Fifty Shades Of Red

Has Syria crossed the Obama's "red line" and changed his "calculus" by using chemical weapons? No one knows, yet. But any day now, unless not.

SOOOO DERIVATIVE... If and when he revises his calculus, what will Obama do - ratchet up his handwringing a logarithm? Take a (stylistically but not scientifically) bold quantum step?

Comments

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Scotty Centerfold was speculating that Reagan would be called a RINO today? Not only is that wrong, RR also admonished Repubs not to badmouth fellow party members; which lesson seems to be lost on Brown.

[Skoot]

Remember fellas, Don't ever eat your "corn seed". It just ain't right:)

Assad ought to mail O a bag of red pens. I guess the choomers he hung around with weren't the kind that play chess. What a dope.

How 'bout that Westport comeback!

[narciso]

According to Charles Kaye at CBS, he's preparing a cruise missile strike, on Syrian targets, part of the underwear gnome strategy guide,

[narciso]

'Holy ghost shark' people are up in arms about Affleck as Batman,

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

Scotty Centerfold was speculating that Reagan would be called a RINO today?

I missed that part, but I thought he did a decent job. I only cringed once or twice.

[DrJ]

Jane,

I've met with 16 JOMers (and it seems like I'm missing one or two). You probably have more, but what's your current total?

[Ignatz]

Assad better post some AA at the aspirin factories.

[narciso]

Well interviewing Catalina Abreu, was like Nietsche's line about 'staring into the abyss'

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Jane, I heard that on Mark Levin's show. Tbh when I've seen him on FNS he struck me as a charming person who should be a natural as a pol regardless of what his politics are. It's trying to figure out his politics which is problematic to me.

[narciso]

It's like Godzilla and Mothra;

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/08/23/aaron-sorkin-huffington-post-helps-power-genuinely-damaging-force-our

[4JackisBack!2 (On His iPhone)]

Lurking in Manhattan but can't post.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Dr J,

I have to write them down to count them. I can get to 15 without the paper.

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

18

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Caro might beat both of us.

[DrJ]

How can I wangle a trip to Southern CA? Lots of JOMers down there...

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Since the lawsuit against Paula Deen has been dropped, might not the Law and Order SVU writers go with something more in their wheelhouse, ie Saint Traytable was killed by roaming packs off skinheads?

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Of not off

[Account Deleted]

"Assad better post some AA at the aspirin factories."

If the NSA can put out an "uh oh, Elizabeth, it's the big one" warning re an AQ conference call, shouldn't they be able to provide some verification of a Syrian order going out re the use of chemical weapons prior to blowing up another camel's butt as a gesture of R2P?

I know Emperor BOzo I will do as he pleases but I see no reason to believe the chemical weapons used, if they were used at all, weren't used by the AQ rebels who bought them in the Benghazi fire sale after Daffy fell.

There is simply no tactical or strategic benefit to Assad to have ordered the use of chemical weapons when he has the capability to raze a neighborhood or a city just like he did when he cured the Pali flea infestation at Rami.

[Gmax]

Well I think the Pali problem was solved by his father not the chinless one. Destroyed the whole town, razed it and pretended it never existed I believe.

[Eric in Boise]

Jane, I'm a little bit shocked. I can't believe you told DrJ your number right here on JOM.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[narciso]

No, Hama, was the Brotherhood not the Palis, of course we heard of this from Tom Friedman, who still insisted that Hafez was a man we could do business with, 'winning the future' but as Widlanski has pointed out, he 'was rolling' on the first story, re Sabra, and has been consistently wrong ever since,

[narciso]

An interesting angle, that hadn't been noted before;

http://freebeacon.com/j-streeter-alleged-sexual-harasser-resigns-as-san-diego-mayor/

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

Lol Eric , and that was from memory, UNverified!

[daddy]

Let the Funeral Games begin continue.

Have archaeologists discovered the grave of Alexander the Great? Experts find enormous marble tomb fit for a king under a massive mound in Greece

If it is one of the many tombs erected for Alexander, I doubt his body ever lay in it, since Seutonius, in his wonderful tell-all "The 12 Caesar's" relates this teriffic account of What Augustus did in Egypt shortly after he annihilated the last supporters of Antony and Cleopatra and won total control:

XVIII.

About this time he had the sarcophagus containing Alexander the Great's mummy removed from the Mausoleum at Alexandria and, after a long look at its features, showed his veneration by crowning the head with a golden diadem and strewing flowers on the trunk. When asked `Would you now like to visit the Mausoleum of the Ptolemies?' he replied: `I came to see a King, not a row of corpses.'

Great comment Octavian!

[daddy]

Hi Jane!

I'll try to break the plane in Hawaii if you're able to make it out to A(B)'s on the 11th:)

[Jane on Ipad hi there NSA]

The 11th of sept? Hmmmm

[daddy]

Jane, I'm a little bit shocked. I can't believe you told DrJ your number right here on JOM.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I think you guys are joking about that story posted at Insty about Dear Prudence: Uneven Sexual Ledger
I asked my girlfriend her "number" and was horrified by the answer. Will I ever get over it?

That brought to mind the sad case of Mrs Leo Tolstoy. I was a huge fan of Tolstoy's books back in college and I vaguely recalled that when he was thinking of getting married, he was wooing some guys oldest daughter, but somehow he fell hard for the younger 17 year old daughter and proposed to her. She was all giddy and excited and enamored of this much older famous author/soldier etc, but because he wanted complete honesty in the relationship, he made her read his diary about all the dirty stuff he'd done over his life and it crushed her hard, and I recall reading that she never actually got over it. Googling I find this story on the matter which tells it much, much better than I did:

Tolstoy's War with Love

[daddy]

The 11th of sept? Hmmmm

Jane,

I'm assuming you got her great e-mail about the French/Vietnamese Chef. Sounds like great fun. Unfortunately I'm gone early on the 11th unless something breaks. Oh well, guess I'll have to spend a couple boring days in Sydney while A(B) and her buddies are chowing down and swilling. Drat!

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Thanks for linking that review. I knew that Leo and Sonya's marriage wasn't boring but that added a few facets. The true sign of the strength of Tolstoy's genius was how it emerged from his late life nuttiness to produce the masterful Kreutzer Sonata and Death of Ivan Ilych.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

I think you guys are joking about that story posted at Insty

I would never have gotten it if I hadn't read that post. It was a very good joke tho, so I'm glad I did.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

If I hear any "news" reporter refer to Bradley Manning as "Chelsea" or "she"....that's gonna tell me more about the idiot reporter than anything about the nutcase Manning.

[Gus (down South in Dixie)]

Chelsea Manning. Why can't he pretend he's a lady. Obama pretends he's the President.

[narciso]

Always consider what they are really doing;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/the-guardian-partners-with-ny-times-to-report-on-snowdens-leaked-gchq-files/

[narciso]

Resurrection, one of his later works, was also interesting, that was part of my seminar on all things Russian

[narciso]

This what I was referring to earlier;

http://video.foxnews.com/v/2625479239001/blaming-the-tea-party/

[narciso]

A wallaby would have more sense, then Rudd,

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/08/23/i-am-angry-because-it-is-corrupting-the-world-this-gun-culture-of-the-united-states/

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

I think I've met 16 JOMers. It's easier for the DC area group cause of the big Tea Party gatherings.

[narciso]

What a jackalope, is that the standard now;

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-us-syria-20130824,0,1595887.story

[narciso]

Even in Texas, the stupid burns but you get less of it;

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/08/24/5104469/no-more-whining-about-voter-id.html

[Extraneus]

I almost met DrJ in December. (I was *this* close.)

[Account Deleted]

The Grauniad publishes Asssad's rebuttal.

Who to believe? A mendacious dictator or Assad?

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Maybe he ought to direct his ire at thug culture.

I should put Resurrection on my to-read list. Has anybody read A Hero of Out Time by Mikhail Lermontov? I think it was on one of lists in Rupert's Gazette (which has finally started showing up @ Chez Hate following the demise of the daily delivery of the local fishwrap) where authors name their faves of a certain genre; in this case it was something to do with Rooski strife.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Hero of Our Time

[narciso]

Yes, I read that one too, it's about the Chechen campaigns in the 1830s, you would think they would note this, but then he's a big fan of Russell Simmons;

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/08/23/Obama-Passes-Up-Visit-to-Former-Slave-Harriet-Tubman-s-Home

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

So Susan Rice & Samantha Power are both just "tweetin'-it-in" for their new jobs.

So pathetic that it is hard to fathom. I shoulda kept my twitter account...I too could have been a diplomatic mover and shaker.

[narciso]

You didn't go to 'Ambassador Training Institute', Janet,

[narciso]

Like I say, if it was about the Palestinians, they would be there the night before, Syria doesn't matter that much, in their scheme of things.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Glossary additions

At The Movies - Susan Rice
Poppin' Fresh - Ed Morrissey because of his squishy opinions and upbeat demeanor. Also "In Fairness" due to his excessive use of that phrase, usually to make an excuse for a lib opinion.

[narciso]

Yes, we're in the best of all possible hands;

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/08
/24/al-qaeda-plan-to-change-face-of-history-led-to-the-u-s-scare/

[Clarice]

I read a Hero by Lermentov decades ago in Russian. Loves the spare language but can't remember much more of it, CH. Dark,rainy night, I think was the opener.

[Ignatz]

--Glossary additions--

Iranian rodent = Val Jarret
Red Witch = Hillary

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

LOL Iggy. I'd know the "Iranian rodent" anywhere.

[Ignatz]

Interestingly (to me anyway) the Rock Hyrax is not a rodent, although it resembles one, but is most closely related to elephants and sea cows.

[Threadkiller]

From Dave (in Ma) at the end of a previous thread:

http://jom-glossary.wikia.com/wiki/JOM_Glossary_Wiki

"Feel free to add" he said.

[marlene on Kindle]

Posting on kindle,PITA.We received a wonderful phone call last night.Our daughter and her boyfriend have spent the last few days of their vacation in Paris.Yesterday at Notre Dame Cathedral,he proposed to her.We are very happy!

[Threadkiller]

Ig, do you have confirmation that your land was zorched?

[Clarice]

Congratulations, Marlene.

[Manuel Transmission]

I'm at 17, but I may have missed one from Oakland. (DrJ, H&R, EBJ, Elliott,?)

[Threadkiller]

Bring the boy over to JOM, Marlene, so we can have a chat with him.

:-)

Congratulations to your daughter!

[sbwaters]

Great news, Marlene!

[Ignatz]

--Ig, do you have confirmation that your land was zorched?--

TK,
The latest fire perimeter map from yesterday morning showed my property right on the leading edge of the fire with the four corners burnt. Since then of course the fire has blown right through there.
The only question now is how hot it got and I won't know that for at least a week when I can get in there.
If you're interested you can zoom in on the map under the "hybrid" tab just to the left of the northern-most point of the fire and can see our property with the round meadow surrounded by four, red, spot fires.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

Congratulations, Marlene!

[Clarice]

Sorry to heat that, Ig.

[DrJ]

ManTran,

You may have missed JimMtnViewCA. He hasn't been posting recently. Shame, as he is a nice guy.

Ext, I feel bad about missing you after your cross-country trek (not on my behalf of course!). That was a really busy time.

I've also just missed CH (next time!), CCal and Enlightened. The last was scheduled to attend hit's Berkeley (not Oakland) get-together but last minute changes prevented that.

[marlene on Kindle]

Thanks! Clarice and Janet,let's plan a DC meet up this fall.Hubby and I met JiB and Mrs.JiB in Florida in March,so I've had one JOM meet up.

[Ignatz]

--Sorry to heat that, Ig.--

That's not very funny.

[Manuel Transmission]

Hah! Berkeley not Oakland. Coulda said Frisco and be completely out of it. If JimMV was there, he must have been really quiet. I do remember that Enlightened was supposed to show, but work intervened.

[DrJ]

ManTran,

He sat right across from me, if that helps.

Iggy,

Sorry to hear about you property. I do hope it still can be logged.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

I'm a homebody, Marlene...so just give holler & I'll come meet ya.

[Clarice]

Sure, Marlene.

[Ignatz]

Depends on how hot it got, doc.
Worst case scenario is mine burnt coolly and the area around it didn't. That way I can't log mine and get the value of the timber but it loses most other value cause it's sitting in a moonscape. Fire creates perverse incentives.

BTW I was only kidding at 11:31 clarice. That was one of your funniest typos in some time.

[Clarice]

HEH--Ig, no hard feelings.

[Manuel Transmission]

Well then, 18 for me. Hope Jim and Jay check in soon.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

That's great Dave! Thank you!

Yesterday at Notre Dame Cathedral,he proposed to her.We are very happy!

Oh that's very cool! Congrats!

I'm at 20 guys - so keep counting. But my guess is Caro has us all beat.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

That's great Dave! Thank you!

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

Wow! HOw did that happen?

[narciso]

Congrats, Dave, the narrative is still too inviting;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/oberlin-issues-statement-these-actions-were-real/

[matt]

which member of the inner circle is Rock Hyrax? I thought it was Axelturf.

I am in awe of the dedication of so many of you. It is an interesting group we have.

We're between LA and San Diego, centrally located if anyone in SoCal wants to get together.

Ig; is your forest old growth or more recent? That is some beautiful land in there.

[narciso]

Something to consider, in light of National Geographic 'jumping the ghostshark;

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/08/23/the-medieval-warm-period-in-the-arctic/

[Ignatz]

matt,
The Rock Hyrax is Jarret.

Our property was mostly second growth but scattered around it, especially around the meadow are still a lot of four and five foot diameter pines and cedars with still a few six footers here and there.
We used to kayak Cherry Lake a few miles to the east, all the time but it's now fried as well;

[narciso]

Ha, I read that too fast, congrats Marlene, Hyrax is kind of cute, more of a ferret.

[Porchlight]

Iggy, I'm so sorry to hear it. That sucks.

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday to Charlie (Colorado) aka Chaco!

[narciso]

Sorry about that Ignatz,

the lesson we take from this, is ignoring Klein is the better part of valor.

http://libertyunyielding.com/2013/08/24/al-gore-claims-reporter-botched-his-quote-about-category-6-hurricanes/

[sbwaters]

The Goracle is never wrong.

[Clarice]

Althouh my time with matt was unfortunately too short, I can vouch for the fact that he and Querida are wonderful company and well worth meeting.

[Porchlight]

Congratulations, Marlene. That must be a wonderful feeling.

[Neo]

Down here on the "Friendly Island" of St Martin.
The local papers are reporting that the cholera outbreak in Cuba continues a year later.

[Neo]

DrJ: My daughter started her full time job in June as a Environmental, Security, Safety and Health Engineer with what will soon be Aire Luquide.

[Jane -May2014 Be there or Be Square]

HB Chaco! Hope it's great. Did I read you were flying something somewhere?

[Account Deleted]

Merkel is just saying no to participation in another Anglo/French/American adventure in the ME. Medecins sans frontieres is now providing some propaganda cover for Hollande but I've yet to see any rationale for Assad to have ordered a chem attack while I can see plenty of reasons for AQ to blackmail the Liberators of Libya for failing to round up all of Daffy's WMD trove at the Benghazi Weapons Bazaar.

Italy's government is fast approaching collapse, they'll be taking a miss on this one.

President Weak Horse better pick up his feet or find a taller Shetland pony.

[daddy]

I demand a Recount!

WSJ:
Five U.S. States Where People Drink the Most Beer

5) Wisconsin
4) South Dakota
3) Montana
2) New Hampshire
1) North Dakota

[henry]

Daddy, a recount? That is exactly what drove us to #1!

Just the possibility of a Supreme Court with Kloppenburg on it would drive any sane person to drink. Plus the best way to avoid recall is beer... Lots of ice cold beer.

That reminds me, I need to brew more beer.

[Threadkiller]

A recount??

Not Busch v Coors all over again!?!

Will they be counting "hanging tabs"?

[Danube on iPad]

New York Times, March 1983 (via Hot Air):

"No laws define the limits of the N.S.A.’s power. No Congressional committee subjects the agency’s budget to a systematic, informed and skeptical review. With unknown billions of Federal dollars, the agency purchases the most sophisticated communications and computer equipment in the world. But truly to comprehend the growing reach of this formidable organization, it is necessary to recall once again how the computers that power the N.S.A. are also gradually changing lives of Americans – the way they bank, obtain benefits from the Government and communicate with family and friends. Every day, in almost every area of culture and commerce, systems and procedures are being adopted by private companies and organizations as well as by the nation’s security leaders that make it easier for the N.S.A. to dominate American society should it ever decide such action is necessary."

[daddy]

Good Morning!

Go Japanese Little leaguers---Ganbatte! (Do your best).

DrJ, Fifty Shades of Red Wine!

If you have a few spare gallons of grapes from your vineyards, you might consider doing what these Archeologists in Sicily are trying to do---Make wine the way the ancient Romans did it (According to Vergil)

modern chemicals will be banned and vines will be planted using wooden Roman tools and will be fastened with canes and broom, as the Romans did.

Instead of fermenting in barrels, the wine will be placed in large terracotta pots – traditionally big enough to hold a man – which are buried to the neck in the ground, lined inside with beeswax to make them impermeable and left open during fermentation before being sealed shut with clay or resin.

You could make 1 variety for the snobs in San Francisco and a second variety for the rubes in Oakland! (or as Vergil put it---"To sweeten up their wine, which could be vinegary, the Romans added honey and water to it," he said. "They made better stuff for nobles and cheaper, more vinegary stuff for slaves.

Cheers.

[daddy]

Decisions, decisions---What to wear to work today?

The Tycho Brahe' Breeches, the Keplar Culottes, or my Edwin Hubbell Big Bang Bloomers?

New line of pants named after the pioneering 20th century Astronomer who explained the composition of the stars.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

All those beer drinking states are located to the north where the nights are long. Speaking of which, I just filled up my growler with Southern Tier's Pumking Ale for a get together of my musical buds @ Chez Hate tonight. I'm not all that fond of pumpkin ales but this is a major cut above the rest and narrowly beat out Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde as the suds du jour.

[Jim Eagle]

Off to a wedding here in NYC at St. Pat's. Mrs JiB's college (high school) classmate who happens to be a Nigerian prince but also a very successful Endocrinologist here in the City. Frederick is having a ball. His website is up and running for all to see plus its part of his school project while absent.

One of his school work is for Religion. He has to keep a journal to discuss the various religions he meets, their culture and for all the churches he visits. So far, he has being involved with the Hasidic Jewish community because he went with Mrs. JiB to B&H photo on Friday afternoon but they were already closed to celebrate the Shabbat and are closed today also.

Then yesterday on the way to dinner our taxi driver was a Sihk who kindly talked to Frederick about their religious beliefs. Then today walking to the Art of the Brick exhibit we were approached by an elderly Buddhist monk asking for money for personal indulgences in his prayer book. In a few minutes we are off to St. Patrick's for our wedding.

I don't think he is going to have any problems finishing his journal:)

[DrJ]

Neo,

Congratulations to your daughter (and you too)! May it be3 a good first job for her.