Month: January 2011

Athenae, Diary6 Comments

Friday Ferretblogging: Claire vs. The Evil Paper Tube

Most of the ferrets we’ve had haven’t nibbled much of anything, though Riot does like to sharpen his teeth on a pair of my shoes once in a while. Claire, however, is a chewer, and her snack of choice is cardboard, so we have to watch her carefully when she plays with boxes to make sure she’s not, you know, actually ingesting anything. Much as the Best Vet Ever is quite awesome, I’d really like to avoid vising her for a while. In this installment of Ferret TV, Claire gets mightily angry at a paper tube for resisting her efforts … Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging: Claire vs. The Evil Paper Tube

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media23 Comments

We Were Right, You Assholes

Now this is awesome. This is how it ought to be done.Have a little pride, for chrissakes: The news media have been, if anything, even more craven than the administration has been in defending its failure to investigate Bush’s case for war in Iraq before the war. Here’s ABC News’ Charles Gibson:“I think the questions were asked. It was just a drumbeat of support from the administration. It is not our job to debate them. It is our job to ask the questions.”And “I’m not sure we would have asked anything differently.” Really? Or this from NBC’s Brian Williams:“Sadly, we … Continue reading We Were Right, You Assholes

Adrastos, Immoral Values, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks9 Comments

Malaka Of The Week: Rick Santorum

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’ve missed having former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum to kick around. He was stupid and crazy before it was fashionable. He’s best known for his comparison of gay sex to “man on dog sex.” Those were the days, my friend. Arf, lick, woof. Santorum was defeated for re-election by Bob Casey in 2006 and he’s mostly kept his head down since then. But with the advent of the Tea Party, Rick has poked his head out of his hole, so it’s time for me to play a bit of whack-a-mole and make him malaka of the week. Former Senator Man … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Rick Santorum

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media2 Comments

YOUR Poverty is Virtuous

You should labor mightily and for little money, so that I can admire your picturesque and quaint industry from my well-appointed sitting room: Seven months into its bid toreinvent the metro newspaper, The Bay Citizen, the San Francisco-based nonprofit news site, has so farraised a total of $14.5 million in philanthropic gifts, rolled out daily online news and culture coverage with a 26-person-staff, and, during November, attracted a monthly audience of approximately 200,000 unique visitors. It’son track to spend $4 million during its first year. [snip] In a world where many local nonprofit startups are shoestring operations run by refugees … Continue reading YOUR Poverty is Virtuous

Michael F7 Comments

Don’t Let the Door Hit You, Joe

FromAlbum3 Andthus ends the Lieberman era, not with a bang, but an extended, two year, droopy whimper. I’m embarrassed to admit that, all those years ago, after voting for the first time in Wisconsin at the fire station on Willy St., then gloomily reading the next day’s newspaper (ooooh — pre-internet even)…I took small solace in seeing something about the Dems picking up a seat in Connecticut. I didn’t realize at the time it was Joe knocking offLowell Weicker … well, live and learn. Anyway, good riddance…some credit for working to repeal DADT, though that’s heavily offset by Joe’s ADAMENT … Continue reading Don’t Let the Door Hit You, Joe

Adrastos, Music4 Comments

Wednesday Night Music: Burn It Down

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’ve been listening to Los Lobos for a long time. Their albums are a bit of a mish mash; especially during their tiresome Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake “experimental” phase. These guys from East LA, however, have *always* been a stellar live act. This is a tune from their latest CDTin Can Trust, which doesn’t have too much of the clanking percussion that marred efforts such asColossal Head. Continue reading Wednesday Night Music: Burn It Down

Law/Justice, Television, VirgoTex12 Comments

Dope on the table

Okay, so someone at a conference asked Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld what he thought ofThe Wire. Watch the video below and see if you can tell exactly when the Commissioner makes his first mistake: If you answered “As soon as he opens hisfuckmook mouth,” you’d be right. Bealefield says heknows David Simon. If so, then he was probably not surprised by this: Publicly, let me state that The Wire owes no apologies—at least not for its depiction of those portions of Baltimore where we set our story, for its address of economic and political priorities and urban poverty, … Continue reading Dope on the table

Athenae, Economy4 Comments

Children Have Always Lived in Cities

Part of my problem withstories like the one linked in this post, and with discussions that begin with “you can’t raise a family in the city” anyway, is that they’re essentially classist and are about people who have a choice one way or the other, but never ever ever acknowledge that. The other thread is the “people want to live in cities until they have kids then it’s too hard.” I get that quality of local schools is a genuine issue, but otherwise I’m rather confused by the “can’t raise 2 kids without a minivan in the suburbs” attitude I … Continue reading Children Have Always Lived in Cities

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media7 Comments

Today in Total Asshole Digest: Mark Halperin

Mark Halperin, everybody: What political good has come out of the tragic Arizona shooting so far? Yes, by all means, let’s make sure we know the answer to THAT question. Amoral jackass. Who has failed to rise to the occasion? Those liberals (particularly on the Internet) who instantly blamed the right for effectively instigating the assault and those conservatives (particularly on talk radio) who turned cherry-picked examples of liberal overreach into sweeping generalizations. Liberals on the Internet, most of whom are just that guy who types stuff occasionally onto a message board, and talk radio conservatives who have billion-dollar businesses … Continue reading Today in Total Asshole Digest: Mark Halperin

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Immoral Values, Law/Justice2 Comments

Baby Doc In The Dock?

Peter Adrastos Athas

Haiti has been a tragic and afflicted country for its entire history so good news out of there is exceedingly rare. Baby Doc Duvalier returned to the country this week for obscure reasons: hubris? delusion? stupidity? He arrived broke, hoping to arose sympathy and/or support, which in some quarters he has.Here’s the good news: he was dragged off to court earlier today and is facing corruption charges. The Duvalier family regime in Haiti was one of the most oppressive, brutal and crooked governments imaginable. The were racketeers, not rulers. The Duvaliers relied on terror both physical, in the form of … Continue reading Baby Doc In The Dock?

Athenae, Geek Cred1 Comment

Okay, One Last Caprica Post

Because the Jacob recaps are all up, and as usual they’re better than anything: This is what Shakespeare has to say about it: …[T]he fixed sentinels almost receiveThe secret whispers of each other’s watch.Fire answers fire, and through their paly flamesEach battle sees the other’s umbered face. …But I think we can do better. How about Churchill? You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. Who painted the sky? You did. Who brings the sun up over the horizon, … Continue reading Okay, One Last Caprica Post

Adrastos, Of Interest4 Comments

Sargent Shriver, RIP

Peter Adrastos Athas

Sargent Shriver died today at the age of 95. He was best known to the world as a second banana: JFK’s brother-in-law, Ahnuld’s father-in-law and McGovern’s 1972 running mate after Eagleton crapped out and everybody else turned the hapless nominee down. But Shriver was the first Peace Corps director and one of the leaders of the Great Society’s war on poverty. He was also a stand-up guy and, according to one of my relatives who met him, a helluva ballroom dancer. Continue reading Sargent Shriver, RIP

Athenae, Political Crack7 Comments

National Short Attention-Span Theater

This, okay: People mostly remembered that Bill Clinton once had made a passing mention of what he called “the purveyors of hatred and division… the promoters of paranoia” on the airwaves. (At the actual memorial service, Clinton quoted Scripture and talked about healing.) This time, many people struck pre-emptively; Rush Limbaugh may be self-medicating his wounded ego for the rest of his life over what he imagines Clinton said about him. There was a lot of what was called “defensiveness” on the activist Right, but it was nothing of the sort. They were on offense, just the way they have … Continue reading National Short Attention-Span Theater

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Political Crack3 Comments

Caligula Meets Silvio Berlusconi

Peter Adrastos Athas

In news from Italy: Item-1:The lost tomb of Caligula has been found after an enterprising thief stumbled upon it and tried to smuggle a statute of the mad horse loving emperor abroad: Officers from the archaeological squad ofItaly‘s tax police had a break last week after arresting a man near Lake Nemi, south of Rome, as he loaded part of a 2.5 metre statue into a lorry. The emperor had a villa there, as well as a floating temple and a floating palace; their hulks were recovered in Mussolini’s time but destroyed in the war. The police said the statue … Continue reading Caligula Meets Silvio Berlusconi

Athenae, Immoral Values4 Comments

Conscience Clauses: Whose Conscience are We Keeping Clean?

My latest piece for what once was Sirens magazine and is now Sexyfeminist.com: When pro-life crusaders aim to prevent abortions, they paint a picture in the public mind of the irresponsible, selfish woman, using words like “abortion on demand” and “abortion as birth control.” They don’t talk about the realities of women’s reproductive health, and the full consequences of denying medical treatment in order to discourage sexual indiscretion. They don’t address all the ways in which the process of conceiving and bearing a child can go wrong, and all the measures that must be taken when and if that happens. … Continue reading Conscience Clauses: Whose Conscience are We Keeping Clean?

Athenae, Political Crack6 Comments

I Want To Have Chet’s Internet Baby

THIS: After the memorial service was over, I flipped to Fox News. There, I watched as Brit Hume, Charles Krauthammer and the other right-wing talkers praised the President for hitting all the right notes. But my Fox News-loving, right-wing Facebook friends were aghast. They were outraged. They seemed ready to overthrow our government. We’ve gotcommenters here on NorthDecoder pointing to Michelle Malkin’s website’s summary of everything sketchy that’s ever been published by a basement-dwelling, cheetoh-eating, left-wing blogger or by a has-been comedienne, proclaiming, “You guys do it just as much!!!” Okay, yeah, sure, you got me. In this nation of … Continue reading I Want To Have Chet’s Internet Baby

Immoral Values, Stupid Republican Tricks, Tommy T19 Comments

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – “If FR dies, that’s that” edition

Well, faithful readers, the Free Republic website has been up and down like a yo-yo over the past couple of weeks. I thought that maybe the hampster just died, but it seems to be more serious than that.

Apparently the entire steam-powered server system needs new copper tubing!

If FR dies, that’s that.” – Jim Robinson [Jim’s reply at post # 588]
freerepublic.com ^ | 1/11/11 | paulycy

Posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:28:06 AM bypaulycy

FYI –

Here are statements from Jim about the future of FreeRepublic.com for those who missed them. They are quite serious.

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“Well, I can say that there are definitely two things that will never happen. 1) Banner ads. 2) Oracle [a completely new database system.] And a third is a total replacement [of the current damaged system.] Don’t have the financial wherewithal.”

“To those who wish to leave because of it, see ya.”

“If FR dies, that’s that.”

===

[To: paulycy]

Hey, you want us to get an all new system with all new software and add a few more pricey techs, system programmers and database administrators to keep it all working 100% of the time 24/7/365? Well, start coughing up the big bucks.

It’s going to take tens of thousands of donations and many with at least three zeros each after the comma to accomplish the task. And that would be EVERY month like clock work to make the payroll. Once you take on a big load of expensive overhead, there’s no going back.As it is, we get a couple thousand donations per quarter averaging about $30 bucks each and there’s no guarantees we can cover this quarter’s expenses much less next quarter. We’re on a pay as we go system and we have zero employees.We just ask for enough to pay the bills.

Throwing more money at the problem won’t solve it. [This latest glitch] was a technical issue and we just had to keep troubleshooting until we found it. And no, we’re not going to invite a bunch of strangers in to get their hands on our secure systems. John has been programming since he was 14 and he’s pushing 40 now. He built these systems and he’s an expert in them.

And no, we are not going to throw out our software and rewrite it and no we’re not going to move on to some other database system. There are no guarantees that any other system can do a better job and not without hiring a staff to build and maintain it and that’s for sure. And we don’t have the financial wherewithal to do any of that anyway. Maybe if we had a couple million bucks at our disposal and a couple years to do it in we could build an iron-clad system. And maybe not.

All I can say is, if someone else can do it better and cheaper, then please step right on up and get ‘er done!! I’ll bow out and retire. Thankyouverymuch.

Hit it boys:

https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/

And no, we have no plans of taking FR commercial. I like it the way it is.Not sure I could handle getting rich.

===

– Jim Robinson

Bwahaha

HEY!

Waitaminnit! If these bozos lose their Speak-and-Spell-powered database…

I’m out of a gig!

No more mad Soros bucks! All the money I don’t get paid to post here will dry up like Jimbo’s colostomy bag!

Unless, of course, I plaster ads all over my clothes to support myself, but I’m not sure I could handle being rich.

To: paulycy

I couldn’t give much but if a Michigander who lives hand to mouth like myself could give $10, its pretty hard to deny that everyone couldn’t pitch in $5 or $10.

3 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:31:11 AM bycripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: LUV W

I’m here to the end with you, money’s tight, but did manage $10.00

5 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:35:54 AM byIAmNotAnAnima
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To: cripplecreek

…my monthly “payday” is tomorrow.

6 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:36:14 AM byDoogle ((USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
Which, of course, means that you’re living off government tax money, or an eeeevil union pension. I thought you creeps frowned on that kind of thing?
To: paulycy

I’ll donate more when we start having banner ads. I live in a capitalist society. I have no problem with ads.

9 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:39:29 AM byMercat
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You just gave Jimbo a coronary.
Besides –how do you decide who’s too crazy to allow to buy ad space?
Do you draw the line at Orly Taitz’s learn-as-you-earn dental school?
To: paulycy

What is ‘oracle’?

11 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:41:19 AM byCeltic Cross
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Bobs-FuckingStupid
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To: paulycy; Jim Robinson
OK, I just donated $50.

But it’s inevitable, Jim. Change will come.

And if you refuse to change the way you manage the servers and software, it will crash and burn.

Now I respect your attitude, but the future of FreeRepublic is more important than any one of us.

I hope you have a change of heart, or find a wealthy “sugar momma”!

23 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:48:30 AM byairborne (Why is it we won’t allow the Bible in school, but we will in prison? Think about it.)
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CindyMccain
NO! Not even ifyou paidME!
To: CAluvdubya

Need a financial Knight in shining armor. Rush? Are you there?

28 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:50:56 AM byTheRake
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Dunno – are you a young boy in the Dominican Republic?
This is how little these yahoos know about their “heroes”.
You’ll get money from Rush Limbuagh the day you marry him, and not one minute before.
To: Celtic Cross
Whats the situation currently? Is death imminent for FR?

I honestly don’t know. That is a mystery that Jim won’t share. Part of me understands why and part of me wants to know what the heck is going on so that we can solve the problems and bring the money and manpower to bear on the situation as needed.

Jim is the owner of FR. We are merely donors.The problem comes in that we *feel* like shareholders in a company and should have the rights of shareholders. But we don’t. That’s the rub. We don’t have a right to know what Jim knows because FR is his private property and not *our* company.

32 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:54:13 AM bypaulycy (The Constitution is a Formal Contract. Live up to it or lose your job, Congress.)
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So you’re not “shareholders”, as much as “marks”. Got it.
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To: Celtic Cross; paulycy; Jim Robinson
Whats the situation currently? Is death imminent for FR?

This is what Jim said:As it is, we get a couple thousand donations per quarter averaging about $30 bucks each and there’s no guarantees we can cover this quarter’s expenses much less next quarter. We’re on a pay as we go system and we have zero employees.We just ask for enough to pay the bills.

FR lives hand to mouth andFreepathons are taking longer to fulfill. It may be that sometime we won’t complete a fundraiser and that will be that.

35 posted on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 7:56:16 AM byDJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are at your door! How will you answer the knock?)
As I said before, I have mixed emotions about this.
More freeper hand-wringing after the jump thingy..

Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – “If FR dies, that’s that” edition”

Adrastos, Sports13 Comments

Scott Fujita on the NFL’s Labor Blues

Peter Adrastos Athas

Former Saint and current Browns Linebacker Scott Fujita is one of the smartest players in the NFL. He wrote a piece for WWL-TV.com giving the players’ side of the potential NFL lockout and I thought I’d share. Scott thinks the key issue is health care. Hmm, that sounds familiar: And this season, when it comes to player safety, the NFL suddenly pretended to be the flag-bearers for our health and well-being. This comes after years of denying even the possibility of a link between the game of football, concussions, and long-term traumatic brain injury. And despite the raised level of … Continue reading Scott Fujita on the NFL’s Labor Blues

Adrastos, Music3 Comments

Friday Night Music: Angelyne

Peter Adrastos Athas

Tonight on Adrastos’ obsession with the Jayhawks: Angelyne is a wintery mix of a song replete with icy imagery. I guess it’s what happens when one lives in Minneapolis like Gary (Einstein Hair) Louris does. It’s still cold here but not bone rattlingly so like last night; not sure if rattlingly is a real word but if it’s not it oughta be. Anyway, “here comes the weather, it’s looking like another storm.” Continue reading Friday Night Music: Angelyne

Do Something, Doc, Law/Justice17 Comments

Guns, Guns, GUNS!

The screeds about “inalienable rights” and gun control have been enough to make my brain bleed lately. We have 27 amendments to the constitution, all of which tell us something about our rights. That doesn’t even count all the shit in the constitution itself. And yet, here we are. Again. Talking about the Second Amendment. Again. There’s apparently no good time to talk about guns in our society. When people are complaining about Jared Loughner and his whack-job antics, they are accused of “politicizing a tragedy.” Unfortunately, we tend to have too many gun tragedies to ever have a socially … Continue reading Guns, Guns, GUNS!