Paging John Kerry, There's A Call On Line One

The 1980s are calling and John Kerry has picked up the phone:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia's plan to buy more intercontinental ballistic missiles was concerning and could herald a return to the international hostility of the "Cold War."

Speaking at a military and arms fair on Tuesday, Russia President Vladimir Putin announced the addition of 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles which, he said, were able to overcome "even the most technically advanced anti-missile defense systems."

...

Kerry said that, since the 1990s, there had been "enormous cooperation" in the destruction of nuclear weapons that were in the former territories of the Soviet Union.

No one wants to see us step backwards, nobody wants to, I think, go back to a kind of Cold War status," he added.

One might have thought that imagining that it can't happen can lead to a situation where it does happen. But maybe "Peace Through Strength" was just more Cold War nonsense brilliantly rebutted by the "Peace Through Unilateral Disarmament" crowd. Maybe!

 

 

Comments

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

--But the thinking is that this could change if China is forced to devote significant resources to defending its position in the South China Sea.

This is a perverse idea—that a peaceful China is a greater threat to American global supremacy than a militaristic China would be.--

LOL. A peaceful China.
It's peaceful because no one has yet challenged its offensive takeover of waters and areas it has little to no legitimate claim to.
That's the peace of a playground cowering in fear of the neighborhood bully as he plunders their lunches.

Shoot, the world could have avoided that whole unpleasantness a few years back if it had just not forced Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo to "defend" their occupation of the rest of the world. Made em all militaristic and stuff.

[FTL]

The gov't, with trillions of dollars of spending each year, couldn't secure their own computer systems.

They do not spend those trillions on competence.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

I proudly hate everything about Donald Trump, regardless of whether he speaks a truth occasionally.
If he does it's only in service to his head the size of a haystack, which just happens to sport a thatched roof of golden straw.
How can you not hate a guy who, apparently seriously, wants Oprah as his running mate?

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

And Piers Morgan thinks he's the cat's PJs.
Nuff said?

[Miss Marple]

Iggy, I was just going to mention that!

Now, the thing to do is to point out that his running mate supported Obama. Make HER defensive on her positions. And go after that single payer support he put in his authorized biography.

You CANNOT attack him personally, no matter how buffoonish you think he is. He has a base of TV fans and those who liked his speech.

Go after his positions and make him defensive.

[lyle]

The one think Trump WON'T do...is attack Cankles. Mark my words.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

What's your profile in courage, Ben?
Suckin on mushrooms in your pensioner's den, mouthing off to people twice as smart as you, and nipping at their heels when they obliterate the retarded points you raise?

[new lurker]

Well, Marlene, she does hate Trump, but more importantly, she is "all in for Jeb!"

[Threadkiller]

Donald Trump told Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos he shouldn’t be allowed to ask him questions about Hillary Clinton Wednesday, referring to Stephanopoulos’ career as a Bill Clinton flack and failure to disclose donations to the family’s foundation.

Stephanopoulos asked Trump, who announced he was running for president Tuesday, what his thoughts were on various Republican candidates before inquiring about Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.

“What Hillary’s got with the emails is, to me, scandalous,” Trump said. “Of course, you shouldn’t be talking to me about that, in all fairness. You shouldn’t be asking me those questions, but I don’t mind.”

http://freebeacon.com/politics/trump-tells-stephanopoulos-he-shouldnt-be-asking-him-questions-about-hillary-clinton/

[Threadkiller]

Does anyone here think Trump has picked Oprah?

[maryrose]

So ABC is now pretending that Steffis contributions don't matter and he is still a playa for the 2016 elections
The man has no credibility and no shame

[Frau Kostenlose Ferien]

Air space over LA will be restricted again this weekend. There must be easy money to be hoovered up by the preezy and a chance to visit The Springs while those of his family members identifying as females are off on a tour.

[daddy on iPad]

Good news. Just out of the skin cancer guy's office and he says the few items I thought might be bad are benign and nothing to worry about, so he biopsied me up a bit and then burned me in different spots with some neat little nitrogen device that freezes things, and he says all the bad parts will fall off in a week. When he bandaged me I told him "Yippee, an excuse to not have to take a bath for a week!" But he shot that down and said I have to wash and replace the dressing daily, so oh well:(

On our big forest fires up in the valley north of Wasila, a sad thing is that that's territory where our Iditarod Dog musher folks live. A famous female musher who has run the race 30 times, Didi Jonrow, lost her home, but was able to escape with most of her dogs. There has been much evacuation of homes up there, but the rescue relief folks are asking for both food donations and also Dogfood donations, since there are so many dogs now burned out of their kennels and homes. 2 families in my cul-de-sac have cabins in the area. One has flown up there in a floatplane and reports are that they are trying to keep their cabin drenched, whereas the other family can't get up to their property and so are just hoping and praying their cabin survives.

Jane, I miss Kiwi. Wonderful dog. For those who haven't seen Kiwi in action, she is great fun to roll around on the floor with, lying on her back demanding that you tickle her belly. Then she hops up on Jane's footstool to protectively lie between Jane's legs as Jane blogs, and then Kiwi stares at you with her fried pigs ear clinched in her teeth, and dares you to try come over and take it from her. Those of you who have not laid on the floor and rubbed Kiwi's belly are missing one of life's great treats!

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Trump goes right for the jugular on Steffi which Top Men Finishing School removes from candidates with gelding shears. He is giving candidates a tutorial on behavior which would lead to the type of landslide that would put Rove permanently out of bidness.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Trump might actually make a useful debate coach, but to do so he'd have to deflate (yes, I went there) his head enough to fit inside a room with someone he was actually ready to subordinate his ego to.

[Jane]

Frau,

FInd me on facebook so I can invite you into the JOM room.

[Threadkiller]

Maybe the chumps that want to lead this country need to swell their heads up to ego-size.

[Jane]

Kiwi is right here Daddy, in her usual place, and was asking for you this afternoon. I told her we'd probably be in Florida when she saw you next.

I'm still bathing in the nostalgia of last weekend. It was wonderful to see you all.

[Miss Marple]

On Greta, short segment of Trump taking questions in New Hampshire. Typical Trump answers, but he took them from actual people, not press or flunkies. Some were tough, and he didn't have great answers. Example: On Cuba, "Cubans are fabulous people. I know a lot because I have hotels in Miami. Yes, we can deal with Cuba, but it needs to be a good deal, good for us and for the Cuban people."

Greta goes to Byron York and Mark Halperi. Halperin infers his net worth is much less than he says, says he's doing it for publicity. Says he will drop out. Very sneery.

Byron York says he is appealing to people who are fed up with Washington and is as close to a 3rd party candidate you can get without leaving the GOP. Said Trump's field staff in Iowa told him they have the "fed up to the eyeballs vote locked up."

Greta poll: 67% support for Trump.

Told you guys he is going to be a force.

[Extraneus]

I don't know if coaching can turn someone into a fighter, and a real fighter wouldn't need Trump as a coach.

How can these candidates not find it in themselves to lambaste Obama and Hilligula where it hurts? Any one of us could do it without a script.

[Jane]

BTW the left is backing off Obama like there is no tomorrow. ("I voted for him reluctantly the 2nd time because I refuse to have a Mormon give out millions of dollars to his friends")

It's delightful.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Yeah, that's America's problem; a bear market in megalomaniacs.

[Extraneus]

Miss Marple could knock them on their asses in a few sentences.

[Threadkiller]

Maybe wanting to be President is synonymous with wanting power?

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Maybe wanting to be president for the power is what distinguishes bad presidents.

[Threadkiller]

Trump says he is doing it for all of us.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Speaking of bear markets; Bloomberg; China's burst bubble a matter of when not if.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Megalomaniacs are always transparent.
Ask Barry.

[henry]

Ask his "investment partners" how well Trump takes care of anyone not named Trump.

[Jack The Trans-Former]

$50 can buy you a good bottle of wine on Last Bottle. Ask lyle and Beasts.

Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcemnent.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-campaign-offered-actors-803161

[Captain Hate]

Byron York says he is appealing to people who are fed up with Washington and is as close to a 3rd party candidate you can get without leaving the GOP. Said Trump's field staff in Iowa told him they have the "fed up to the eyeballs vote locked up."

No more tomato cans. All the lefties on Zuckerberg went Code Blue when Perry announced. I believe that in Walker, Perry, Fiorina and Rubio there are enough non tomato cans that Trump can attract all the flak and let them continue as sane alternatives.

[Miss Marple]

Hey Jack, at least he didn't hire members of SEIU. LOL!

[Threadkiller]

Another version:

Media Matters VP Accuses Trump Of Hiring 'Actors' For Campaign Launch

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-actors-media-matters

Media Matters is in charge of the narrative?

.

[daddy]

Drudge has me confused at the moment.

Beneath a pic of the Pope we have this as Drudge's current header:

CONFIDENCE IN RELIGION HITS NEW LOW

But then scrolling down, Drudge links this story:

Rise in child human sacrifice by witch doctors...

Can't be both.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Donny Trump fifteen years ago; Pro abortion, anti gun, single payer, Hillary is "very, very good" and a 14% wealth tax.
And his protectionist BS would be a guaranteed depression if implemented.
Should I trust a bloviating, self-promoter to be telling me the truth now that he's changed all those positions?
Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my witless ape.

[Stephanie]

BTW the left is backing off Obama like there is no tomorrow. ("I voted for him reluctantly the 2nd time because I refuse to have a Mormon give out millions of dollars to his friends")

So they voted for him to give out billions of dollars to HIS friends? Idiots

[Jeff Dobbs]

They thought they were his friends, Steph.

[Threadkiller]

A lot has changed in 15 years.

[Beasts of England]

Trump-Winfrey '16. A wimp and a blimp.

[Miss Marple]

Oh good. Rove is on O'Reilly to explain things to us.

Pfft.

[Jeff Dobbs]

BTW - I don't watch these things, but I sometimes like to read the transcripts. The opening to Earnest's press briefing yesterday went like this...

MR. EARNEST: Good afternoon, everybody. Feel like I'm interrupting a party or something.

Q: Ooooh --

Q: It's a private event. (Laughter.)

MR. EARNEST: Well played. (Laughter.) I'm just disappointed I wasn’t invited. (Laughter.) Let’s move on. (Laughter.)

I wish it wasn't so chummy - but that's a mildly decent dig (emphasis on the mild) about Obama's secret party (Laughter.) at the WH (Laughter.) with over 500 guests (Laughter.) that we have no right to hear anything about (Laughter.) because it was a private event (Laughter.).

[Threadkiller]

How great it would be if Donald Trump and Jeb Bush — and the rest of the GOP field — really went after the question of fiat money and its role in creating the great recession. This was a feature of the Republican primaries four years ago, when Rep. Ron Paul kept pressing the issue.

It resulted in a Republican Party platform plank calling for the establishment of a monetary commission to start work on repairing the dollar, making it steady and predictable, an accurate measure for prices and value.

Yet no sooner did Mitt Romney win the nomination than he abandoned the issue. It’s tempting to say he deserved to lose, but let’s look ahead.

Donald Trump and Jeb Bush have framed the most important question of the campaign. Let hammering out the platform begin.

http://nypost.com/2015/06/17/donald-trump-vs-jeb-bush-the-debate-on-saving-the-dollar/

F'n Mitt.

[Jane]

Oh Stephanie, they are indeed idiots, and no he is trying to do good, the cronyism isn't real and if only the republicans would go along. But no worries, they have Bernie now.

[Beasts of England]

In Hair Club's defense - at least he didn't pay people $50 to vote for him.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/06/trump-mania-donald-trump-allows-woman-on-stage-to-touch-his-hair-video/

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Spengler on the universality of black lives matter.
Quote, the front and back of which seem sure to be controversial here;

What we have learned from the Arab Spring, the overthrow of Qadaffi, and the imposition of majority rule in Iraq is that the sad, oppressive, old regime is better than any possible improvement. The heavy hand of the police in inner cities, despite its frequent brutality and disregard for legal niceties, saves black lives. The old Sunni dictatorships, vicious and cruel and backward as they were, prevent the all-consuming disorder that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced nearly twenty million people in the Middle East.

[Frau Zeitungsfrau]

In reading a May edition of the 'Cleoville Courtesan (newspaper), I spotted a letter to the editor from Pitzer's guardian of the feather who identifies, academically, as an anarchist.

News flash! Away from his empowering classroom at Pitzer, he served "As the Pomona-Pitzer Faculty Athletic Representative for many years." Get-out!I hear you think, but it must be true. It was in print in a liberal, sustainable town.
Wrapping himself in this mantle of expertise, he warned the editor, Pomona College, and 'Cleoville residents about possible misuse of Title IX:

"All that is required by Title IX is programmatic equality, a requirement that can easily be met by building an alternative women's softball field on any number of available sites on the Pomona campus.

Alternative women! How cunningly prescient. I can just see teams of self-identifying women taking to a field to pulverize any and all takers. The 'Cleoville Colleges must be bulging at the seams with alternative women.
Up twinkles, I gesture!

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

So Trump's hair is real?
His entry in the race is worth learning that by itself.

[daddy]

While you're at it, Jeff, the JOM mens room is out of handtowels and aftershave. Thanks.

I slipped in the JOM's Mens room just like I slipped in the Boston Garden Men's room, because there were no hand towels and there water was on the floor.

4 Million dollars in damages ought to cover my pain and suffering, TM.

[daddy]

Carp, I was supposed to sign my 08:22 above "Alan Dershowitz."

[Jack The Trans-Former]

Are alternative women made from feathers, Frau?

[pagar]

Janet. I saw a entry by you on FB concerning a speech fee of 60,000 $ for the Boys/Girls club. Now
I can't find it. I got the impression that you thought that was Clinton. The 60,000 fee was to Coonalessa Rice, Bill Clinton was $150,000 I think and Hillary was $200,000 or something.
Ms Rice donated most of her fee back, Hillary & Bill never gave back a dime. If I remember right

Course they all fall far shout of what Air America and Al Franken did the the Wise Boys and Girls club a few years ago.

I had put all of this on Facebood this morning.
I think it was after this link.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/dc-officials-stole-110k-childrens-program-fund-obama-inaugural-ball_972981.html

[henry]

So Trump's hair is real?

As real as a certain birth certificate.

[Janet]

Got it, pagar. Thank you.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Why the trans fat ban is worse than you think.

[lyle]

Dang. I always thought you WERE Alan derschowitz masquerading as a cargo jet pilot, daddy. I'm crushed, here...

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

--As real as a certain birth certificate.--

In the video the chick lifts it up and it looks real and attached via real roots.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Ben is actually Rush drummer Neal Peart.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

I forgot how nice it is to have a puppy at your feet snoring and chasing cats in his dreams and how good they smell.

[pagar]

I"m glad Janet. Total for the 3 is apparently 1 million, two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars that Boys and Girls clubs had taken away from them by 3 politicians and Air America.

[Stephanie]

What we have learned from the Arab Spring, the overthrow of Qadaffi, and the imposition of majority rule in Iraq is that the sad, oppressive, old regime is better than any possible improvement. The heavy hand of the police in inner cities, despite its frequent brutality and disregard for legal niceties, saves black lives. The old Sunni dictatorships, vicious and cruel and backward as they were, prevent the all-consuming disorder that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced nearly twenty million people in the Middle East.

True, but the DC is using it as a blueprint for rule here in the US. Does anyone really think anyone in Washington would be adverse to governing just this way?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Sid sent Hill an email with intel that came from Sy that Q'add'a'ff'i was in Chad. But then Hill came, saw and deaded Daffy in Libya a few days earlier.

Now Sy is saying he don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no intel.

One more from my new online crush Sarah Westwood - she's got the goods on the unflattering stuff State muckety mucks got edited out of a final IG report published in Hill's last days before leaving State.

I'm beginning to think there may have been gambling going on there.

[Janet]

I wonder how much federal funding goes to the Boys & Girls Clubs?
Then they pay politicians to speak? That seems sketchy.

Almost EVERYTHING seems so corrupted & grifterish....

[Miss Marple]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHutOHKUEAAaPyi.png:large

Chart comparing number of times people searched for OPM vs. Dolizel

[pagar]

There have been several posts today about cutting benefits for retirees. I have seen absolutely nothing about cutting benefits for illegal aliens benefits.

Off to bed very very early appt tomorrow.

[Jeff Dobbs]

So the talk has been that Treasury was looking to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with a woman (I suggested Caitlyn).

Head fake.

They're apparently gonna replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill.

Someone should duel someone over this.

[Beasts of England]

They're gonna put Bar Rafaeli on the ten dollar bill? Sweet!!

I think scratch-and-sniff would be a great anti-counterfeiting measure. Just sayin'...

[Jeff Dobbs]

They're holding off on the $20 bill until after Trump has finished both his terms as president.

[lyle]

I nominate Beasts as dueler. He has just the right amount of turn of the century raffishness. Which century is up to him.

[DrJ]

My proposal has been submitted, but not after a five hour struggle with the government grant submission system. Good God does it throw off obscure error messages that have nothing to do with the submission package!!

To celebrate, we open a bottle of Boeger Walker Zin, and are enjoying it as an aperitif to siga wat and injera -- an Ethiopian "curry" and the requisite flat bread made with teff.

Life is good!

[Thomas Collins]

It would be ironic if Hamilton no longer graced a bill because it was decided a female was needed. The bustling commercial republic that Hamilton structured has been crucial to the advancement of opportunities for women.

[Stephanie]

“You shouldn’t be talking to me about that, in all fairness,” Trump said when asked to weigh in on Clinton in an excerpt from an interview released Wednesday. “You shouldn’t be asking me those questions, but I don’t mind.”

Trump went on to criticize Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of State.

“What Hillary’s done with the emails is incredible,” he said. “She gets a subpoena, and then, after getting the subpoena, she cancels it? She cancels everything?”
“What she did is illegal,” he added. “What she did is totally illegal. I don’t know how she gets away with it.”

Depends on the emphasis on the word you, apparently...

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/245286-trump-to-stephanopoulos-you-shouldnt-be-asking-about

[Stephanie]

Drops the ball... runs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/as-brady-appeal-nears-roger-goodell-is-stuck-in-a-corner-of-his-own-creation/2015/06/17/a5fcbaa6-1456-11e5-89f3-61410da94eb1_story.html

[Jim Miller]

"BTW - I don't watch these things, but I sometimes like to read the transcripts."

Jeff - You're a smart man. Transcripts are almost always better than live political shows.

I see some of you are wondering, like Limbaugh the other day, whether the Donald might be Hillary's Trump card. (It isn't a possiblity that I would automatically reject.)

[Beasts of England]

Will Clarice loan me her dueling pistolas?

[Miss Marple]

Replacing Alexander Hamilton is terrible. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury, as well as having made many other contributions to the early Republic, which are detailedhere:

https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2014/01/celebrating-alexander-hamiltons-achievements-on-his-birthday/

Wrote the Federalist papers, established a stable gold-based dollar, paid holders of bonds, etc. etc.

Andrew Jackson was a democrat, however, so Hamilton loses.

I really hate these people.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.atlredline.com/hacks-desperately-try-to-disprove-deflategate-1711426528

[Beasts of England]

I never understood why Jackson rated such recognition. Hamilton, for sure. Franklin, of course. But Jackson?

[Jim Miller]

There was actually an important story on BBC America this evening. (It does happen from time to time.) Naturally, I missed part of it.

The North Koreans are short on food, as always -- and the donor nations are suffering from "donor fatigue". Funny how nuclear threats and general misbehavior will do that to you.

If it were possible -- and it probably isn't -- I'd like to tell the Chinese that the North Koreans are their problem.

[daddy]

So the talk has been that Treasury was looking to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with a woman (I suggested Caitlyn).

Worth mentioning that the Confederacy put a real female on their paper currency way back in the 1860's: Lucy Holcomb Pickens, the first lady of South Carolina. Pickens (1832-1899) was known as the Queen of the Confederacy for her beauty and brilliance, and helped shape the legend of the southern belle.

Here's Lucy:

1 Dollar Bill: (Right Click)

100 Dollar Bill)

[Threadkiller]

Hillary's Trump card gets played by dipshits like Bobby Jindal and his 100% big tent views.

With no message that resonates the establishment can only resolve that it is someone else's message that is the problem.

The pussies need to attack Hillary, not Trump.

Maybe they can blame Romney/Ryan and claim that they inherited their 2012 strategy.

[Jim Miller]

For the golf enthusiasts: The weather forecasters are now predicting a period of spotty rain showers in this area, starting tomorrow, and going into Friday.

Chambers Bay, if I was reading their maps correctly, looks to be on the southern edge of the rain, and so might not get any.

[Frau Zeitungsfrau]

"Are alternative women made from feathers, Frau?"

JiB - I'm an old school model. Better ask Caitlyn who is probably yearning to do a fan dance.

[narciso]

Well there are reasons for reservations, with Le donald, as he does his own parody of a rich man's farage.

So they arrested one of abu nidal'S associates, 33 years after he bombed a site in paris, recall that Brad thorns second novel and one recent one, featured members of that organization

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

Thanks for that visual, Frau.

[narciso]

Well jackson was the populist promoter of the anti big bank,pro military free trade democrats, he didn't suffer fools and that's the full complement of the party now

[Frau Zeitungsfrau]

Iggy, the fans will cover most of the naughty bits.
I.Certainly.Hope.
To clear your visual, here are two Missouri fan dancers.

[narciso]

Yes media doesn't matters is always in charge of the narrative. This is why they recently hired Matt bai, hart pence apologist and James snapper organs carville.

[narciso]

Archuleta, the opm sheepdog started out as a protege of f reddy pena and John hickey looper so we're in the best of hands

[narciso]

The way to understand volodya is he sees himself as a czar, who really was a warlord allied with the church. His koba admiration can be seen in that light.

[Stephanie]

There's been a big shooting in Charleston.

Reports of a shooting at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, first appeared on Twitter.
Charleston police confirmed the shooting, according to WMBFnews.com.
The Post and Courier reported the shooting happened around 9 p.m. at 110 Calhoun, the church address.
Police were looking for a "21-year-old white man with a slender build wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans and Timberland boots," according to ABC News. CNN said the suspect's description included "clean-shaven."

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/national/reports-mass-shooting-ame-church-charleston-sc/nmfp7/

[jimmyk]

Andrew Jackson was a democrat, however, so Hamilton loses.

A bit surprising, though, because Jackson killed lots of injuns, so I would think he'd be held in low esteem.

Of course it's ridiculous--Hamilton was a Founding Father, one of the most influential in the financial sphere.

[narciso]

Well there you go, jimmy.

[Miss Marple]

On Twitter they were suggesting letting you order sheets of 10 bills with your choice of portraits. Could be a moneymaker for the Treasury.

[Cispigmented Heteronormative Microagressive Ignatz]

They should put Rachel whatever the hell her name is on some bill in place of one of those old dead white guys.

Think of all the firsts that would cover. If it turns out she was actually a dude, it's pretty much James Watts' mythical model employee.

[Miss Marple]

Internet is down in my area so have been on iPad.

Expensive, so Nytol.

[daddy]

Forgot to mention how neat it was the other day, when visiting his home in Hartford, to see Mark Twain's Pool Table.

It reminded me of how lucky I was last year to visit Charles Darwin's home in Kent England and see his Pool Table:

Now it's a tough call as to which Pool Table is more wonderful.

Twain's Pool Table:
was up on the 3rd (top) floor of his house, in a sort of room for "the boys" (i.e. him and his drinking buddies). The docent said on average that he smoked 40 cigars a day and that upstairs in this room was a favorite location of his to smoke and imbibe while playing pool.

On the other hand, Charles Darwin's Pool table was on the first floor, was wide open to his family, and was where he used to shoot a daily game with his sons and his faithful servant Parslow.

On the other hand, if you look at Twain's Pool Room, you'll notice a small writing table next to the pool table, just in front of the window:
and we're told that that is where Twain wrote America's greatest novel, Huckleberry Finn, and in between drafts he'd take a break and shoot a game.

On the other hand, Darwin's Pool Table was where he laid out all the smelly skeletons of pigeon varieties he had Parslow boil, so that he could easily see and record his determinations of slight differences in modified bird structure via Natural Selection and Artificial Selection for his Evolutionary theories for "Origin of Species." (before Emma Darwin became so nauseated she ordered them to get the damn smelly things out of the house:)

On the other hand Twain's Pool table was where he shot 8 Ball and drank whiskey with Rudyard Kipling, then after Kipling left came up with the magnificent line, "He knows everything there is to know...and I know the rest."

On the other hand, when Charles Darwin, became obsessed with worms, and decided there was an average of 53,767 per acre, he piled thousands of them on to his billiard table. Then he studied what happened when he blew tobacco smoke at them, and then had his pool playing son come in and play a bassoon at them to Settle the Science.

But on the other hand Mark Twain famously tried to teach his cat billiards:

So all in all I am in a real quandary trying to figure out which Pool Table is more wonderful.

I may just have to turn this important question over to JOM's many Minnesota Fats's for input.

[Rocco]

Drops the ball... runs.

Belichick would bench ya for that!

In other news, the FBI is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking the Astros...Pats lose another draft pick.

[jimmyk]

Perhaps I should have said "Founding Parent" so as not to exclude the wymynz? Or if alliteration is required, "Founding Figure"? But maybe "Figure" sounds like objectification.

[Stephanie]

They should put Rachel whatever the hell her name is on some bill in place of one of those old dead white guys.

If they did that, you could claim it was a transcurrency bill for $100.