Skybarn

"Sadly for America the Pelosi Takeover prevailed by 220 to 215, armtwisting and threats prevailed..."

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:29:25 -0500

“Sadly for America the Pelosi Takeover prevailed by 220 to 215, armtwisting and threats prevailed against interests of constituents.”

- CongJoeWilson

You Whine!

"Time is approaching to see if Blue Dogs reveal themselves as Lap Dogs of Speaker Pelosi, I am..."

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:01:59 -0500

“Time is approaching to see if Blue Dogs reveal themselves as Lap Dogs of Speaker Pelosi, I am grateful for Republican alternative of liberty”

- CongJoeWilson

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

He called this one from the start. Fucking bullshit.

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:01:47 -0500

He called this one from the start. Fucking bullshit.

"listening to “John” by Cynthia Lennon. I’m sure somewhat biased but what a..."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:04:27 -0500

“listening to “John” by Cynthia Lennon. I’m sure somewhat biased but what a horrible father he was to Julian; it drives me crazy.”

- Zulkey

I’ve always hated the “Saint John” bullshit and this is why.

"Brett Myers won’t be back with the Phillies in 2010. “Kenny Powers is officially a free..."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:03:11 -0500

“Brett Myers won’t be back with the Phillies in 2010. “Kenny Powers is officially a free agent,” he joked.”

- ToddZolecki

"Before Oct. 16, 1991, the Central Texas town of Killeen was perhaps best known for its proximity to..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:26:47 -0500

“Before Oct. 16, 1991, the Central Texas town of Killeen was perhaps best known for its proximity to the Army base at Fort Hood, and Luby’s was known only regionally as a popular cafeteria chain that served a wide variety of inexpensive dishes.
But on that day, both came to be linked to what was then the worst mass murder in U.S. history.
At 12:45 p.m., 35-year-old George Hennard of nearby Belton drove his pickup truck through a window at the Killeen Luby’s and killed 24 people.”

- Shooting rampage at Killeen Luby’s left 24 dead | The Chronicle’s First Century | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Jesus. This happened 19 years ago in the same town as Fort Hood.

Photo

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:41:45 -0500

"Ever since a poll was released declaring “Whatever” the most annoying word in America,"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:04:25 -0500

“Ever since a poll was released declaring “Whatever” the most annoying word in America,”

- The Most Annoying Commercials Of All Time (VIDEO)

SEE! Especially in book titles.

"I have now run out of sports words, so let’s go to the quote… Rep. Michele Bachmann’s..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:30:53 -0500

“I have now run out of sports words, so let’s go to the quote… Rep. Michele Bachmann’s message for conservatives traveling to Washington to attend her Capitol Hill House Call event Thursday is simple: “Go into the Capitol and find members of Congress,” she told activists Wednesday night. “Don’t bring your pitchforks, bring your video cameras. And get them on record saying how they’re going to vote and why. And tell them, ‘Take your hands off my health care!’” Of course, if you do have a spare pitchfork lying around, couldn’t hurt to bring it along. Just in case you happen to catch Nancy Pelosi trying to slam dunk a public option over the last wicket when the umpire isn’t looking.”

- Strap on Your Helmets, It’s Michele Bachmann’s Super Bowl of Freedom | Indecision Forever | Comedy Central

Video Cameras? Just like Orwell predicted!

"Republicans emerged from Tuesday’s elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:26:08 -0500

“Republicans emerged from Tuesday’s elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power.”

- Energized G.O.P. Looking to Avoid an Intraparty Feud - NYTimes.com

First step: indoctrination of the children. Ignore what we said about Obama doing it. No one will remember.

Second Step: Get some help learning to read so we can figure out why people keep yelling about the Orwell guy.

"dear big bird, how tall are you and i have been wondering are you gay, and what size shoe do you..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:20:36 -0500

“dear big bird,
how tall are you and i have been wondering are you gay, and what size shoe do you wear? — keisha&ashley”

- Ask Big Bird a Question - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

inothernews: bowlingalleylawyer: inothernews: Lookee here....

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:15:29 -0500

inothernews:

bowlingalleylawyer:

inothernews:

Lookee here. These are students lined up for an in-school photo op with NJ governor-elect Chris Christie - a REPUBLICAN. Who isn’t even IN OFFICE yet. Think we’ll hear the GOP or Fox News hootin’ and hollerin’ about “indoctrination” over this?

actually, what I see is a group of students ready for a photo op. NOT being forced to learn and perform some creepyass song even against their parents wishes.

this was a really fucking bad pic to try and make some statement like that with, dude. weak.

Haha, yes you’re right - this isn’t “indoctrination.” They’re all just COINCIDENTALLY wearing red sweaters - the accepted color of the Republican party - and waving tiny little flags, and, as the video later showed, exulting when governor-elect Chris Christie (R - NJ) walks in. But ssssshhhhh! Fox News won’t pick up on it - EVEN IF the video is FROM their FOX affiliate, WNYW-TV.

Sssssshhhhh! :-)

She’s being utterly dishonest. This is exactly like the other thing. Where is the outrage over indoctrination? What about the children? Who will protect their little minds from the idiot who was elected governor because the other idiot did such a bad job? What about the kids???? Orwell!

Sit down, Penny Lane.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:04:35 -0500

"@aceofspacesHQ “exit polls indicating that most voters in those 2 states said that President..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:23:45 -0500

“@aceofspacesHQ “exit polls indicating that most voters in those 2 states said that President Obama was not a factor in their votes””

- jaketapper

Now everybody shut the fuck up.

Happy?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:03:35 -0500

Happy?

Ahem. "TOUCH 'EM ALL, JOE!!!"

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:58:50 -0500

(via inothernews)

You just made 7 million people cry. You are the Tarkin to our Alderaan.

Nobody say "Joe Carter".

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:54:27 -0500

"Christie won because he focused on two local issues that are very important to New Jerseyans —..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:45:56 -0500

“Christie won because he focused on two local issues that are very important to New Jerseyans — corruption and property taxes, and won overwhelmingly among voters who keyed in on these issues.”

- FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: New Jersey ≠ Virginia

That is all.

D.G. Myers responds!

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:49:00 -0500

D.G. Myers responds! :

nerdshares:

Professor Myers is certainly quite angry with me! He refers to my place of employment no less than four times, in spite of the fact that this blog is clearly entirely separate from my job! But to counter what I think Professor Myers is aiming at, I will state explicitly: The views expressed herein are my own and are not meant to reflect the views of the “liberal Catholic weekly” who kindly employs me.

Onward.

Now, however, the assistant literary editor of the liberal Catholic weekly America accuses me of saying that, in her dedication to her 1987 novel Beloved, Toni Morrison “purposely, intentionally distorted figures of slavery casualties in order to minimize the significance of the Holocaust” (emphasis in original).

True, I never actually said that. Or, as the assistant literary editor puts it, “Myers never owns this statement.” Perhaps I never “owned” it because, well, I don’t believe it.

First: This is not an accusation. It is a statement assessing what I have read on Professor Myers’ blog. If Toni Morrison has officially stated, in an interview with TIME magazine that she consulted with several historians and they gave her the figure “sixty million,” then to say she is “demonstrably not interested in accuracy” seems odd. An author who has publicly stated that she has done due diligence in her research is not, by literal definition, “demonstrably not interested in accuracy.” She is demonstrably interested in accuracy. Whether she is actually accurate is another point, but Myers repeatedly speaks to Morrison’s intention, not the results of her research: In his earlier post, he asks if the “compulsion to compare” is Morrison’s or his, and states, his exact words: “Instead, she appropriated the Jewish commonplace of six million and trumped it by a factor of ten.”

Dr. Myers, as I know you are reading, I would be happy for you here to correct me and state specifically and clearly exactly what you mean when you say this. Are you saying that Toni Morrison did not consult with historians? Purposely chose “sixty million” to, as you say, trump the Jewish commonplace of six million? If Morrison has gone on record as saying she consulted historians and that’s the figure she received, then saying she “appropriated the Jewish commonplace…” does indeed seem equivalent to being called a liar. If you can provide an alternate explanation, I would — no sarcasm intended — be delighted to hear it.

The statement is justifiably attributed to me because I am a “white male academic critiquing the masterwork of an African-American woman,” and apparently then I am without rights to my own explicit views.

Actually, I implied no causality between Myers’ thesis and his status as a white male academic. This statement, which he plucked out of context, was made with regard to his use of the word “monkey.”

On that he says:

But not the assistant literary editor. She reads the word monkey, and alarms go off. She falls into the tones of a schoolmarm: “ ‘monkey’ is a well-known racial slur for an African-American. Now, when a white male academic is strenuously criticizing an African-American author, you would think he would take care to avoid using the word ‘monkey.’ ” Irrelevant that the white male academic was referring to scholars, who follow the lead of better-known scholars rather than arriving at their own independent opinions. The word monkey must be a racial slur; it must not be anything else; because that is how the assistant literary editor would use the word (not that she, exquisitely sensitive as she is to racial “difference,” would ever use it).

Which is, actually, precisely what I didn’t say! I did not say monkey “must” be a racial slur. I said it is commonly known and recognized as a racial slur. I also specified that I did not believe Prof. Myers had any racist intention in his use of it. I also juxtaposed this against Morrison’s use of sixty million. Six million is a commonplace; “monkey” is a commonplace. To reach the conclusion that Myers’ use of monkey was anything other than innocuous would be to read far more into his intentions than I would ever be comfortable; and the same is true of Morrison. I have no compelling reason to believe, in light of the TIME interview, that she has “no demonstrable interest in accuracy” or was intentionally appropriating the Jewish commonplace of six million (Does Dr. Myers mean that she unintentionally appropriated the Jewish commonplace?)

And so when Prof Myers states:

But to my intentions she can speak with aplomb. Thus I am safely solipsized.

I can only express bafflement. My original post states clearly: “I cannot speak to his intentions…”

And let it be known that I did not discount the possibility that Dr. Myers’ thesis is correct — on this point I have been fairer than he has been to me — but merely that it lacked compelling evidence in its favor.

Further, as a point of pride, I feel that I must say this to Mr. Myers, who accuses me of ad hominem attacks:

(In the liberal Catholic weekly America, apparently, the words demonstrably not interested are unfamiliar terms, a little too highbrow for the common reader.

That kind of rude, unsporting, wholly inaccurate ad hominem attack? Sir, your quarrel is clearly with me, not my employer and certainly not with our publication’s readers. I took issue with the hedging of your language, not its relative complexity. True, as you say, you do not “name call” but you are not above invoking the name of my institution, as though it is its/their duty to answer for my opinions — I do not believe I have, beyond providing your bio, consistently identified you with Texas A&M, or attempted to conflate Texas A&M’s views with yours. This is mostly because I believe that, no matter who signs our paychecks, our opinions are our own — ours to defend and ours to stand behind. To call out your “university’s” position on Beloved when it is clearly only your own would be unfair and dishonest. If this was an error on my part, I am, as always open to correction.

Fucking Aggie! Go UT and UH! And Nerdshares for the win, as always.

"Yankees' mound meetings grind World Series games to a halt, give MLB..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:07:31 -0500

“Yankees' mound meetings grind World Series games to a halt, give MLB pause,
http://www.philadelphiaphilliesnews.com/fdn/26162”

- philliesblog

I actually like this Yankees team, except for that massive tool A-Rod. But these fucking mound meetings are bullshit. The umps need to nut it up. 2 Mound meetings an inning, and then get charged a ball for each additional.