Saturday, March 30, 2013

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Published on Nov 26, 2012
Kentucky Educational Television's "The Lonesome Pine Specials"; recorded at the Kentucky Center for the Arts; producer Richard Van Kleeck; director Clark Santee; copyright 1992, KET

Sam Bush - mandolin, fiddle
John Randal Stewart - guitar
Al Perkins - dobro, banjo, guitar
Mark Winchester - bass
Larry Atamanuik - drums


Emmylou Harris & Nash Ramblers ~ Walls of Time
Thanks to foxfireman188.

Friday, March 29, 2013

The kid needs a 'time out'

North Korea puts rockets on standby to 'mercilessly strike' the U.S.


The proper response:

Thanks to YubaNet.

Truncated transcript from today’s SCOTUS argument

This is funny. Just go read it. COURTNEY MILAN'S TUMBLR.

COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. Today, we—

ROBERTS: In keeping with the practices of this Court, we don’t allow anyone to complete a full sentence before interrupting them. Tell us why the people who hired you should even be allowed to bring a case.

COOPER: Because California said so.
...

BREYER: I’m going to ask you an extremely long question riddled with nonspecific nouns, and you’re going to have to guess what I mean by it.

COOPER: I’m pretty sure the answer is no? But let’s stop talking about whether I should be allowed to talk, and get on to what I’m going to be talking about. Which is: nostalgia. Nostalgia for the good old days of traditional, bedrock values. Man, back in 1971, this Court said there was no federal question as to same-sex marriage. Those were the fucking days.
...

Ted Olson’s turn.

OLSON: We all know that if you don’t decide on behalf of respondents, you’ll be heralded as bigots for generations to come, so—

ROBERTS: Before we get to the question of our bigotry, can we talk about standing?

OLSON: Yeah, they have none.
...

SCALIA: I’m going to ask you a ridiculous question: When did it become unconstitutional to discriminate against gays and lesbians?

OLSON: It would be bad form at this juncture to say, “Fuck you, Scalia, you just want to grandstand,” so I’m just going to say it’s a nonsensical question.
...

VERRILLI: Look, we’re trying to find narrow grounds for you to affirm under, if that’s what you’re looking for. Narrow grounds. Affirm. Maybe even 6-3?

JUSTICES, COLLECTIVELY: Yeah, none of us are buying it. It’s probably the only thing that the nine of us agree on.
...

SOTOMAYOR: Okay, but lemme explain how the Supreme Court works. We’re actually terrified of screwing up. That’s why we mainly take cases where there’s a circuit split—because then there’s a lot of arguments on both sides. We’re all kind of freaked out here, because no matter what we decide, someone will be out for our blood. We avoided doing the right thing on racial segregation as a court for 50 years. Why not do this here?
Go.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Your evolution is totally gay

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on the evolution of support for equal rights of marriage, whether real or politically motivated.

Out of the cheap woodwork they come, these swiftly “evolving” politicians, racing as fast as they can to get with the foregone program and support gay marriage ASAP because they see the writing on the Supreme Court wall, which is the same as the writing on the bathroom wall, which is the same as what appears in every poll and survey and sample across the civilized, intelligent, non-Republican world.

And that writing says one thing: Idiots and fools, cretins and political roadkill are ye who do not get over your uptight sexual fears and ignorance of God, pronto.

The hottest story of all right now? Aside from the “leery,” “reluctant,” dully conservative Supreme Court whimpering toward a half-baked, non-sweeping decision on Prop 8 and DOMA that no one will really like? Speed.

Which is to say, everyone’s amazed at the breathtaking, almost impossible-to-believe quickness at which the gay marriage issue has “evolved,” not just for politicos desperate for the love of younger voters who don’t give a damn for the ludicrous “culture wars” of their elders, but for the entire culture, how quickly gay marriage has skyrocketed to a majority of public support in a short handful of years, so fast that no one can really answer why.
Not looking a gift horse in the mouth aside, perhaps it's because folks simply aren't as mean as they were, or better informed that civil rights for one are civil rights for all or they mean nothing.

From the Atlantic link above:

The consensus from Court watchers Tuesday seems to be that the Court is itching for a way to avoid a sweeping ruling on same-sex marriage. I can buy that. Such a ruling would be terribly disappointing to same-sex marriage advocates (and probably not beloved by same-sex marriage foes, either). But in this seminal case, to paraphrase a former government official, you go to court with the justices you have. And the justices America has right now seem ready to wait a while longer to recognize marriage equality. Charles Cooper, the lawyer without any facts to back up his argument, may end up winning in the end.

Young Mark winds it up:

Of course, this is not news. The fact that so many politicians are jumping on a fast-moving, sexually charged bandwagon when it’s the easy and opportunistic thing to do is only evidence that they’re politicians, doing what politicians do. Which is, making everyone gag at their hollow and pseudo-spiritual “awakenings,” right on cue.
...

Speed bumps will persist, the Supreme Court may or may not have the balls to declare as valid what everyone already knows is imminent, hateful states and staunch conservatives will go to their graves waving their sad flags of religious ignorance and fear, same as it ever was.

But gay marriage is essentially done. Liberals won. Your kids have already moved on, long ago. And of course, they also de facto/by and large support gun bans, women’s rights, environmental action, et al. And would you look at that? They didn’t even have to “evolve” to do it. Go figure.
I did a lot of their "evolving" for them on a number of subjects over the years. Damn kids come to the right answer without even having to work for it. Heh.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The stupid, it burns...

Raw Story

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee sprung to action and demanded answers after confusing a mop sink recently installed in the state Capitol for a Muslim foot-washing sink.

Members of the state House and Senate contacted state Senate Clerk Russell Humphrey to ask if the floor-level sink had been installed outside the House chamber men’s restroom to accommodate Muslims’ ritual of washing their feet before prayer, according to The Associated Press (Nice photo of the sink - G).
...

Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley assured the lawmakers in an email that “the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use.”

“It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink,” Ridley said.
...

“Tennessee, like the federal government, has a compelling state interest to protect our citizens from jihad terrorism,” Matheny said at the time.

That measure would have criminalized Muslim foot-washing rituals and dietary restrictions.
I will assume the legislation would have criminalized Jesus washing his disciples' feet as well. They could clean swabs in it while they're waiting for his return. Idiots.

Then again, maybe there aren't any real followers of Christ's teachings around there.

Republicans Struggle to Recover From TeaPartyitis

Will Durst on the GOP "autopsy".

The study was commissioned by members of the party's hierarchy and given the official title- Growth and Opportunity Project. A GOP for the GOP. Although Grossly Obvious Poppycock fits as well. Claiming party purity trumps electoral victory, there is already heavy pushback from the right. "What good is it to win earthly spoils when you lose your immortal soul and your breath still smells like embalming fluid?"

What this really calls for is an independent perspective. You want an autopsy, we'll give you an autopsy.

"Summary Report of Autopsy concerning the corpse of the 2012 Republican campaign. External Examination. Close inspection of the body, an old white billionaire, reveals a serrated knife approximately 9 inches long with the initials, Grover Norquist, engraved on the handle, protruding from under the right side between the 4th & 5th ribs.

Gunshot residue found covering the right hand in excess of ½ inch depth, which considering the holes in the right temple exhibiting upward trajectories, is consistent with what can only be described as a series of self- inflicted gunshot wounds. DNA tests reveal skin samples found under the broken nails of both hands are indicative of numerous encounters between the victim and an unknown woman or perhaps group of women.

The nose is missing which corresponds to the victim's recent recurring publicized bout of TeaPartyitis, a disease which causes the sufferer to cut off his nose to spite his face. In the rectum, what appears to be a wooden stick 6 inches long and ¾ inch in diameter, has been lodged for quite some time causing a critical backup of feces.

Pending toxicology results from the lab, internal examination reveals organs in a state consistent with the victim's age, with two conspicuous anomalies. A steady diet of bunk and bamboozle has dulled the senses creating a milky film that covers the retinas. Most exceptional was the astonishing discovery of the total absence of a heart.

It is the opinion of this office the cause of death was this myocardial void along with the aforementioned complications from various acute traumas. In other words, the victim was probably dead for a long time, just didn't know it."
If they'da had a nose they coulda smelled it.

Everyone Knows A Gay Person. Everyone Knows A Conservative

Goblinbooks. Caution: scary picture!

We're in the middle of a stunning upsurge of support for gay people and an equally stunning collapse of support for conservatives. And I believe the reasons are the same: More and more people actually know them.
...

[...] And we, the public, also know, through personal experience, that Roberts himself was recommended to the bench by a halfwit who thought Jesus Christ actually told him to launch a preemptive war on Iraq.
Yes, yes we know that.

With increased openness, you can encounter gay people or conservatives anywhere. You might meet a coworker's partner at a company lunch, say, or have a longtime friend post a picture of an aborted fetus on your Facebook page. Maybe an older relative finally has the courage to express himself - and he either tells you he's going to start dating, or he sends you a racist email about the president.

However these things happen, millions of people across the country are getting more accurate images of both groups. They understand a gay person is a well-adjusted man or woman who happens to be attracted to people of the same gender. And they understand a conservative is someone who doesn't believe in climate change, and maybe not even evolution, and enjoys hoarding weapons and highlighting the scariest parts of Atlas Shrugged.

The way forward, in both cases, is clear. Gay people should be proud of who they are. They should feel free to talk honestly, even bluntly. Conservatives should really, really do the opposite. They need to pull the plug on CPAC and encourage Michele Bachmann to build that compound she's probably sketched out. They need to fight those feelings they have about contraceptives and the gold standard. They're not right. They're not natural.

They need to find a deep, dark closet and just cram themselves in there. For good.
I long for the day when a "brave conservative" is one who dares to come out as such instead of one who wants to send other people's kids to die in unnecessary criminal wars.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Light Blogging Today, i.e. I'm Pooped


I'm taking it easy today. We did a lot of driving this past weekend. Rode a trial on Saturday and collected a new pooch on Sunday. I'll let others have at the wingers today.

Here's the pooch. She's a 3-year-old tricolor Springer Spaniel named Roxie. Beautiful and friendly and settling in. She's the one on the left.


Here's a short vid of a bit of the trials action. Mrs. G walked almost a mile to get this. Prairie City SVRA is HUGE and the other sections were too far to walk to.


I win the 1st Place trophy every time because I'm the only one who ever signs up in my class - Old Farts Who Oughta Know Better.


Click to embiggen

Interestingly, the artist who did that lovely rendition of the dusty, tired boots that came off a dusty, tired rider, a white-bearded old trials rider himself name of Gene, was right there at the post-trial trophy presentation. I shook his hand and told him how terrific I thought it was.

It was a helluva good weekend and I'll just bask in the afterglow while I wait for my first-time-out-this-season thigh muscles to quit screaming "abuse!" at me. Heh. See yas later.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

WHITE HOUSE PETITION CALLS FOR
POLITICIANS TO WEAR NASCAR-LIKE ADVERTISING

And keep all their cash bribes in a clear plastic
globe on their desk.
GOP Leaders Decide It's Time to Reverse Course
They'll reverse their position on immigration, gays, taxes, abortion and urge fellow Republicans to begin cross-dressing and getting tattoos.
That would be an improvement. The Big House is a good place to get tattoos. Their cellies might set 'em on the road to cross-dressing too. Heh.
Another Putin Critic Living In Exile Commits Suicide
Once again by stabbing self in foot with poison-tipped umbrella.
Much more believable than twelve self-administered rounds in the back of the head.

REMINDER
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is about twenty cops with guns.
Shit, that's how many cops show up for a DUI arrest. Heh.

Zippers Cause Most Penis Injuries, Study Finds
Except in Scotland.
Ah don' care, Ah'm nae wearin' a skirrrt! Y-fronts 'neath mah breeks ha' always sufficed!