.
Stolen from NYMag, who stole it from Reddit: Advice to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s fellow collegians at UMass-Dartmouth (aka, “not that Dartmouth”).
Back in the mid-1970s, when I was working for a large Midwestern state college, a Libertarian acquaintance had the bold, paradigm-shattering idea to run for a city council spot on the twin platforms of banning alcohol (18-year-olds were allowed to drink, in those primitive days) and encouraging nuclear-powered industry. Yes, we did try to explain that “Free beer, no nukes” would have been a much better slogan than “Free nukes, no beer”…
Apart from such fruitless endeavors, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
the Conster
Best take yet on the bomb bros: The older one is a douchebag and the younger one is a dumbass. That’s pretty much the scoop.
Chris
A libertarian prohibitionist. Now that IS funny.
PsiFighter37
Going for a run and then probably meeting up with a buddy to have a drink or two. Sounds like a good plan!
For Balloon Juicers – meetup in 8 days! Golden Road Brewery in Glendale at 7:30 PM on Friday, May 10th. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested in showing up. I don’t make it out to the Left Coast often, and it’d be great to see some Juicers, now that I’ve made an ass out of myself online for a few years now.
pokeyblow
So Obama wants to make it difficult for teenage girls to access Plan-B.
On the positive side, the Teen Mom franchise (on TV, not the Palin family) can go on unimpeded.
MaryJane
Quietly celebrating daughter’s birthday (the party is Saturday). So far, she’s a joy and a much nicer 15 year old than I was.
No beer.
BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: Technically Golden Road is in LA, but just on the other side of the tracks is Glendale.
Morzer
@the Conster:
Central Asia is Europe now? I mean, how do kids from one of the K-stans end up being Yurpeans?
Roger Moore
@PsiFighter +37:
Be there or be square, LA Juicers!
PsiFighter37
@BillinGlendaleCA: All of the sprawl in that part of town is LA, I was just trying to sound like I knew something other than where Santa Monica is.
Poopyman
On my way out the door to yoga.
Later!
MaryJane
@PsiFighter37:
I passed by Golden Road on my way to Santa Monica last week. Used to work nearby,glanced over at my old workplace and noticed it. I’d love to join you all, but fucking traffic.
Have fun!
PsiFighter37
@MaryJane: Just another reason why NYC rocks…public transportation…
Glad to know I’m not worth the trouble though. #notintendedtobeasarcasticstatement
BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: I was going to add. We Glendalians are a proper bunch, we don’t have breweries or strip clubs in the city. However across the tracks along San Fernando you can find both. It’s literally(ht to crazy uncle Joe Biden) 5 short blocks north of me.
BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: We used to have one of the finest transit systems in the country, the Red Car. See ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ for the sad story.
lojasmo
A foot and a half of snow in SE minnesota today.
I’m not shoveling a damn thing.
MaryJane
@PsiFighter37:
I should have said fucking traffic +2
eta: Y’all are worth it otherwise. I sighed a little when I passed by.
Trollhattan
Background check votes may have helped Landrieu and Hagan.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/mary-landrieu-kay-hagan-gun-vote_n_3202844.html
The public wants this, and a lot more.
lojasmo
@pokeyblow:
Well, Sebilius, And Technically, it will still be LESS difficult than it is under current rules, but don’t let that get in the way of getting your moron on.
dm
@Morzer:
Dagestan and Chechnya are west of the Caspian Sea, practically due south from Moscow, just east of Armenia and Georgia. West of the Urals. So, yes, they’re Europeans.
Also, you can’t get more Caucasian, seeing as how that region is the Caucasus.
Trollhattan
@lojasmo:
Sure wish Al Gore would figure out how to deliver some of that here. The season’s final Sierra Nevada snow survey has us at seventeen percent of normal, and that snowpack is the lion’s share of the state’s water supply. Already several major fires in northern and southern CA and it’s bloody May 2, not August 2.
Grumble.
RSA
Also “not the UMass”, speaking as an alum.
JPL
@Trollhattan: In my opinion, most folks buy guns in stores with back ground checks. It seems only fair to extend that. I don’t have the facts to bear that out but until this week, I had no idea that guns were manufactured for children.
MattR
@RSA: It’s like the old Coffee Talk SNL routines. “UMass-Dartmouth is neither THE UMass nor THE Dartmouth. Discuss.”
MikeJ
@MattR: It is also not University of Maryland, the first thing that pops into my head when I see UMD.
Roger Moore
@BillinGlendaleCA:
But not for the sad truth. People love to see the death of the Red Cars as being a nefarious plot by GM, but the truth is that they died out after WWII because people preferred the convenience of point-to-point travel by car, and the city planners preferred the flexibility of buses. It’s painful to think that Metro is having to rebuild a light rail network that we used to have, but we weren’t going to be able to keep it if there weren’t enough users to keep it going.
OzarkHillbilly
Apart from such fruitless endeavors, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Drinking scotch, eating, and falling asleep while watching a movie. It is raining now. I won’t be surprised if every water way between here and St Lou has jumped it’s banks by morn (OK, maybe a little)
Fortunately, my wife can work from home.
And HEY!!!! What is up with that? I can’t work from home and I am a Union Carpenter!
SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION!!!! I tell ya…..
Roger Moore
@lojasmo:
It’s still annoying that the FDA is appealing a ruling to make Plan B available without restrictions. It’s dumb, both because the Democrats have been the party of reproductive rights and because the FDA is going against the recommendations of its own scientists. So they’re managing to be politically stupid and scientifically stupid at the same time.
OzarkHillbilly
Rain tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night, and Friday…
Hey, God? Can I plant some stuff?? Please? Pretty please?
On the bird front, we have humming birds, we have orioles, we have rose breasted gross beaks, blue gross beak (a first) summer tanagers and… yellow billed cuckoos (been listening to them for decades, saw one for the first time today)(hooray for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Lurking Canadian
@Roger Moore: Wasn’t there an actual conspiracy trial in which auto companies, oil companies and/or tire companies were found guilty (and fined one whole samoleon) of destroying trolley car systems.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly:
In truth, Dog let me plant my hot peppers and my egg plants this week. Slowly but surely…..
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: Did I mention the Indigo Buntings and the Eastern Bluebirds?????
Dog, I love living out here…. And so does my wife.
gbear
@lojasmo: If we would have gotten a single flake of that snow in the Twin Cities, I wouldn’t have shoveled it either, but we lucked out. It missed us by inches. There were cars driving in from the SE suburbs this morning just covered with snow.
One of my coworkers was telling me that there were 500 cars stranded on one highway down there. My sympathies. All you can do about it is go out and take pictures.
Morzer
@dm:
No quarrel about their Caucasian nature, but no-one thinks of Central Asia as European. It’s a very different region culturally and in terms of history. Hell, even a majority of Russians – who have a much stronger claim to be part of Europe culturally – don’t see themselves as European. And no, the Urals have nothing to do with it. People use them as an artificial delineation to make up for the lack of seas/oceans dividing two “continents”, but it’s very much an ex post facto attempt to create a “natural” division, when the real dividing line is cultural.
pokeyblow
I forget, lojasmo… are you the one who threatened to shoot up your work colleagues?
David Koch
@Roger Moore:
how is it politically stupid? Why not even the liberal Elizabeth Warren from deep-blue Massachusetts thinks 12 year old girls should buy morning after pills over the counter.
Mnemosyne
@Roger Moore:
Actually, the cartoon was more accurate than you realize.
Mnemosyne
@PsiFighter37:
I may try to show up, if I don’t chicken out. I’m not good at meeting people IRL.
PsiFighter37
@Mnemosyne: A hint, it gets easier if you have a drink or two handy. And since we’ll be at a brewery, it’s an easy problem to solve!
Jay
Lots of music fans here, I know, so I figured y’all could help me.
I’d like to download a song without buying the whole album (I try not to be one of THOSE people, but folks slip up sometimes, yanno?) because this tune has grabbed me for a long time but I haven’t had enough time to get through the whole album yet.
The song’s by someone called BT, a British Ambient/Electronica guy, and it’s from his soundtrack to a movie I’m sure many of you (including, in all likelihood, our host) are familiar with: the great Charlize Theron’s “Monster.”
The song’s simply called “Ferris Wheel” (so named for the scene in which it appears). I can’t find it on iTunes, and these freaking pirate music sites do absolutely nothing to calm my fear that I’ll get a call from the feds one day. So, are any of you willing to share with a fellow pop culture buff, or point me to a music downloading spot that doesn’t give me the creeps?
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: DO EET!! Meet-ups are a blast! Although it’s hard to imagine one without MikeJ’s giggle or CaseyL’s firey red hair. You really should go though, you will have a great time I promise!
RSA
@MattR: Ah, the nostaglia. I’m verklempt.
Svensker
Posting this in a couple places.
Any computer code type folks looking for a job in St. Louis area?
Company I’ve worked with has just bought themselves back from Amazon and is hiring new staff, particularly code writers. Small company, not a huge budget, but they’re definitely hiring at least a couple of people. They’ve started interviewing so if you’re interested, get a move on. Company is Chrislands.com. Jaymes is the man.
Svensker
@OzarkHillbilly:
Are you sure that wasn’t Louie Gohmert?
replicnt6
Wait, did I just stumble onto letters to Penthouse?
lojasmo
@Roger Moore:
I imagine, that as in other things (chemical weapons news) this administration is being overtly cautious.
Heavan knows the FDA never fucked up on drug safety before, right (fen-fen) anybody?
lojasmo
@pokeyblow:
No, but you sure are sucker for a repeated lie.
Thanks for the input, flower.
pokeyblow
Well, it’s just what some folks told me.
It’s sad when people can’t control their urges to kill or maim others.
Redshirt
@lojasmo: 16 inches? I feel your pain. Seriously. I got so much snow this winter I don’t think I could mentally handle another huge storm, now.
It’s been in the 70’s here and everything’s budding and the birds are singing and there’s been a ton of hornets already. No more snow, please, Mr. Al Gore, Sir.
Roger Moore
@Lurking Canadian:
Not AFAIK. Wikipedia says they were found guilty of trying to monopolize interstate commerce but not of trying to dismantle public transit systems.
The big problem with the Red Car (and similar systems) is that they were streetcars. Their tracks were on the street rather than separated. They wound up with the disadvantages of buses- they were slowed down by car traffic on their routes- without the advantages of being able to move through traffic and be re-routed easily. When cars became more popular, they didn’t just provide an alternative to the streetcars; they actually made streetcars slower.
karen
Since this is an open thread and I know some people live near the DC area…I am asking for help. Big time help.
I live in Silver Spring, MD. I was on the waiting list for three years to get an apartment at Inwood House, which is an apartment complex for the physically/mentally disabled and seniors. The apartments are subsidized through Section 8 and I will only be paying 1/3 of my income which is almost half of what I’m paying now. Plus utilities except for phone and net. And I get to keep my Contessakitty.
Since my salary has been the same for six years (the new normal of course) I’ve been hemorrhaging money since my rent has been rising, I have rheumatoid arthritis and other auto-immune issues so my savings has gone for dental work, meds and of course bills when they called me to interview, see the apartment and they offer it to me and I have a week to decide if I accept. Which is a formality at this point…which leaves me six weeks to pack, get rid of things and move. And I’m visiting my folks in NY for a week next week.
So….
Balloon Juicers in the Metro DC area I need help with all this because I have no car and while I know movers will move my stuff, I’m moving from a 980 SF apartment to a 600 SF apartment so I need to get rid of a whole lot, including furniture. I’d like to sell my stuff but if push comes to shove, I’ll give it away.
I am so not prepared. I’m ready to have a nervous breakdown. I have no family here and no friends locally that can help me.
Help?
karen
Since this is an open thread and I know some people live near the DC area…I am asking for help. Big time help.
I live in Silver Spring, MD. I was on the waiting list for three years to get an apartment at Inwood House, which is an apartment complex for the physically/mentally disabled and seniors. The apartments are subsidized through Section 8 and I will only be paying 1/3 of my income which is almost half of what I’m paying now. Plus utilities except for phone and net. And I get to keep my Contessakitty.
Since my salary has been the same for six years (the new normal of course) I’ve been hemorrhaging money since my rent has been rising, I have rheumatoid arthritis and other auto-immune issues so my savings has gone for dental work, meds and of course bills when they called me to interview, see the apartment and they offer it to me and I have a week to decide if I accept. Which is a formality at this point…which leaves me six weeks to pack, get rid of things and move. And I’m visiting my folks in NY for a week next week.
So….
Balloon Juicers in the Metro DC area I need help with all this because I have no car and while I know movers will move my stuff, I’m moving from a 980 SF apartment to a 600 SF apartment so I need to get rid of a whole lot, including furniture. I’d like to sell my stuff but if push comes to shove, I’ll give it away.
I am so not prepared. I’m ready to have a nervous breakdown. I have no family here and no friends locally that can help me.
Help?
lojasmo
@pokeyblow:
You are a fool.
It certainly is when it happens.
It’s pretty much okay when people don’t tolerate fools without become snarky. When people characterize that as “threatening to kill somebody” derision is warranted.
Take a hike, fool.
handy
@BillinGlendaleCA:
5 blocks north? You and I are neighbors. Like really close.
Mnemosyne
@handy:
You guys are both very close to my office.
Gian
@Morzer:
I know, it’s the Ukraine on the west where Europe starts, and the Middle east, Afghanistan and the Ural are the western border of Asia.
Asia is worth an extra 7 armies per turn if you can hold it. Europe only 5
CarolDuhart2
@karen: Karen, this may be a good place to start:http://www.freecycle.org/group/US/District%20of%20Columbia,
While I don’t live in DC, one advantage of something like this is relatively fast to do. You get people coming who really want your stuff, and no need to worry about having change or anything like that. Of course, depending upon where you live, you could simply set things out to be taken by passersby, but your apartment may frown on that. The people who you will be renting from may also have a few suggestions as what you could do as well-they may have connections to the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and other charities and thrift stores. (Their usual clientele goes the other way and actually purchases from there). Or if the blog masters permit, you could simply post what you are willing to give away and let those nearby BJers haul it away…
cleek
here’s a pic of a kid that i took at the Hiroshima site.
http://ok-cleek.com/images/jpn/draft_beer.jpg
context
gorram
@Morzer:
This is what most people in the US mean when they say “Central Asia” though. That’s the point that someone else was making upthread, not that they necessarily are European, but that Central Asian isn’t the best descriptor for them either.
Actually, a lot of Russian political writings are about how declaring their country non-European or non-Western or whatever is a convenient way to excuse Western Europeans from considering whether to intervene in Chechnya. When it’s pragmatic, they’ll reverse that argument and play up how they’re the other half of Europe. With the rise of the EU and disintegration of the Soviet Union, however, the field’s been tilted in favor of Russians depicting themselves as an other.
If it’s an artificial distinction then why are you so invested in Chechens *not* being European? You’re coming across as making the slightly more academic “Muslims can’t be White” argument right now.
Also, isn’t it kind of insulting to say that Europe is so culturally different and special it’s a different continent, while treating the Middle East, India, China, and Central Asia as a uniform “Asian” mass? What makes Europe so unique and all of those so undifferentiated? It seems like an argument rooted in race.
Anoniminous
Testing:
♩
♪
♫
♬