Independents Open Thread
Sorry no time for further explication, other than that I'll be in the hosting chair for tonight's live episode of The Independents (Fox Business Network, 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT, repeats three hours later), and we'll talk about Flight 17, Israel-Hamas, the Obamacare case, Arkansas vs. dentists, and classic music pot-smoking events. Check it out!
Aftershow begins on foxbusiness.com/independents just after 10. Follow The Independents on Facebook at facebook.com/IndependentsFBN, follow on Twitter @ independentsFBN, we'll use your best Tweets during the show, and click on this page for more video of past segments.
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Hello.
Excuses, excuses Matt.
There are two types of people in this world. Those who like Garfield and those who backed Heathcliff.
I was the latter.
Wait, heathcliff was the dog, right?
OMG, NO!
Oh, right! Heathcliffe was awesome
I reject the Garfield/Heathcliff false-dichotomy however. They co-existed perfectly in my world. Also, I think Garfield's world-weary cynicism was sort of like, "Mencken for pre-teens!"
I just couldn't get past animated Garfield's voice being animated Peter Venkman's voice.
I don't remember animated garfield that well - or rather, i remember being disappointed by the animated version and avoided it.
I had the large coffee-table sized books of Garfield and Bloom County etc. and read them all the time as a kid.
Apparently he'll be doing the voice over in an upcoming Heathcliff film (which will probably be bad).
The animated Garfield voice was awesome! That made the show.
I had a thing for Cleo before I was old enough to really have "things." It was kind of bizarre being sexually attracted to an animated cat without knowing what attraction meant.
Well - OK then!
You think you're the only one? STAY AWAY FROM HER.
At least it wasn't one of the Gummi Bears or something.
HM, I love ya, and all that, but you've gone to some dark places in the human psyche recently.
That being, said, Gummi.
Sunni Gummi?
Yeeesh...pre-teen, apparently.
Or the purple Teletubby.
Gilmore. Garfield. Check.
There is only one ideal form of Garfield.
This is what happens when you procrastinate. Your loyal viewers get the high hat. Or short shrift. Or bum's rush. Or all three.
Matt is busy going over the play for tonight with Kmele.
Matt: And you come in and like POW! And then I come and like, PAF! BOOM! But then you make KAZOON! Got it?
/Kmele with blank stare licking ice-cream.
He's got to knock back a few more grams to get himself up to "Kennedy-Tempo"
I came all the way from Canada for this?
But once here, it's like Hotel Arizona - or is it California? I forget - you can check in any time you like (or is it check out? I can't remember) but you can never come back (or leave? Hm.)
You must be french or something
Sacre bleu!
I think you had the Black Flag Motel in mind.
Holy Joseph, I totally remember that commercial!
Useful tip. You can kill cockroaches with Windex. Better than stinking up the house.
Hopefully you weren't traveling with any Boy Scouts.
They're still trying to figure out who the guests will be.
Del-e-ga-tion time, come on!
NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!
And with The Hosting Chair? come - The Hoop Earrings?.
Wear them well, Matt. I hope GILMORE approves.
Red Power Tie really did wonders for him.
It was like Bull Durham = 'State your presence with authority'
They should sit in The Hawaii Chair instead.
So I was out drinking Friday and ran into... a Libertarian! Sadly it was not one of those woman libertarians, but still.. very rare that I run into someone up in Canada that is a fellow monocle-polishing-orphan owner.
Libertarian DNA should be spliced with West African frog DNA. That way, a few will spontaneously change to female when placed in an all-male environment.
Do we have any libertarian biologist's that can follow up with this idea?
"Mail-order female libertarians made from West African frog DNA"
Perhaps through one of the retrovirus techniques mentioned earlier? I have researched this matter thoroughly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8apI6x2Qyg
I do not think that will work. Didn't the Jurassic Park dinosaurs have some frog DNA and spontaneously turned male?
That was because all the dinosaurs were selected to be female.
So, by the same logic....
It will not matter Derp. No matter how buxom and feminine you become, I will always know it is you.
Derp is love, Derp is life.
Let's hope that video doesn't influence any Slender Man-style copycats.
Prediction: Glasses.
I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper entitled "Raise the Minimum Wage & End Robot Unemployment". I doubt they will publish it.
http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....robot.html
Foster is approaching Don Cherry territory.
Needs a bigger collar.
She's confident saying that she's former intelligence because it's < i The Independents. Her secret is safe here since no one is watching.
Another episode of
"Weiss talks about foreign issues and is occasionally interrupted."
Roll back the occupation. Give them the West Bank. I'm sure that won't buy Israel a new angle to dodge rockets.
"No Perry Mason minute."
*** facepalm ***
Here's a Perry Mason 40 seconds. Is that close enough?
The separatists have been trained and supplied by Russia? GASP! Who would have guessed that.
Well to be fair, the Ukrainians have been trained by the Russians as well?
Welch suckered by the dulcet tones of Ronald Reagan.
"It's not in the interest of the intelligence community to release everything we know."
Uh, huh.
Because we'd look like real dumb-shits?
Israel defeated the British in war and now there is peace between them.
Israel defeated Egypt in war and now there is peace between them.
Israel defeated Syria in war and now there is peace between them.
Israel defeated Jordan in war and now there is peace between them.
Israel defeated Lebanon in war and now there is peace between them.
So, clearly, Israel can never have peace with the Palestinians through war.
/derp
Er I would agree but Syria and Lebanon war on Israel through Hezbollah, which is admittedly occupied ATM.
Nice Italian wide-spread collar.
This is why no one was supposed to read the law.
Quick = What are michael cannons' main psychic powers?
Basic reading comprehension?
So.
Obama is a criminal?
He's a politician. Of course he's a criminal.
Phew. Good thing there are no repercussions for Obama breaking the law.
How about this?: If two courts release conflicting rulings on a law, that law is null and void due to being inherently imprecise.
Why would the Obama Admin follow this (or any other) law? Past performance indicates that this is an unfair expectation.
Hey, what is the immigration law, chopped liver?
Cato guy sucks as a speaker.
Meh. Probably nervous. He'll improve next time.
If there is a next time.
MICHAEL WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED.
Oooo. I can't wait to watch Congressional GOP work to fix Obamacare.
I say every politician should be forced to prove the constitutionality of every little thing they do. But that's just me.
"Are you serious?"
That's silly, Fist. *Engineers* don't have to prove the physical integrity of every little thing they do, right?
Reason Magazine commercial again. It needs to be changed.
Sometimes you just have to prime the terrorist pump.
So I guess there are no ugly ladies out there in Fox Land.
Hey, they can't all be Code Pink Honeys...
Ehhh, what's a little entrapment amongst friends(or officers pretending to be friends)?
Stay with me here folks, because this is like, total blue sky stuff.
What if the feds stopped doing sting operations and instead pursued real terrorists? It would take less effort and be more effective.
See also this
and be more effective.
Well, at least not less effective.
He wants to be effective! Get him!
How dare you make fun of our federal heroes. Why, as we speak I am prevented from watching TI because my wife is watching our zany, lovable and incredibly good looking paragons of all that is good bust the bad guys on yet annnoooother episode of NCIS.
(God I fucking hate NCIS in all of its iterations)
But but but it's attractive white people solving crimes with lasers!
And all computer problems can be solved by typing really fast on machines that make way more beeping noises than any computer in history.
Suddenly we're going to push mens rea?
Why no womens rea?
Wow.
These people are doing God's work. Imagine waiting a whole year for documents they requested and then have the courage to go to court over it in the interest of human rights.
No bowling alley? No Kimmel? Did someone tell Obama he has to start thinking legacy?
Why would Obama want to suddenly appear serious? Past performance indicates that this is an unfair expectation.
The Independents Attire Review, 22 June 2014
"Knock-Knock!"-Edition
- Matt: The Power Ties continue. Tonight, Matt brings obligatory-Blue to provide the idiotic-but-necessary fair-and-balanced bullshit symbolism needed for an ostensibly 'independent' Cable News Host. Since he's now officially run out of the obvious POWER colors (*and If he retains chair #1), where Matt goes from here will provide some insight into what sort of style-statement he feels most comfortable with while getting the most intense camera-time. No Pressure Matt!
- Kmele: Kmele left us shattered last night with the aborted-Ascot. So bold, so fresh, so daring, and yet so briefly-lived!? Kmele seems to be attempting to regain his fashion-rudder after this minor crisis, and... well, we don't know exactly what to say about this jacket other than: yes, I do agree = Morris Day was underrated.
- MK Ham = Improving! Last night was tough for MK, squeezed between ascot-wearing Kmele and Powermatt, and she seemed to fade into the background; tonight she's carved out her own stylistic personal-space, and looks very composed and confident. We like the neutral color blouse and the plunging neckline, and we would totally disco with this momma.
Diolch yn fawr
Is that a navy suit?!??!? So much better than the black one.
My color-reception is so shit i can hardly tell.
it does look better. in the whole "improvement of the entire look" thing, the suit itself faded into the whole.
I wasn't sure until Cannon came on and I saw them side by side. Definitely navy. I feel vindicated.
What the hell was that about cream?
That looks kind of cool.
Suction cup climbing things.
They bleached it ironically.
I seem to remember reading that joke on here?
That just means it was obvious.
Did Kmele look at his bathroom hand towel this morning and decide to wear it as a tie?
Worse things they could be doing, like enforcing EPA regulations?
Foster don't like Remy's music.
I vaguely remember North.
I vaguely remember North By Northwest.
I vaguely remember Oliver North.
I vaguely remember Jay North.
I vaguely remember North to Alaska
Is there anything you clearly remember?
Like what I just got up to do?
Eh, when you read between the lines the review doesn't seem that bad.
That movie is (or was) available in its entirety on youtube.
i got through 5 mins and understood exactly where he was coming from
North was one of those big box office bombs, like Hudson Hawk, Ishtar, or Star Wars 1-3.
Heaven's Gate bomb or just bomb?
They did not spend quite that much money on it, but it was probably one factor away.
I decided I will be writing as many letters to the editor as possible, because why should senile cranks have all the fun?
http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....eedom.html
You don't have to be old to be a senile crank... just sayin'
Don't forget to send a picture of you shaking your fist.
I prefer to yell at clouds.
Perhaps the editor will take a shine to you and position your letters well. I think the trick is to cleverly disguise one's snark with apparent politeness.
ALWAYS be polite in ANYTHING you do. It's the grease that gets results.
Man, no matter how angry I am with someone, I always, ALWAYS act polite.
I knew a guy who wrote pretty non-PC rants but always included "Thank you" as the last line. He generally got published.
I liked this:
Now, a layman reading that would think it means the federal government is only allowed to do what is specifically listed in the Constitution. But what it really means is that the federal government can do whatever it wants if it feels like it.
I go into berserker-crazy mode in my head when I hear people say something along the lines of, "we really need experts to help us understand what the constitution means."
There was a time when I thought it was better to honestly make the case for my views. Lately, I feel that the best thing is to take the view I hate and argue it as forcefully as possible.
Biggest disappointment for me when I went to grad school and then into academia was the complete inability of academics to engage in any kind of intellectual discussion about politics.
When they read sources for research, they really "interrogate" them to get at the interests, etc. people had in view. In politics, whatever NPR/NYT/Daily Show says is truth without any thought process. So, a few years ago I decided to no longer discuss politics with fellow academics.
Instead I concentrate on the students seeking to undermine the system from within.
the Editor of what?
i've gotten 3 letters printed in the NYT. I sort of figured out what they like to see, and catered to that.
Were they fashion reviews?
no.
I was trying to find links to each of them. I found #1 .... #3 i have the copy they sent me for approval... #2 I cant find at all.
Did they do a Reason commenters poll?
FUCK UNGAR
he's such a smarmy cockbreath
Ungar: I have smarmy cockbreath.
Pharmacist: Here. Take this.
Throws loose Tic Tacs at him.
He'd need prescription breath mints. Do they make those?
He needs to gargle battery acid
But it will be covered by his employer, right?
Or will the fundies at MSNBC claim its against their religion?!
Throws Fires loose Tic Tacs at him [with sling shot].
Obama is from Unicornville.
Matt, normally when you say you have no time to explain, you then grab a woman and make out with her. TIWTANFL
Anyway, who has an uncircumcised penis and is going to become a teacher?
If you answered "Goldwater" you would be correct. Going to school in the fall, so far leaning towards LMU.
"become a teacher"
high school? elementary?
And, is Lionel Messi U in Argentina or Spain?
Wassamatta U?
Well, Messi IS an Italic name.
I am trying to figure out where the uncut bit fits in with the rest of that.
Congrats on the decision to teach. I wish you success in spite of my cynicism regarding that profession. Please, prove me wrong and keep us updated.
Tell us again, what will you be teaching?
It was better than 2 thumbs, I figured. Everyone has heard that.
High School history, civics/gov, and economics. I really plan to get good at the economics, because people who don't get that make me a sad panda.
I chose high school because I don't deal well with the high pitched voices of elementary school, and I don't want to be accused of being a child molester or thought of as one (seriously, people judge you if you are a guy who wants to work with little kids. Thanks, Law and Order SVU!)
people judge you if you are a guy who wants to work with little kids
True story: just down the street from where I live, the local merchants do this big block party kind of thing the Sunday before Halloween. Kids come from all over town (with their parents) to get candy from the various stores, have their 'photos taken with people dressed up as Bugs Bunny, etc.
I like getting 'photos of all the events that take place in the area (winter ice skating, street singing at Christmas, etc). So, I'm taking some pics of this Halloween party and some guy starts accusing me of being a "sicko" because I "liked taking pictures of little kids."
I should note that he was also taking pictures of his own little kids which was, apparently, just fine.
Jesus Christ.
To be fair, the other guy was actually wearing pants.
Try the veal!
nice
Doesn't seem to be a problem with people coaching children in sports.
"A great multitasker"?
Because he can read from *two* teleprompters?
I think it's the appearance that's the problem with golfer-in-chiefing.
I have yet to see the president be a great single tasker, so imma doubt his multi-tasking skills.
Cluster fudge goes right to your hips.
I think if I tried to say clusterfudge, I would still end up saying clusterfuck.
good. The expression was inspired by watching frogs mate and should be used as such.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj349h0LHTQ
With all due respect, and I speak as a foreigner watching from afar, Obama does come off as aloof and more putzy than Bush.
Cooler, though?
Ask yourself who you'd rather have a beer with.
BOOOOSH!
Bush.
How about a spliff?
If by cooler you mean blacker... then... still no.
What?
Bush seems like a man who know how to handle himself around a plate of chitlins.
No more Unger on the show or after.
Please.
^^^THAT
NO TIE PINS
Flag pins. Whatever
*** rising intonation ***
What about *bleached* flag pins?
i dont even know what that is.
Ungar (cockbreath) suggested that All Presidents Wore Flag Pins. Obama is simply following Ancient Tradition.
Flag pins didn't exist until 9/11 AFAIK
Bleached flags
Flag pins didn't exist until 9/11 AFAIK
I recall them showing up around the Bicentennial.
(Also, the first time I recall the Red/Blue monikers for the parties.)
... Hobbit
A History of Flag Lapel Pins
"According to Stephen E. Ambrose's biography Nixon, the President got the idea for sporting a lapel pin from his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, who had noticed a similar gesture in the Robert Redford film The Candidate. Nixon commanded all of his aides to go and do likewise. The flag pins were noticed by the public, and many in Nixon's supposed "silent majority" began to similarly sport flags on their lapels. Over the next few decades, the pin sporadically surged in popularity. During the Gulf War, they sold briskly alongside flag patches and yellow ribbons.
Then came 9/11...."
Everything is a problem in Arkansas.
Arkansas sort of scares me. They're like Alabama, but more *hardcore*
Great football though.
By hardcore you mean more DP's or banjo playing?
Say it with me, Rufus-
"Why can't it be both?"
O-tay!
You'll have to give me a clue, Rufus.
"Banjo playing" isn't in UrbanDictionary.
You know, flicking the bean, double clicking your mouse- female masturbation
Oh. .... Ohhhhhhhhh!
/Edith Bunker
Let's see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tqxzWdKKu8
"Squeal like a pig" hardcore.
Using regulations to dodge competition? Say it ain't so!
Lord I loathe the government, bureaucrats and cronies.
They can be the biggest assholes around.
Knock their teeth out, doc.
There better have been lasers.
Laser-I-um
Rufus, I will say, Netflix and Hulu have shown you Canuckistanis make the occasional good show: Flashpoint, Republic of Doyle, Endgame (which was cancelled after one season, so you shouldn't get points there), and I'll admit... I have a bit of a weakness for Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Still, though... The Listener? Seriously?
Degrassi?
Yeah, there have been some good shows.
Like Da Vinci's Inquest.
They should make a show 'The Screamer' or 'The Yeller.'
I found Da Vinci's Inquest rough going in the first few episodes. Having gotten past them
I stumbled across Da Vinci on late night TV. That was a really good show but only lasted on season, right? I know they were going to try and do a second season on the web but I never followed up on that.
*one season
I think you're referring to the sequel 'Da Vinci's Hall.'
Inquest lasted several seasons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Vinci's_Inquest
No, I saw the first season of original but for some reason I thought it got cancelled. Maybe the channel I was watching it on in the US dumped it.
Bummer, though. I would have kept watching it.
Link broke. Sorry. It's wiki. Eating cereal.
I found it, thanks.
It was a good show. I like seeing different cities in my shows and it's not every day you see Vancouver ('Beachcombers' doesn't count) My wife then girlfriend and I got hooked on it.
One of the cops was on Soap. I forget his name but he ended up on a typical low-budget Canadian show called 'Danger Bay.'
Yes, he was Dutch, the escaped con who ends up married to one of the daughters.
Donnelly Rhodes
Come on Goldwater, never seen Trailer Park Boys? Canadian TV at it's very best.
'Going Ham'?
What the hell does that even mean?!
IT MEANS SHE GETS RESULTS YOU STUPID CHIEF!
Going "Hard as a Motherfucker".
It's an anti-muslim slam?
"Hamming it up?"
jk
Music to smoke weed by:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foIIbU8qadQ
AH! Lou Dobbs.
Music to smoke weed by, Part II:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnn3TVBDtcA
NO KMELE, NO DEAL
As much as I'd love to watch more of Ungar.
So did that slimy little commie wear a bow tie?
I was hoping Cruz wasn't legit. Send him back to Canada.
Ted Cruz has an annoying voice
No open partisans on the after show!
She's a Democrat. Duh.
Unger, you fucking hack.
Ha ha, trying to defend Hillary.
Ungar repeats a lot of cliches hoping to resonate with someone, somewhere.
Aftershow death....
I can see why kmele ran. also, I can understand the jacket. He clearly had plans and was dressed to *party*
I'll give it to Welch. He handled Ungar perfectly. Gave him enough rope to hang himself but didn't push it. Just moved on from arguing with Ungar on his Hillary support to recounting his challenges to his progressive friends on this.
Sadly, the part of Ungar's brain that forms memories is damaged, meaning that he can't learn from things like this.
Democrats always act like they have deep insights about Which Republicans are 'The Good Ones'.
Democrats actually repeated how 'electable' romney was.... until he won the GOP primary, at which point he became a corporate/1% satan worshiper
Democrats also tend to hate living Republican politicians, but once dead they transform into not-so-bad, reasonable people, especially compared to the evil living ones. See: Goldwater, Eisenhower, etc.
Will they cut off Matt???.....
no
With all the depressing news going around, sometimes it's nice to read something uplifting like -
"Dungeons & Dragons Saved My Life"
http://www.newyorker.com/cultu.....ed-my-life
Greatest choir ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItMJtA8vfpw
Odd baseball game unfolding: top of the 12th, Yankees 0, Rangers 0. Yanks have 4 hits, Rangers 7.
And Chase Headley, who arrived at the stadium only a few hours earlier from the Padres, gets the walk off hit to win the game in the bottom of the 14th.
I thought that game would never end!
"FRC's Tony Perkins to Testify before House Subcommittee about Meriam Ibrahim...
"Mr. Perkins will testify regarding the case of Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian who had been sentenced to death for the "crime" of converting from Islam. Meriam languished in a notoriously rank Sudanese prison with her 20-month-old son and her newborn daughter before being released on June 23. She is now being sheltered in the U.S. Embassy and is waiting for permission from the Sudanese government to leave the country."
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2071679
Maybe the US should just send in a couple of gunships and fly her straight out of the embassy.
+1 General Kitchener
Yeah, I'm only half joking. I know there are international rules, etc., but seriously, fuck Sudan. You want to grandstand like this, we'll just deal with it.
Lefty lawyer gives it away:
"Tony Serra a tireless courtroom 'Verbal Warrior'"
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....633280.php
He's certainly not all bad, defending some real assholes who didn't do what they were charged with, and he brags about taking a 'vow of poverty' and working for nothing on some cases. OK, he's a lefty, but not all bad.
Well:
"For more than 50 years, Serra, 79, has lived alone on the western slope of Telegraph Hill,[...]the apartment will probably end up being the last standing rent-controlled unit in San Francisco. Who is going to attempt an Ellis Act eviction on Tony Serra?
"One reason is I'm a lawyer," says Serra, who would welcome that fight. "Two, I have the law on my side."
The rent is $420"...
Yeah, he has thugs to make sure he doesn't have to pay what things cost. Wonder if he thanks his landlord for the landlord's 'vow of poverty' forced on him by this shitbag?
Speaking of obnoxious lefties, Michael Moore turns out to have nine houses and be worth $50 million.
I'd applaud that accumulation of wealth if the guy didn't claim to hate wealthy people.
It is pretty apparent, by just looking at him, that he hates himself more than anyone.
Tesla is closing for a month (must be nice to have a month's vacation) to re-tool:
"Tesla Motors halted production at its sole assembly plant for the first time for a revamp the company said is necessary to speed Model S output and prepare it to make electric crossovers."
http://www.sfgate.com/default/.....636493.php
The article is worth reading with a skeptical eye, and two numbers got my attention:
"Upgrades mainly involve modifications to the factory's body and general assembly lines and will cost about $100 million, he said."
And
"he wants Tesla to deliver at least 35,000 Model S sedans to global customers this year, a jump of about 56 percent from 2013."
So this year, Tesla shipped ~23,000 cars at a supposed $71K ea, which means the gross income of ~1.63Bn, so ~6% of revenue is going to retool a company which is 8 years old.
Sniff, sniff... Not smelling good.
It is a huge government kickback program.
I understand they lose money on every car, but their trying to make it up in volume.
Really, they make money in idiots buying grossly overpriced stock, and selling carbon credits to businesses in CA.