Obsidian Wings

Thanks and Giving Open Thread

by Ugh

One wonders if Saudi Arabia had just "oopsied" a JDAM on Khashoggi if there would have been any fuss. 

Whatever.

It appears that my 3.5 month 7 month basement project is nearing completion such that the kids can finally go down there and annihilate one another with Nerf guns (wearing the appropriate eye protection, of course).  The "big" cousins are coming so they are excited.  Also the 7YO wrote a nice letter to Obama saying that he had "heard" Obama was a very good President once.  Will alert y'all if Obama replies.

I hope everyone can enjoy the turkey day, with or without the turkey, with or without company.  We are hosting, so, whee.

Good times, good times.

Open thread.

An open thread under the bridge downtown

by Ugh

I could not get enough.

Donald Trump continues as President of the United States of America, having been nominated by the "Party of Lincoln" no less.  

Not that Micheal Pence could carry that banner with any more authenticity.

OT

nuff said...

by liberal japonicus

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/nov/12/stan-lees-best-marvel-cameos-video

Excelsior!

So it begins...

by liberal japonicus

Well, that was quick.. An open thread for that.

A Tuesday thread

by liberal japonicus

Well, Tuesday's here and the world hasn't ended, but unfortunately, my Tuesday is a US Monday... Anyway, an open thread to put your observations in.

The Calm Before the Thynder - Open Thread

by Ugh

Vote Tuesday, he said, expecting the answer no.

I'll be in Silicon Valley then, having turned in my absentee ballot in races so one sided that "some" might say maximizing utility would be better spent watching the Haunting of Hill House, which I had to turn off last night (I'm 45 years old, tho I loved that Henry Thomas was cast in that episode - he deserved an Oscar for E.T.).  

What other Mules are out there? Are they only negative? I think not, or hope not what not. 

Open thread.

We Are Here to Witness

Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland

Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross Township

Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood

Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill

David Rosenthal, 54, of Squirrel Hill (Cecil and David Rosenthal are brothers)

Bernice Simon, 84, of Wilkinsburg

Sylvan Simon, 87, of Wilkinsburg​​​​​​​ (Bernice and Sylvan are husband and wife)

Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill

Melvin Wax, 88, of Squirrel Hill

Irving Younger, 69, of Mt. Washington

*****

Added later, and thanks to sapient for providing the details:

Maurice Stallard, 69

Vickie Lee Jones, 67

who died in the Kroger shooting.

"White people are so fragile, God bless ’em."

by liberal japonicus

Has it only been four days since I posted about the 'migrant caravan'? Lot of pressure and Ugh is there with a stent of an open thread, but here's a little more focussed post for those of you who want to chat.

This post is sort of about Megyn Kelly, formerly of the Today show and the title comes from this unrelated Guardian article
about Rhiannon Giddens and the final paragraph, which is:

She pauses. “White people are so fragile, God bless ’em. ‘Well, I didn’t own slaves.’ No you didn’t. Nobody is asking you to take personal responsibility for this. But you’re a beneficiary of a system that did. Just own that and move on.”

My wife (Japanese, never lived in the US) was struggling to see what was wrong with Megyn Kelly's comments. I pulled up some links and pointed out that 1) she's not talking about herself going as Diana Ross, she's talking about someone else, 2) she has a history of making racist comments and 3)she's getting umpteen million dollars so you think she would be intelligent enough to keep her mouth shut. My wife said 'naruhodo', which could be the Japanese equivalent of 'yeah, that's a bit racist...'

Thinking about another Meghan, here's an interesting compare and contrast. Been reading a bit about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tour and Harry's own history in this regard in the realm of the ill-advised is interesting.

with some reporting from the time

So liberal japonicus, why does Harry get a pass, and Megyn Kelly get sent on her way? Well, I'm not sure if someone could have been kicked out of the royal family, but more importantly, this:

During one tantalising section of the film Prince Harry, who is currently dating the American actress Meghan Markle, hints at the possibility of becoming a father and introducing his children to the continent he has long loved and admired and where he has done some of his most meaningful work.

“I have this love of Africa that will never disappear,” he says: “And I hope it carries on with my children as well.”

We earlier talked about how political party affiliation is often something that can be seen as passing down from parent to child. This reminded me that a lot of things get passed down.

My senior thesis was a combination of a recital and a thesis about the pieces I played and one of the pieces I played was Hindemith's Sonata for Horn in F and I tied that to a poem that Hindemith linked to his Sonata for Alto Horn that is supposed to be recited before the piece.

Hornist:
Is not the sounding of a horn to our busy souls
Even as the scent of blossoms wilted long ago
Or the discolored folds of musty tapestry
Or crumbling leaves of ancient yellow tomes

Like a sonorous visit from those ages
Which counted speed by straining horses' gallop
And not by lightning prisoned up in cables
And when to live and learn they ranged the countryside
Not just the closely printed pages

The cornucopia's gift calls forth in us a pallid yearning, melancholy longing

Pianist:
The old is good not just because it's passed
Nor is the new supreme because we live with it
And never yet a man felt greater joy than he could bear or truly comprehend.

Your task, it is, amidst confusion, rush and noise
To grasp the lasting, calm, and meaningful
And finding it anew, to hold and treasure it.

Let them eat pipe bombs - Open Thread

by Ugh

As the liberal illuminati outsmart themselves by sending pipe bombs to their own leaders in a horribly failed attempt to distract from the overwhelming menace of a caravan of more than 100,000 heavily armed foot soldiers of Middle Eastern descent steadily marching toward the U.S.'s naked southern border, and due to get closer than 1,000 miles any day now, I present to you this open thread.

Sox are up 2-0.

Steph Curry is silly.

I still like the NFL.

Vote, please.

The unwanted guests

by liberal japonicus

There's so much shit happening, it is hard to keep track. We've not talked about it here, but the migrant caravan is a pretty amazing example of when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. The fact that a caravan like that, timed perfectly to encourage the Republican/Clickbait base when the elections take place, seems like the dictionary definition of dirty tricks had me and others wonder if it was a Republican operation which then allows for the deployment of Republican rhetoric on immigration

However, this Slate article suggests that it had its roots in Honduras. A couple of interesting grafs

According to FOSDEH, a local think tank, about two-thirds of the population lives in poverty and the total number increased by roughly six percent in 2017; 80 percent of workers earn below the minimum wage of a few hundred dollars per month. On top of this, Honduras ranks among the most violent countries on the planet. Fewer than one in 10 crimes is ever solved.

And then there’s the drought. Honduras is one of the countries that has been most affected by climate change, particularly in the part of its territory that intersects with what’s known as the Central America Dry Corridor. In the past, farmers in this region could rely on two harvests annually, but now they are lucky to produce one. This year, a severe drought during the rainy season meant tens of thousands of families produced none.

Data from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shows an increase in rural migration in the past year due to these issues, and so many migrants from that particular region have attempted to flee in the last week that Honduras closed its border there with Guatemala indefinitely.

Is it just me or does the caravan bring this to mind?

Anyway, a new thread about a fresh new hell, cause the previous one (thread that is, the holding capacities of various types of hells seem to be infinite)