Thread below the Gardening Thread: California Dreamin' [KT]

Serving your mid-day open thread needs
Remember CBD's post about Israel below, too.

New Years Eve greetings! Hope you have some fun or fulfilling or interesting plans. I would love to hear about them. We will be staying indoors, out of the path of a possible stray bullet falling back down out of the sky during midnight celebrations. We will probably be preoccupied with distraught dogs for a little while. I will be checking the upcoming Pet Thread for tips on celebrating with pets that don't understand explosions.

I have cautious hope that we will see some improvements in how government is run during the coming year. But government madness is spreading here in California.

Numerous California elected officials are condemning President-Elect Donald Trump's proposal of immigration-related conditions for local governments to obtain federal grants. But at the same time, California elected officials are imposing their own union-related conditions for local governments to obtain state grants. . .
Now, the City of Fresno - the fifth most populous city in California - has surrendered to the power of union lobbyists in Sacramento. On December 15, the Fresno City Council voted 5-2 to require its construction contractors to sign a "Transformative Climate Communities Project Labor Agreement" with the Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Building and Construction Trades Council. Even the outgoing Republican mayor and incoming Republican mayor sacrificed fair and open bid competition and fiscal responsibility in order to get state grant money.

So disheartening. And the name of the agreement! Ick, ick, ick. California falls deeper and deeper into fantasy, fiscal and otherwise.

Anybody got any suggestions for remaining a Happy Warrior under these conditions?

Academia Confronts Tenant Rights in California

I'm pretty sure I have mentioned here at AoSHQ problems related to tenant rights and (even worse) squatter's rights in California. Basically, if you allow someone stay in your home for three days, you could have a difficult time getting them out. Legally, anyway. Be ccareful about letting a relative stay with you for a few days.

In somewhat-related tenant rights news, there have been some rather tense discussions over a plan for apartment inspections in Fresno aimed at cracking down on slumlords. One city councilman was viciously labeled as a racist alt-right extremist for suggesting that sometimes tenants contribute to the poor condition of rental properties. I guess this calumny isn't all that surprising. The Fresno Bee was known as a communist rag back in the day when communists called themselves communists. There has long been a really, really leftist counterpart to the more conservative residents of this area.

Anyway, the story linked below is disturbing. But I also found it kinda funny. It is much less devastating in terms of property damage and financial loss than many stories about tenant rights in California. It is only a Mother Jones story because of the people involved. Mother Jones has discovered that tenant rights laws can be a bad thing when they decrease the level of trust among academics. Here's their story about a professor who wouldn't leave. Some ivory tower types are experiencing a bit of the real world!

Incidentally, the guy who wouldn't leave or pay his rent and who threatened legal action against his colleague/landlady is scheduled to teach a class in "Ethics and Politics of New Technology" starting in January. Heh.

Additional tidbits on ethics, academia and art

In a piece on enemies of language, VDH included what I think is a great idea: Trigger warnings could be re-named "Censorship Protocols".

Do you like it? Can you think of appropriate alternatives for other familiar lefty terms?

Censorship Protocols

A few years ago at Fresno State, where VDH used to teach, some enterprising students put out a rather slick little amateur video inspired by another student who had been hauled in by the authorities. He had been caught in a compromising situation with a sheep. In the video, young women dressed somewhat provocatively, but with sheep-like ears and tails, coyly and wordlessly tempted a young male actor to leave a hiking trail with them. There was a kicker at the end of the video, when the young actor noticed a police dog at the station. The dog suddenly looked a lot like a beautiful young woman.

I think this video has been disappeared. I remembered it when I read about an academic/artistic project to create a hybrid relational assemblage between a woman and a sheep. The young man at Fresno State who had a close encounter with a sheep was apparently ahead of his time. Maybe he could get class credit today instead of a trip to the police station.

But enough about the ivory tower for now. How about a song to close up?

And here's the new version of 'California dreamin' that kids are listening to today.

You kids get off what used to be my lawn. Yes, I had a lawn before politicians prioritized trains and stuff over water. And kids, take your shovels with you. You may need them.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:48 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Someone has to be first I guess

Posted by: Molly k. at December 31, 2016 11:47 AM (9H4KE)

2 I get into arguments with people about property rights. I get called names and I predict they will get their property squatted on.

*sigh*

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:50 AM (9MInk)

3 1
Someone has to be first I guess

Posted by: Molly k.

Not all of us have one of those nifty time-travel devices.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 11:51 AM (LAe3v)

4 I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:51 AM (LTHVh)

5 4
I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

So that was you, you SOB.

Posted by: Fellow passing beneath the bridge on his sailboat at December 31, 2016 11:52 AM (LAe3v)

6 How do you make a bridge angry?

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 11:53 AM (sdi6R)

7 Lotta people started drinking early, I see.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 11:53 AM (LAe3v)

8 "I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once."

Hopefully it doesn't hold a grudge.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 31, 2016 11:53 AM (J+eG2)

9 Make sure if you live in California, and like guns, you read up on all the new laws taking effect tomorrow, your probably breaking some without even knowing it.

By the way, the Governors dog died!!

Posted by: Colin at December 31, 2016 11:54 AM (ogUTd)

10 Anybody got any suggestions for remaining a Happy Warrior under these conditions?

Pop smoke.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:54 AM (LTHVh)

11 Numerous California elected officials are condemning President-Elect Donald Trump's proposal of immigration-related conditions for local governments to obtain federal grants.

-
What? They like free money? Who couldda seen that coming?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 31, 2016 11:54 AM (Nwg0u)

12 as for anyone who would voluntarily chain herself to a sheep . . . gah. They get called "meadow maggots" for a reason.
No one would keep them if they weren't so valuable. Only a brain dead lefty would consider being near one for fun.

Dumb, unthinking, dirty, smelly, prone to ungodly horrible diseases, panicky, smelly, unpleasant to the eye, without any redeeming value and continually needing protection and herding to keep them from drowning or dying neglect. But enough about braindead lefties.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:55 AM (9MInk)

13 Just heard on the radio the other day that they are trying to legislate that must-use-union-workers-to-get-state-money crapola in Wisconsin.

Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 31, 2016 11:55 AM (nrnR5)

14 4
I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:51 AM (LTHVh)

Yeah, me too. That water is COLD.

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 11:56 AM (l0RV1)

15 Numerous California elected officials are condemning President-Elect
Donald Trump's proposal of immigration-related conditions for local
governments to obtain federal grants.

Trump's a born negotiator, and knows the value of taking a strong initial stand to let everybody know he's not to be trifled with. This will not end well for them.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 11:56 AM (LAe3v)

16 Happy New Year's Eve, Horde!

Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 11:56 AM (tHwdc)

17 Deep Too

Posted by: The Other Guy Brother at December 31, 2016 11:56 AM (l0RV1)

18
*golf clap*

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 31, 2016 11:57 AM (nrnR5)

19 14
4

I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:51 AM (LTHVh)

Yeah, me too. That water is COLD.

Posted by: The Other Guy

And deep.

Posted by: Obligatory at December 31, 2016 11:57 AM (LAe3v)

20 I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:51 AM (LTHVh)

Yeah, me too. That water is COLD.
Posted by: The Other Guy

Deep too!

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 11:57 AM (O7kBk)

21 and the bottom is rocky

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:58 AM (LTHVh)

22 Yeah, and that sand will scratch your dick

Posted by: The Other Guy's Big Brother at December 31, 2016 11:58 AM (l0RV1)

23 Great catch by Dupre, then a stupid taunt.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 11:59 AM (LTHVh)

24 Thank you, KT. A great job to keep the Horde occupied.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 31, 2016 11:59 AM (J8/9G)

25 How do you make a bridge angry?

-
Tell it that it reminds you of Kerry, orange and saggy.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 31, 2016 11:59 AM (Nwg0u)

26 Just heard on the radio the other day that they are
trying to legislate that must-use-union-workers-to-get-state-money
crapola in Wisconsin.

Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 31, 2016 11:55 AM (nrnR5)

My next remaining unfulfilled wet dream is that Trump the Prime Contractor will take a good hard look at the Davis-Bacon act that demands all Federal contracts pay wages commensurate with union wages, puff and benefits.

That would mean the Unions go back to being a guarantee of quality and training and stop being a barrier to employment in the trades

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:59 AM (9MInk)

27 "and the bottom is rocky"

Good four feet of soft mud under the rocks"

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 31, 2016 12:00 PM (J+eG2)

28
At WZ: nice to know that Teh Ewok isn't the only one who accidentally links to busty lesbian pron.

TPM Editor Josh Marshall makes an oopsie.

http://tinyurl.com/hzuoe3t

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 31, 2016 12:00 PM (LuZz8)

29 >>We will be staying indoors, out of the path of a possible stray bullet falling back down out of the sky during midnight celebrations.

This actually happened to a co-worker of my sisters a number of years ago. She was visiting New Orleans during Mardi Gras and a falling celebratory bullet killed her dead.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 31, 2016 12:00 PM (/tuJf)

30 Happy New Year's eve horde!

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:01 PM (O7kBk)

31 Aaand dick measurement comparisons in less than 20 comments. Way to go, Morons!

Posted by: washrivergal at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (CFc5L)

32

Dumb, unthinking, dirty, smelly, prone to ungodly horrible diseases, panicky, smelly, unpleasant to the eye, without any redeeming value and continually needing protection and herding to keep them from drowning or dying neglect. But enough about braindead lefties.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:55 AM (9MInk)

*stormy applause, rising to an ovation*

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (J8/9G)

33 There are some kind of shallow alcoves thoughtfully provided in the middle of the bridge so you can sort of discretely hang it out.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (LTHVh)

34 Just please give America back Reagan's corpse before you break off.

Posted by: josephistan at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (7qAYi)

35 Thinking of this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE

Posted by: cthulhu at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (EzgxV)

36 well TFG has 20 + more days to screw his enemies which seems to still be us and .. anyway I don't know if he's on vacay yet not that it matters his minions are ever working to undermine us and our allies, so while I know it's the weekend at aces I hope we will still keep TFG on our radar.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:03 PM (R7cwD)

37 The bridge joke, aka the water's cold, is a standard in Southern bathrooms with the reply always being, deep too.

The two words you DON'T want to hear in the bathroom?

"Nice Dick"

Posted by: The Other Guy's Big Brother at December 31, 2016 12:03 PM (l0RV1)

38 It might be useful to some in Teh Horde, if there was to be a 50 State table or compendium, of what "squatter's rights" exist in each State.

Further, a paragraph describing how such laws might affect the property-owner, and an outline of what steps and how long it takes to dislodge a squatter, if need be.

Could come in handy for reasons to tell the in-laws, "no, you can't come over for the holidays!". *evil grin*

Seriously though, it's gonna be valuable knowledge for some.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (v5iqM)

39 If I read correctly, California is basically the whole reason Hillary got the popular vote lead (assuming all the votes are legal). Without California in the mix, Trump wins by a notable margin. And that plus reelecting Governor Moonbeam says all you need to know about the state, really.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (39g3+)

40 I don't know why you don't do anything but sneaks when you're first and goal at the one.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (LTHVh)

41 and Let this be a very Happy NYs for us. and maybe a prayer for our vulgarian that never sleeps TG_d

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (R7cwD)

42 I have a friend whose 24 year old daughter is in New Orleans tonight to celebrate NYE. She's concerned about her.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (tOcW/)

43 and an outline of what steps and how long it takes to dislodge a squatter, if need be.

3.5 to 4 psi trigger pull and a shovel.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:05 PM (O7kBk)

44 "Anybody got any suggestions for remaining a Happy Warrior under these conditions?"

Get out?

Sorry, that's all I got.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 12:05 PM (Pz4pT)

45 Jim as far as I know from experience , You must give the squatter 30 days a notice put on the door )eviction) and hope the squatter does not destroy your home or kill you off in the meantime.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (R7cwD)

46 The two words you DON'T want to hear in the bathroom?

"Nice Dick"
Posted by: The Other Guy's Big Brother

Even after founding the EPA and Dept. of Education, the media never said that to me.

Posted by: Zombie Richard Nixon at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (MQZOg)

47 If I read correctly, California is basically the whole reason Hillary got the popular vote lead (assuming all the votes are legal).

Invalid assumption thanks to Motor Voter Law.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (O7kBk)

48 Does anyone know laws concerning carrying a gun in an RV that is open to the driver? Thinking of a road trip and wondering about carrying a weapon in an RV. I have a concealed carry permit, but some states don't honor it.

AKA, if I have a gun in an RV in CA, do you think I could get arrested? NJ?

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (l0RV1)

49 The sheep video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE

Posted by: Lurker at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (XkHm6)

50
39 If I read correctly, California is basically the whole reason Hillary got the popular vote lead (assuming all the votes are legal). Without California in the mix, Trump wins by a notable margin. And that plus reelecting Governor Moonbeam says all you need to know about the state, really.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (39g3+)

There IS no popular vote. It's 100% irrelevant.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (LuZz8)

51 I hope we will still keep TFG on our radar.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:03 PM (R7cwD)

While reading this, the picture of the dejected White House staff on election night popped into my head.*shudder*

Posted by: Infidel at December 31, 2016 12:07 PM (VtLx6)

52 Could come in handy for reasons to tell the in-laws, "no, you can't come over for the holidays!". *evil grin*

Seriously though, it's gonna be valuable knowledge for some.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Posted by: Jim at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (v5iqM)

I would like to know my rights, when I get good and fed up with my spawn. Which... aaaany day now.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 12:07 PM (Pz4pT)

53 From a comment in the WZ link:

"Times Square, 2 million people possible, corralled inbetween fencing,
can't use bathrooms, 7000 cops, constant surveillance, no food, cold
weather, possible nudity by those who probably shouldn't make that
choice, dump trucks filled with sand to avoid attacks by people the
mayor has allowed to infest that city"

DeBlasio has turned Times Square into the Gulag Fun-camp.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 12:08 PM (9MInk)

54 42
I have a friend whose 24 year old daughter is in New Orleans tonight to celebrate NYE. She's concerned about her.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:04 PM (tOcW/)

She should be, even on a regular weekend. Bourbon street has become thug city. I suspect it will be safer this weekend. They have blocked off all vehicle traffic

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:08 PM (l0RV1)

55 DeBlasio is what you get when young voters refuse to listen to older ones.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:09 PM (39g3+)

56 Burt, see above.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:09 PM (R7cwD)

57 Does anyone know laws concerning carrying a gun in an RV that is open to the driver? Thinking of a road trip and wondering about carrying a weapon in an RV. I have a concealed carry permit, but some states don't honor it.

You would have to research every state you plan to travel through.

Safest bet? Unloaded & gun and ammo locked in separate containers.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:09 PM (O7kBk)

58 Good stuff, Grump.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:09 PM (89T5c)

59 I have a friend whose 24 year old daughter is in New Orleans tonight to celebrate NYE. She's concerned about her.

One of my friends tells a horrid Mardi Gras story that you probably don't want to hear.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (LTHVh)

60 Any suggestions ...?

Come to Texas, just like a lot of former Californians ... but don't try to Californicate us. No thanks.

Posted by: direwolf at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (DLPe/)

61 Trump won national total vote of 49 states.

CA gave Hillary a FOUR million vote lead, over twice her national vote total lead.

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (l0RV1)

62 Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:08 PM (l0RV1)

Thanks; I'll let her know.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (tOcW/)

63 Dumb, unthinking, dirty, smelly, prone to ungodly horrible diseases, panicky, smelly, unpleasant to the eye, without any redeeming value and continually needing protection and herding to keep them from drowning or dying neglect. But enough about braindead lefties.
Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:55 AM (9MInk)

You said "smelly" twice.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 12:11 PM (Pz4pT)

64
There IS no popular vote. It's 100% irrelevant.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (LuZz

It can't be emphasized enough that we don't have a national vote for president, we have 51 (with DC) state votes. Everyone knew the rules going into this and no one pointed out that anything else was "unfair."

It's only because the illusion of a Blue Wall and No Path for Trump fell apart that we hear this caterwauling by butthurt proglodytes.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 31, 2016 12:11 PM (J8/9G)

65 California is crazy, but beautiful.
After Christmas on a California ranch.

http://tinypic.com/r/21lpmph/9

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM (qPr1r)

66 That would mean the Unions go back to being a guarantee of quality and training and stop being a barrier to employment in the trades

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:59 AM (9MInk)

They have always been a barrier. Restricting the supply of "qualified" labor is the be-all and end-all of their existence.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM (MiBfH)

67 Landlords are Kulaks, and New Left liberals, like their Bolshevik predecessors, have a special hate in their heart for such people.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM (ppaKI)

68 @57

Yeah, that is what I figured, but I still wonder how they classify possession in an RV. That is the real snake pit that some wise ass cop could screw you with.

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:13 PM (l0RV1)

69 CA gave Hillary a FOUR million vote lead, over twice her national vote total lead.

-
California, my heart's devotion
May it sink back into the ocean

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 31, 2016 12:13 PM (Nwg0u)

70 Burt, see above.
Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:09 PM (R7cwD)

I'm mostly just venting. Although I am pretty sure at some point I'm going to hand her some change of address forms and tell her she has to the end of the year to fill them out.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 12:13 PM (Pz4pT)

71 Trump didn't win the 'popular vote' only because he didn't try to.

Posted by: davidt at December 31, 2016 12:13 PM (XoldI)

72 "we have 51 (with DC) state votes. "

*Scratches head*

You sure about that total.

Could have sworn that some guy with a college education, and a government job said there were like 57 States.

I could be wrong though.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 31, 2016 12:13 PM (J+eG2)

73 A few years ago at Fresno State, where VDH used to teach, some enterprising students put out a rather slick little amateur video inspired by another student who had been hauled in by the authorities. He had been caught in a compromising situation with a sheep. In the video, young women dressed somewhat provocatively, but with sheep-like ears and tails, coyly and wordlessly tempted a young male actor to leave a hiking trail with them. There was a kicker at the end of the video, when the young actor noticed a police dog at the station. The dog suddenly looked a lot like a beautiful young woman.

I think this video has been disappeared.

Contact Cthulhu about that - he may be able to locate it. I'm not joking.

He posted that *exact same video* a few years back. It was from zoo-something.

I can still hear that earworm music inside my head.

Cthulhu had asked the riddle "what are two English words that are three letters each, and sound identical, but which had *none* of the three letters in common?"

The answer is of course "you" and "ewe". He posted that video when we all finally gave up.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 12:14 PM (rH4JY)

74 Posted by: CaliGirl at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM (qPr1r)

Yes; Lovely photo. Thanks

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (tOcW/)

75 I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (LTHVh)

76 California. one of the most gorgeous places in the U.S. , Oregon is the other in my mind.
yet they both have been corrupted by their inhabitants

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (R7cwD)

77 Yeah, that is what I figured, but I still wonder how they classify possession in an RV. That is the real snake pit that some wise ass cop could screw you with.

Exactly. Texas? Vehicle is extension or your home. Perfectly legal to carry a gun in your vehicle without a permit. New Mexico? No frigging idea. New Jersey? NFW.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (O7kBk)

78 Trump didn't win the 'popular vote' only because he didn't try to.
--

There are rules. In elections and in life

So sorry that the butthurt liberals don't understand them. Maybe if they spent less time in school taking imaginary piano and giant paper mache head making classes and took civics instead, they would understand.

/or not. I'm being generous

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who now just wants to yell at stupid people at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (Kd7bb)

79 61 Trump won national total vote of 49 states.

CA gave Hillary a FOUR million vote lead, over twice her national vote total lead.
Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (l0RV1)

I haven't actually checked the numbers for myself, but I read that six counties on the coast around San Francisco and Los Angeles went for Hillary by such lopsided margins that they provided all of her national popular vote lead.

Take them out, and Trump wins the popular vote, and Hillary STILL wins California.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (sdi6R)

80 RV & Gun in Kalifornia...

TBD but the way I read the law is, unloaded, locked up, ammunition (mags etc) in a separate locations both away from driver (trunk). How that works with a no trunk vehicle has yet TBD.

5 or so years left behind enemy lines... I'm hoping they do something silly that makes me have to leave the state. Sooner would be better even if under forced circumstances.

Posted by: Fewenuff at December 31, 2016 12:16 PM (gHE26)

81 I live in SF.
Grateful for the recent rains.
It helps with the overall olfactory experience...

Posted by: navybrat at December 31, 2016 12:16 PM (w7KSn)

82 They have always been a barrier. Restricting the supply of "qualified" labor is the be-all and end-all of their existence.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM (MiBfH)

THIS. So they reduce the supply, increases demand and wages so the union members are willing to pay the dues for the protection of a closed market.
Soon two more states will become right to work, KY and MO. Both states have GOP legislatures and governors. Total then, 27.
Union days, absent government controls, are doomed.

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:16 PM (l0RV1)

83 Texas? Vehicle is extension or your home.

*of your home

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:16 PM (O7kBk)

84 And here's the new version of 'California dreamin' that kids are listening to today.
=======================

Needs more Mama Cass.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:16 PM (dFi94)

85 >>>CA gave Hillary a FOUR million vote lead

So, the EC contains the effects of voter fraud, thus proving its worth. And forces politicians to appeal to all states, not just urban centers. This is a good thing.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (rH4JY)

86 I live in SF.
Grateful for the recent rains.
It helps with the overall olfactory experience...
---

I can't imagine what it's like living there-- libtard heaven. I'm in SE Michigan, and my workplace is heavily liberal. It makes me crazy. I have no idea how you guys survive in places like SF,

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who now just wants to yell at stupid people at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (Kd7bb)

87 It's a Domicile. Bitch!

Posted by: Jesse Pinkman at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (XoldI)

88 At least it was only pissing, the aircraft carrier USS Hancock had to go to General Quarters one time as it set sail under the Golden Gate for a WestPac cruise to Vietnam.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (x0mWT)

89 I escaped to Texas in 2004... Never looked back...

Posted by: phreshone at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (DpOmP)

90 Take them out, and Trump wins the popular vote, and Hillary STILL wins California.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (sdi6R)

Hillary's lead is now 2.8 million, FOUR boroughs of NYC gave her a 2.4 million lead. Only Staten Island went for Trump

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (l0RV1)

91 I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (LTHVh)

Quite the poseur, he is.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (MiBfH)

92
Hillary's lead is now 2.8 million, FOUR boroughs of NYC gave her a 2.4 million lead. Only Staten Island went for Trump
---

Looks like it's going to be an early night for Trump....

Posted by: the MSM at December 31, 2016 12:19 PM (Kd7bb)

93 Burt good luck. sometimes our children don't actually want to fly out of the nest and continue to be fed ,clothed and generally be an asshat indefinitely.
I try to tell myself 1 out of 5 children.. I have failed in some respect the other children Thank G-d they chose to grabself responsibility .
anyway heartbreaking when it is your spawn, you love them regardless but know their game is the losing experience.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:19 PM (R7cwD)

94 53 From a comment in the WZ link:

"Times Square, 2 million people possible, corralled inbetween fencing,
can't use bathrooms, 7000 cops, constant surveillance, no food, cold
weather, possible nudity by those who probably shouldn't make that
choice, dump trucks filled with sand to avoid attacks by people the
mayor has allowed to infest that city"

DeBlasio has turned Times Square into the Gulag Fun-camp.
Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 12:08 PM (9MInk)

The lady who runs the local bakery outlet store is in NYC now to "watch the ball drop". I was mentioning to the lady who runs the cash register there that it was gonna be like spending all night in a feed lot pen - no bathroom, can't just leave, no food, cold as crap.
I guess she's gonna have a good time regardless, but...

Posted by: antisocialist at December 31, 2016 12:19 PM (W2wn0)

95 Rhetorical question:

What will arrive at movie theaters first:

1. Libtard fantasy film of alternate universe with Hillary as president?

2. Trump @ssignation film?

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:20 PM (Kd7bb)

96 New Years Eve greetings! Hope you have some fun or fulfilling or interesting plans. I would love to hear about them.
====================================

Interesting plans? I haven't had interesting plans since I was 24.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (dFi94)

97 Hillz brought a popular vote to an electoral vote fight.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, This Is the Dawning of the Age of the Trumpius! at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (Nwg0u)

98 73
A few years ago at Fresno State, where VDH used to teach, some
enterprising students put out a rather slick little amateur video
inspired by another student who had been hauled in by the authorities.
He had been caught in a compromising situation with a sheep. In the
video, young women dressed somewhat provocatively, but with sheep-like
ears and tails, coyly and wordlessly tempted a young male actor to leave
a hiking trail with them. There was a kicker at the end of the video,
when the young actor noticed a police dog at the station. The dog
suddenly looked a lot like a beautiful young woman.

I think this video has been disappeared.

Contact Cthulhu about that - he may be able to locate it. I'm not joking.

He posted that *exact same video* a few years back. It was from zoo-something.

I can still hear that earworm music inside my head.

Cthulhu had asked the riddle "what are two English words that are
three letters each, and sound identical, but which had *none* of the
three letters in common?"

The answer is of course "you" and "ewe". He posted that video when we all finally gave up.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 12:14 PM (rH4JY)

Link @35.

Posted by: cthulhu at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (EzgxV)

99 This New Years Drop thing is infectious. Mobile drops a giant Moon Pie Tonight. Pensacola, a pelican.

My little town is dropping something that I can't identify.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (LTHVh)

100 Trump needs to issue a second day order that because California gave Illegal Aliens drivers licenses, CA licenses are no longer valid ID's for TSA purposes...

[Texas now makes out-of-state residents bring both their old license, and a birth-certificate or passport to prove citizenship]

Posted by: phreshone at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (DpOmP)

101 As a member of the serf class in the People's Soviet Socialist Ecological Republic of Commiefornia, from now on when I go to the gun store, I'll have to undergo a background check before purchasing.

Purchasing *ammo*.

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Posted by: torquewrench at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (noWW6)

102 I happened to catch part of Tavis Smiley last night with Graham Nash. By the end of the interview, you wish you could rip the guitar out his hands and fucking beat him to death with it. Blah, blah popular vote. blah blah electoral college. blah blah Trump death squads. What an infantile POS. And they all think like this.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (89T5c)

103 Its pretty ridiculous how lopsided the vote was in just a tiny handful of states. And, of course, those states are the ones throwing the tantrum

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (39g3+)

104 Posted by: antisocialist at December 31, 2016 12:19 PM (W2wn0)
NYE in Times Square sounds like my own personal hell. You couldn't pay me to go there.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (qPr1r)

105 ah a blast from the past- Do they still make moonpies?

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (R7cwD)

106
88
At least it was only pissing, the aircraft carrier USS Hancock had to go to General Quarters one time as it set sail under the Golden Gate for a WestPac cruise to Vietnam.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 31, 2016 12:18 PM (x0mWT)

I was at fleet week one year. The aircraft carrier has to go under the Golden Gate at low tide, VERY slowly. Then they launched jets off her in the bay. Cool as shit.

http://tinyurl.com/zs7o5ps

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (l0RV1)

107 Purchasing *ammo*.

Even at Walmart?

Posted by: Grump928(C) asks, tongue in cheek at December 31, 2016 12:23 PM (LTHVh)

108 In that guy's defense, the sheep are really cute and alluring, at least until they turn into actual sheep

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:23 PM (39g3+)

109 I'll have to undergo a background check before purchasing.

Purchasing *ammo*.

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Posted by: torquewrench at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (noWW6)
=============================

Just to purchase ammo? for the love of pete

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:23 PM (dFi94)

110
We have our 14 month old grandson with us or the next 24 hours. He's a trip -- walking, climbing and exploring , all while vocalizing in a way that I guess must make some sense to him. Cardboard boxes, napkin rings, coasters and the dog are still his favorite pkaythings.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (BK3ZS)

111 Japanese firm markets tiny hologram virtual wife... I wonder how the Soviet Justice Wankers will process this?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/zabzjxr

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (x0mWT)

112 I was mentioning to the lady who runs the cash register there that it was gonna be like spending all night in a feed lot pen - no bathroom, can't just leave, no food, cold as crap.

Yeah, sign me up for that.

Somehow, spending New Year's Eve home alone doesn't sound so forlorn. The house is toasty, I have a bathroom down the hall, and a kitchen loaded with food and beverages I can get anytime I want. I'm also not too worried about a terrorist attack, either.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (sdi6R)

113 2 I get into arguments with people about property rights. I get called names and I predict they will get their property squatted on.
*sigh*
Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 11:50 AM (9MInk)

People who argue against property rights invariably have no property.

And if/when they acquire some, they invariably become property rights hawks with respect to whatever property they now have, but typically not to other types of property.

Liberalism truly is a character/cognitive defect.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (SRKgf)

114 This New Years Drop thing is infectious. Mobile drops a giant Moon Pie Tonight. Pensacola, a pelican.

My little town is dropping something that I can't identify.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (LTHVh)

People in Flushing, NY drop a deuce at midnight?

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (v5iqM)

115
California is beyond redemption. It's a generational thing. Their long march through the institutions paid off. Until there have been three or four generations who have had to live under socialist rule, there won't be any changes.

A frontpage mag article on how the collapse of the USSR looked from someone who was there.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/253315/

Posted by: Floyde Farthengton at December 31, 2016 12:24 PM (up+iZ)

116 going to be a lush year with all the green CaliGirl.

happy ranching!

Posted by: concrete girl at December 31, 2016 12:25 PM (TD/W3)

117 Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:22 PM (89T5c)
========================

Graham Nash is a loon. He won't shut his yap about politics even during his concerts. Just shut up and sing, Graham.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:26 PM (dFi94)

118
California problem? solved!

Have been living here since 1956 - moving to Texas next month.

Posted by: ArthurK at December 31, 2016 12:26 PM (h53OH)

119 99
This New Years Drop thing is infectious. Mobile drops a giant Moon Pie Tonight. Pensacola, a pelican.

My little town is dropping something that I can't identify.

Posted by: Grump928(C) ProLite 2200 at December 31, 2016 12:21 PM (LTHVh)

This use to be a thing, but alas the PETA people but a stop to it.

http://tinyurl.com/h25srz6

Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:26 PM (l0RV1)

120 Thinking of this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE
--

So, in Obamaworld, if the sheep/dog internally self-identified as a woman, then it's not a crime right? I'm sure the guy asked and they gave their consent...

/real doesn't matter in the land of libtards...

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:27 PM (Kd7bb)

121 31
Aaand dick measurement comparisons in less than 20 comments. Way to go, Morons!

Posted by: washrivergal

Well, technically speaking, there is no comparison.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 12:27 PM (LAe3v)

122 Japanese firm markets tiny hologram virtual wife...
Posted by: Anna Puma

HARCOOOOURT!

Posted by: Holographic Stella Mudd at December 31, 2016 12:27 PM (MQZOg)

123 Reading about the Hancock and Ticonderoga and their fates made me think. Is there anything sadder than a ship decomissioning? Seems like putting a beloved pet to sleep.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at December 31, 2016 12:27 PM (J8/9G)

124 East Coaster here but I spent a ton of time in CA over the past 2 years for work and one vacation (Tahoe-gorgeous). It should be the most prosperous state in the country and instead there are homeless *everywhere* and you walk through clouds of urine smell even in the nicest areas (socal). CA had everything going for it the perfect climate, Hollywood, high tech, gigantic ports, huge military bases, aerospace, what used to be the best state university system, farmland, oil and minerals, gateway to Asia, several world class cities and liberals have fucked it up politically and financially to a fare the well and made it actively hostile to the middle class and most businesses.

Posted by: Goldilocks at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (pOgVG)

125 I knew he was a liberal, but he is extra-super dooper batshit crazy, grammie.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (89T5c)

126 Please help!

We're looking for ideas for an appetizer or dessert to take to a New Year's Eve party tonight.

Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (4bjXi)

127 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE

The video you referenced.

Posted by: Chris Wright at December 31, 2016 12:29 PM (oczdw)

128 My little town is dropping something that I can't identify.

Posted by: Grump928

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:31 PM (O7kBk)

129 Driving home one evening in my '69 427/435HP Tuxedo Black Corvette, t-tops stowed of course and dressed to the nines after shopping with a friend in Sausalito all day, it came to my attention at the toll booth that I couldn't put together two quarters to pay the toll. I really hate it when that happens.

Posted by: Anna Mac at December 31, 2016 12:31 PM (xujfC)

130 I knew he was a liberal, but he is extra-super dooper batshit crazy, grammie.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (89T5c)
==================

I know. He makes David Crosby look like Ted Cruz.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:31 PM (dFi94)

131 Pick up a New Years Good Luck pretzel at the supermarket, Denny.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:31 PM (89T5c)

132 Burt good luck. sometimes our children don't actually want to fly out of the nest and continue to be fed ,clothed and generally be an asshat indefinitely.
I try to tell myself 1 out of 5 children.. I have failed in some respect the other children Thank G-d they chose to grabself responsibility .
anyway heartbreaking when it is your spawn, you love them regardless but know their game is the losing experience.
Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:19 PM (R7cwD)

Thanks, that is well said.

The world opens itself to these children, and convinces them they're not children, and their parents are stupid and wrong.

They're too foolish to realize just how foolish they are. It helps to remember, so was I.

So I am consciously aware, no matter how irritating she is, she gets it naturally, and I can hope at some point, she starts to learn.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 12:32 PM (Pz4pT)

133 Sacred Honor compels me to admit to having not commented on the Margaret Thatcher, Cocoa Butter Hanjo Thread.

I do remember being bummed that I missed that one, though.

Posted by: garrett at December 31, 2016 12:32 PM (g9txO)

134 "Trump needs to issue a second day order that because California gave Illegal Aliens drivers licenses, CA licenses are no longer valid ID's for TSA purposes..."

This actually popped up as a serious proposal out of the Fedzilla bureaucracy a year or so ago. There are something like eight states whose issuance procedures for official ID are ridiculously lax, to of course include Commiefornia.

As this point, so far as I know, the most recently decreed deadline for people from those states to obtain alternate ID which will let them pass TSA checkpoints is some time in 2018.

Just stick tightly to that date, repeatedly point out that it's an Obama policy (to put a further stick in the eye of Lightworker-worshipping CA residents) and brook no nonsense about altering the terms and conditions.

Posted by: torquewrench at December 31, 2016 12:32 PM (noWW6)

135 Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (4bjXi)

Cheesecake-but I say that because that and Tiramisu are two of my favorite deserts.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:33 PM (tOcW/)

136 and the Scottish Farmer replied "the sheep lies!"

Posted by: Just the punchline at December 31, 2016 12:33 PM (39g3+)

137 Just stick tightly to that date, repeatedly point out that it's an Obama
policy (to put a further stick in the eye of Lightworker-worshipping CA
residents) and brook no nonsense about altering the terms and
conditions.

Nope, Trump should change the deadline to 3 months from now, then say "I am changing the deal, pray I don't alter it again".

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 12:35 PM (LAe3v)

138 @39 If I read correctly, California is basically the whole reason Hillary got the popular vote lead (assuming all the votes are legal). Without California in the mix, Trump wins by a notable margin. And that plus reelecting Governor Moonbeam says all you need to know about the state, really.
---------------------------

No, there's one more thing that needs to be mentioned. Gov. Moonbeam is actually less nutty than our legislators in Sacramento.

Eventual Gov. Gavin Newsome will probably fix that, though...

Posted by: junior at December 31, 2016 12:35 PM (ZvmQn)

139 I'm just wondering what a "Transformative Climate Community" is. It seems like random words strung together to sound important to provide cover for yet another govt boondoggle but we know liberals that would never do that.

Posted by: Ripley at December 31, 2016 12:35 PM (1BQGO)

140
AKA, if I have a gun in an RV in CA, do you think I could get arrested? NJ?

More likely than not in NJ.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 31, 2016 12:36 PM (BK3ZS)

141 Dad's buried.

As The Dude would say, fuck it, let's go bowling.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, turkey ain't all that's stuffed at December 31, 2016 12:36 PM (vyqqu)

142 Hey California, how are all those light rail projects going? Are they Transformative Climate Community compliant?

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 31, 2016 12:37 PM (x0mWT)

143 124 East Coaster here but I spent a ton of time in CA over the past 2 years for work and one vacation (Tahoe-gorgeous). It should be the most prosperous state in the country and instead there are homeless *everywhere* and you walk through clouds of urine smell even in the nicest areas (socal). CA had everything going for it the perfect climate, Hollywood, high tech, gigantic ports, huge military bases, aerospace, what used to be the best state university system, farmland, oil and minerals, gateway to Asia, several world class cities and liberals have fucked it up politically and financially to a fare the well and made it actively hostile to the middle class and most businesses.
Posted by: Goldilocks at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (pOgVG)

Yep. I weep for my beloved California, and what all the liberal arrivals of the last 40 years have done to it. It gives the lie to liberals' bleating that various liberal-infested hellholes - e.g. ghettos - caught a bad break geographically, and just need more money and they'll be fine.

No they won't. They'll still be hellholes, because the problem in the ghettos and in California is not lack of money: it's lack of character in the residents.

If you can fuck up California, you can fuck up anywhere.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 12:37 PM (SRKgf)

144 Sorry bout that, BC.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at December 31, 2016 12:37 PM (89T5c)

145 @98 yes, I missed @35

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 12:37 PM (rH4JY)

146 Brother Cavil - I'm so sorry that your year had to end this way.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:37 PM (dFi94)

147 How to say "My hovercraft is full of eels" in various languages

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hovercraft.htm

Posted by: Just the punchline at December 31, 2016 12:39 PM (39g3+)

148 Are you really going bowling? I wish I lived near you. I like to bowl and no one in the family will ever go with me.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:39 PM (dFi94)

149 No, there's one more thing that needs to be mentioned. Gov. Moonbeam is actually less nutty than our legislators in Sacramento.

Posted by: junior at December 31, 2016 12:35 PM (ZvmQn)

I've said that. It's a sad commentary on the politics in California that Jerry Brown is - relatively speaking - the voice of reason in Sacramento. He occasionally says/does something that is not completely insane, and that smacks of adulthood.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 12:39 PM (SRKgf)

150 I think the new California Dreamin' song sucks, but I hate auto-tune, so I may be biased.

Posted by: Sponge at December 31, 2016 12:39 PM (GVYK1)

151 Brother Cavil - I'm so sorry that your year had to end this way.

Amen.
Most sincere condolences BC.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:40 PM (O7kBk)

152 Our new year's Eve plans are simple but we enjoy what we do. Everyone thru their shower and in PJs by 6 pm. Put out a bunch of simple finger foods on the table, que up the first movie, continue munching and movies until about 5 minutes before midnight, watch the ball drop, put the little to bed (her birthday is tomorrow, turns 11), hubby and I do the clean up and then we are off to bed! Not exciting but we have a good time.

Posted by: madamemayhem (i wanna be sedated) at December 31, 2016 12:40 PM (yTnCT)

153 Please help!
We're looking for ideas for an appetizer or dessert to take to a New Year's Eve party tonight.

Can't go wrong with Cookie Puss.

Posted by: Fred at December 31, 2016 12:41 PM (Tyii7)

154 Dad's buried.

As The Dude would say, fuck it, let's go bowling.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, turkey ain't all that's stuffed at December 31, 2016 12:36 PM (vyqqu)

My condolences, Cavil.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 12:41 PM (MiBfH)

155
AKA, if I have a gun in an RV in CA, do you think I could get arrested? NJ?
Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:06 PM (l0RV1)

The law in Ca requires that in RV's the gun to be unloaded, locked in a hard case and not stored in the driver compartment.

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 12:42 PM (lKyWE)

156 nd an outline of what steps and how long it takes to dislodge a squatter, if need be.

[. . .]
Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 12:05 PM (O7kBk)

Too drastic. Try a 55 gallon drum of hydrogen peroxide, a quart of dish soap and a fist-full of potassium iodide.

And a long string.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 12:42 PM (9MInk)

157 You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Posted by: Banner Bridge at December 31, 2016 12:42 PM (IqV8l)

158 Happy New Year, sonsabitches. All of ya.

May your 2017 be better than the last and may God bless you.

Posted by: Sponge at December 31, 2016 12:43 PM (GVYK1)

159 Dumb, unthinking, dirty, smelly, prone to ungodly horrible diseases, panicky, smelly, unpleasant to the eye, without any redeeming value and continually needing protection and herding to keep them from drowning or dying neglect. But enough about braindead lefties.
________________

Our former associate pastor grew up on a Montana sheep ranch that had been in his family for generationsl His homilies on Good Shepherd Sunday were something else.

Posted by: Sal at December 31, 2016 12:43 PM (hA4a+)

160 I think the new California Dreamin' song sucks, but I hate auto-tune, so I may be biased.

Posted by: Sponge at December 31, 2016 12:39 PM (GVYK1)
=========================

Yeah. I remember when singers had to, you know, sing.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:43 PM (dFi94)

161 Gardening Thread is up. Carry on here with non-gardening topics.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 12:44 PM (qahv/)

162 Dad's buried.

Prayers and condolences.

Posted by: The Duke of Mish at December 31, 2016 12:44 PM (Tyii7)

163 Posted by: torquewrench at December 31, 2016 12:32 PM (noWW6)

Simpler.... it is still a felony to knowingly aid and abet an Illegal Alien to stay in the US.

It is also a Felony to Conspire to break Federal Law.

The Calif. Governor and Legislature are guilty of both, by allowing illegals to have drivers licenses.

Instruct the new Attorney General to Prosecute.

Posted by: Don Q. at December 31, 2016 12:44 PM (qf6WZ)

164 Posted by: Fred at December 31, 2016 12:41 PM (Tyii7)

I lol'd, I did.

Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 12:45 PM (4bjXi)

165 Anna Mac

bet you got great loot in sausalito though.

Posted by: concrete girl at December 31, 2016 12:45 PM (TD/W3)

166 Rhetorical question:

What will arrive at movie theaters first:

1. Libtard fantasy film of alternate universe with Hillary as president?

2. Trump @ssignation film?
Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:20 PM (Kd7bb)

Let's crowdfund a production of Ringo's Last Centurion.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (9MInk)

167 Furthermore, tonight my ass wipe brother-in-law has to make good on the $500 he forced me to bet against HRC. I was all in for DJT but didn't believe he had a chance until later when his campaign rally videos started showing up. None of them can defend their positions and gang up attempting to balance their collective intellects against mine. Blood might end up on the walls, but I will toast The Donald with my Dom, and remind them all that Hillary.Will.Never.Be.President.

Posted by: Anna Mac at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (xujfC)

168 I rather wish the federal government would vigorously go after people in states harboring illegals. Its against the law you know? Violating federal law should either have a consequence or the law should be eliminated.

Posted by: Just the punchline at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (39g3+)

169 Dad's buried.

My deepest condolences.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (SRKgf)

170 Yeah. I remember when singers had to, you know, sing.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:43 PM (dFi94)

Ah, the good 'ole days. Where women could be women, men could call them beautiful and music took talent.

Posted by: Sponge at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (GVYK1)

171 Eternal God

You have shared with them the life of _____(Brother Cavil's dad), Before he was theirs, he is yours. For all that you have given to make them what they are, and for that if him which lives and grows in each of them, we give you thanks. Thank you for his life that in your love will never end. They have offered him back into your arms. Comfort them in their loneliness, strengthen them in their weakness, and give the courage to face the future unafraid. Draw those who remain in this life closer to one together, make them faithful to serve one another, and give them that peace and joy which is eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:47 PM (tOcW/)

172 Most sincere condolences, Brother Cavil.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 12:47 PM (qahv/)

173 79 61 Trump won national total vote of 49 states.

CA gave Hillary a FOUR million vote lead, over twice her national vote total lead.
Posted by: The Other Guy at December 31, 2016 12:10 PM (l0RV1)

I haven't actually checked the numbers for myself, but I read that six counties on the coast around San Francisco and Los Angeles went for Hillary by such lopsided margins that they provided all of her national popular vote lead.

Take them out, and Trump wins the popular vote, and Hillary STILL wins California.
Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (sdi6R)

And when those "popular vote" assholes try to tell you it will make the candidates "compete in all 50 states" point out that 6 *counties* - 2 greater municipalities - could decide the vote for the entire nation, that the candidates will campaign almost exclusively in the largest 5 or 6 municipalities and not all 50 states, and the electoral college effectively prevents that to elect a president who appeals to all or most geographic regions.

Posted by: Hugh Jorgen at December 31, 2016 12:49 PM (R5EqA)

174 Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 31, 2016 12:47 PM
---

That was beautiful FenelonSpoke. Thank you.

Many condolences to you Brother Cavil. Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of my Dad's passing, so I understand and am sorry.

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:49 PM (beK/c)

175 Dad's buried.

My deepest condolences.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 12:46 PM (SRKgf)

Yeah, no shit. That's a tough enough thing to go through.....dealing with it around the holidays just plain sucks.

Condolences to you and your family Brother Cavil.

Posted by: Sponge at December 31, 2016 12:49 PM (GVYK1)

176 Bill Burr went off in his podcast about 2016. He basically spent ten minutes mocking people who keep blaming the year for everything bad, like its a sentient and malevolent entity. Damn you 2016!!!! Ridiculous.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:51 PM (39g3+)

177 Brother Cavil, You have done all that could be done, you secured your father until He left to be with G-d. I'm sure your father would want you to rest now.
I hope grief is short and your father is now at peace.
You did an amazing thing, He got to livethe best life possible in the end.

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 12:51 PM (R7cwD)

178 I'm so sorry for your loss Brother Cavil. You have been in my thoughts this week.

Posted by: Goldilocks at December 31, 2016 12:52 PM (pOgVG)

179 I had to leave California because I couldn't stand what it was becoming. It would be my #1 place to return to if they had an even mildly balanced government

Posted by: Heresolong at December 31, 2016 12:53 PM (ntIeo)

180 Brother Cavil,
Again, im truly sorry for your loss.

Posted by: CaliGirl at December 31, 2016 12:54 PM (Q5Ymk)

181 I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

I, as well. Not interesting, not attractive, looks sleazy and in need of bathing. No thanks.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 12:54 PM (e8PP1)

182 I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

I, as well. Not interesting, not attractive, looks sleazy and in need of bathing. No thanks.
---

Me too. Maybe he's supposed to appeal to gay men?

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:55 PM (beK/c)

183 126 Please help!
We're looking for ideas for an appetizer or dessert to take to a New Year's Eve party tonight.
Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (

Appetizer: 5 layer dip. Ready made at Costco or Trafdr Joe's.

Dessert: Brownies. Box at the grocery store. Add eggs, water & cooking oil. Get a couple different kinds.

Posted by: bebe's boobs destroy at December 31, 2016 12:56 PM (YhV5r)

184 Got willowed.

So sorry, Cavil.
Prayers for your dad, and you.

Posted by: Sal at December 31, 2016 12:56 PM (hA4a+)

185 [2nd Try: Apparently, I posted under a Pixy-banned AT&T number and it didn't take... sigh!]

Friends, Morons, Patriots, lend my your eyeballs... Um, wait, wrong speech...

I've been lurking of late, and missing much, as pre-Christmas busy-ness became post-Christmas gawdawful sick, precluding much AoS indulgence.

Hope I haven't missed the birth of any new AoS memes.

So, belated Merry Christmas and a barely-in-time Happy New Year to that astonishing pack of personalities that comprise the Horde. Hugs and sympathies for those who suffered loss and setbacks and hugs and congratulations for those who enjoyed success and advances. May 2017 be everyone's best year ever.

[Let's see if that posts...]

Posted by: mindful webworker of ye Olde Yeare webworkers at December 31, 2016 12:56 PM (8Unxl)

186 I haven't seen yet, did that petulant unsportmans little bitch Harbaugh have a fit during his post game press conference last night?

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 12:56 PM (cAnNx)

187 Anybody got any suggestions for remaining a Happy Warrior under these conditions?

Yes, be pleasant and polite, but have a plan to kill everybody in the room.

General Mattisms should become a thing.

Posted by: The Mouse that Roared at December 31, 2016 12:57 PM (7N6ox)

188 Are there any interesting Bowl games on today? I could look myself but, lazy.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:59 PM (dFi94)

189 188 Are there any interesting Bowl games on today? I could look myself but, lazy.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 12:59 PM (dFi94)

Clemson OSU, and Alabama Washington.

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 12:59 PM (cAnNx)

190 Condolences, Brother Cavil.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:59 PM (sdi6R)

191 Sorry for your loss, Brother Cavil.

Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 01:00 PM (4bjXi)

192 Making all sorts of essential things (fed $$$, TSA acceptance) conditional on compliance with federal law (oh - in this case, immigration law) is exactly the sort of thing that needs to happen, quickly and without compromise, if there is to be any hope.

Any foot-dragging or b.s. on any of this - forget the whole thing. There is a small window to attempt the (still improbable) rescue of the country and civic culture, in this respect, and if it closes without progress it's likely closed for good.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:00 PM (QDnY+)

193 I will NEVER buy that Cankles won the popular vote. California is chock-full of illegals who are allowed to get drivers licenses. People who get driver's licenses there are automatically registered to vote.

The media assures us that there is a system in place to prevent illegals from automatically being registered to vote. But this same media said that DT had no electoral path to the presidency.

PLEASE don't buy the leftist BS.

Posted by: Libertarianwannabe at December 31, 2016 01:00 PM (nQ10o)

194 Me too. Maybe he's supposed to appeal to gay men?

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:55 PM (beK/c)

Well, not being gay, I can't speak to that. But the ad currently playing, where he carves a coconut to look like a football, and kicks a field goal between the necks of two giraffes is just dumb.

Coconuts don't grow in giraffe country, for one. And the nuts are so hard that kicking one would guarantee you a broken foot.

Poseur.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 01:01 PM (MiBfH)

195 >>>I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

Why this beard fetish? Do women automatically think beards are interesting? Please tell me. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. Maybe I need to grow a beard. I've been growing my hair long to be "interesting".

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:03 PM (rH4JY)

196 Thanks buzzion!

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 01:03 PM (dFi94)

197 But the ad currently playing, where he carves a coconut to look like a football, and kicks a field goal between the necks of two giraffes is just dumb.

Coconuts don't grow in giraffe country, for one. And the nuts are so hard that kicking one would guarantee you a broken foot.
---

So... the ad is supposed to appeal to stupid gay men who don't understand geography and football?

Seems like a narrow demographic to me.

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 01:04 PM (beK/c)

198 I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

He's a goofy looking fucker.

The previous guy had gravitas.

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 01:05 PM (cAnNx)

199 In Colorado illegals get driver's licenses. I don't think this is a coincidence.

Posted by: Infidel at December 31, 2016 01:06 PM (VtLx6)

200
And when those "popular vote" assholes try to tell you it will make the candidates "compete in all 50 states"

I can think of no better way to guarantee a long string of demagogues in the White House than going to the popular vote.And by the way the election is a national competition of all 50 states if they really want to make it more compettitive states should reconsider the winner take all format with the EVs

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:06 PM (lKyWE)

201 Thinking of this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE
Posted by: cthulhu at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM (EzgxV)

Oh my. Oh my indeed.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 01:07 PM (Pz4pT)

202 126 Please help!
We're looking for ideas for an appetizer or dessert to take to a New Year's Eve party tonight.
Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 12:28 PM (

*types*
*deletes*

Posted by: Paolo at December 31, 2016 01:07 PM (IHK0Z)

203 Bill Burr went off in his podcast about 2016. He basically spent ten minutes mocking people who keep blaming the year for everything bad, like its a sentient and malevolent entity. Damn you 2016!!!! Ridiculous.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 12:51 PM (39g3+)

I keep agreeing with people who talk about how awful the year has been.

But I don't mean it.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 31, 2016 01:08 PM (Pz4pT)

204 Why this beard fetish? Do women automatically think beards are interesting? Please tell me. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. Maybe I need to grow a beard. I've been growing my hair long to be "interesting".

Funniest looking thing in the world:

Lumberjack beard & man bun on a guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius.

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 01:08 PM (O7kBk)

205 193 I will NEVER buy that Cankles won the popular vote. California is chock-full of illegals who are allowed to get drivers licenses. People who get driver's licenses there are automatically registered to vote.

The media assures us that there is a system in place to prevent illegals from automatically being registered to vote. But this same media said that DT had no electoral path to the presidency.

PLEASE don't buy the leftist BS.
Posted by: Libertarianwannabe at December 31, 2016 01:00 PM (nQ10o)

Oh, I don't, not for a minute. But the "official" popular vote has her winning. That included illegals voting, and places like Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago where some precincts get over 100% turnout.

During the next four years, we must get a handle on immigration and enact ballot security measures. Otherwise, 2016 will prove to be a temporary speedbump for the Left in their quest for absolute, unchallenged, and permanent power.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:09 PM (sdi6R)

206 So... the ad is supposed to appeal to stupid gay men who don't understand geography and football? Seems like a narrow demographic to me.

Posted by: shibumi

Not in the Six Counties That Rule America, it isn't.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:09 PM (H5rtT)

207
Oh, I don't, not for a minute. But the "official" popular vote has her winning. That included illegals voting, and places like Philadelphia, Detroit, and Chicago where some precincts get over 100% turnout.

During the next four years, we must get a handle on immigration and enact ballot security measures. Otherwise, 2016 will prove to be a temporary speedbump for the Left in their quest for absolute, unchallenged, and permanent power.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:09 PM (sdi6R)

I bet there are democrats in Philly breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't have to go through a recheck of ballots like Michigan did.

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 01:10 PM (cAnNx)

208 Thanks all. After two years it's and odd feeling, and the rush to find new accommodations does not help. But now I can put myself first for once, and that's liberating.

This chapter is done. Time to write a happier one.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, turkey ain't all that's stuffed at December 31, 2016 01:11 PM (vyqqu)

209 cthulhu at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM

That's the one!

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 01:11 PM (qahv/)

210 198
I find this new Most Interesting Man to not be.

Considering the, er, demographic here, that's not really surprising. I'm sure they thought the previous MIMITW was too old and didn't appeal to a young enough demographic. That was certainly the case before he was originally hired, but a good agent apparently persuaded the adsters they were wrong, and that the MIMITW had to be older. Youngsters are prettier, but not as interesting as a general rule. You'd think they would have learned from that.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 01:13 PM (LAe3v)

211 The media assures us that there is a system in place to prevent illegals from automatically being registered to vote. But this same media said that DT had no electoral path to the presidency.

Posted by: Libertarianwannabe at December 31, 2016 01:00 PM (nQ10o)

And the same bureaucracy in California that issued my driver's license with my sex as "F" for the last 20 years, despite my repeated attempts to correct it.

But issuing a CDL and not registering wetbacks to vote? I'm sure they're right on top of that. Getting the sex of the driver correct is much tougher.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:14 PM (SRKgf)

212 I was reading this post at Belmont Club:

https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2016/12/28/witchcraft/

It includes this excerpt dealing with California:

In 1990, when I arrived to work at UCSC, I took pride in our Science Library. By 2000 new journals were no longer displayed. By 2010 the journal room was gone, turned into a large study. We could no longer browse new journals.

After journals had been vanquished, the next enemy was clear: books.

At the beginning of this Fall quarter I entered the library. No books on the first floor. I walked up to the second floor, where the math and physics collection used to be. Nothing. No books.

Space. Lots of space. Students scattered around on their devices. Some eating. Some drinking.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:14 PM (sdi6R)

213 Lumberjack beard & man bun on a guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius.

Posted by: rickb223

One think I figured out for myself years ago: unloosen the lug nuts *before* jacking the car. But I eventually did change the wheel.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:14 PM (rH4JY)

214 Thinking of this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE
Posted by: cthulhu at December 31, 2016 12:02 PM

the classics never get old

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 31, 2016 01:14 PM (KCxzN)

215 "Transformative Climate Communities Project Labor Agreement"

Beautiful, musical poetry.

Posted by: Wesley Mouche at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (97XyN)

216 California somewhat highspeed rail:

The California High-Speed Rail Authority board approved two funding plans that will clear the way for it to sell $4.7 billion in bonds.

Get them while they are hot!! I see they are setting the qualifications for the operators....California Dreaming

Posted by: Colin at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (ogUTd)

217
This chapter is done. Time to write a happier one.
Posted by: Brother Cavil, turkey ain't all that's stuffed at December 31, 2016 01:11 PM (vyqqu)

You did the right thing when it mattered the most.

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (lKyWE)

218 I haven't actually checked the numbers for myself, but I read that six counties on the coast around San Francisco and Los Angeles went for Hillary by such lopsided margins that they provided all of her national popular vote lead.

Take them out

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 12:15 PM (sdi6R)

Yes, please do. SMOD, you listening?

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (SRKgf)

219 guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius

That's where you're wrong, smarty pants. I drive a Vespa.

Posted by: Guy with a Lumberjack beard & man bun at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (LAe3v)

220 bebe is right brownies are great!
perhaps do a chocolate icing , (hersheys brown can make recipe easy__ to up it a bit

Posted by: willow at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (R7cwD)

221 CaliGirl at December 31, 2016 12:12 PM

Wow! Beautiful photo!

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 01:17 PM (qahv/)

222 The California High-Speed Rail Authority board approved two funding
plans that will clear the way for it to sell $4.7 billion in bonds.

Make an explicit point here.

"Well, if you've enough money for this, and climate change and stem cell research, you clearly don't need any Federal taxpayer money to bail out your bankrupt pension fund."

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 01:18 PM (LAe3v)

223 Headed to Costco. Gonna look at their frozen stuff, cheesecakes & Ghiradelli brownies. I might make it back before midnight. It's easy to get sidetracked there.

"Excuse me, could you tell me which aisle the Peruvian Erythroxylum coca leaves are in?" "Brilliant. Thanks. And how about the 8 Site Hydroponic Eurogrowers?" "Fantastic. And, finally, I need to find the two gallon jugs of Migraworks massage oil."

Thanks y'all & Happy New Year.

Mad Cow!

Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 01:18 PM (4bjXi)

224 Considering the, er, demographic here, that's not really surprising. I'm sure they thought the previous MIMITW was too old and didn't appeal to a young enough demographic. That was certainly the case before he was originally hired, but a good agent apparently persuaded the adsters they were wrong, and that the MIMITW had to be older. Youngsters are prettier, but not as interesting as a general rule. You'd think they would have learned from that.

Posted by: pep at December 31, 2016 01:13 PM (LAe3v)

Well, in order to be "interesting", one ought to have done something, and preferably ought to have done a large number of potentially interesting thing. Virgins converted, uprisings quelled, revolutions fomented, that sort of thing. The original MIMITW looked like a guy who had been there, done that. The new guy looks like a clown-show imitation.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 01:18 PM (MiBfH)

225 rickl: During the next four years, we must get a handle on immigration and enact ballot security measures. Otherwise, 2016 will prove to be a temporary speedbump for the Left in their quest for absolute, unchallenged, and permanent power.

Have been saying something similar since the election. Even used the "speedbump" metaphor.

And it will take a Midway-level miracle. I'm not optimistic.

Perhaps some legal types could opine on the feasibility of using the denial of civil rights angle to get the federal snout deeply into election integrity issues, which otherwise are mostly a state concern and prerogative.

If *absurd* ravings from a court can create ridiculous racially gerrymandered bantustans, and actually block the most basic election integrity measures - all based on upside-down distortions of "civil rights" - why can't a logical application of civil rights concerns (vote fraud disenfranchises legitimate voters) be wielded like a sledgehammer to intervene in state affairs?

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:19 PM (QDnY+)

226 216 California somewhat highspeed rail:
The California High-Speed Rail Authority board approved two funding plans that will clear the way for it to sell $4.7 billion in bonds.
Get them while they are hot!! I see they are setting the qualifications for the operators....California Dreaming
Posted by: Colin at December 31, 2016 01:15 PM (ogUTd)

"The California High-Speed Rail Authority quietly approached federal officials in July to discuss an ambitious solution to its most pressing problem, one that has hung over the project for more than five years.

"The state does not know where to find all of the $64 billion it will cost to get the first passengers rocketing between San Francisco and Los Angeles on a bullet train.

"With the Obama administration on its way out, it seemed like a good time to nail down more long-term federal support on the assumption that Hillary Clinton would be the next president.

"So the state set up a meeting to ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to publicly announce a federal loan of up to $15 billion that would help build an initial rail segment from San Jose to Shafter, northwest of Bakersfield, which would cement federal support during the transition to a new presidential administration.

"Such a loan — even the commitment for one — would also show potential private investors that the project was “creditworthy,” according to a briefing document for the meeting.

"But federal officials did not go along with the state’s suggestion. “At this time, California has not submitted a financing request,” said Clark Pettig, press secretary for the Transportation Department.

"Federal officials are unlikely to make any new loans in the next month. Meanwhile, the election of Republican Donald Trump makes the rail authority’s funding problem more serious than ever.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-cash-20161224-story.html

Oopsie. Think The Donald is gonna go for this? Or would he rather spend the money on, say, a wall?

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:19 PM (SRKgf)

227 I've been waiting for The New Most Interesting to be a topic.
I don't think they could have done worse. Kid looks like my nephew.
Captain Obvious from the hotel booking ads has more class.

The old Most Interesting guy couldn't stay forever, I guess. But he had a great run. I still miss Commander Whitehead. And Hathaway Shirt eyepatch guy.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:19 PM (H5rtT)

228
Hope I haven't missed the birth of any new AoS memes.

Posted by: mindful webworker of ye Olde Yeare webworkers at December 31, 2016 12:56 PM (8Unxl)

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE MEMES ARE JOKES THAT GET REPEATED BY MORONS

Posted by: BEN ROETHLISBERGER at December 31, 2016 01:19 PM (LuZz8)

229 Not exciting but we have a good time.
Posted by: madamemayhem (i wanna be sedated)

Exciting isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 01:20 PM (e8PP1)

230 Well, in order to be "interesting", one ought to
have done something, and preferably ought to have done a large number of
potentially interesting thing. Virgins converted, uprisings quelled,
revolutions fomented, that sort of thing. The original MIMITW looked
like a guy who had been there, done that. The new guy looks like a
clown-show imitation.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 01:18 PM (MiBfH)

Indeed, the original looked comfortable with his upcoming carnal delight with his superhot arm candies. This new guy looks like the gay friend.

Posted by: The Mouse that Roared at December 31, 2016 01:21 PM (7N6ox)

231 I haven't actually checked the numbers for myself, but I read that six counties on the coast around San Francisco and Los Angeles went for Hillary by such lopsided margins that they provided all of her national popular vote lead.

Limbaugh said Los Angeles plus NYC provided the margin. It's feasible LA + SF + Silicon Valley would also add up.

Posted by: Ian S. at December 31, 2016 01:21 PM (5dOnv)

232 . The original MIMITW looked like a guy who had been there, done that. The new guy looks like a clown-show imitation.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 01:18 PM (MiBfH)

Complete with big nose that honks when you squeeze it.

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 01:22 PM (cAnNx)

233 >>>Lumberjack beard & man bun on a guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius.

If I have a ponytail and no beard, what is the right direction to go? Short hair, no beard, beard & mullett?

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:22 PM (rH4JY)

234 Heh, Kindltot's description of sheep @12.

Next time you read Psalm 100 keep that in mind.
We really aren't worthy.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 01:22 PM (gJ3Vg)

235 There is a good chance that an hour after leaving, almost home from Costco, I'll say to myself "Oh shit I forgot the cheesecake!"

Posted by: Denny Crane! at December 31, 2016 01:23 PM (4bjXi)

236 Virgins converted, uprisings quelled, revolutions fomented --AOP

"Elephant tamer. Taxidermist. Raconteur. Explorer."

You son of a gun. My dad carries that business card.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:23 PM (H5rtT)

237 I would never piss off the Golden Gate Bridge, that thing has a mean left hook.

Posted by: Skip at December 31, 2016 01:23 PM (5sOEp)

238 "Elephant tamer. Taxidermist. Raconteur. Explorer."

You son of a gun. My dad carries that business card.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:23 PM (H5rtT)

Heh. I don't carry it, but I knew a guy who did, long since deceased.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 31, 2016 01:25 PM (MiBfH)

239
Lumberjack beard man bun on a guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius. Posted by: rickb223

That's what Tripple A is for you silly goose ,why would any sane man risk getting grease on a $150 designer lumberjack shirt that they just picked up from the dry cleaners ?

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:26 PM (lKyWE)

240 For no particular reason we like our New Years parties to have a theme. One year we went Hawaiian, and ended up making torches out of whatever we could find, wearing grass skirts and got roaring drunk while singing along with a Don Ho CD.

So, we're culturally appropriating again for our celebration this year. We bought sombreros, margarita mix, Dos Equis, chips/salsa and we are making guac. We fully intend to speak terrible Spanish, and play mariachi music late into the night.

Go ahead, start firing off the barbs about cultural insensitivity. I can take it.

Posted by: MTF at December 31, 2016 01:26 PM (Ppvh7)

241 Thanks for that tidbit of *good* news on the idiotic choo-choo debacle, Jay. And no, I cannot see CA going to DC for a loan, now. Though I hope a meeting is scheduled, and someone secretly records it. Hilarious!

Stringer, while you're here - and apologies if you saw/answered this question in my previous attempts - but what unit was your dad with on the Northern Shoulder at the Bulge? Just curious. I'm about at the end of a long history of the battle.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:27 PM (QDnY+)

242 Mark Steyn used to carry business cards that read "Despoiler of entire regions", taken from a particularly colorful book review by a Saudi "fan."

Posted by: josephistan at December 31, 2016 01:27 PM (7qAYi)

243 225
If *absurd* ravings from a court can create ridiculous racially gerrymandered bantustans, and actually block the most basic election integrity measures - all based on upside-down distortions of "civil rights" - why can't a logical application of civil rights concerns (vote fraud disenfranchises legitimate voters) be wielded like a sledgehammer to intervene in state affairs?
Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:19 PM (QDnY+)

In the 1950s and 60s, "civil rights" and "voting rights" meant allowing black people to cast legitimate votes. The Feds stepped in and punished states that refused to do so and disenfranchised blacks.

Today, it would seem that there is a Federal interest in preventing states and cities from disenfranchising legitimate voters through vote fraud.

You hit the nail on the head. With a sledgehammer.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:28 PM (sdi6R)

244 I would never piss off the Golden Gate Bridge, that thing has a mean left hook.

Posted by: Skip

We will construct a Golden Showers bridge that all Californians, regardless of orientation or race, will feel comfortable pissing off of.

There now. Feel better?

Posted by: Jerry Brown at December 31, 2016 01:30 PM (rH4JY)

245 Seeing almost no TV at all, I rely on y'all to know that, to my utter lack of surprise, the MIMIIW character has been replaced by a ...... pajama-boy sort. At least sounds like it.

What a shock.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:30 PM (QDnY+)

246
I pissed off the Golden Gate Bridge once.

What did you say to it?

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:31 PM (lKyWE)

247 @241
Service Co. 393 Inf., 99th Division.
"Last man out of Krinkelt."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:31 PM (H5rtT)

248 Here's my entertaining and heartwarming story about WA state DNR. They sent a contractor out from Longview. Took him two days to get there. They will probably ding us $10k just for his travel time. He came out to remove the small platform and two pilings, which were all we had left of the dock. We could have removed it, like we'd done with the rest of it, but they sent out Code Enforcement and three cops in tactical gears to prevent us from working on it.

Kicker to the story is that DNR is also making the contractor remove his dock. And they are going after our neighbor who leases from them. Fun times.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 31, 2016 01:33 PM (Lqy/e)

249 Thanks, rickl - exactly the historical/judicial analogy I was thinking of. With Roberts and Kennedy on the "court", it's possible there is no hope for rule of law returning and replacing cowardly arrogant legislating, but who knows.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:33 PM (QDnY+)

250
That's what Tripple A is for you silly goose ,why would any sane man risk getting grease on a $150 designer lumberjack shirt that they just picked up from the dry cleaners ?

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:26 PM (lKyWE)

Heh. I remember when MooMoo made almost that exact same argument about changing a tire.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 31, 2016 01:33 PM (LuZz8)

251 Lumberjack beard man bun on a guy who couldn't break loose the lug nuts on a Prius. Posted by: rickb223

That's what Tripple A is for you silly goose ,why would any sane man risk getting grease on a $150 designer lumberjack shirt that they just picked up from the dry cleaners ?

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:26 PM (lKyWE)

Not to mention ruining his manicure.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:34 PM (SRKgf)

252 We need a College Bowl Game Open Thread or I will fill this one with my drunken ravings.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 31, 2016 01:35 PM (LTHVh)

253 Didn't tell the story yet but Thursday the forman was giving us lunch, he brought in a whole crock pot of bbq, now he is the company big game hunter so I knew it wasn't what it seemed but was their eating it I will. Had 1 sammy thought it was good but still mystery meat to me. After done the boss came in and after the road kill dog story again said it was moose and deer ground meat.

Posted by: Skip at December 31, 2016 01:35 PM (5sOEp)

254
245 Seeing almost no TV at all, I rely on y'all to know that, to my utter lack of surprise, the MIMIIW character has been replaced by a ...... pajama-boy sort. At least sounds like it.

What a shock.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:30 PM (QDnY+)

https://youtu.be/kdEb7FPOqBM

Posted by: buzzion at December 31, 2016 01:36 PM (cAnNx)

255 Holy crap, Stringer, that's yuuuuge.

Krinkelt. Was just reading about the evacuations of the twin villages last night.

Have you ever visited the Ardennes? It wasn't on my long list of WWII sites to visit, but it is now. Sadly too late to talk with most who might have lived through it (except for the very young), but lots of little museums and monuments.

The book is Steel and Ice, by Peter Caddick-Adams. He's spent a lot of time in the area, as a soldier and historian, and he salts his history with references to surviving landmarks, relics, etc.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:39 PM (QDnY+)

256 IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE MEMES ARE JOKES THAT GET REPEATED BY MORONS
Posted by: BEN ROETHLISBERGER

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE BEN REPEATEDLY AND BANALLY EXPLAINS JOKES, EVEN WHEN THERE ARE NONE. IN ALL CAPS.

Wouldn't you know that'd be the only reply I get!

Posted by: mindful webworker IS NOT LAUGHING because it hurts at December 31, 2016 01:39 PM (8Unxl)

257 252 We need a College Bowl Game Open Thread or I will fill this one with my drunken ravings.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 31, 2016 01:35 PM (LTHVh)

Per the AoSHQ Style Guide, drunken ravings are perfectly acceptable in open threads.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:39 PM (sdi6R)

258 "...where he practiced animal husbandry until they caught him at it one afternoon." Did no one beat me to that Tom Lehrer quote?

Posted by: RNB at December 31, 2016 01:41 PM (DjjZJ)

259 New Years Eve goodies?

Lemon bars or filled strawberries.

For the latter, cut strawberries into flowers that will sit on the stem end. Pipe a little cream cheese with lemon juice and powdered sugar to taste into the centers.

For New Years Day, Blackeyed Pea Confetti Salad. Buy some frozen black eyed peas or use canned. Don't cook the frozen ones too long.

Like 3 bean salad substituting honey for sugar in the dressing. Add red and yellow bell peppers and mild green chilis. Plus onion.

For good luck.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM (qahv/)

260 The category of "absurd ravings from a court" is both broad and deep. One fellow currently being tortured by our courts is Mark Steyn, and I encourage everyone to read up on his latest adventures in the court system:

http://tinyurl.com/gunollx

Posted by: MTF at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM (Ppvh7)

261 Whoa......Va Tech is pounding Dook right now.
Basketball.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM (Nox3c)

262 227. Heh....Hathaway still makes very good gents' shirtings, or did some mumble mumble years ago when i had to rebuild my wardrobe.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM (yrOXE)

263 Have at it Grump.
Listening to LSU puttin' it to Louisville right now.

Looking forward to next year when my guys get a bunch of players back and hopefully the qb's shoulder is all healed up.
The combo of being able to throw down field combined with a running game that should be as good if not better,, could be kinda special.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM (gJ3Vg)

264 Listening to LSU puttin' it to Louisville right now.

I'm flipping between that and Kentucky being raped by GT.

Cooking sausage, drinking beer and waiting for the Main Event.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 31, 2016 01:45 PM (LTHVh)

265 It's sorta warm for New Year's Day - the Colonel will be grilling our dinner. (They have a full kitchen setup out in a sorta overgrown gazebo in their backyard. Hot weather? They cook outdoors. Actually pretty freaking smaht.)

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 01:47 PM (yrOXE)

266 Deshaun Watson is just plain good.

The OSU defense is too. It'll make for a helluva match-up.

Posted by: MTF at December 31, 2016 01:48 PM (Ppvh7)

267 This is the time of year I miss not having cable.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 01:49 PM (gJ3Vg)

268 239
That's what Tripple A is for you silly goose ,why would any sane man risk getting grease on a $150 designer lumberjack shirt that they just picked up from the dry cleaners ?
Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at December 31, 2016 01:26 PM (lKyWE)

A few years ago I was ready to leave for work, and I found my car sitting in the driveway with a flat tire.

It's been at least 20 years since I changed a tire, but I could have done it.

I would have had to go back inside, change clothes, then come back out and used a hand-cranked jack and hand tools to do it. Then go back inside, take another shower, change clothes again, and get to work a couple of hours late.

Or I could have called AAA, since I have a membership, wait a half hour, then the guy shows up with hydraulic tools and changes it in five minutes, and I'm on my way. I'd still be late for work, but not *as* late.

I chose the second option.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 01:50 PM (sdi6R)

269 Looking forward to the top two games today. Considering putting a little money on Washington to win, just because the payout would be yuge if it actually happened. Probably better chances on the lottery, though.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 01:51 PM (e8PP1)

270 Trying a new shashlik recipe - doing up some of the pork with grenadine in the marinade, instead of about half the wine. But, yeah, he asked me to bring over the 'fancy' stuff for grilling.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 01:51 PM (yrOXE)

271 You chose,,, wisely.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 01:52 PM (gJ3Vg)

272 Considering putting a little money on Washington to win

At 14pts, I'd consider it myself, and I bleed Crimson & White.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 31, 2016 01:52 PM (LTHVh)

273 >>>Deshaun Watson is just plain good.

"Deshaun" ugh. Those stupid fake names.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:53 PM (rH4JY)

274 At 14pts, I'd consider it myself, and I bleed Crimson & White.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 31, 2016 01:52 PM (LTHVh)

14 pts which way?

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:54 PM (SRKgf)

275 @255 I was there in '95, with the old man. Lots of experiences, with the 99th and also a few days with veterans of 78th in the Hurtgen, and 9th Armored in Luxembourg. 50th anniversary of the Ludendorff bridge crossing.

99th was the first complete unit across at Remagen. Dad drove the third truck.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 01:55 PM (H5rtT)

276 "...and I bleed Crimson and White."

Really?
I don't think anyone around here knew that.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 01:56 PM (gJ3Vg)

277 14 pts favoring Alabama.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 01:56 PM (e8PP1)

278 Thanks. Shoulda known!

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (SRKgf)

279 We have regular commenters who go by "the Chicken" and "BEN ROETHLISBERGER" but I've never yet seen an explanation as to why the fact that the chicken "got to the other side" in order to cross the road is funny.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (rH4JY)

280 Just filled out the "felt it" report on a small earthquake just past 10am, here in the nouveau quake capital, Oklahoma. Only 3.0 and many miles away, but I'm getting sensitized to feeling them.

When an invisible hand almost imperceptibly wobbles the desk that sits on a cement pad floor, it's a good sign of a quake.

I've felt more quakes in 2016 than the entire rest of my life - not much of a claim since prior to 2016 my experience was one.

Posted by: mindful webworker - rockin' 'n' rollin' at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (8Unxl)

281 New Year's Eve appetizer? Buy jar of pickled herring. Open it. Put the herring on a plate. Boom. Done.

New Year's Eve dessert? I don't do dessert. Put some grapes in a bowl. Boom. Done.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (dFi94)

282 I really thought this new MIMITH was the swimmer Michael Phelps with some makeup.

Posted by: Abby at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (HBU7W)

283 I bleed Scarlet and Gray, and would be only delighted to see Alabama go down.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (e8PP1)

284 I don't think anyone around here knew that.

Heh.

Posted by: Grump928(C) has drink taken at December 31, 2016 01:58 PM (LTHVh)

285 Great stuff, Stringer, envious. I hope to do Normandy and the Ardennes some time. Only European sites I've seen were on the eastern front, and they tend to be feature-less, bleak, and have little but mass graves.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 01:59 PM (QDnY+)

286 I'm steaming the Kielbasa in Yuengling. They smell great.

Posted by: Grump928(C) Native Texan and Alabama Alumn, twice as smug as you at December 31, 2016 01:59 PM (LTHVh)

287 Actually, that's not really true. I respect Alabama's superior program, and it would be sad if they lost. But still, would have a little schadenfreude about it.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 02:00 PM (e8PP1)

288 Third truck across at Remagen, wow. That's something.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 02:00 PM (QDnY+)

289 275. That war.....I knew a few fellows who were heading into the Fatherland from its eastern side about that time. Hell of a state of affairs when your best-case scenario is the Americans get to you first.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 02:01 PM (NT1NX)

290 I've never yet seen an explanation as to why the fact that the chicken "got to the other side" in order to cross the road is funny.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (rH4JY)
===========================

In a bar last night I saw a poster of a cock standing by the side of a road and emblazoned with the punchline "I dream of a world where a chickens motives are not questioned!"

Posted by: MTF at December 31, 2016 02:05 PM (Ppvh7)

291 280 Just filled out the "felt it" report on a small earthquake just past 10am, here in the nouveau quake capital, Oklahoma. Only 3.0 and many miles away, but I'm getting sensitized to feeling them.
Posted by: mindful webworker - rockin' 'n' rollin' at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (8Unxl)

I submitted a "felt it" report for the 5.6(?) Virginia quake a few years ago. I'm in Pennsylvania, and that's the only one I've felt so far.

It was fun to submit a report. I was doing my part for Science! by providing a data point.

Because of the nature of the rock formations, that quake was felt all over the East Coast. The USGS probably got more reports on that quake than almost any other.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 02:05 PM (sdi6R)

292 I guess this is where I throw in an EMAW!

In case you don't know, that's Every Man A Wildcat.
Been a K-State can longer than most around here have been alive.
And except for the Lynn Dickey and Steve Grogan years,,, very, very lean times.
And then along came Bill Snyder and the greatest turn around of a college football program in, as grammie would put it, the history of things happening.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 02:06 PM (gJ3Vg)

293 "... Northern Shoulder at the Bulge? Just curious. I'm about at the end of a long history of the battle."

Rhomboid: Would that be Antony Beevor's "Ardennes 1944"?

I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book. Very interesting.

Posted by: Scott formerly from Virginia at December 31, 2016 02:08 PM (2tbcA)

294 College Bowl thread is up for those interested.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 02:09 PM (qahv/)

295 San Francisco 49'ers vote Colin Kaepernik for their team's highest award:

http://bit.ly/2iR89Zs

for "inspirational and courageous play"

Posted by: grammie winger at December 31, 2016 02:09 PM (dFi94)

296 I've never yet seen an explanation as to why the fact that the chicken "got to the other side" in order to cross the road is funny.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at December 31, 2016 01:57 PM (rH4JY)
------------------------
OK, I"ll play...

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THE CHICKEN IS ALWAYS GETTING F**KED!

Posted by: BEN ROETHLISBERGER at December 31, 2016 02:09 PM (e8PP1)

297 @289 As the war ended, my father found himself near Landshut, Austria. There was a landing field there, and Me109's were coming in dead-stick, waggling their wings to signal "don't shoot." The end of the field was full, but the pilots didn't care; they'd just pile them up, slow roll, into the next plane. And when the cockpit opened, three or four guys would get out. Nobody thought you could fit three people into a fighter cockpit.

They were coming in from the East.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 31, 2016 02:11 PM (H5rtT)

298 Hathaway still makes very good gents' shirtings, or did some mumble mumble years ago when i had to rebuild my wardrobe.
Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 01:43 PM

That isn't her Number One claim to fame amongst The Horde, is it?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 31, 2016 02:12 PM (DMUuz)

299 Pondering if I should let April know about the style guide being amended recently to include a schadengal phrase for the 'ettes'.
Wanting to keep it gentlemanly and all.

Posted by: teej at December 31, 2016 02:12 PM (gJ3Vg)

300 College Bowl Thread: Thread below the Gardening Thread is still open for politics, New Years Eve commentary, etc.

...although all the interesting commenters may be off gardening and footballing...

Posted by: mindful webworker - still thread beforing at December 31, 2016 02:16 PM (8Unxl)

301 2016 sucked. So did 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012,
2011, and 2010. 1979-1991 sucked. So did 1992-1998, 2000-2002, 2004, and 2006-2009.

Posted by: Insomniac at December 31, 2016 02:17 PM (0mRoj)

302 297. The red army vet I knew best was from Leningrad. He'd survived the siege and the breakout, and fought all the way to Berlin. Stalin made a point that Leningrad guards units would be the first in the city. Between rage, revenge, vodka, and benzedrine, it's a miracle anyone in that city survived at all.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 02:18 PM (NT1NX)

303 Meanwhile in Whiting

http://tinyurl.com/jpguq2h

peirogi drop

Posted by: DaveA at December 31, 2016 02:18 PM (8J/Te)

304 Scott formerly from VA, no, Beevor's book was the last one I read. I found it very unsatisfying - that is, bewildering and leaving me with a taste for certain aspects, but still hungry.

Actually "Steel and Ice" (the current book) started strong but itself has become sort of disjointed.

Yes the battle was far-flung, and somewhat complicated, and involved a bewildering array of units (esp. on the American side).

I'd still recommend "Steel and Ice," with the warning that you'll get a very nice set-up, explaining Hitler's decision, the dynamics inside the regime after July 20, the organization training and logistics issues on the German side. Also a nice intro to some of the American units (mostly in the south).

But once the flare goes up, Caddick-Adams can still leave you flailing around (what day is it? what's the state of the German advance? where are we?). And while Steel and Ice has more and better maps than Beevor's book, they're still not sufficient to help as the narrative jumps around the region, or even within each of the three axes of German effort.

Seems like there's some peculiar quality of the Bulge that prevents historians from presenting it both coherently and in detail (at least based on these two well-known books).

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 02:19 PM (QDnY+)

305 1938 sure sucked lets hope for better next year!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 31, 2016 02:19 PM (39g3+)

306 298. Heh.....no, of course not. Bit it's rare to find a sammich maker who can also make good shirts. A rare combo of talents.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, No Longer Accepting Harem Applicants at December 31, 2016 02:20 PM (NT1NX)

307 Stop lube-shaming me bro!

Posted by: Salon.com at December 31, 2016 02:25 PM (IHK0Z)

308 Anybody got any suggestions for remaining a Happy Warrior under these conditions?

Unass your current AO.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 31, 2016 02:26 PM (DMUuz)

309 For any still dawdling on this thread, some end-of-year video links:

• Stick around for Bill's last one, Bible Study in Starbucks:
2017s Wild Resolutions
Wild Bill for America
https://youtu.be/Q5IpMreMtd8

• An amusing response to grumblers:
NO, IDIOTS, 2016 WASN'T THE "WORST YEAR EVER"
Paul Joseph Watson
https://youtu.be/17lUTNdkOuk

• Because, Science:
Record-Breaking Discoveries of 2016!
SciShow
https://youtu.be/uzdhNX6b01I

• Did not watch yet:
RIGHT ANGLE: 2016 -- YEAR IN REVIEW
BillWhittleChannel
https://youtu.be/NUMpt1gs76Q

• and Mark Dice has several end-of-year vids up.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MarkDice

♥and ~~in case~~ because you missed it:
Mindful Webworkshop Episode #16
A politically incorrect
culturally appropriated Christmas Show
LINKED IN NIC

Posted by: mindful webworker - still thread beforing at December 31, 2016 02:31 PM (8Unxl)

310 >>>the new version of 'California dreamin' that kids are listening to today

Blecch.

Posted by: m at December 31, 2016 02:32 PM (3jGss)

311 Why this beard fetish? Do women automatically think
beards are interesting? Please tell me. Maybe that's where I'm going
wrong. Maybe I need to grow a beard. I've been growing my hair long to
be "interesting".

Posted by: rickb223 at December 31, 2016 01:08 PM (O7kBk)

I dunno, not into them myself. Or man buns. Or long hair. I mean, long hair is in and of itself OK, same with beards and all. I just don't find them attractive in "that way."
Man buns - yixe.

Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 02:34 PM (tHwdc)

312 Academia Confronts Tenant Rights in California

I could write paragraphs but it all boils down to this:

1) I'm glad I live in Texas and not California.

2) Someday a critical mass of Californians will wake up and revolt.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 02:35 PM (nvMvs)

313 IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THE CHICKEN IS ALWAYS GETTING F**KED!

If it actually needs blogsplained.

The Chicken is from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7XbukdoGmM

and Ben is from these:

http://profootballmock.com/
facebookchat/nfl-qbs-facebook
-meanwhile-alternate-universe/

Where he actually alternated being brilliant with YELLING IN ALL CAPS.

Posted by: DaveA at December 31, 2016 02:37 PM (8J/Te)

314 California Dreamin'

1) The Beach Boys version is pretty meh.

2) The "new" version has only the title in common with the original. I've heard worse, but it's not good.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 02:39 PM (nvMvs)

315 Dad's buried.

As The Dude would say, fuck it, let's go bowling.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, turkey ain't all that's stuffed at December 31, 2016 12:36 PM (vyqqu)

I'm filled with empathy for your pain. I too lost a loved one at this time of year.
I offer an observation about grief, especially soon after the loss. You will find a certain surreal quality about life, a bizarre perspective that will make you feel a bit insane. Follow whatever odd whims come to you, as long as they aren't directly damaging to you and others.
They always say that you shouldn't make any extreme changes in the throes of grief, but from what you've said, you find yourself in a precarious situation and will have to make decisions. Use friends and loved ones as a sounding board. Tell people what they can do for you - don't wait for them to ask or offer. It will make both of you feel better.

People will say all kinds of things in an attempt to give you solace. Some may be useless, some will help, and some will be hurtful. Know their intentions are good.
I'm offering a special prayer to God to give you a sign that He is looking out for you right now, Brother Cavil.

Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 02:51 PM (tHwdc)

316 "2) Someday a critical mass of Californians will wake up and revolt."

Nope. Very doubtful. They lack even the tools to think about why they might not like something that's going on. The "coastal clueless" as I call them - so long as they are not directly, negatively affected - are mostly utterly in thrall to the dumbest, most unfair, most unworkable, most alien ideas. NPR-level clueless - and comfortably smug therein.

And structurally, though there's some mysteries to aspects of it, it's a robust malignant system.

* A few sectors are left alone (mostly), and produce almost all the wealth (tech, biotech, ag, entertainment, tourism) and tax revenue. Tax incidence is wildly, wildly skewed to where a handful of households provide half the revenue in a state of 34 million.

* The actual base for a solid middle class - small business, small manufacturing, high-paying trades - is being systematically destroyed via regulation, environmental jihadism, taxation.

* A new "middle class" (really almost at the level of upper middle class, at the higher end) is being created - govt. workers. Teachers, cops/firefighters, and all the rest (most of them, incredibly, unionized) literally run the state, and more/less occupy the income/class territory formerly occupied by skilled manuf. workers or the more prosperous trades (dry-wall and other construction gigs, formerly the basis for solid middle class families, now completely transformed by illegals).

* The FSA, or semi-FSA, is vast and growing - and represents a bottomless well of votes (legal or otherwise) for the status quo.

The public finance part of this, given human nature and the replacement of a public service ethic by greed, and the narrow tax base, would seem to have problems. Thus the state's fiscal woes.

But there's literally nowhere to go to find votes based on any understanding or rejection of this situation.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 31, 2016 02:51 PM (QDnY+)

317 Brother Cavil, my deepest condolences on the loss of your father.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 02:51 PM (nvMvs)

318 California Dreamin'

The Beach Boys version is pretty meh.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 02:39 PM (nvMvs)

Its impact for me is mostly reminiscence, not quality of composition. It recalls a sweet and innocent time in my life, which I why I love to hear it.

Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 02:56 PM (tHwdc)

319 I like the Heisman House.

Posted by: Grump928(C) Native Texan and Alabama Alumn, twice as smug as you at December 31, 2016 02:56 PM (LTHVh)

320 Its impact for me is mostly reminiscence, not quality of composition. It recalls a sweet and innocent time in my life, which I why I love to hear it.
Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 02:56 PM (tHwdc)

Good point, Miley. Thanks.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 03:00 PM (nvMvs)

321
Me too. Maybe he's supposed to appeal to gay men?

Posted by: shibumi, a deplorable who is tired of dealing with crazy people at December 31, 2016 12:55 PM (beK/c)

Perhaps he should be the Most Fabulous Man.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 31, 2016 03:05 PM (8iiMU)

322 Good point, Miley. Thanks.

Posted by: Michael the Deplorable TEXIT at December 31, 2016 03:00 PM (nvMvs)

Don't you find that music is a particularly evocative medium for memories, even entire swaths of impressions of the past? To this day I can pinpoint songs from junior high and high school to the exact year, intertwined as they were with memories of my youth, visits with cousins, summer vacations.

Posted by: Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016 03:06 PM (tHwdc)

323 I've never heard the Beach Boys' version of "California Dreaming" before. Was that recorded back in the day or is it more recent? Either way, the Mamas & Papas original is still the gold standard.

I don't know what the point of the second link was. Was it a preview of life in the camps?

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 03:13 PM (sdi6R)

324 I hope Trump leads a movement to A) remove any income tax deductions for state income taxes, and B) remove the home mortgage deduction. Because both of those will fuck with California severely.

Now I know that B) will hurt me too, but I hate California so much that I'm glad to take some pain as long as I'm guaranteed that they'll get it even more. Kind of a "make me blind in one eye" thing.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 31, 2016 03:23 PM (V2Yro)

325 Oh, and I checked - I'm banned for life at Mother Jones, because I wrote something that rather mildly indicated that I wasn't part of the Collective.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 31, 2016 03:24 PM (V2Yro)

326 DoD has scheduled a Full Honor Farewell Ceremony for SCOAMF on Wednesday, according to Mark Knoeller's twitter.

Josh Earnest already has responded that the ceremony "does not reflect America's values", because the president is expected to be on time and because he's not allowed to smoke weed while being farewelled.

Posted by: MTF at December 31, 2016 03:32 PM (Ppvh7)

327 Late to this party, but we just got back from California. Beautiful place. Loony leftist people. On a positive note, my lib sister-in-law actually said that she's been trying to tell her friends that "we all live in a bubble" (she's a life-long SF native). She's only 26. I think there's still hope for her. Happy New Year, all.

Posted by: iwuzhere at December 31, 2016 03:32 PM (GRNzr)

328 I think this video has been disappeared.

It hasn't.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNMq8XS4LhE

Posted by: fluffy at December 31, 2016 03:51 PM (jw2Xw)

329 Posted by: iwuzhere at December 31, 2016 03:32

My son, also 26, was telling me this same thing (except in Ohio). As if I didn't know he and his friends and most of my friends are in that liberal bubble. I just nodded, and gloated a little about their loss.

Posted by: April at December 31, 2016 04:06 PM (e8PP1)

330 Re: stray bullets

Years ago I discovered a broken pane of glass in one of my twelve pane double-hung french bedroom windows - looked for a rock but instead found a .45 slug nestled with dust bunnies under the bed.

I live near the outskirts of medium sized NorCal valley town, but inside the city limits. /shrug

Posted by: 13times at December 31, 2016 04:18 PM (hB+8q)

331 "I don't know what the point of the second link was. Was it a preview of life in the camps?"

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 03:13 PM

I think the kids consider you to represent "life in the camps". I think they are mistaken.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 04:24 PM (qahv/)

332 Miley, Duchess of the DSR at December 31, 2016

So much of what you said reminds me of when I have lost someone. Thanks.

Posted by: KT at December 31, 2016 04:29 PM (qahv/)

333 Washington Examiner has blog artical up on Baraks radio adress, the short version is he's not going anywhere and is going to be a thorn in Trump's saddle.

Posted by: Skip at December 31, 2016 04:31 PM (5sOEp)

334 I've never heard the Beach Boys' version of
"California Dreaming" before. Was that recorded back in the day or is
it more recent? Either way, the Mamas Papas original is still the
gold standard.

Posted by: rickl at December 31, 2016 03:13 PM

The video version is the 2nd version of California Dreaming the Beach Boys recorded, in 1986. (Not sure if that qualifies for "back in the day" for you, it's "more recent" for me :-) ). It features Roger McGuinn from The Byrds on 12-string guitar, and John and Michelle Phillips.

This version of the song was referenced in the lyrics to The Dead Milkmen's 1988 novelty hit "Punk Rock Girl".

It's pretty easy to pick out Roger McGuinn's style. And as our own Ben R. might say, "IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE MCGUINN WAS REFERENCED IN THE MP's CREEQUE ALLEY."

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 31, 2016 04:46 PM (DMUuz)

335 Given that this is the last day of the year, might be nice to get a bonus open thread...

Posted by: Max Power at December 31, 2016 05:03 PM (q177U)

336 Suspect there will be another open thread later, guessing no chess thread though.

Posted by: Skip at December 31, 2016 05:10 PM (5sOEp)

337 So John McCain and his fuckboy, Lindsey Graham, are celebrating the new year in Ukraine with Ukrainian marines, trolling Putin and basically shitting on our own servicemen and servicewomen. The GOPe is sad joke.

Posted by: Fritz at December 31, 2016 05:18 PM (nrkHK)

338 Sorry for your loss, Brother Cavil. Don't shoulder this alone. Tell people you need casseroles, help with your laundry, help packing up your Dad's stuff, help organizing the next steps.

Posted by: vivi at December 31, 2016 05:24 PM (11H2y)

339 OMG, a Twilight Zone Marathon of SyFy.. That's it for my to do list till it's time for the NYE party.

Posted by: vivi at December 31, 2016 05:25 PM (11H2y)

340 "Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" is on now.

Posted by: vivi at December 31, 2016 05:26 PM (11H2y)

341 Chess/Open thread up.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 31, 2016 05:42 PM (DMUuz)

342 Before Scalzi went completely went off the rails he had a book The Android's Dream which had a major character (mcguffin?) that had sheep DNA.

The book used popular beliefs about Arab culture, AI, programing, and jumping shoes to good effect. The title is a play on Philip K Dick's book that was the basis for Blade Runner.

Posted by: Ok at December 31, 2016 09:22 PM (lEWrS)

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