Month: March 2018

Uncategorized4 Comments

Tillerson Out

Allison Hantschel

Classy: Ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson found out that he had been fired from the tweet from President Trump on Tuesday, according to Steve Goldstein, Undersecretary for public diplomacy, @eliselabottcnn reports. — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 13, 2018 Most of the time I can’t get too het up about the ins and outs here, because wow, a burning dumpster is full of garbage that is burning all the time, but THIS MAN THOUGHT HE COULD SIT IN JOHN KERRY’S CHAIR AND I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THAT. A. Continue reading Tillerson Out

Athenae, Books

‘The Work Is Worth Doing’

Allison Hantschel

Mallory Ortberg on their new book and the nature of the unknown:  Ortberg: If you look at the Christian Bible—again, that’s the story that I come from—you look at the Book of Job, and there’s this fascinating, open-ended question of what is the Satan? Because that’s literally the name of the character in the book. It’s called the Satan, not like the devil or Lucifer, Satan, like that’s his name. It’s just the Satan, and it means that he has a job. It’s your job. You bring evidence against humanity, and you are in God’s employ, and obviously we lost some of that … Continue reading ‘The Work Is Worth Doing’

Tommy T2 Comments

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – wet and wild edition

Tommy T

No post this week, chillens. Entire east half of my house flooded after a record 4″ in one hour rain. Entire week has been full of roaring fans and dehumidifiers. torn up carpets in my studio, and everything piled into a heap in the entry. Fourth time this has happened. Previous drainage improvements kept the water out for a week of soaking rains, but the last wave was unstoppable. Anyone have an outdoor sump pump they want to donate? Since I can’t do this post thing on the phone, we’ll have to wait until next week, after carpet pad’s been … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – wet and wild edition

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media1 Comment

A Question of Emphasis

Allison Hantschel

This is honestly the only thing that needs to be said about the ongoing self-fucking chicken that is the NYT opinion section: It is GROTESQUE how Brooks & Stephens could explore or read or learn about or report or investigate anything, and YET they choose not to use this privilege. Lazy, shiftless, white affirmative action hires given lifetime job security who use their days hating on tenure & students. — Steven Thrasher (@thrasherxy) March 9, 2018 They could write about anything. Like, get paid to start conversations about literally anything on this earth, conversations that would then be backed up … Continue reading A Question of Emphasis

Adrastos, Books, Comedy, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Language, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, Television

Saturday Odds & Sods: Heart Of Gold

Peter Adrastos Athas
Tree Of Life by Gustav Klimt.

The weather is playing tricks on us. We’re having February weather in March. That’s fine with me. It beats the hell out of an early New Orleans summer. But the cool temperatures have brought the pollen that torments me in the Spring. Achoo.

In local news, the Mississippi River is on the rise, so it’s time to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway to divert river water into Lake Pontchartrain to prevent flooding. It has me pondering the way folks in South Louisiana pronounce French words. We’re usually off but as not badly as with the Spillway: the local media insist on saying Bonny Carry. That sounds like a blue-haired old lady up river in Duluth. It drives me nuts, y’all. I feel like taking a stroll up Charters (Chartres) Street.

This week’s theme songs are inspired by the layers of golden pollen that are everywhere in Uptown New Orleans. Achoo. Neil Young’s Heart Of Gold was the first of many sonic departures he was to take in his career. It worked: it was Neil’s first big solo hit.

Ray Davies has told two stories about the Kinks’ Heart Of Gold. One is that it was inspired by the birth of his daughter. The other story is that it was inspired by Princess Ann telling some photographers to “naff off.” Only Ray knows for sure. If you asked him, I suspect he’d come up with a third story.

I love Ray’s chorus:

Underneath that rude exterior,
There’s got to be a heart of gold.
Underneath that hard exterior,
Is a little girl waiting to be told,
You’ve got a heart of gold.
She’s got a heart of gold.

Let’s take our rude and hard exteriors and jump to the break. “Watch out, don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Heart Of Gold”

Adrastos, Food and Drink, Political Crack, The Darnold2 Comments

The Dotard & The Dictator

Peter Adrastos Athas

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry over the news that Trump and Kim Jong Un may meet. It beats the hell out of a nuclear exchange, but we seem to be giving the diminutive third generation communist dictator what his family has always wanted without getting anything in return. So much for the art of deal. The Insult Comedian probably thinks he can “win” any negotiation whereas I fear his ignorance. The State Department’s top Korea expert just retired so who, if anyone, is Trump asking for advice? I’d almost prefer a return to the days of Wormplomacy. … Continue reading The Dotard & The Dictator

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media2 Comments

David Brooks Thinks Twitter Invented Politics, Or Something

Allison Hantschel

Who’s to blame for the fall of democracy? It won’t surprise you that Brooks thinks it’s millennials on the Twitters:  Italy is now a poster child for the three big trends that are undermining democracies around the world: First, the erasure of the informal norms of behavior. Norms aren’t laws, which is the problem when somebody — Trump, Bush before him, Lee Atwater before them — figures that out and don’t give a fuck no more. Second, the loss of faith in the democratic system. As Yascha Mounk writes in his book “The People vs. Democracy,” faith in democratic regimes … Continue reading David Brooks Thinks Twitter Invented Politics, Or Something

Athenae, Books

Not Everything Sucks

Allison Hantschel

Some people are building libraries. Sunshine High School in Newbern, Ala., closed its doors for good two years ago. But the town’s 186 residents didn’t just lose a school, they lost a library — the only one for miles around. Luckily, Newbern is home to Rural Studio, a design-build program within Auburn University’s School of Architecture. Following the principle that “everyone, both rich and poor, deserves the benefit of good design,” Rural Studio set out to build Newbern a new library. Students repurposed an old bank building donated by a local family, reusing many of the original materials. Wood that … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks

Free Republic, Guns, The Darnold, Tommy T5 Comments

Today on “Obsession” – “Who’s a-fraid of the N-R-A – the N.R.A. – the N.R.A?”

Tommy T

Last Thursday, Michael F said :

“Hmm…you don’t often hear the person who’s job is to see the laws be faithfully executed say fuck the law…

But, best as I can tell, the wingnut response has been…crickets. Nothing.”

Well, let’s go to Wingnut Central and have a look-see. (composite thread)

‘I think you’re afraid of the NRA’: Trump blasts Republican lawmakers in bipartisan meeting
businessinsider ^ | February 28, 2018 | Michelle Mark

Posted on 2/28/2018, 3:25:32 PM by Berlin_Freeper

President Donald Trump held a freewheeling White House meeting on Wednesday to discuss various gun-control measures, at one point jabbing a Republican senator over his reluctance to raise the age of all gun purchases to 21 from 18.

“I think you’re afraid of the NRA,” Trump said to Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, arguing that raising the age limit was “something we have to think about.”

“A lot of people are afraid to bring it up,” Trump said, referring to the National Rifle Association’s vehement opposition to the proposal. Some Democrats, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, smiled and nodded at Trump’s remarks.

Toomey said his reservations were due to fear that such a regulation would punish the “vast majority” of 19- and 20-year-olds in his state who own rifles or shotguns and are “law-abiding citizens.”

1 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:25:32 PM by Berlin_Freeper
Aaand – we’re off!
To: Berlin_Freeper

 

Dumb move. He is being ill advised.

4 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:27:45 PM by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)

To: facedown

 

Ill advised? Try, these are his beliefs which is far more troubling

7 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:32:40 PM by Jarhead9297

To: Berlin_Freeper

 

Trump’s burning political capital with a blowtorch. Watch his approval ratings plummet.

9 posted on2/28/2018, 3:34:30 PM by Paine in the Neck ( Socialism consumes EVERYTHING!)

“Plummet”? How the hell do you “plummet” from < 40%?
To: facedown

>> Dumb move. He is being ill advised.

I have found that Trump’s “off the cuff” remarks are the ones that most illustrate his mindset, and Trump himself has said as much. I don’t think this is about being ill advised, I think this is what Trump believes.

Even if it’s not, Trump said it, and he’s the President.

19 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:40:14 PM by af_vet_rr
To: Paine in the Neck

 

I supported him. I have questioned some of his choices. This has done it for me. If he goes along with chipping away at the 2A, I am done.

21 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:41:20 PM by ozaukeemom (9/11/01 Never Forget. Never.)

Apparently, you’re not familiar with the Trump doctrine of “I already got what I want out of you, now fuck off”.
To: Berlin_Freeper

 

And you’re afraid of the Deep State, Mr. Trump. Hope Hicks just quit you and that just may be the beginning.

23 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:42:10 PM by TTFlyer

The Trump-fellators are quick to respond:
To: Lagmeister

 

all this fearmongering is silly.

Trump is on our side. He is playing these Demon Rat thugs.

39 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:51:41 PM by SoFloFreeper
TrumpHumpersBush
To: P-Marlowe

 

“Trump is a populist not a conservative. Sometimes popular ideas are conservative and sometimes they are idiotic. This is an example of Trump being an idiot.”

That kind of nails it.

41 posted on 2/28/2018, 3:52:10 PM by ought-six (Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)

To: Berlin_Freeper

 

He’s gone mad. Alas. If we wanted bs or threats against our constitutional rights we could have elected HilLIARy. We need to find a good honest reliable conservative non-GOP-e candidate asap for the next election

82 posted on 2/28/2018, 4:57:59 PM by faithhopecharity (“Politicans aren’t born, they’re excreted.” -Marcus Tillius Cicero (3 BCE))

I’m sensing a just a bit of dissatisfaction here…
To: Berlin_Freeper

 

6% approval rating by morning.

Great call. Stab your supporters in the back because CNN cries for a week.

WHERE’S MY ******* WALL!!!!

90 posted on 2/28/2018, 5:22:09 PM by The Toll

Where, indeed?
 .
After the jump – The Darnold suggests seizing guns first and worrying about due process later, and the Freeperati have a collective aneurysm.
 .

Continue reading “Today on “Obsession” – “Who’s a-fraid of the N-R-A – the N.R.A. – the N.R.A?””

Athenae, Guns

The most pernicious force in the world is inertia

Allison Hantschel

Been doing a lot of talking lately about how beholden politicians are to the NRA, and why. Money alone doesn’t explain it. We could crowdfund in an hour what it takes to buy Marco Rubio. Stupidity doesn’t explain it either; And I don’t honestly even think malice explains it. I don’t think Marco wants kids to die, I mean actively wants to stab a first grader in the neck or anything. I just don’t think he’s thinking about this all that hard. I don’t think any Republicans are. I don’t think any Democrats are, for that matter, either. They’re just … Continue reading The most pernicious force in the world is inertia

Adrastos, Comedy, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Guns, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, Television, Twitter

Saturday Odds & Sods: Love For Sale

Peter Adrastos Athas
At The Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

It’s been a relatively uneventful week at Adrastos World HQ. My cold has gone; only to be replaced by allergies since we’ve gone from winter to late spring without skipping a beat.  It’s hard to believe how damn cold it was just a few weeks ago when we’re slowly moving into air-dish season.  The good news is that a cool front just arrived. It won’t last long but we can dream, dream, dream.

The Toulouse-Lautrec featured image was inspired by a local news story. Last month, some Bourbon Street dancers staged a protest after a police crackdown on strip clubs in the Quarter. They had a lot of support in the community because New Orleans has always had strip clubs and always will. We’ve also always had people who wanted to close or tightly restrict the clubs. The beat goes on.

I suppose I should apologize for using a Cole Porter song for the second time in a month. I decline to do so: Cole was the master. Love For Sale was my earworm when I wrote the Senator For Sale post last Monday. That’s why it’s the theme song. I hope you won’t give me a Cole shoulder for being repetitive…

We have two radically different versions of Porter’s Love For Sale. First,  Anita O’Day’s torchy and sultry version recorded in 1959 with Billy May and his big band. Second, Miles Davis from Kind Of Blue featuring some of his best sidemen: Trane and Cannonball among others.

I should have mentioned the great Bill Evans but he didn’t have a colorful nickname. He was merely a brilliant pianist and arranger.

It’s title disambiguation time. That’s a big word but I bet the brainy members of Talking Heads know it:

Now that I’ve sold you love or some such shit, let’s jump to the break before you demand a refund.

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Love For Sale”