Gorsuch Hearings Start Today, Tillerson Meets President of China, Chuck Berry Dies: A.M. Links

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  Glenn Johnson/ZUMA Press/Newscom

  Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch begin today. FBI Director James Comey, meanwhile, will testify before the House intelligence committee about President Trump's claim the Trump Tower was wiretapped by President Obama.

• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson finished his first trip to Asia with a meeting with the president of China.
• A man was arrested at the White House after telling Secret Service agents he had a bomb.
• The FBI made an arrest in connection with an alleged assault by gif, via Twitter, of Kurt Eichenwald.
• The prime minister of Russian-controlled Crimea, said he wants Vladimir Putin to be president for life.
• Security in Mogadishu was ramped up as the chair of the African Union arrived for meetings with Somali leadership.
• Shaquille O'Neal says he believes the Earth is flat.
• Chuck Berry died over the weekend, aged 90.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch begin today.

Senators, judge not, lest Trump judge ye. On Twitter. Real time.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

"The FBI made an arrest in connection with an alleged assault by gif, via Twitter, of Kurt Eichenwald."

For being triggered.

[Free Society]

Allegedly. This guy is a little too smug that his tattling got somebody arrested. If he's so damn delicate then he's got no business getting on social media to begin with.

[Not a True MJG]

I hope Trump attacks Gorsuch on Twitter for stating some non-Trumpian position.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chuck Berry died over the weekend, aged 90.

No word on his cousin Marvin.

[Citizen X - #6]

His brother Franken is still kicking.

[gaoxiaen]

On the other hand, Keith Richards will live to become the earth's oldest human being.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Shaquille O'Neal says he believes the Earth is flat.

Just like a basketball.

[bevis the lumberjack]

From watching him shoot free throws I'd say that he's a big believer in the concept of "flat".

[Gadfly]

One of the teachers who worked at the high school I graduated from had the claim to fame that she had taught Shaq at some point. She was a special education teacher, so assuming she held the same position when she taught him this news is not terribly surprising.

[Citizen X - #6]

The FBI made an arrest in connection with an alleged assault by gif, via Twitter, of Kurt Eichenwald.

Assault by GIF was my nickname in college.

[But Enough About Me]

Huh. Small world.

[gaoxiaen]

Lucky you. My nickname was .357 magnum.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The prime minister of Russian-controlled Crimea, said he wants Vladimir Putin to be president for life.

Many others would be fine with that as long as it comes with term limits.

[Citizen X - #6]

You're just lucky Preet's not around anymore, wise guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

FBI Director James Comey, meanwhile, will testify before the House intelligence committee about President Trump's claim the Trump Tower was wiretapped by President Obama.

And the Comey popularity pendulum keeps on swinging.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

He's some dick.

[gaoxiaen]

I doubt that it actually swings, being all shriveled and wrinkly. Except when he has a dose of (legally prescribed) Viagra. NTTAWWT.

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

Alas, I was hoping someone would pick up on the detective angle, although he's a public dick, not a private one.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The FBI made an arrest in connection with an alleged assault by gif, via Twitter, of Kurt Eichenwald.

YTMND still at large.

[Citizen X - #6]

-1 Hampster Dance

[Citizen X - #6]

Somali leadership

Wait a minute. I was told there was not this idea.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

3 US soldiers shot in Afghanistan 'insider attack'

Three U.S. Army soldiers were shot and wounded Sunday when an Afghan Army soldier opened fire on them inside a base in southern Afghanistan's volatile Helmand Province, officials told Fox News.

Also:

Obama-era force management levels, known more broadly as "troop caps," have strictly controlled the number of U.S. soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan (and Iraq and Syria, too).

During a recent visit to Ft. Campbell, home of the famed 101st Airborne Division, Apache gunship pilots told Fox News about the recent deployment of 101's aviation brigade to Afghanistan -- only the helicopters and pilots deployed. The mechanics were left at home because of the troop caps.

As a result, expensive contractors were paid tens of millions of dollars to fix the helicopters overseas.

BUT TRUMP WAS ON A TARMAC AT THE SAME TIME SOME OTHER GUY WAS!!!

[Citizen X - #6]

You know who else sent troops to Afghanistan? Fuckin' RUSSIA. Q.E.D.

[John Titor]

Russia self-identified as the Soviet Union at that time, you cisnational imperialist pig! They can't be held responsible for their actions in that emotional and mental state. Check your hegemonic privilege!

[Citizen X - #6]

#NotAllSSRsWereRussia #GetWoke

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute

The debate over commas is often a pretty inconsequential one, but it was anything but for the truck drivers. Note the lack of Oxford comma ? also known as the serial comma ? in the following state law, which says overtime rules do not apply to:

The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:

(1) Agricultural produce;

(2) Meat and fish products; and

(3) Perishable foods.

Does the law intend to exempt the distribution of the three categories that follow, or does it mean to exempt packing for the shipping or distribution of them?

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Mr. Webbert, who said working on the case recalled his boyhood grammar and Latin lessons, scoffed at the idea that he was representing all those in favor of the Oxford comma. He was only representing the truck drivers, he said.

"In this situation, it did create an ambiguity, which means you have to either add a comma or rewrite the sentence," he said.

[Citizen X - #6]

The Oxford comma is pretty important, you guys.

[creech]

I'm reading Churchill's "History of the English Speaking Peoples," written in the 1950s and am dumbfounded with the lack of commas in long, run-on sentences. I suppose he would have had the best editors, however. Maybe commas aren't as important as our English grammar teachers made them out to be?

[Citizen X - #6]

To be fair, Churchill was almost certainly drunk and/or naked for the entire writing process, so his editors may not have wanted to be too closely involved.

[Gadfly]

Not to mention that Churchill is the guy whose iron resolve lead Britain to resist Hitler, so he'd probably be intimidating even clothed and sober. He's also the guy who after a disastrous political failure in WW1 (engineering the failed Gallipoli campaign as Lord of the Admiralty) attempted to redeem himself not by "taking responsibility" and shuffling off to another desk job like so many normal politicians do but by volunteering for military duty on the bloody western front and personally leading troops into battle. I'd imagine he'd be a hard man to criticize about commas.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Security in Mogadishu was ramped up as the chair of the African Union arrived for meetings with Somali leadership.

Shangri-La, graciously invites the African Union to enjoy safe lodging and cool ocean breezes on the sand-swept beaches.

[gaoxiaen]

I was impressed by Somalia's beautiful beaches. No litter other than the odd goat skull.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Mad Men Had to End, but Its Style Legacy Will Live On

Which includes this passage:

On why it was set in the '60s:

Weiner: I was interested in that transition because I felt like everything sort of went underground at that period. It's funny because conservatives love the show, and I was like, "If you're too dumb to see that this is an indictment on capitalism and the soul-crushing nature of commercialization and consumerism ... If those concepts don't come up when you're watching the show, then good for you." If you can't see that it's anti-sexist or whatever, I don't know what to say. "Thank you for watching." I really want to say that so much of the show is about how dehumanizing it was for people, and how so much had improved since then, but now I worry about disappearing.

Chalk me up as a one of the big, ol' dummies!

[John Titor]

If you're too dumb to see that this is an indictment on capitalism and the soul-crushing nature of commercialization and consumerism

...I say from the altar of the television entertainment industry, the most cut-throat commercialized, consumerist and dehumanizing venue possible.

[Citizen X - #6]

If you're too dumb to see that you wouldn't have a career without those things you decry... you might be involved in television production.

[Rhywun]

I just assume that is what every television show, movie, play, or novel is about unless it explicitly indicated otherwise.

[Rufus The Monocled]

In my experience people who say stupid things like that are/were usually losers.

[Mickey Rat]

It is not unusual for s Hollywood career to be fueled by self-loathing.

[gaoxiaen]

Fuck the MSM.

[#NotMyReason (Krabappel)]

Funny, one of the things I got from the show is what actual sexism and racism really look like, not whatever the SJW crowd is screeching about today.

I didn't really get the anti-consumerism. Companies were inventing and selling products that people wanted and made people's lives better? An era where American wealth was skyrocketing and they could afford more than just food and shelter. In contrast, the cut scenes of Draper growing up in the depression on a farm didn't exactly paint an anti-consumerist message for me.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

My thoughts exactly.

[Not a True MJG]

But his pa was selfish and didn't go along with the cooperative. I'm glad he died!

[Not a True MJG]

then good for you.

Thanks!

It did sometime dumbfound my family and I when the show seemed to want us to disavow Don for trying to use money as a social tool. By far the weirdest instance was when an old woman finds his daughter on the street and brings her to his office. He thanks the woman and offers to pay her something for her trouble. And the woman scowls at him like he's a monster. To us sick capitalists, we thought it was good form to offer payment as thanks.

[gaoxiaen]

Well, she was a semi-orphan.

[lap83]

"If you're too dumb to see that this is an indictment on capitalism and the soul-crushing nature of commercialization and consumerism?"

People in advertising don't have souls to crush, I thought that was the point of the show. But seriously, wtf is he even talking about? It's not like all of the copywriters were soulful poets and artistes who became broken, hollow people by writing commercial jingles. I don't think that would ring true to anyone. Instead, the show seemed to just be about flawed people who enjoyed what they did. That's what people like about it. He apparently just doesn't like the fact that the wrong people got something out of it.

[a better chipper]

Weiner probably catches shit from his contemporaries about how Mad Men made capitalism cool again, and this is him now going on record that he isn't actually pro-capitalist. Who knows if he was romanticizing it intentionally or not, but even for all the negativity he tried to anchor to Don or Joan, they always still felt very interesting and enviable.

Overall, it was a fantastic show. I do miss it being on.

[Free Society]

Shaquille O'Neal says he believes the Earth is flat.

But who is he going to vote for in 2020?

[gaoxiaen]

The Flat Earth Society candidate of course.

[Rhywun]

he wants Vladimir Putin to be president for life.

What a coincidence - so does Vladimir Putin.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Sports science is baseball's next arms race. With their high performance department, the Toronto Blue Jays may be leading the pack.

Steve Pearce was that guy in the gym. You know the one. Get in there, colonize the squat rack, throw some chalk on the bar, load up as many plates as that sucker will hold, and bang out some reps. Real man stuff. Teeth clenched, ass tight, neck veins bulging. Let's get those gains.

Alas, he is not that guy anymore. Working out early one morning at the Blue Jays' Dunedin facility this spring, Pearce grabbed a kettlebell in one hand and simply walked in a straight line with it. Then, he got behind a weighted sled and pushed it slowly up and down a track, paying particular attention to his balance and form. After that, he picked the kettlebell back up, balanced on one leg, and bent forward at the waist, extending his other leg behind him as he completed a single-leg Romanian deadlift. He caught himself in the mirror afterwards and joked to his trainers that it didn't even look like he'd done anything.

"I get here and they're telling me about body weight exercises, all these precise movements, a bunch of flexibility and limbering stuff," he says. "I'm like, 'Yeah, but what about my pump?'"

[Citizen X - #6]

A cry of rage tears loose from Warty's throat, loud enough to shatter steel.

[Rhywun]

Baseball players work out?!

[But Enough About Me]

Baseball players are athletes?

[Citizen X - #6]

People care about baseball?

[Cynical Asshole]

Finally tuned athletes.

[gaoxiaen]

It don't work because the vandals stole the handles.

[creech]

"The man behind the barrier was "yelling nonsensical statements," a uniformed Secret Service officer said, according to the D.C. police report."
The man arrested at the White House was President Trump himself???

[Citizen X - #6]

Steve Bannon. It's an honest mistake; he does look homeless.

[gaoxiaen]

It was Robert DeNiro.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Lena Dunham Claps Back Against Fashion Shaming Instagram

Lena Dunham responed to a minor hater on Instagram after a photo was posted of her on the Human Rights Campaign Gala red carpet.

[Rhywun]

Fashion Shaming Instagram

sick burn

[Free Society]

She's such an inspiration.

[gaoxiaen]

For enacting mandatory burkhas.

[Not a True MJG]

"claps back"?

I do not like these people.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Wife of Wichita State coach asked to leave court area after game for shouting and cursing

Lynn Marshall was asked to leave the Bankers Life Fieldhouse court area about 10 minutes after the final horn for cursing and shouting, according to a report from the Associated Press. She was reportedly followed away from the court by a police officer, then was taken back to a postgame news conference.

The Koch brothers better put an end to this malarkay.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hot.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Baywatch star Samantha Hoopes shows off her sensational physique in designer bikini as she sports HEELS to play ball game on-set with co-star Dwayne Johnson

[creech]

Damn you, Crusty, I just got out of bed.

[Citizen X - #6]

Like no one's ever said THAT to him before.

[Crusty Juggler - #2]

Are you not entertained?

[gaoxiaen]

Not really.

[Queen of Planet Fuckwit (KK)]

I bet the squeeze is regretting not getting a spot on that movie's crew. Though she's a little bit of a standard blonde cookie-cutter for his tastes. He's more of a Kat Dennings kind of guy.

[DanO.]

This is like the worst chat room ever.

[But Enough About Me]

Nah, I've been in that room. This doesn't even come within an order of magnitude of the suckage there.

[Griffin3]

You mean EverydayFeminism?

[Sevo]

"Billboard with pointed message about Donald Trump drawing attention"
[...]
"Karen Fiorito is no stranger to taking on big public figures in big public ways.
In 2004, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based artist did a billboard featuring then-President George W. Bush and members of his administration and accused them of lying to the American public.
Now, Fiorito is back, this time taking on President Donald Trump on a billboard in Phoenix, Ariz. And, this one is also drawing lots of attention."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....011520.php

First, it's oh, so classy and original: swastikas!
And then his rage seems very selective: "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor!" somehow didn't make the cut.

[straffinrun]

What's up, Sevo. Nazi dollar sign swastikas. "Hey, I got an idea. Instead of calling Trump 'Hitler', let's call Hitler 'Trump'". Ugh.

[gaoxiaen]

I'm still waiting for my blow job from Madonna.

[Trumptard]

Shaq is messing with you.

[Let freedom ring]

You know, it's a small thing, but jeez, Ed could have put in a link about how Crimea is celebrating its re-unification with Russia. Not a peep about folks happy to be Russians here!
Like Matt Welsh linked to a story in the Ukrainian propaganda zine Eromaidan News about Russia supposedly attempting a coup in Montenegro, instead of , oh, how Montenegro is more than 60 % Serbian and Russian Orthodox and feels te Serbian government has been compromised by the anti Russian EU and NATO?