Thursday Open Thread
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60 responses to “Thursday Open Thread”
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Great Picture
Mornin’ Gang -
From last night;
# 50 Hamous says:
December 7, 2016 at 6:57 pm
TexMo lived in Morocco.
Didn’t Wino live over there? -
Morning temp showing about 34 out here; winds north 20+. This may the be high for the day. Guess I’ll stay up and binge watch something on Netflix. I’ve been enjoying the Person of Interest series lately.
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This is a pretty good summary of Wallace Hall’s battles with the UT Board of Regents, former president William Powers and current president William McRaven. Few and far between are people with guts like Wallace Hall.
But neither Hall nor other skeptics in the state were satisfied with the Kroll report. One was Watchdog.org’s Texas Bureau, which did its own analysis of Kroll’s finding (but based on files with much pertinent information redacted) and concluded that Kroll had badly understated the problem. Watchdog’s Jon Cassidy calculated that 746 students (not 73 as Kroll had said) with grades and scores that would otherwise merit prompt rejection were admitted to keep legislators and wealthy university supporters happy.
Hall requested access to the unredacted Kroll data so he could see if there was indeed more to the story than officials were admitting. But his request was denied by McRaven, who said that Hall was trying to undermine his authority by reopening a matter he had declared closed.
University administrators are not supposed to prevent regents from doing their oversight work, so Hall filed a lawsuit to compel McRaven to release the information. -
Good article at Watts Up With That about Miami and all the hand-wringing over global warming and the ocean swallowing it up along with other coastal cities.
When you build cities on the coast with streets below high tide levels, well, you know, the damn roads are going to flood.
How’s that for brilliant scientific reasoning ? -
Temp has dropped 2 degrees in the last 30 minutes, so looks like we have already seen the high for the day. Did I mention that I’m not much of a cold weather person. Bundle up and keep the coffee warm is my plan for the day. I’m pretty sure I will be able to find some mischief to get into here before long.
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Back when Elizabeth Fauxcahontas Warren was being groomed to run for the Presidency, before Bernie stole her thunder, Obama created this agency just for her.
The bureau was given broad powers over American financial institutions, and it was designed to operate differently from all the other boards, commissions, and agencies dotting the federal landscape. With a single director unaccountable to Congress or the president and a $600 million annual budget that came directly out of the Federal Reserve (and therefore wasn’t subject to congressional control), the CFPB was supposed to be a truly “independent” regulatory agency that would be able to operate outside of political influence to guide America’s banks away from the threat of another economic collapse.
I was angry when it was proposed and angrier when it passed Congress. The problem with a “truly independent regulatory department” is that it can be used properly by a director with integrity or become an out of control, rogue agency with no executive or legislative oversight – an off the leash, wild dog program.
This another of those great gifts to America from John Boehner and all the Republicans who voted for it.To be clear, it’s not the federal court ruling that handed this power to Trump. The architects of the CFPB did that. October’s ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals simply dealt with the troublesome legal structure of the bureau and brought it into accord with the rest of the federal regulatory state.
Still, that ruling turned a very powerful, supposedly independent (the CFPB was never really independent, no matter what it’s designers’ intentions were) regulatory agency into a very powerful extension of the Oval Office.The CFPB should be abolished now.
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Reid predicts death of filibuster.
The departing Democratic leader blamed his party’s 2016 debacle on Jim Comey and said no big changes are needed.To hear Reid tell it, the party’s electoral collapse wasn’t a result of poor messaging or even a bad candidate. It stemmed from looser campaign finance rules, FBI Director James Comey and the influence of a few powerful individuals — namely the Koch brothers, his long-running nemeses. The outgoing Senate minority leader is unapologetic on behalf of his party, and remains resolute that Democrats don’t need to chart a new political course after their 2016 debacle.
“They have Trump, I understand that. But I don’t think the Democratic Party is in that big of trouble,” Reid said in a half-hour interview with Politico on Wednesday, one day before he’ll deliver his farewell address. “I mean, if Comey kept his mouth shut, we would have picked up a couple more Senate seats and we probably would have elected Hillary.”Oh and on Drudge, they have this picture.
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Good breezy chilly morning Hamsters. It was 53 when we got up at 6 and misting slightly in a light breeze. That’s long gone, still overcast, breeze is vigorous and growing teeth, and we cracked 49 about 15 minutes ago on the way down. Winter is here. Good day for inside activities; hot chocolate, tea, coffee in abundance; Christmas cookies if you have them, ordinary cookies if not.
We have more Christmas decorating to do, the tree to put up, outside decorations to finish, good stuff like that. Bought Christmas stamps yesterday and was delighted to see at least 4 religious ones offered. Selected a reproduction of a gorgeous Madonna and Child painting. -
Wino was in the middle east somewhere. Dubai, I think.
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Daughter reports 28 and snowing in Midland.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/08/cancer-patient-sues-hospital-flesh-eating-bug-ate-penis/
This is the kind of “unfavorable outcome” that is a result of socialized medicine. Obamacare must die. -
http://adequateman.deadspin.com/the-2016-hater-s-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-catalog-1789529261?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
A real guy reviews the Williams Sonoma catalog as guys would when no wimminzes are around.
WARNING : salty language. -
Don’t think I ever even heard of a CC called Wino. Good morning, everybody.
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Spotted in the comments section of a Washington Post article about the election:
Here’s what I told my 15 year old daughter: “Hillary’s loss does not mean that your hopes and aspirations can’t be fulfilled. And the path that Hillary blazed is still the best path for achieving those hopes and aspirations. So go to college, find a man who is bright and engaging and ambitious. Do everything you can to help him reach those ambitions. Stick with that husband, no matter how badly he treats you, because it is through his successes (and the credit that you deserve for those successes) that you can achieve your own success. ”
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The school said “peer educators” will still provide “Stress Busters” programs for students, which includes an event that lets cadets color.
“Stress Busters is held on Reading Day of each semester,” the school said. “This is an opportunity for cadets to unwind and relax before studying for finals. This event often includes stress reduction activities such as yoga, therapy dogs, coloring book stations, card/game stations, and grab-and-go snacks to take with you on your way to study!”
The school’s Cadet Peer Educators program offers a “bystander intervention” program to teach cadets to “identify barriers to bystander intervention, establish skills/techniques to intervene, and to provide [Virginia Military Institute] and Lexington resources to all cadets in attendance.”
The school also posts flyers on health in bathroom stalls.
“VMI once took America’s youth and prepared them for duty and the harsh realities of war,” a VMI alumnus and veteran told the Washington Free Beacon. “Now, for $20k a year, VMI will turn your teenagers back into children.” -
Lib Bro posted another stupid item on FB today, about appointees being against Medicare, public schools, etc.
I choose not to respond with education, because (1) it would be useless, and (2) he’s still my favorite brother, despite our differences in political opinion, which are vast and wide.
Destroying that relationship just isn’t worth pointing out how stupid I think his ideas are. -
#16 Texpat
I hope this was lightly veiled snark and not genuine. Perfect description of Hildebeast’s history with Bill. You too can wind up as a footnote in the history of the US Presidency. -
I don’t think Wino made it to the couch.
Didn’t he end up marrying a fellow LSTet? -
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I held my last class for the year last night. I’ve asked my DRE multiple times about “missing dates” in her class schedule for the year, and actually sat down at her desk with her to go over certain dates to be sure I knew ahead of time so I could restructure my lessons. One of the weeks in question was next Wednesday; I didn’t see why we were canceling that class, but she didn’t include it in the lesson schedule, so I cut one of my classes out of my syllabus and moved things around, fuming the whole time.
Last night, my helpers arrived with notices of the change in our retreat date and that our next class would be in January. These were handed out as parents dropped off and picked up their children. In the middle of checkout, I was told that the DRE was telling parents of the younger classes – held in a building across the parking lot – that we DID have class next week.
I’m not holding class next week. If she has a problem with that, then she will be informed that she’ll need a new instructor next year. This is ridiculous. She may need a new instructor, anyway. -
Amazing analysis of the “fake news scandal” from Politico’s media writer:
The shrillness of the propaganda debate reveals a deep distrust of citizens by the elites. The Ignatiuses and Stengels of media and government don’t worry about propaganda infecting them. Proud of their breeding and life experience, they seem confident they can decode fact from fiction. What they dread is propaganda’s effect on the non-elites, whom they paternalistically imagine believe everything they read or view. But they don’t. The idea that naïve and vulnerable audiences can be easily influenced by the injection of tiny but potent messages into their media feedbag was dismissed as bunk by social scientists as early as the 1930s and 1940s. According to what academics call the hypodermic needle theory (aka magic bullet theory, aka transmission-belt model), there is little evidence that the public was the defenseless prey of mini-doses of propagandists. Larger doses don’t seem to be very effective, either.
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Just got my new Socialized Security information for 2017. Since we have virtually no inflation, we get a .3% COLA increase. But, it does appear that the expense (deductions) side of the ledger did in fact experience some inflation. As a result, the net paid benefit this year is less than last year. Thanks Obama.
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#14 Bonecrusher
Read the diatribe against Williams Sonoma’s Christmas catalog. Should I say Holiday Catalog? It is hysterical, skip over the dopey f-words. Not needed to get the point across and actually detrimental.
W-S items are excellent quality but insanely overpriced. If you’re into gourmet cooking they have every imaginable cooking item and some that are not imaginable. That inventory is way above my cooking expertise or needs at this stage of my life. In fact, I’m culling stuff from the cupboards in the kitchen that haven’t been used in years and are taking up valuable space that other stuff could use.
Truly the only W-S product I find worth the cost is their cinnamon spice hand lotion that is excellent, a little goes a long way, and really works on winter weary hands. -
It is rumored that The Donald is getting a dog; a golden retriever/poodle hybrid. The hired Mitt Romney to teach it to beg and roll over. . . .
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I don’t think Wino made it to the couch.
Didn’t he end up marrying a fellow LSTet?
Yes, he married Nancy Drew. -
Wino & Nancy Drew back in the LST days.
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I can confirm that I am the expatriate American that lived in Morocco. Just still lurking from time to time due to the overtime I have been working for the past 4 months. That coupled with the irregular hours that have I have been fitting that overtime into. Our High Value Engineering Center is located in India. I found out recently that one of our competitor’s high value engineering center is located in Colombia… a one hour time difference instead of 11.5 hour. That right there would be a reason to switch jobs.
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HEADLINE: These cool glass spheres have a glowing ‘crystal ball’ effect powered by phytoplankton
This gizmo is actually an aquarium, but small and made to be handled.
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#28 Dave
Looks like they were both winos.
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Why do you suppose most of the women who used to be in this group have dropped out? Was it EG’s raging misogyny that drove them away?
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#32 mharper42
That’s a good question. Perhaps some of it is the siren call of Facebook’s wide population of contacts and the more limited contacts here and the time needed to participate in both. Or perhaps there are women who visit Hambone regularly but have not commented yet. -
John Glenn has died at age 95. Now he knows the depth of Creation at its fullest.
RIP. -
Since he passed today, I’ll withold any comments until a later time.
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Harry the schmuck is on the cover of Drudge looking pathetic. I wish that stack of walking and talking crapola would just go back to searchlight, dry up and blow away – never to be seen or heard from again. He, along with Blinky and Cankles among others, are the evils the Founding Fathers were so desperate to warn us against.
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It’s not nearly as much fun to trumpet my misogynistic opinions without a female audience. As to John Glenn, I’m with Shannon on that for now. As to Harry the Body, he’s free to join up with Glenn again any time. John McCain too.
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I know everyone here will be heartbroken…
In fact, some are even saying that George is worried their divorce drama might make Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s battle look civil in comparison. Insiders close to the situation say there’s a possibility that Amal might make this an all-out dirty media wall.
Sources say that Amal and George are gearing up for a $300 million dollar split. After two years of marriage, the couple is arguing non-stop and over everything, from their living arrangements to their future family plans. Reports indicate that one of their biggest on-going arguments was over starting a family.
George has made it clear that he’s not interested in fatherhood while Amal desperately wants to get pregnant. After two years of marriage, she feels that if she doesn’t get pregnant now, it certainly won’t happen in the future. That’s why she’s been pressuring him to get her pregnant, even though he is completely opposed to having children. -
Some of the reasons why I am no longer a fan or spectator of pro sports in America…
The Top Ten Sports Grinches of 2016 -
38 cont’d
Ouch. George knows if she gets pregnant, it’s gonna cost him big time, half his fortune, sooner or later.
I love watching these people twist in the wind. -
#35 & #37 Amen!
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40
150M a year seems a little excessive to me. -
That’s some high dollar companionship.
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Now they’ve moved the freeze line down to Wallis. Make up your mind wouldya?
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Why do you suppose most of the women who used to be in this group have dropped out?
Definitely FB.
And you can’t be thin-skinned around here. -
Actually, all they need is to have a brain and know how to use it. Just ask the ones who are still here.
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Heads up, GJT. The Hazel version of The Glass Menagerie is on TCM tonight.
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Ooh ooh ooh!!
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2 Alarm Chili kinda night – no beans.
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Someone needs to throw out a lure for ST, bring some balance up in here.
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I miss ST, too.
Though she does have some amusing FB posts. -
A lot of them involve doing certain things with guns.
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Dallas police and fire pension fund had to be closed to withdrawls to stave off insolvency.
For years, DROP guaranteed at least 8 percent interest on the money. That hurt the entire fund when the investment returns couldn’t keep up. The problem was made worse when the pension’s current administration revealed that their predecessors had significantly overvalued risky real estate investments.
The city proposal would wipe away the DROP interest over the years wiping it away from existing DROP accounts or adjusting future monthly benefits for those who already took their money out.The fund managers made rosey promises that reality would not let happen. I think similar things are happening in the Houston pension system.
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Has anybody heard about the Georgia Guidestones? Wiki data is here.
A real disturbing aspect of the 10 guidelines is this:1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
We are currently around 6 Billion and the number one “guideline” is maintain the global population at 1/12 that. That means that they want 11/12 of the current population of the earth to die.
A simple Google search yeilded a million entries into this thing. -
#46
Who thought we would ever see El Gordo sweet talkin’ the Couch Ladies??
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ST has a guy in her life now, less time for shooting the breeze. 🙂
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And NO! She is NOT making sammiches. Apparently the guy is a Cajun chef. 🙂
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54
What a great idea.
290 and I-10 will be so much faster. -
#58: Won’t have to drive so far to find good deer hunting neither.
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Once robots do all the work, that may be all the humans that are needed.
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