Weekend Open Thread (Update)

by: sricki

Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 17:45:29 PM EST


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Seems like moose are busy doing other things today -- here's an open thread for whatever is on your minds.


Hat tip to John for the brilliant pic!
sricki :: Weekend Open Thread (Update)
UPDATE

Just had to add this fabulous clip from The Ed Show, wherein founder of The Great Orange Satan Markos Moulitsas infuriates former Representative Tom Tancredo to the point of actually inspiring the Republican to remove his mic and earpiece and walk off the set, after demanding (and failing to receive) an apology for Markos' remarks.

Props, Kos.

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Weekend Open Thread (Update) | 65 comments
My most sincere condolences (2.00 / 5)
to the victims (and their families) of the past two days' shootings.

"I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold."
It's been a violent time out in the world while Mooses have been sleeping. (2.00 / 5)
Life is complicated and busy these days.  I have a feeling many people can say that.  The blogosphere is a quiet place all in all.

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
[ Parent ]
Part of me cheered Markos's takedown of Tancredo. (2.00 / 2)
A number of comments at Daily Kos from Vietnam-era veterans make the case that such a deferment is very difficult to get, thereby casting doubt on Tancredo's claim.  I hope this is true because I'd hate for Markos to have bashed a guy who got a legitimate deferment.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
As a follow-up to that disgusting Dachau image from (2.00 / 2)
yesterday, Steve Israel has this video:

Elie Wiesel via Twitter:

Elie Wiesel on the GOP Tea Party's anti-Semitism and Holocaust comparisons: "This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting"



Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
Anyone have a guess... (2.00 / 3)
...as to what this might be?

Photobucket

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

Is this a game? (2.00 / 2)
Do I get a prize if I guess right?

"I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold."
[ Parent ]
Mos Def (2.00 / 1)
If you (or anyone I suppose) can figure out what this is, how it may have functioned, and what it made of, huge prize will be awarded.

I've no idea what that prize might be, but I'll try to make it cool as hell.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
LOL, well, (2.00 / 1)
think I am gonna miss out on the prize -- company is pullin' into the parking lot and I am off to entertain (or be entertained, whichever way you wanna look at it).

I 'spect someone else'll figure it out before I do.

"I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold."

[ Parent ]
Hmmmm... (2.00 / 1)
I'd guess it's part of a shoe/boot heel.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
Of course, my first guess was a vertebrae (2.00 / 1)
from a murder victim.  Because that's a mark from a machete going across it.

(Yes, I have an imagination.  And, watch too many cop shows.)

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.

[ Parent ]
(we think alike) (0.00 / 0)
You're second guess is coolest, but neither is correct.  :)

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
I'm guessing it as a piece of ceramic coinage (2.00 / 1)
from a southwest native American culture.  Anasazi?

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
[ Parent ]
I'm trying to figure out what that notch is at the top. (2.00 / 1)
I even thought I'd be slick and go to fogiv's photobucket account.  It's passworded.  Jerk!  :)  Then I thought to go to archeological websites.  No luck there, either.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
Not a terrible guess. (2.00 / 2)
You've got the region right (well, in terms of relative cultural area anyway).  The Anasazi didn't have any coinage, or money at all really, though most prehistoric southwestern commerce centered on turquoise.

(Hint:  the object isn't ceramic, but HappyinVT's second guess is closer than you might think).

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
So, it's bone? (2.00 / 2)


Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
It is. (2.00 / 2)
In the very early stages of mineralization.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
It's part of a bow. (2.00 / 1)


Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
Nope... (0.00 / 0)
...but definitely part of something meant to be held in the hand.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
OK, so bone not pottery, (2.00 / 1)
but at it's size and with the symmetry and deliberate markings, I still assume it is a marker of some sort - a representation of something.  It isn't a stringed decoration, there's no hole and the notch isn't broken...

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
[ Parent ]
Getting closer. (2.00 / 2)
The symmetry of the item has more to do with the bone itself than design:

Photobucket

Apart from the notch and the deliberate groove, the bone is unmodified.

Hint:  The artifact didn't function on it's own, but is only part of a greater object.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
That's a diagram of a tortise shell. (2.00 / 3)
The notch was probably for fastening something to this, either a handle or a cord of some kind. It could have been used for a lot of things. It could have been a shaper of some kind. For instance, the notch could have been used to shape arrow shafts. It could have been part of a wind chime. It could have been a bow puller. Something like a finger guard. It could also have been some kind of decorative accessory. The groove would have been used to hold a neck cord so it could be worn.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Indeed. Close in many ways. (2.00 / 1)
The notch was probably for fastening something to this, either a handle or a cord of some kind.

Exactly right. The goove is also evidence of fastening.  

It could have been part of a wind chime.

It was certainly part of something designed to create sound.

It could also have been some kind of decorative accessory.

Sort of, definitely part of a special occasion item. Couple all this with what's already determined:

*tortoise scute from the southwest region/culture area


It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
OK, so the groove is to slot into an instrument and the line is for binding. (2.00 / 1)
I'd say there might be many of these on a percussive instrument of sorts.  Hand-held shaker type of device, perhaps fashioned from a gourd.  Perhaps the lighter, upper end was overlapped and therefore took more wear but didn't get dirty, the lower edge was exposed and darkened from handling during playing.

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
[ Parent ]
Yep. (2.00 / 1)
Hand-held shaker type of device

This was where all my PhD pals landed:

Photobucket

And I did too, until ya'll made me think about it anew.  Thinking of clues to drop made me strip away the junk I already knew and start from scratch.

Look at the rattle design, and look at the artifact again.  Not adding up as well, is it?


It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
Hmmm... (2.00 / 3)
Not a weapon. That's rather apparent. No sharp edge and probably not durable enough when it was new to make a good tool, like a scraper. The notch doesn't run the same way as the groove, so they aren't there for the same purpose, since a handle fitted into the notch would be tied at 90 degrees from where the groove is located. If it was a decorative item from the southwest then it was probably painted.

This could have been one of a pair, or more, that was used like clappers. Building on the wind chime idea, maybe they were tied in pairs with the flat sides facing each other and then they made a clattering sound as the wearer moved around. That would make them something a woman wore or a medicine man.

Bunch of idle speculation on my part.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
The groove running opposite the notch throws me, too. (2.00 / 1)
That's why I thought it might be part of a cross bow (not knowing if such was used in the Southwest) although I think you're right about it not being durable enough for battle.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
correct (2.00 / 1)
Not a weapon. That's rather apparent. No sharp edge and probably not durable enough when it was new to make a good tool, like a scraper.

While it's not unusual for implements or weapons to be made from bone (robust perimortem bone is quite strong) but not in this particular region where high quality tool-stone like chert, chalcedony, quartzite, and crystalline quartz are abundant.  Bone tools and weapons are fairly rare in western North American archaeological assemblages largely because stone was the preferred medium.  They may also be under-represented because certain conditions are required to preserve such implements well enough for them to be discovered thousands of years later.

The assumption that this artifact was (or was part of) a relatively unusual item (i.e. not typical day to day use) is sound.  I've logged many a mile in western deserts, and I've never once found another like it.  Clearly, the notch and the groove lie at the heart of the mystery, and one has wonder whether these elements are functional or decorative, or some combination of both.

The notch stikes me as functional.  To that end, I haven't ruled out your suggestion that it may have served as an projectile shaft straightener.  Straighteners, whether made from stone or other materials, are relatively rare finds.  However, if this were something as simple as a straightening tool, the groove wouldn't likely be decorative (e.g. pinstriping on a pipe wrench).  

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
The existence of the groove is a problem (2.00 / 2)
for the idea of a shaft straightener. That would be a handheld tool. In that case, there would be no need for a groove like that, which is obviously intended for a cord. It doesn't look like it was added for gripping purposes either.

My theory of a belt is supported by the way the groove is worked into the artifact. The notch doesn't fit that theory. If it was a decorative item, could the notch have some symbolic purpose?

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
The groove could be a red herring. (2.00 / 1)
Perhaps it is a deep scratch from an encounter the turtle had while alive - perhaps a claw mark across its back.

The groove does not seem quite right for a binding point.  If it was carved to hold a line you would think it could easily have been straighter, and if a line had been strung through it to bind it to something you would think the ends of the groove would have been worn at the bottom of the cleft where the stress was greatest.  If it was worn into the shell by the line that bound it to something it would look quite different, I would guess.

The gap seems to be only 2-3mm wide, not enough to straighten arrow shafts, but perhaps enough to straighten darts or other small shafts.

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon

[ Parent ]
I doubt the groove is an accident (2.00 / 2)
It is too regular. I'll bet there's another groove that matches it on the other side. The curve in the groove makes me think it may have been a pendant.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
It's not a part of something bigger. (2.00 / 1)
There are no wear marks from being bound to anything else.  The horizontal line does not seem straight enough or worm appropriately to be a binding site.

There might be a little bit of handling wear on the picture-top edge - on both sides of the notch, the bone is a little lighter and perhaps more rounded there.  The deliberate squareness of the notch itself is the key, that notch has not been used on a round chord.  If anything it has been used on leather lacing, but somehow I don't think so.

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon

[ Parent ]
Ha! (2.00 / 2)
You guys are getting so close, you're turning into archaeologists right before my eyes.  I may actually challenge the the accepted classifcation for this particular artifact, based on some of the observations you all have made.

I've had a number of colleagues look at this photo, and nearly all come to the same conclusion rather rapidly. Fresh eyes, free of the contraints of traditional disciplinary training, can be of great help in solving little myseries like these.

Up until now, I had pretty much accepted the analysis of others, having pursued the same beaten path (based on some assumptions on form, notch, groove).  You all have made me look more closely, and I'm now pretty sure this isn't what we thought it was (well it still could be) but it's clearly different.  Unfortunately, the photo is as good as it gets.  This artifact was discovered by a wildlife biologist, who thought it looked weird, snapped a photo, and failed to map the location. (growl)

I think everyone's gonna be due a prize.

I'm like a one-eyed cat, peepin' in a sea-food store


It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
Darn you! I want to know what this is. (2.00 / 2)
My latest hypothesis is that it is something like a 3-d puzzle or kid's building blocks.  That notch is where other parts are fitted into each other.  The groove could be part of a design.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
Like a game piece. (2.00 / 1)
Very interesting idea.


It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
I don't buy the groove as a design element. (2.00 / 3)
I think it is far more likely to be there for functional reasons.

A lot of ideas don't hold up if this is a rare find. For instance, if it was something that was used to shape pottery before it was fired or to polish pottery after it was glazed and fired then it would be a fairly common find. The same goes for being some kind of bow accessory. If it is rare enough to puzzle trained anthropologists and archeologists then I'd guess it almost has to be something decorative. Jewelry and other decorative items are often one of a kind.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Good points. (2.00 / 2)
I'll admit the groove as a design element was a weakness in my theory (although it could be a high-end piece).  :)

The other intriguing part is that is was found by itself and is, as you point out, not something anyone is familiar with.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.

[ Parent ]
I don't think being found by itself is relevant (2.00 / 2)
Fogiv says it was found by a biologist. Who knows what else was there that he overlooked? There could have been several more of these just under the surface.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Good point. (2.00 / 1)
Context can speak volumes.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
Yes, most likely. (2.00 / 1)
I think it is far more likely to be there for functional reasons.

Often, pragmatism rules the day.  

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

[ Parent ]
The more I think about this the more likely it seems to me (2.00 / 2)
that it is part of a belt. The pieces would have been tied in a series and wrapped around the waist.  

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
I don't think so... (2.00 / 1)
...but another of your ideas looks like a winner.  I'm digging (no pun intended) through some resources today to research.  I'll get back to you later with the results.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
Hmmm... (2.00 / 3)
Curiouser and curiouser.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Hold up now. (2.00 / 2)
Are we being used as unpaid lab assistants?  :)  If so, I want credit in the article.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
[ Parent ]
Me too! (2.00 / 2)


"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
[ Parent ]
Heh. Done.... (2.00 / 3)
...and done.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
Everybody say, "Awwwww" (2.00 / 2)
P103009PS-0290

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
From the Anchorage Daily News... (2.00 / 2)
WASHINGTON - President Obama will make his first-ever visit to Alaska next week, on Veterans Day, as part of a multi-day journey to Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore.

The president will stop Wednesday at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage to refuel Air Force One. While in Alaska, he'll mark the Veterans Day holiday with the military personnel at the base, the White House said.

snip

The White House described the Elmendorf stop as "an event with the men and women of our Armed Forces," and said that more details would be released in the coming days. It's not clear whether the event will be open to the public.



Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.
{{{sigh}}} (2.00 / 2)
I should have known better than to read the comments that followed the article...

ALL VETS IN THE ANCHORAGE AREA: PROTEST BLACK OBAMA AT THE BONIFACE GATE AT EAFB..11AM TO 9PM!!!

Gotta make sure they protest the "black" Obama versus the "white" Obama.  Jeez!

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.

[ Parent ]
I dunno about the Tancredo thing... (2.00 / 2)
It makes me uncomfortable. The test for me is to flip the people around and see if I'd still be okay with it.

It reminds me, perversely, of Nick Griffin on Question Time the other day. He got back at something Jack Straw said with something about his father fighting in the war while Straw's was in prison for being a conscientious objector. Now, I know it's a different situation, but it's the same sort of cheap, unrelated shot.

I don't think he should have done it. But at the same time, the chuckling little devil on my shoulder finds great satisfaction in seeing Tancredo riled up like that.

It's so hard to be good.

Those cookies I got for that image were so good (2.00 / 5)
I had to see if I could get some more. Does this earn me another cookie?

That's an animated gif that runs for only a few cycles. You might need to refresh the page to see it in motion. I didn't want to drive everyone nuts by having it go non-stop.

Here's a different one that does go non-stop - http://www.jonrahosting.com/im...

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Wow John! For that you get... (2.00 / 6)
a pony!

Annnnnnnnnnnnndddd....

a cookie that looks like a pony!

(Please only eat the latter.)

"I now am bold to say to the swift changing hours,
Pass, pass upon your way, for I grow never old,
Fleet to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,
One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold."

[ Parent ]
Sarah Palin's book now down to $4.97 (2.00 / 2)
An 83% reduction from initial list price.

"Hell a herd of Winnebagos!  We're giving them away!"


"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon

And it hasn't actually been released yet. (2.00 / 1)
BTW, she was in WI last night at a super-secret event.

On a related note, Carrie Prejean was dropped from some NJ keep teh gays away from our families event because she was caught on tape, um, having relations with herself.  Reportedly, she was shown the tape during a conference with CA pageant officials re: the boobs lawsuit and she exclaimed, "That's disgusting."  Then they got to a close-up of the participant.  Oops!

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.

[ Parent ]
"In Praise of Impotent Whiners" (2.00 / 3)
This from GrassTops USA - perhaps the most extreme rightwing list I belong to.  A lesson in how a political party can disappear up its own ideological colon, and an object lesson in the kinds of supporters the Democratic Party listens to at its own peril, too.

From Don Feder, In Praise of Small Tents:

In reality, it's consistency, not diversity, that leads to electoral victories. The wise and just do not repair to a banner emblazoned with a question mark ("pro-life and pro-death," "pro-family and pro-marriage substitutes," "pro-science and pro-global warming").

       Here's an action plan for conservatives who want to win on principles:

1.  Demand the immediate resignation of RNC Chairman Michael Steele, RNCC Chairman Pete Sessions and House Minority Leader John Boehner. Their judgement is severely impaired. If this was 1912, they'd be charting a course for the Titanic during happy hour. Tell Newt to stick to writing historical fiction and alternative history. The former House Speaker should do an alternative history of the 2008 election, where the Republican Party nominates a Republican for president.

2.  Never, never contribute to groups like the National Republican Campaign Committee, unless you're in a masochistic mood and want to see your money promoting the election of Scozzafavas. Donate directly to the campaigns of conservative candidates, or to conservative interest groups doing independent expenditures.

3.  Never, never, never vote for a RINO. If the choice is between a Democrat and a leftwing Republican, vote for the Democrat. It'll be easier to get him out in the next election. He won't help drag the GOP to the left. And he won't lead to general confusion - the idea that the Republican label can be affixed to any product, no matter how defective.

4.  If a leftwing Republican throws his hat in the ring, squash it. In Marco Rubio, Sunshine state conservatives have an alternative to Charlie Crist for the Republican Senate nomination in 2010. Now the right in Illinois needs to knock out Congressman Mark Kirk, who wants to run for Obama's old Senate seat next year. Kirk has a 100% rating from the National Abortion Rights Action League, and an 82% rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

5.  Understand that the key to winning isn't elevating winning over every other consideration. Those who put pragmatism above principles deserve to lose, and usually do. Or, to paraphrase the late novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand, in the final analysis, pragmatism isn't very pragmatic. (Rand also noted that "the lesser of two evils is still evil.")

A purge is an ugly thing. And in the Republican Party, it's long overdue.



"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon
FWIW, Kirk is seeking Palin's endorsement. (2.00 / 2)
Pete Sessions is getting a teabagger challenger.  I do agree that Steele needs to go but not for the same reasons.  I don't see how the Republican party can grow and prosper under his leadership.

Sorry, Chris, but it looks like the Republican party is trying it's best to kill itself off.

Hey, Brett, piss or get off the pot.  Really.

[ Parent ]
It's not my party, I'm a true loner when it comes to ideology. (2.00 / 2)
I really don't see how any two people can really claim to have completely identical political beliefs, or that any large crowd can even agree on a large basket of beliefs.

But I would love to see two defensible parties to pit against each other.  I know if isn't extremely common thought around here, but I see past versions of the Democratic Party as just as bad all-in-all as many version of the GOP, but in my life I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Democratic Party that is as bad as the current GOP.

These folks, as a group, are simply bat-shit crazy.  The average tone the GOP is shooting for is "willfully ignorant".

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon

[ Parent ]
I belong to the same mailing list. (2.00 / 1)
The one thing I've concluded about this list is that they are all about outrage. The whole point is to get the suckers to send them money for what they call "blast faxes". They are getting rich off the people that are dumb enough to take their messages at face value.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Interesting thread. (2.00 / 6)
I wrote a lot about tortoise carapace artifacts in my Masters thesis. IMO a very informed crowd here. Kudos.

All those grasstoppers should totally start voting for Dems. We'll take those votes just the same. Right? Leave it to an Ayn Rand disciple to get it bass-ackward.

I thought it was a cheap shot by MarKos but Tancredo was asking for it. I hate chicken-hawks.  

There are no cheap shots when it comes to chickenhawks. (2.00 / 2)
Anyone who promotes war, but is unwilling to fight should be ostracized.  

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
What do you make of it, Benny? (2.00 / 1)
I'm not sold that this thing is part of a rattle.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt
[ Parent ]
It's a Bridge... (2.00 / 3)
For a one-string musical instrument?
[ Parent ]
I totally get a musical instument hit off of it (2.00 / 4)
but I was thinking more in the wind category. Don't ask me why, just a gut feeling. But the idea of a bridge makes more sense.

Oh and anytime a chickenhawk is outed and plucked is fine by me. Massive kudos to Markos.

Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility. ~ Ambrose Bierce

[ Parent ]
Dunno (2.00 / 2)
I may not be objective but I see them all as personal ornaments.  Like you said its very hard to step back. The groove looks like a channel for some type of cordage. Perhaps it was fixed to a hide; part of some type of vest or apron. The hand shaker looks likely.

Agreed Tancredo could use a hundred more shots like that. I genuinely lol'ed. Schuster usually makes me change the channel but it was well worth putting up with yesterday.  

Sleeping has been a great deal of what I've been about lately. (2.00 / 6)
I got hit with jury duty these last few weeks, and it's pretty much eaten up all my spare time.  Between working, and getting to the court house, and trying to have  a semblance of a life outside work and court, I have had little time for Mistress Interwebs.

I should have a diary up on the Jury Duty experience, and a bit to say on medical malpractice and the disgusting worms that prey on grief to bring suits in a bit. As soon as we can deliberate and put this turd of a case to rest.  

Hope everyone has had a fine weekend.  

My father's last posting was Fort Hood, and he's in the outlying towns, so this has been a hell of a weekend.  So far, most folks are safe and sound, but considering the number of odd shootings in the area over the years, it's sort of sad that folks are getting used to the response. If anything, that it was a doctor who snapped, that tells you something about the pressures our troops are under.  

I reserve judgement on his ties to extremists, as opposed to just snapping upon news of his deployment.  I know that it's popular to label every Muslim a terrorist, but in this case, less that, I think, than a man who was in fragile condition, and in a system that was ill prepared for a care provider to snap, as opposed to a front line trooper.  That Lieberman is all ready to prove how tough a Droopy Dog he is I think should give us all pause, because sadly, when Lieberman hops on a train, you have to wonder about its final destination, or stability...

Been wondering where you've been. (2.00 / 1)
We've had a few interesting discussions that would have benefited from your input.

I'm with you on the Ft. Hood shooting. I'm reserving judgement until all the facts come out.

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

[ Parent ]
Weekend Open Thread (Update) | 65 comments
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