Month: November 2014

Athenae, Do Something, Education

we need 10 people to give $15

Allison Hantschel

Update: FULLY FUNDED! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!  To finish off this school’s reading project. Here are some of the NICER things said on the school district’s Facebook page during last week’s NRA-sponsored clusterfuck disaster:  Refusing to allow the Veterans perform a 21 gun salute on school grounds because you’re a bunch of left leaning idiots? Shame, Shame, Shame! — Everyone part of this district should be fired — Evidently YOUR Mr. Tim Libham is a “STRICT LIBERAL and ADHERES GREATLY TO HIS “GOD” OBAMAS wishes of trying to WIPE OUT RESPECT to our veterans.. I thank God that the state … Continue reading we need 10 people to give $15

Athenae, Television, Uncategorized

Rules of Cribbage: The Newsroom Thread

Allison Hantschel

Apologies for not getting this up last night, but Mr. A and I are both bi for everybody on The Good Wife and so that came first and then I fell asleep on the couch. It’s just a 24-7 rave around here on the weekends.

Charlie’s right on this: 

Here, I am told, the latter persona comes into full plumage at a staff meeting in which the NewsNight crew bathes in its own warm moral light at having not jumped on the unfortunate social-media frenzy concerning a Saudi national who was dubiously identified as a suspect in the bombing early on. (The real damage there, of course, also was done by the old dead-tree media, specifically The New York Post, but Sorkin hates tabloids as much as he hates those scrimey bloggers on the Intertoobz, and apparently anyone else who remembers how to spell “psilocybin.”) Evidently, the message is to leave the news gathering to the professionals, kidz, or you will do real damage to real people.

I think the reason I can get past it with Sorkin is because of LEONA GODDAMN LANSING.

Continue reading “Rules of Cribbage: The Newsroom Thread”

Adrastos, Political Crack, So Called Liberal Media, Television

The Mook Mafia?

Peter Adrastos Athas

The word mook always makes me think of my late friend Ashley Morris. It was one of his favorite perjorative terms. Dr. A even took the picture above in London in 2007 as an hommage to Perfesser Morris who was still very much alive and hollering. The Mook in question is Democratic operative Robby Mook who is apparently angling to run Hillary’s 2016 campaign. The Mafia in question is a group of people centering around Mook. The Mook Mafia in question is an email listserv he runs to keep in touch with colleagues. You’re probably wondering where this questionable post is … Continue reading The Mook Mafia?

Stupid Republican Tricks, Tommy T1 Comment

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Clarence sale edition

Tommy T

All righty, folks – this is going to be a Clarence clearance sale edition of Obsession, so we’ll start with a new one and go back for some old threads.

Let’s start with – Ted Cruz typos!

McCain Assures Incoming GOP Senators Won’t Be More Ted Cruz Types
Mediaite ^ | Nov. 11, 2014 | Josh Feldman

Posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎25‎:‎12‎ ‎PM by PROCON

Senators John McCain and Ted Cruz don’t exactly have the best relationship. Cruz has said Republicans like McCain are why their party doesn’t do better, and McCain has not been shy about publicly dumping on Cruz, especially during last year’s government shutdown.

And in a new interview with Salon today, McCain wanted to make it clear that the incoming crop of Republicans that will give their party control of the Senate will not be Cruzes. McCain even claimed that a lot of the GOP Senate candidates who won are in the same mold as himself and Lindsey Graham.

*******************************

Senator McCain, thank you for your Service, now RETIRE!
1 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎25‎:‎12‎ ‎PM by PROCON
First of all, I’d like to note the increasing number of FR posts quoting sources like Mediaite, TPM, Salon (heh), etc.
If they keep exploring outside the wingnut media bubble, some of them might just develop some reasoning skills.
To: PROCON

Amen, and take your brain dead daughter with you.

5 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎27‎:‎47‎ ‎PM by Fungi

Or not…
To: PROCON

I still wish there was an alternative conservative party we could go to.

9 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎29‎:‎43‎ ‎PM by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)

Or better yet – an alliterative alternative putative demonstrative lucrative pejorative operative interrogative conservative party.
With an open bar.
To: PROCON

McCain’s really going to be a problem going into ‘16. He’s that annoying douchebag that the media points to when they want to validate Democrat stances, and he gives them no shortage of ammunition to use against principled conservatives slavering nutjobs.

24 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎35‎:‎48‎ ‎PM by MarkRegal05

FIFY.
To: PROCON

“McCain even claimed that a lot of the GOP Senate candidates who won are in the same mold as himself and Lindsey Graham.”

Now that’s a scary thought!

If true, the Demwits will be back in charge in 2016.

42 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎54‎:‎18‎ ‎PM by oldbill

From your lips….
To: PROCON

>> “ last year’s government shutdown?” <<

I must have slept through it.

87 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎5‎:‎14‎:‎22‎ ‎PM by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I’d hoped they’d be)

CruzGun
To: PROCON

I’ve read about his service and how he killed a few of his own men and sang like a bird in his cell.

Screw him we need a thousand Ted Cruz.

88 posted on ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2014‎ ‎5‎:‎17‎:‎56‎ ‎PM by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)

[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
CruzPalin2016
And finally:
To: PROCON
Senator McCain, thank you for your Service, now RETIRE!No.Senator McCain, SCREW YOU for being an incompetent pilot and betraying your fellow POWs, now DIE!
111 posted on ‎11‎/‎12‎/‎2014‎ ‎11‎:‎55‎:‎49‎ ‎AM by Lazamataz (Proudly Deciding Female Criminal Guilt By How Hot They Are Since 1999 !)
C’mon, Laz – tell us how you REALLY feel!
More insanity after the fold…

Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Clarence sale edition”

Athenae, Geek Cred2 Comments

For Fuck’s Sake, Learn to Internet

Allison Hantschel

This was predictable:  The New England Patriots became the first NFL team to hit one million followers on Twitter, and it celebrated the milestone Thursday by blasting out images of a Patriots jersey with users’ Twitter handles on the back to those who retweeted the account. The promo ran smoothly until a user with the handle @IHATENIGGERSS got his “custom digital jersey.” This too:  Companies and celebrities who try to get a Twitter hashtag trending often find that it backfires spectacularly. So it was when America’s quack, Dr. Mehmet Oz, tried something yesterday afternoon: @DrOz what kind of fruit juice do you … Continue reading For Fuck’s Sake, Learn to Internet

Athenae, Current Affairs1 Comment

The Right to Bully

Allison Hantschel

These open carry people:  Some 20 vocal advocates of open carry, many members of Michigan Open Carry, Inc., spoke during Monday’s meeting, quoting laws and pointing out that concealed pistol license (CPL) holders are “normal, law-abiding citizens.” Others cited statistics asserting that, often, horrific crimes happen in places typically designated as pistol-free zones, such as schools and theaters, while others declared the right for CPL holders to open carry in a school building. A number of attendees also said the issue isn’t about “rights” so much as it is about shielding their children from harm. “We live in a country … Continue reading The Right to Bully

Adrastos, Film, Music, Television

AHS Freak Show Thread: Wheel Of Misfortune

Peter Adrastos Athas

2-tile-600x400

I borrowed/appropriated this week’s picture from Pop Culture Playground. Thanks, ya’ll. Unlike Fraulein Elsa, you hit the Bullseye. Of course, the crazed Marlena wannabe didn’t wanna hit the bullseye because she was in the throes of a tantrum worthy of Dandy Mott. Both of Freak Show’s craziest current characters are showing signs of unraveling and coming apart at the seams. Sewing metaphors? I cannot sew but I have been watching Project Runway since the beginning, which is neither here nor there. Btw, I think Amanda Valentine wuz robbed, which is also neither here nor there or even here, there and everywhere.

More freakish babbling after the break.

Continue reading “AHS Freak Show Thread: Wheel Of Misfortune”

Athenae, Do Something, Education, Guns, Immoral Values, So Called Liberal Media, Stupid Republican Tricks, Teabaggery1 Comment

Fall/Winter Do-Something Project: Help a School District Attacked by the NRA

Allison Hantschel

Among the many fake wingnut freakouts this week was a full-on Internet pigfuck designed to rile up the web’s most rabid and sic them on a small Wisconsin school district. The Eau Claire Area School District hosts a veterans’ program every year that invites the local kiddos to learn about our history and honor the vets. It’s the usual nicey-nice community thing, only this year the school district said look, we live in media culture of 24-7 school shooting coverage. The sound of gunshots wigs kids and their parents out. Couldja maybe not do the rifle salute you do every year?  “We like … Continue reading Fall/Winter Do-Something Project: Help a School District Attacked by the NRA

Adrastos, Catblogging, Diary, Music2 Comments

Friday Guest Catblogging: Roll Over Cathoven

Peter Adrastos Athas

Some cats are named Art and others are into art. Harold, who lives with my dear friends Christy and Greg, is into what they used to call long hair music. No, not thrash metal or Professor Longhair, classical music. Here he is thinking deep thoughts atop the piano: Since we’re kinda, sorta talking about Beethoven, and ELO was featured on Wednesday, I’ll give them the last word:   Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Roll Over Cathoven

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Diary, Music, New Orleans, Political Crack, Science, Stupid Republican Tricks

Climate Change? What Climate Change?

Peter Adrastos Athas

The President pulled a climate change agreement with China out of his hat whilst summiteering. Cue the GOP noise machine: blah, blah, blah. Fuck it and fuck them. This is the first time the Chicom guvmint has acknowledged it needs to kick its coal addiction. (Did you notice the #tbh moment with the whole Chinese Communist acronym thing? I felt like Henry Luce or Tricky Dick for a second there.) It’s quite an accomplishment whatever Mitch (I am not a Scientist) McConnell and the incoming environment committee chaircreep and past malaka of the week, Jim Fucking Inhofe say. Fuck it and fuck them. … Continue reading Climate Change? What Climate Change?

Adrastos, Books, Film, Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction Thursday: Double Indemnity

Peter Adrastos Athas

double-indemnity-landscape-x2

Dr. A and I finally saw David Fincher’s Gone Girl last weekend. It’s neo-noir at its finest, featuring a really wicked femme fatale, and a really weak, weasely man. They were characters straight out of James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice or Double Indemnity. It was as if Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson got married and things went very, very badly.

Double Indemnity is one of those rare novels that is just as good on the big screen as it is on the printed page. It helped to have Billy Wilder directing the movie. Raymond Chandler also worked on the screenplay but it was Wilder ‘s lethal baby.

Here are two variations on the book cover:

6855813751_97e491f8b4_zdouble indemnity 14

Continue reading “Pulp Fiction Thursday: Double Indemnity”

Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Music

Album Art Wednesday: Out Of The Blue

Peter Adrastos Athas

ELO were not cool in 1977 when Out Of The Blue was released. Punk was cool, what ELO was HOT. Even though this was a double LP with an 18 minute prog opus, it was one of the biggest hits Jeff Lynne and company ever had.

The wikpedia entry on this LP has a swell discussion of the album art so I’ll just quote it and be done with it:

The large spaceship on the album’s cover (by now symbolic of the group) was designed by Kosh with art by Shusei Nagaoka. It was based on the logo Kosh designed for ELO’s previous album, A New World Record,[1] which connected with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind fever. It also looks like a space station with a docking shuttle from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).[2] The number JTLA 823 L2 which is featured on the shuttle arriving at the space station is the original catalogue number for the album. The album also included an insert of a cardboard cutout of the space station as well as a fold-out poster of the band members. The space theme was carried onto the live stage in the form of a huge glowing flying saucer stage set, inside which the band performed.

Okey dokey, here’s the cover:

ELO-Out_of_the_Blue_Lp

Continue reading “Album Art Wednesday: Out Of The Blue”

Adrastos, Bigotry, Education, Elections, Gret Stet Politics, Malakatude, Political Crack, Race1 Comment

Malaka Of The Week: Don Gagnard

Peter Adrastos Athas

Remember when Louisiana Republicans excoriated Mary Landrieu for making those mild remarks about Southern racism? They were shitting themselves with outrage. Hadn’t we elected a brown skinned Governor? Wasn’t that proof that racism was dead in the Gret Stet? It was not and more evidence comes from, of all places, a school board race in Lafayette. One of the candidates is a crotchety coach by the name of Don Gagnard who’s now in trouble for making like Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods, and posting bigoted shit on his Facebook feed. And that is why Don Gagnard is malaka of the week. I learned about … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Don Gagnard

Athenae, Games, Immoral Values2 Comments

Shorter Andrew Sullivan: Ladies Need To Stop Overreacting to Rape and Murder

Allison Hantschel

It’s about ethics in journalism:  A group called Women, Action, and the Media, which advocates for better representation of women, is testing a new reporting process for gender-based harassment. The group developed a tool for reporting harassment and will forward confirmed reports to Twitter. “If it checks out, we’ll escalate it to Twitter right away (24 hours max, hopefully much less than that) and work to get you a speedy resolution,” says the group, which abbreviates itself as WAM. “But please note: we’re not Twitter, and we can’t make decisions for them.” I wondered what exactly this small non-profit believes … Continue reading Shorter Andrew Sullivan: Ladies Need To Stop Overreacting to Rape and Murder

Athenae, Education

Depending On Others to Do Our Work

Allison Hantschel

Kids don’t need to enjoy learning, or anything:  CDI has just concluded its two-week residency at Randolph, where students met daily for 45 minutes with CDI instructors, incorporating live music, imagery, sign language, silent instruction, problem-solving skills, and ended the program with a public performance on Halloween. But for an elementary school like Randolph, one in need of additional arts education, what comes next? Half- and full-year programs are offered by CDI, where classes meet once a week for 45 minutes and perform publicly multiple times. Yet the struggle to properly fit a school’s budgetary and scheduling needs can be … Continue reading Depending On Others to Do Our Work

Athenae

‘Kings and kesars, keep your pay’

Allison Hantschel

A.E. Housman. The war is never over:  Any current task which involves turning over earth, such as ploughing, road building, foundation building and so on, frequently still turns up a shell or grenade. There is a system in place in Belgium to deal with such potentially hazardous remains, whereby the “find” is reported, examined and collected for disposal. At certain times of the year when farmers are ploughing the fields it is not unusual to find small piles of shells at the side of a field placed ready for collection and disposal. In the regions of the old 1914-1918 battlefields … Continue reading ‘Kings and kesars, keep your pay’

Adrastos, Congress, David Vitter, Elections, Gret Stet Politics, Guns, Hurricane Katrina & Federal Flood, Malakatude, Music, Political Crack, Twitter1 Comment

Red Stick Creepfest

Peter Adrastos Athas

That’s my name for it, they called it the Republican Unity Rally. It was held in support of the Cassidybot Senate campaign and among the speakers were Bitter Vitter, Colonel Mayonnaise, Gov PBJ, and an outside agitator, Senator Aqua Buddha. Here are a few tweets featuring this rogue’s gallery of malakatude: Red Stick Creep Fest: pic.twitter.com/38IuMUjN3q — Shecky (@Adrastosno) November 11, 2014 Sen. Aqua Buddha wearing a table cloth. pic.twitter.com/8mt9UKftpb — Shecky (@Adrastosno) November 11, 2014 @ekeog I think it was a day time rally so Gov Bat Boy was in his coffin. — Shecky (@Adrastosno) November 11, 2014 It’s a … Continue reading Red Stick Creepfest

Adrastos, Congress, Elections, Film, Fog Of History, Political Crack, Stupid Blue Dog Tricks, Television3 Comments

The T Word

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’ve tried to avoid election post-mortems. But I’m a political junkie so my efforts to bury the recent past were futile. The problem with most of them is that they haven’t focused on the big problem for Democrats: the T word. No, not teawads but TURNOUT. The national turnout was 36.3%, which is beyond pitiful. It’s woeful and many other words ending in ful. It’s also becoming a chronic problem in off-year elections since Republicans tend to vote in every election. That means that Congress, state leges, and Governors are all more conservative than the general public. That’s the main … Continue reading The T Word

Tommy T9 Comments

No “Obsession” today – just a simple statement

Tommy T

You know, I should be as happy as a clam today about the Republicans gaining control of both Houses. I’m white and American due to a happy accident of birth, and white people are now free from oppression. I’m not a woman, and won’t need an abortion ever, unlike the terrified-of-telling-her-parents 16-year-old who has as much business having a child as I do having an aircraft carrier. I’m retired, so I don’t have to worry about the system being gamed for big business and against people who work for a living. I have insurance, so I don’t have to worry … Continue reading No “Obsession” today – just a simple statement

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media4 Comments

A Well-Informed Electorate

Allison Hantschel

Apropos of nothing, here are “more top stories” from CNN right now: Police: Stepdad foils kidnapping Earthquake swarm hits Nevada Ex-SEAL: Bin Laden ‘died afraid’ 4th victim of school shooting dies Official: Students killed, bodies burned Arrest made in McStay family deaths Suspect told CNN: I have no clue Shocking carjacking caught on tape   America’s most expensive home Her job is to help you die a ‘good death’ Soldier dad surprises kids at school   So fetch: ‘Mean Girls’ cast reunites Waitress shocked by $1,000 tip   Ben Carson leaves Fox News Thief grabs woman’s purse THEN …   Man ate 95 meals … Continue reading A Well-Informed Electorate

Athenae, Immoral Values, Television

Seeing Kerry Washington Basically Naked Will Scar Children for Life

Allison Hantschel

You were watching Charlie Brown, and now you’re watching a beautiful woman:  “Network programmers know the importance of audience flow when constructing their broadcast schedule, and in fact they build their schedules around audience retention rates,” he continued. “So they know full well the importance of program adjacency. The juxtaposition of a reliably classic family friendly children’s cartoon special like the ‘Great Pumpkin’ – a huge family draw every year for decades – with such a graphic bedroom scene is unjustifiable. We call on ABC to apologize for its actions and to promise not to do such a thing in … Continue reading Seeing Kerry Washington Basically Naked Will Scar Children for Life

Athenae, Immoral Values3 Comments

Personhood Laws Are Basically The Worst

Allison Hantschel

Criminalizing miscarriage:  The principle at the heart of contemporary efforts to end legal abortion is that fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses are persons or at least have separate rights that must be protected by the state. In each of the cases we identified, this same rationale provided the justification for the deprivation of pregnant women’s physical liberty, as well as of the right to medical decision making, medical privacy, bodily integrity and, in one case, the woman’s right to life. Many of the pregnant women subjected to this mistreatment are themselves profoundly opposed to abortion. Yet it was precisely the … Continue reading Personhood Laws Are Basically The Worst

Big Damn Heroes, Doc, Kids Today, Law/Justice1 Comment

Cardinal Columns: Nationally Awesome

docphd

      The kids of Cardinal Columns, who spent the last year fighting against censorship, bullying and generally poor administrative behavior, have just earned the National Scholastic Press Association’s highest honor, the Pacemaker. These things are ridiculously hard to win and represent the overall quality of the publication, not the fact they fought against censorship. In short, IN SPITE of the heavy hand that tried to crush them, they managed to be one of the best high school newspapers in the country. If this doesn’t give you hope, I don’t know what will. Rock on, folks. I’d buy you … Continue reading Cardinal Columns: Nationally Awesome

Uncategorized6 Comments

Weekend Question Thread

Allison Hantschel

How far do you travel for the holidays? Mr. A and I lucked out: Our families are just an hour or so up the road in Wisconsin. I often remind my parents, when they’re complaining about Chicago traffic, that I could have married that asshole from Pennsylvania that I was dating, who was so controlling there would be no WAY we’d be spending Christmas anywhere but at his house. A. Continue reading Weekend Question Thread