Month: July 2014

Athenae, Immoral Values2 Comments

The Best You Can Get

Allison Hantschel

In Mississippi:  The next woman, the forty-three-year-old, already has two kids, plus she's recovering from thyroid cancer. "Actually, my tubes are tied," she tells him. "I really don't want any more kids." "I hear you," he says. She works at a religious hospital, she adds. "They don't know I'm doing this. That's why I want to do the pill. I just want to make it seem like I had a miscarriage." In an ideal world, he tells her, her doctor could have done her abortion and fixed her tubes at the same time so she wouldn't have to go through … Continue reading The Best You Can Get

Adrastos, Books

Pulp Fiction Thursday: I Killed Stalin

Peter Adrastos Athas

Time for some a Cold War revenge fantasy pulp. The first cover  seems to have very little to do with the title and the second variation gets the year wrong: Uncle Joe died in 1953. Or did the author extend his life to kill him? The mind reels. I used Mr. Google and learned that I Killed Stalin was published in 1951, which makes this a near future sci-fi pulp. My mind is still reeling. Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: I Killed Stalin

Adrastos, Law/Justice2 Comments

Dickless in Alabama?

Peter Adrastos Athas

I am obviously a horrible human being for finding this story so hilarious: An attorney for two Alabama doctors accused in a lawsuit of amputating a man's penis in what was supposed to have been a routine circumcision filed a motion Tuesday seeking to dismiss the claims. Attorney Mike Florie says his clients, Dr. Michael Bivins and Dr. Alan Aikens, never performed a circumcision on Johnny Lee Banks Jr. that involved the removal of tissue or the amputation of the man's penis. He said the suit's claims are false. Banks' attorney, John Graves, filed the lawsuit on July 22, accusing … Continue reading Dickless in Alabama?

Uncategorized3 Comments

Why aren’t you at work?

hobbular

This summer is a sort of transitional period for me, between having been a TA and graduate student to being a faculty associate without the hassle of having to defend a dissertation. I taught a class for three weeks to a group of gifted and talented (and overwhelmingly upper middle class and white) kids, which paid me roughly what a summer of research assistanting would because ain't nothin' payin' like makin' privileged people's lives slightly more comfortable. I do have research to do, but no one is paying me to do that research. What this boils down to: I have, … Continue reading Why aren’t you at work?

Adrastos, Law/Justice, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, Television1 Comment

Rachel Maddow on the OSA Invasion of NOLA

Peter Adrastos Athas

I almost called the show TRMS but that would have been acronym overkill, which gives me a headache. Anyway, kindly Doc Maddow dispatched a producer and a film crew to New Orleans to cover the rebranded Operation Rescue's malakatude including the UU church invasion. There's a chilling reminder that Dr. George Tiller was killed at his own church, which makes OSA's mild condemnation of the NOLA incursion ring hollow:   Continue reading Rachel Maddow on the OSA Invasion of NOLA

Adrastos, Diary, Music3 Comments

Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Tubes

Peter Adrastos Athas

Some of the best rock albums have been seriously road tested. It's not unusual for a band's first to be their finest. That was the case with the Tubes eponymous 1975 debut.

As good as The Tubes is, it still doesn't capture the glory that was their 1970's stage show. I hoped to post a 1975 set on Sunday but the buggers at the Music Archive buggered off with it. I know the band doesn't disapprove of their shows being online: the Tubes Project at YouTube was initiated by original member Michael Cotten.

Back to the stage show. I saw them a lot back in the day. They were master satirists, neo-vaudevillains, social commentators, and a helluva rock band rolled into one. For example, they performed the Latin chestnut Malaguena Salerosa with Fee Waybill dressed as Che Guevara and Ree Styles as Patty Hearst and danced the tango. Ole without the tilde. End of old fart reverie.

The album cover was designed by synth player Michael Cotten and drummer Prairie Prince. The latter is the exception to my "most drummers are dumbasses" rule. He's one smart and very talented dude. The team of Prince and Cotten have created stage designs for artists such as Todd Rundgren, Bette Midler, Styx, and Billy Joel. Anyway, PP can drum, paint, design, you name it, he can do it. Here's the LP cover:

The Tubes

Continue reading “Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Tubes”

Adrastos, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, Television1 Comment

Riffing with Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman

Peter Adrastos Athas

As everyone knows, I'm a Tricky Dick tape buff. Some of them are quite sinister and sometimes they're hilarious. There are times when Tricky Dick and his sycophants sound a bit like the MST3K gang with a dash of right wing paranoia. This May 13, 1971 tape has been available for quite some time and has no bombshells whatsoever. It does, however, feature a hilarious and downright bizarre discussion of weed, All In The Family, and the Gay: Continue reading Riffing with Nixon, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman

Athenae, Congress, Stupid Republican Tricks1 Comment

‘Some Liberal like Orrin Hatch’

Allison Hantschel

Yes, that is a thing someone wrote. Take it away, Club for Growth:  Tiahrt is now trying to retake his former seat, which is now held by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R). The Club for Growth supports Pompeo (and Tiahrt has actually endorsed Pompeo in the past, two times, according to Roll Call). "Because some liberal like Orrin Hatch or Todd Tiahrt tries to juice their stats come election time doesn't mean they'll vote for pro-growth policy every time, and that's what matters," Keller said, according to the Journal. "Todd Tiahrt's lifetime 77 percent on the Club for Growth's congressional scorecard pales … Continue reading ‘Some Liberal like Orrin Hatch’

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Diary9 Comments

A Fatal Lack Of Empathy

Peter Adrastos Athas

I bet you're surprised to see the E word in one of my post titles. I'm better known for smart assery and snark. I have never sung Kumbaya but I do believe in the power of empathy. A wise person, as well as a wise ass, is,uh, wise to try to walk a mile in the other guy's shoes to paraphrase the old hippie, dippy song. Many conflicts, large and small, can be avoided by understanding the other person's perspective and figuring out if can be accommodated. It's just good manners as well as common sense. You're probably wondering where … Continue reading A Fatal Lack Of Empathy

Athenae, Stupid Blue Dog Tricks2 Comments

Oh Spare Me, Now That You’ve Got Yours

Allison Hantschel

He's not wrong about this:  He turned out to be something else altogether. To blame Republicans ignores a glaring truth: Obama’s record is worst where they had little or no role to play. It wasn’t Republicans who prosecuted all those whistle-blowers and hired all those lobbyists; who authorized drone strikes or kept the NSA chugging along; who reneged on the public option, the minimum wage and aid to homeowners. It wasn’t even Republicans who turned a blind eye to Wall Street corruption and excessive executive compensation. It was Obama. But for fuck's sake, this didn't happen in the past eight … Continue reading Oh Spare Me, Now That You’ve Got Yours

Athenae, Fuck The Mommy Wars2 Comments

My Husband Desires My Fertility

Allison Hantschel

I can't. I CAAAAAANNNNN'TTTTT: Perhaps I could have shared my own experience. You see, I don’t know what condom-sex feels like, but I can’t imagine it’s better than the au natural. I only know what it is like to have sex with my husband without any barriers between us. By God’s grace I have been blessed to experience what it is to have a man cherish me for all I am and relish in the joy of conceiving child after child with me, and who desires all of me, including my fertility, in a passionate way. My question to you, … Continue reading My Husband Desires My Fertility

Uncategorized13 Comments

Weekend Question Thread

Allison Hantschel

Insomnia cures. Hit me with them. Have already tried Lord of the Rings again, and it didn't work.  I was just saying in the comments to the Ferretblogging post that everybody assumes Kick is the problem with me sleeping when actually I am the problem with me sleeping. I'm coming off a long two weeks at the day job, got a couple other projects I'm trying to finish up, but none of that should result in staring at the walls until midnight every night when I have to get up at 6.  (That still sounds like a lot of sleep … Continue reading Weekend Question Thread

Adrastos, Film, Language, Music

Arcane Phrase Of The Week: Small Talk Edition

Peter Adrastos Athas

I was watching a bad 1933 Jimmy Cagney movie recently called Picture Snatcher. Actually, it had a decent idea at its core: Cagney is an ex-con turned tabloid photog/reporter, the Irish Weegee. Unfortunately, the script was terrible but it did contain a piece of '30's slang that made my ears perk up. Jeez, now I sound ike Oscar the cat. Anyway, the Cagney character was gassing with his girlfriend's copper father, complaining about people who talked a lot and had nothing to say: Some people waste a lot of time bumping gums. It also sounds like an attack on gum … Continue reading Arcane Phrase Of The Week: Small Talk Edition

Stupid Republican Tricks, Tommy T1 Comment
Image

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Back to Abby Normal edition

tommyfd

All right, people – let's get back to it. Blowers on – airlock door open – stupid scrubbers on high – here we go!

You know, Terrible Ted Cruz is from my state (althought not my district), and I never get used to his inanity. I mean, every phrase that oozes from his pandering mouth just reeks of idiocy. I keep wondering when that stupidity (if it's not feigned) is going to splatter all over his master plan to march to retake the Sudetenland of Texas politics.

Sen. Ted Cruz Announces He Will Be Joining Glenn Beck at the Border This Weekend
The Blaze ^ | 07/18/2014 | Erica Ritz

Posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎34‎:‎13‎ ‎PM by SeekAndFind

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz confirmed Thursday that he will be joining Glenn Beck and Mercury One at the border in McAllen, Texas, on Saturday to feed, clothe, and provide toys for illegal immigrant children.

Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for the senator, told TheBlaze in an email: “Tens of thousands of children are being smuggled into the United States by dangerous drug cartels and transnational gangs – it is heartless to allow that to continue.”

“But while we work to reverse the policies that have caused this tragedy, it is important we recognize the human element of this crisis, and Sen. Cruz is glad to join Glenn Beck and Mercury One in that effort to provide some relief from the suffering this administration is causing,” Frazier continued.

1 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎34‎:‎13‎ ‎PM by SeekAndFind

Exploding head

 

To: SeekAndFind

Ted Crux supports legalizing illegal aliens here now.

5 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎42‎:‎35‎ ‎PM by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: SeekAndFind

Is Beck trying to get on the Federal gravy train too?

7 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎47‎:‎02‎ ‎PM by mac_truck ( Aide toi et dieu t aidera)
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t trust Cruz.

8 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎47‎:‎09‎ ‎PM by laplata (Liberals don't get it …. their minds are diseased.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Glenn Beck has proven himself a nut job.

I don’t know why Cruz is hooking up with him. SMH. Palin and Cruz are seen together quite a bit.

16 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎55‎:‎53‎ ‎PM by laffnatu
 
BirdsOfaFeather
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To: SeekAndFind

Feeding these people is the same as encouraging the actions. Cruz and Beck are both doing it for show and I think it’s a huge mistake for them.

20 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎57‎:‎11‎ ‎PM by miliantnutcase
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To: laffnatu
 
Here you go partner. Please pay special attention to the last sentence in the first paragraph. Ted Cruz is okay with letting illegals stay permanently (and presumably work cheap and take American jobs. Did I mention his wife is a vice president at Goldman Sachs). He just doesn't want citizenship. I just want them gone. How about you? (please read the entire article. It ain't long)

…and, by the way, Cruz and Becks efforts will encourage more kids to come and more will die along the way. All these people are sick.

http://therightscoop.com/sen-ted-cruz-also-supports-temporary-legalization-status-in-the-immigration-bill/

34 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎14‎:‎19‎ ‎PM by bramps (Go West America!)
 
So – I'm now waiting for that immortal phrase:
 
"Ted Cruz – RINO!!!"
 
TedCruzIllegals
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Other Freepers try to walk it back:
 
To: miliantnutcase

RE: Feeding these people is the same as encouraging the actions.

So what do we do in the meantime, let them starve?

21 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎58‎:‎14‎ ‎PM by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: SeekAndFind

They won’t starve. To think they will is ridiculous.

24 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎02‎:‎54‎ ‎PM by miliantnutcase
 
True dat. It takes over a week to starve.
The cattle cars should have them back in Guatemala long before that.
 
Of course there's always 11th-dimensional chess:
To: leapfrog0202

My guess is that Cruz will make sure that our side benefits from his doing this.

54 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎32‎:‎46‎ ‎PM by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
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To: ansel12

My guess is that Cruz will make sure that our side benefits from his doing this.

That's my guess too. My God, some of the people on this thread are unbelievable. You DO realize the Libs spend about half their day demonizing conservatives as mean and uncaring, don't you?

That's a dirty lie. I seldom spend more than three hours a week.

The occasional charitable act by a conservative isn't going to hurt anything, and it may take some of the wind out of the Libs' sails for awhile.  amuse liberals mightily.

FIFY

Aside from the obvious trolls, those posters who seek nothing less than absolute, complete, toe-the-line doctrinaire conservatism every second of the day from the already-outnumbered people on our side have become incredibly tiresome. They're the kind of people who get people like Obama elected.

63 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎48‎:‎26‎ ‎PM by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
 
From your mouth to God's ear.
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So – are you idiots now running out of idiots to vote for?
 
To: leapfrog0202

And oh yeah, if Cruz is dead to FReepers as POTUS candidate because of what he’s doing with Beck, what about the other conservative, Mike Lee?

It just so happened that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) dropped out of the trip with Beck, saying a scheduling conflict prevented him from attending.

Does this mean he could have joined Cruz and Beck if he had no scheduling conflict?

55 posted on ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎33‎:‎23‎ ‎PM by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
 
That's right, good people – Ted Cruz is now officially not crazy enough for the Freeperati to support, and they're reduced to licking the bottom of the barrel.
 
Some older stuff after the RINO…
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Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Back to Abby Normal edition”

Athenae, Terrorism1 Comment

Kerry: How They See It

Allison Hantschel

Kerry fought for peace, and failed:  Kerry pressed on: “When I fought in Vietnam, I used to look at the faces of the local population and the looks they gave us. I’ll never forget it. It gave me clarity that we saw the situation in completely different ways.” “This isn’t Vietnam!” Netanyahu shouted. “No one understands Israel but Israel.” Kerry tried explaining himself again: “No one is saying it’s Vietnam. But I’ve been coming here for thirty years, and I’m telling you, what’s building up in the Palestinians has only gotten worse. I’ve seen it. It doesn’t matter if it’s … Continue reading Kerry: How They See It

Current Affairs, Doc4 Comments

If you have to say, “I’m just saying…” you probably said something you shouldn’t have and you need to shut up because you’re just making it worse

docphd

Stephen A. Smith isn’t saying he supports assholes who beat up women. He’s just saying that there’s probably another side to this whole issue. Like, y’know, the bitch burned the roast…  Of course when people came out against his idiocy, Stephen A. Smith had to announce that Stephen A. Smith is  “ANNOYED” because Stephen A. Smith has said “repeatedly” that Stephen A. Smith doesn’t support people who beat the shit out of women. He’s just saying that we need to look at both sides here and not just assume that she didn’t have it coming. Stephen A. Smith just really … Continue reading If you have to say, “I’m just saying…” you probably said something you shouldn’t have and you need to shut up because you’re just making it worse

Adrastos, Malakatude, Sports, Television1 Comment

Malaka Of The Week: Jason Whitlock

Peter Adrastos Athas

I rarely do multiple malaka of the week "awards" if that's what you want to call them. I decided to do so this week because the other one was way serious and sometimes boys, as well as girls, just want to have fun. This instance is centered on the casual bigotry of Jock World, and that is why Jason Whitlock is malaka of the week. Whitlock appeared on Keith Olbermann's sporty chat show on ESPN (Keith quite famously tweeted the day before the decision: mach 2 that if he could return there, then LeBron could go back to Ohio.) Sorry … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Jason Whitlock

Athenae, So Called Liberal Media1 Comment

Common Cornholed

Allison Hantschel

What is Common Core? Why is it controversial? Does this controversy have any basis in fact or is it just another wingnut fantasy like death panels and FEMA camps?  I hope you weren't looking for journalism to answer those questions:  The tickets were $18 a piece and it was a Tuesday night. Still, some drove as far as a half an hour to sit in the darkness with some 30 others similarly concerned about the Core. Polls show conservatives are more likely to oppose or strongly oppose Common Core. And Beck of course is known from his days on Fox … Continue reading Common Cornholed

Athenae, Kids Today, So Called Liberal Media2 Comments

High School Journalism is About the Process

Allison Hantschel

Yes:  We don’t encourage our children to play with blocks from a young age because we expect them all to be architects and builders. We do it because we know the seemingly simple task of stacking diverse, colored objects into myriad shapes encourages cognitive development and problem solving. So it is with scholastic journalism. In the comments to Washeck’s piece, Betsy Pollard Rau, a former Michigan high school journalism teacher whose students have won many reporting awards, said that some students went on to careers in journalism, but many more used skills learned in high school journalism in other professions … Continue reading High School Journalism is About the Process

Adrastos, Current Affairs, Immoral Values, Law/Justice, Music, Stupid Republican Tricks1 Comment

Happiness Is A Warm Gun

Peter Adrastos Athas

Because freedom: In a video posted this week by the NRA, one of the organization's commentators said competency with a gun should be a "necessary skill" for children to be able to advance to the next grade in school, just like reading and writing. In the video titled “Everyone Gets A Gun,” commentator Billy Johnson argued U.S. gun policy should be driven by the "need" people have to use guns. “Gun policy driven by our need for guns would insist that we introduce young people to guns early and that we'd give them the skills to use firearms safely,” Johnson … Continue reading Happiness Is A Warm Gun

Athenae, Immoral Values, Religion5 Comments

Excommunion

Allison Hantschel

You do not desire forgiveness:  "We have withheld forgiveness because you do not desire it."  As if that's what forgiveness is about. You forgive because forgiveness allows you to let go of hate and fear, to stop pulling them around you and using them to keep you separate from other people. Forgiveness isn't about making the other person beg for it. Forgiveness isn't about the other person deserving it. Forgiveness is a reaching outward, and that's the part of the action that counts.  Something which clearly passed by the theological scholars of this particular church as they pored over their … Continue reading Excommunion

Athenae, Law/Justice1 Comment

Keep Wasting Time

Allison Hantschel

God, keep it up, Republicans:  Two Republican judges on the D.C. Circuit Court have ruled that the equivalent of a typo is enough to strip health care subsidies from up to five million people, dealing what would be a death blow to the Affordable Care Act if the decision is allowed to stand. The one Democrat on the panel dissented. The three-judge panel ruled in Halbig v. Burwell that people in the 36 states that use the federal health insurance exchange are ineligible for subsidized insurance. The decision would also affect those who purchased insurance through the exchange but don't receive subsidies, … Continue reading Keep Wasting Time