March 30, 2016

In case you were wondering what the end of the world is going to look like

Watch where the missile goes:

March 17, 2016

I can understand going to North Korea for shits and giggles

But if you do that, you have to understand that, just like Disney World, it is a magic kingdom of illusion ruled by an exploitative and despotic rodent. You smile and nod, bow at whatever wants bowing at, look concerned and serious at appropriate times, don't ask difficult questions of your minders, act like you believe whatever they tell you, and save the shits and giggles until you are out of the country. You don't stand by the parade telling kids on Main Street, "It's just a guy in a mouse suit".

It's really not difficult to understand. And if you establish trust with the minders that you aren't going to cause any problems for them, then they will loosen up a little bit on a person-to-person level. Just don't talk politics.

Yes, their entire society is premised on bullshit. But I think anyone with the wherewithal to travel to China in order to then travel to Pyongyang should be somewhat informed about what they are getting into, or at least bone up on the subject of fundamental do's and dont's if they want to carve that notch on the "fucking weird places I've seen" bedpost.

They even have a bike tour that seems like it would be a hoot:

http://uritours.com/tours/north-korea-bike-tour

I would like to know how on earth it is possible for a college-educated person who has made a conscious decision and substantial investment in travel expenses to think it would be - in any conceivable reality - a neat idea to try to steal a propaganda banner?

Granted, that is what is merely alleged. But as was explained to me while being cited for "driving too fast for conditions" on a snowy turnpike one time, when I asked the officer the basis for his belief I had been in fact driving too fast for conditions - "You see that road up there? You see the cars up there driving on it? You are the only son of a bitch who slid off of it into this ditch."

A report on CNN suggested, on the basis of similar convictions, that he's going to be working on a farm and planting and sowing vegetables for as long as they decide to keep him. Fifteen years is clearly excessive - utterly and absolutely. But if the privileged circumstances of his upbringing, admission to a highly respected school, and apparent financial means were insufficient to provide him with an atmosphere in which he could develop any sense of good judgment - in circumstances entirely of his own choosing and volition - then a couple of months of digging potatoes might do him some good.

Visiting North Korea strikes me as one of those "don't laugh" contests, in which someone does outrageous things designed to make you laugh. If you think you might laugh, then it's probably not a good idea to attempt a visit to North Korea.

Next up: Let's pretend we're Muslim, go to Mecca during Hajj, and get a selfie next to the Kaaba making an obscene gesture.

March 16, 2016

Karl Rove at the Fox analysis desk

I scrolled past that channel.

I think he's still looking for Romney votes in Ohio.

March 16, 2016

Rubio: "We are the descendants of go-getters"

Um, yeah, I guess.

Unless you are one of the many who were sentenced to live here, or are descended from someone whom the go-getters went to Africa to go get.

March 14, 2016

Would you vote for Hillary in a house?

Would you vote for Hillary with a mouse?

Would you vote for Hillary in a box?

Would you vote for Hillary with a fox?

Would you voy for Hillary here or there?

Would you vote for Hillary anywhere?

This place has gotten weird ever since Sam I Am signed up.

March 12, 2016

So when Trump supporters start showing up at D rallies...

...how do you suppose it is going to go down?

March 12, 2016

Um, No, Nancy Reagan didn't start a national conversation about Alzheimer's either

The suggestion of "I meant Alzheimer's not HIV-AIDS" doesn't make any sense either.

First of all, Clinton said "IN THE 80'S".

In the 1980's?

Does Clinton have a memory problem?

We are supposed to believe, despite Reagan's obviously faltering capacity as his administration wore on through the 80's, that he did not develop any symptoms until much later than that.

Does Clinton not remember when Reagan was president, or that it was not until the 90's that anything was said about him having Alzheimer's?

March 12, 2016

Such handwringing over not much, really, in Chicago

Can someone please let me know the body count over what doesn't even rise to the level of a riot?

Heavens to Betsy, you'd think someone won the Stanley Cup.

Was there anything more substantial than some fistfghts?

This is what happens after a hockey game:



This is what happens during a soccer match:



This is what happens after a jury verdict:



Crowds can get into emotional frenzies over all sorts of things. We regularly have sporting events in which the object of the sport is to beat one's opponent into unconsciousness, while the crowd cheers on their favorite contestant. Does that sort of mass event - in which violence is the POINT - inspire a lot of handwringing over whether the promoters are encouraging violence? We have football and baseball games in which fatal conflicts occur with regularity. I must have missed the hours of news coverage focusing on which team's coach is responsible for those sorts of things.

It's no wonder that Americans are so ignorant of world events. A lot of significant things happened today on this planet, but the one and only thing our news media covered all freaking evening long was, as far as I could tell, some shouting and punching at a mass gathering.

Other than some fistfights, can someone help me understand the earth-shattering monumental significance of an unruly crowd at a cancelled political rally, because I'm just not getting it.

March 10, 2016

Just out of curiosity - and not meant as "political fodder" one way or another

As nothing other than idle personal curiosity, inspired by the "basta" thing...

I would assume that Wellesley had a foreign language requirement, as did most colleges at the time.

Is there any language in which Secretary Clinton has any degree of familiarity other than English?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/us/politics/03clinton.html?_r=1

I mean, didn't she at least take two semesters of French or anything in college?

March 4, 2016

I do have to appreciate Kelly's David Bowie tribute

Although that cut worked better on David Bowie