it is now.
Comrade Kevin
@RandyH: If you’re going to pick on someone’s spelling, you’d better be goddamn sure you’re right. Otherwise, it makes you look like, well, an idiot.
eemom
Wow.
I guess me and the General and fuckhead will just have to come to terms with the fact that we are no longer the reigning Champions of dumb ass name calling arguments over stupid shit on this blog.
Ain’t gonna be easy, though. [sniff]
keestadoll
The Hollywood-raised twit in me must confess to a revisionist history ending to Lady Ann, but BRAVO BBC!!!!