Today's Eternal Sadness

International Edition:

Not Equal: Gaza in Over 1000 Frames from MarkFiore on Vimeo.

Today's Rude-ness

The Rude Pundit starts it all off:

7/31/2014
In Brief: Quotes That Mean as Much Now as When They Were First Said (With a Photo for Context)

The quote is from a just-released recording of former President Bill Clinton speaking to a group of business people in Melbourne, Australia, on September 10, 2001 (or "One day before everything changed forever and we lost our country"). Clinton was talking about how he might have been able to get to Osama bin Laden: "I nearly got him. And I could have killed him, but I would have to destroy a little town called Kandahar in Afghanistan and kill 300 innocent women and children, and then I would have been no better than him. And so I didn’t do it."

You can tease that out and say that killing those 300 people would have created even more terrorists. Or you can say that those people were accessories to bin Laden by their proximity and that Clinton was a hypocrite because of other missile strikes he ordered or that Bill Clinton was a pussy whose inaction helped cause 9/11 (and then you can merrily go fuck yourself).

The photo is from the Gaza Strip in the last few days. The context is how intractably screwed people are when they don't give a shit about those innocent men, women, and children:

And I'll just add this - I don't pretend to know what exactly we should do, or even how we're supposed to figure out what "the right thing" is, but I think I know this much: The process for making the decision on "doing the right thing" never starts with "Step 1 - Fuck those kids - they don't matter as much as this other thing".

Some Toons

Meet Ryan Anderson

Ryan Anderson is the young gun occupying the William E Simon chair at The Rich Boy Vanity Project Heritage Foundation - the guy's a piece of work.

Quick Recap: The point here is supposed to be about pushing the Phobes at Heritage to defend their stoopid - ie: Marriage Inequality within the IRS Code.  So the questioner asks why he shouldn't be allowed to file a joint tax return with his husband just like all the straight couples get to do - and behold the awesomeness beginning at about 1:00:



Anderson uses Slippery Slope to build a Straw Man made of Special Pleading, and finishes it off with a near-brilliant Tu Quoque flourish, just before he deploys Begging The Question as a lead-up to blaming the victim (it's your own fault because you wanna marry the wrong person).

Once you know what you're looking for, it gets easier to find.

hat tip = Mock Paper Scissors

Irony-Challenged

Whenever I hear "Frivolous Lawsuit" or "Litigation Crazy" or "Litigious", it's pretty automatic that I'm going to think "GOP" because they're the ones who're always carping about how everybody just wants to sue everybody whenever they don't get their way, or they're just looking for a nice fat payday for doin' nuthin' blah blah blah.

Is there anything more frivolous than the crazily litigious House Republicans voting to sue Obama - at the end of the least productive legislative session since Hammurabi and right before these douche nozzles leave town for 5 weeks of vacation?

Don't Believe

"What's it like to lie to children for a living?"

Logical Fallacy #20 - Begging The Question

Begging the question means "assuming the conclusion (of an argument)", a type of circular reasoning. This is an informal fallacy where the conclusion that one is attempting to prove is included in the initial premises of an argument, often in an indirect way that conceals this fact.[1]

The term "begging the question" originated in the 16th century as a mistranslation of Latin petitio principii "assuming the initial point".[2] In modern vernacular usage, "to beg the question" is sometimes used to mean "to raise the question" (as in "This begs the question of whether...") or "to dodge the question".[2]

Today's Rational Thinking

Some of the discussions in the comments sections are trying to address the "economics" of this thing, and it occurs to me that we'll need somebody to look into the potential economic ripple effect of people feeling less comfortable in public places, and so deciding to stay home rather than accept the increased risk (real or imagined) that they'll be the victims of random gunfire while simply attempting to order out at the local deli.

PQED.org

hat tip = Crooks and Liars

About That Flag

Some knuckleheads down in Richmond decided a while back to put up the CSA Battle Flag because they tho't it was a good way to show their...uhm...American Pride(?)  Yeah, that one still eludes most of us graced with the sense the good lord gave the average okra pod.

Anyway, they've put up another one, but there seems to be some real push-back goin' on (or at least a little wishful Photoshoppin'):

And BTW:

hat tip = Addicting Info

Today's Pix

Modern GOP Arithmetic

Teacher: Johnny, if you have 12 cupcakes and you give 3 to Jamal, how many cupcakes do you have left?

Johnny: I have 12 cuz I ain't givin' nuthin' to nobody.

Teacher: Well, if you have 12 cupcakes and I take 3 from you and give them to Jamal, then how many do you have?

Johnny:  Then I have 12 cupcakes and 2 dead bodies to dispose of.


(Ed Note: I'm not clever enough to have come up with it on my own - I saw this not too long ago on the discussion thread of a "conservative" website.)

(2nd) Coming Soon

Prob'ly not gonna be what most of us were taught to expect.




And we can always count on the Right Reverend Fishsticks to step in it with a lack of self-awareness that'd make a Sea Sponge blush:



big hat tip = Mock Paper Scissors

He all but says it straight out - torches and pitchforks for everybody - let's go fuck up somebody's embassy!

And as an extra added attraction (after about the 10:30 mark), we get the Denialist Bullshit du Jour, citing Calvin Beisner.  But that's another story.

Classic - and BTW, Black Jesus looks to be more than just taking shots at Xianity.  Aaron MacGruder's critiques of "Black Urban Culture" are often relentless and unblinking to the point of being uncomfortable for me to watch; partly (I suppose) because of the kernels of White Guilt I wish I didn't have to lug around with me, and partly because I just really don't get some of it.

You can send Adult Swim a message here.

Today's Pol Toon

hat tip = Democratic Underground

Some Tunes

Listen To The Music --Doobie Brothers





Your Savin' Grace --Steve Miller Band





The Warmth Of The Sun --Beach Boys





I Think It's Going To Work Out Fine --Ry Cooder





Alison --Elvis Costello





Carmelita --Warren Zevon





Can't Find My Way Home --Alison Krauss





Colorado --Flying Burrito Brothers

KO'd

I miss Keith's rants.



And I wonder why a smart guy like Stephen A Smith decides to say incredibly stupid shit like this:

I understand that Smith's main function at ESPN is Provocateur - the guy who gets paid "to say what nobody else has the balls to say on the air" (which sometimes just ends up being the SportsGab version of "both sides do it; let's hear the other side blah blah blah").  That's his niche, and he's good at it, and he's done quite well by it.

Smith got (rightly) slammed hard because his remarks sound a whole lot like Blame The Victim.

And he continues to get slammed (again rightly) for his stoopid-sounding attempts  "to set the record straight", which sounds like: "I love women; some of the people dearest to me are women; and all they need to do is not make me beat the fuck out of 'em."

This will be a long tweeted message, folks. So please stay with me and let me finish my complete thought before responding...b/c i'm ANNOYED

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

In discussing the Ray Rice ruling earlier today on @ESPN_FirstTake, me and@RealSkipBayless ventured into discussing domestic violence.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could've been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don't understand how on

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

earth someone could interpret that I somehow was saying women are to blame for domestic violence. And when I saw @MichelleDBeadle -- a

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

colleague I have profound respect for -- tweet what she tweeted, enough is enough. Something needs to be said right now.
REPEATEDLY i said:

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

There is absolutely no excuse to put your hands on a women. REPEATEDLY, I said dudes who do that need to be dealt with. REPEATEDLY, I echoed

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

when confronted by it in the past -- when someone was stupid enough to touch a loved one of this man, raised by 4 older sisters, a mom and

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

numerous female relatives and loved ones, that man was dealt with. From that point, I simply asked: now what about the other side.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

If a man is pathetic and stupid enough to put his hands on a woman -- which I have NEVER DONE, btw -- of course he needs to pay the price.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

Who on earth is denying that? But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them?

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

In no way was I accusing a women of being wrong. I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

there's only but so much that can be done after the fact....once the damage is already done. Nothing more.
My apologies to @MichelleDBeadle

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

And any woman out there who misconstrued what I said. I have always -- and will always -- find violence against a women every bit as

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

horrific as women, themselves, find it. Always have. Always will, which my personal behavior exemplifies. I'll strive to be more articulate

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

in the future. But be clear, I wasn't BLAMING women for anything. I was simply saying to take all things into consideration for preventative

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

purposes. Period.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014

Yeah - kinda like Bull Connor saying, "We have lotsa negras down here; and we don't have a problem with 'em as long they don't do nuthin' that makes us turn the dogs and the fire hoses on 'em."

So maybe we're getting a little better at seeing thru the bullshit(?)  I dunno, but it looks like a feud is erupting inside the ESPN family and it'll be interesting to see how Management handles it.

Who Sez We Ain't Got No Songs?

God Fucks You Up --John R Butler





Fuck Me In Ass Because I Love Jesus --Garfunkel and Oates




More if I find any.

Nexus

Inquiring Minds:
The main focus is on trying to figure out what the real differences are between us politically; and how that knowledge is being used (IMHO) to drive us apart.



But don't forget to take a look at this:

Here's the link to the article in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

A team of Greek and German researchers has shown that the colours of sunsets painted by famous artists can be used to estimate pollution levels in the Earth’s past atmosphere. In particular, the paintings reveal that ash and gas released during major volcanic eruptions scatter the different colours of sunlight, making sunsets appear more red. The results are published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, an open access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

When the Tambora volcano in Indonesia erupted in 1815, painters in Europe could see the colours of the sky changing. The volcanic ash and gas spewed into the atmosphere travelled the world and, as these aerosol particles scattered sunlight, they produced bright red and orange sunsets in Europe for up to three years after the eruption. J. M. W. Turner was one of the artists who painted the stunning sunsets during that time. Now, scientists are using his, and other great masters’, paintings to retrieve information on the composition of the past atmosphere.

“Nature speaks to the hearts and souls of great artists,” says lead-author Christos Zerefos, a professor of atmospheric physics at the Academy of Athens in Greece. “But we have found that, when colouring sunsets, it is the way their brains perceive greens and reds that contains important environmental information.”