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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Another travel day for me.

Open Thread.

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    Supposed to be 9 PM (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 12:31:59 PM EST
    Anyone know which time zone?

    Edging, mowing.  Trying to leave everything neat.

    Do you have care for your pets (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by observed on Sat May 21, 2011 at 01:01:55 PM EST
    arranged? It doesn't look good to be taken up to Jesus and then have your pet die of starvation. There are some reasonably priced rapture pet care providers. Check into it.

    Parent
    What! (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:17:43 PM EST
    I'm not exactly the chosen type.  My end will be to the great amusement of the chosen.

    Our pets will remain with us.  The chosen don't want them.  After all, they're tainted having lived with us.

    Parent

    The post-Rapture "pet care" thing (none / 0) (#37)
    by Peter G on Sat May 21, 2011 at 09:37:48 PM EST
    sounds so much like an Alan Abel concept to me, that I can't imagine it's actually anything else.

    Parent
    I'm going to take all your stuff... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by desertswine on Sat May 21, 2011 at 01:18:05 PM EST
    when you're gone.

    Parent
    Excuse me (none / 0) (#21)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:14:24 PM EST
    I'm not the type that will be ascending with the chosen.  I'll be among those whose end will be entertainment for the chosen.

    Parent
    What I read yesterday says 6 pm (5.00 / 0) (#15)
    by Peter G on Sat May 21, 2011 at 03:51:47 PM EST
    local standard time (no daylight savings for these folks) on 5/21.  In other words, it rolls around the globe one time zone after another, starting in the Pacific at the date line.  Pretty efficient management of the logistics of opening so many graves and flying the saved up to Heaven, if you ask me.  Kind of like air traffic control.  Unfortunately, this means it actually began late last night (from an EDT point of view), and yet -- for some reason no doubt having to do with a MSM conspiracy -- we have not yet heard reports of rapturous effects from New Zealand, or China, or Afghanistan, or ....

    Parent
    Well, it's after (none / 0) (#18)
    by Zorba on Sat May 21, 2011 at 04:24:58 PM EST
    6 PM Standard Time where I live, and everyone is still here, although possibly that just means we're all doomed to Hellfire and Brimstone.  ;-)  I wonder what Harold Camping's excuse to all his followers will be this time?  Particularly to those deluded people who quit their jobs and spent all their money in anticipation.

    Parent
    Yeah, here, too (none / 0) (#19)
    by Peter G on Sat May 21, 2011 at 05:16:54 PM EST
    Came and went.  Bitterly disappointed.  I wanted to see the flying saved ones on their way -- we have about 250 years of dead Lutherans in a cemetery at the end of our block.  They're still there.  Oh, well.  Time to make dinner for my wife and daughter.  Then back to work.

    Parent
    Tell that to Iceland. A volcano (none / 0) (#28)
    by Towanda on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:38:11 PM EST
    erupted close to Rapture time, followed by fifty earthquakes.

    So Camping got it right for one corner of the world.  Hey, we all gotta start somewhere.

    But where, oh where will it stop?  Wait and see. . . .

    Parent

    China, Afghanistan! (none / 0) (#23)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:23:19 PM EST
    I thought this party was for Christians (actually heretics)only.

    Maybe I should study up on Rapture fundamentals.

    Parent

    How is Everyone Preparing for the Rapture? (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dan the Man on Sat May 21, 2011 at 11:39:13 AM EST
    I've been listening to Sonic Youth's Do You Believe In Rapture? and REM's It's The End Of The World As We Know It.

    Sounds like BTD is already on his way. (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by honora on Sat May 21, 2011 at 11:41:27 AM EST
    "Another travel day for me."  Give my best to St. Peter.

    Parent
    I['m one of more than 300,000 (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by Towanda on Sat May 21, 2011 at 01:45:56 PM EST
    on Facebook who have signed up for the Post-Rapture Looting Party.  We plan to hit empty mansions, formerly homes of The Saved.  After all, they won't be taking all that stuff with them.

    Parent
    Damn (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:48:49 PM EST
    I didn't know about the looting party.  Is it too late to sign up?

    I'm Rapture knowledge challenged.

    Parent

    The world (5.00 / 4) (#24)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:24:10 PM EST
    as we knew it ended on January 20, 1981.

    Parent
    Good date... (none / 0) (#45)
    by kdog on Sun May 22, 2011 at 09:24:16 AM EST
    Reagan as anti-christ...makes sense, he loved kickin' hippies, and Jesus was the original hippy.

    Jesus was down on banksters...Reagan down with banksters.

    Jesus blessed the poor, Reagan went after their food stamps.

    But I was only 4 then, I shoulda been beamed up to paradise for unmbrella drinks with the creator, and spared winessing this greed-based demise...he/she/it does work in some mysterious ways.

    Parent

    I'm (none / 0) (#3)
    by lentinel on Sat May 21, 2011 at 12:00:23 PM EST
    listening to Charlie Parker.

    Parent
    Just thinking of some of my (none / 0) (#11)
    by brodie on Sat May 21, 2011 at 02:18:34 PM EST
    favorite End of the World flicks, such as:

    . On the Beach (2000, Aussie version for Showtime), starring Armand Assante and Rachel Ward.  Prefer it over the original Stanley Kramer pic.

    . Testament (1983, PBS), with Jane Alexander and Wm Devane.

    . The Day After (1983 again, ABC TV), Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams.  The one that Reagan saw -- along with 100 million American viewers -- which apparently caused him to re-think nukes.

    . The Day the Earth Stood Still, (1951), peace-seeking alien actually lands on WH lawn (or nearby) to warn humanity to stop making war, or else ...

     

    Parent

    Teriffic films (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat May 21, 2011 at 04:04:23 PM EST
    Though I've never seen the Showtime "On the Beach."  The original, and the book it was based on, still haunt me.  The opening of that movie, with the U.S. sub steaming along on the surface with "Waltzing Matilda" on the soundtrack as the opening credits roll, still just wipes me out.

    Parent
    Ditto (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:36:19 PM EST
    Debilitating.  Sad and terrifying.

    Parent
    Me too. (none / 0) (#20)
    by christinep on Sat May 21, 2011 at 05:36:47 PM EST
    Powerful scenes in that movie. That is when I began to love the Waltzing Matilda tune. (Still sing it at times.)

    Parent
    I like the original one, too, (none / 0) (#30)
    by brodie on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:46:33 PM EST
    but if I could only get to see one again, it would be the Aussie one, and that's despite a few powerful scenes in the original (agree on the opening scene, quite stirring, and Kramer's seeding the movie throughout with the hauntingly lovely Waltzing Matilda worked well, imo).  

    But the newer version actually has better performances overall (espec of the scientist Julian Osborne, where Fred Astaire in the Kramer version is a little stilted and 2-d, while the roguish Bryan Brown in the remake is more natural and entertaining; Rachel Ward edges out Ava Gardner mainly because Ward is given a far larger and wider-ranging role), is grittier and more realistic, and actually has a number of equally or more powerful scenes than the original OTB.  Of course, it's a longer film, with a slightly different emphasis -- more on the complicated love triangle in the newer one -- and with no censorship restrictions as with the Kramer '59 movie.

    Of course, the original has its backers, and I'm probably in the minority (again) here in favoring the later version.  Remakes usually can't hold up to the original, but this one does, with plenty to spare.

    Parent

    Ava Gardner (none / 0) (#44)
    by gyrfalcon on Sun May 22, 2011 at 08:05:35 AM EST
    Is the weak link in the original, IMO.  But I have never gotten her appeal, so maybe it's just me.  I like Fred Astaire in it, though, as the rather weak little intellectual who turns out to have a real stubborn streak when the chips are down.

    Parent
    It ain't over til its over (none / 0) (#4)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat May 21, 2011 at 12:09:06 PM EST
    Of course the Bible says no one shall know.

    In Yogi (none / 0) (#32)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:51:00 PM EST
    we have faith.

    Parent
    what about Boo Boo? (none / 0) (#33)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:59:43 PM EST
    I prefer to put my faith in Boo Boo

    Parent
    Berra (none / 0) (#38)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 11:55:03 PM EST
    n/t

    Parent
    REM Predicted the Time Exactly (none / 0) (#7)
    by Dan the Man on Sat May 21, 2011 at 01:09:45 PM EST
    From It's The End Of The World: "Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign towers."

    Rapture time is 6PM EST.  Is Michael Stipe Jesus?

    It's 6:36 (none / 0) (#27)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:37:33 PM EST
    I was found to be subpar

    Parent
    6 PM! (none / 0) (#29)
    by cal1942 on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:39:00 PM EST
    Two and a Half Men reruns start at 7.

    Parent
    Hey, if we snort a bunch of coke (none / 0) (#34)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 21, 2011 at 07:00:49 PM EST
    after not being raptured....maybe we too can become convinced that we are winning :)

    Parent
    "Requiem for a Paperweight" (none / 0) (#9)
    by KeysDan on Sat May 21, 2011 at 01:33:27 PM EST
    The War Powers Act is dead; that little counterweight to presidential war making was given a burial to see, but no one showed up.  The 60-day window for the Libyan "Kinetic Military Intervention" has come and gone.  

    President Obama has done what Richard Nixon was unable to do by veto.  Well, of course, a bipartisan resolution to support our "support" role would be a nice gesture, but it really is not necessary.  After all, Libya is not a war despite our taking sides in a civil war, supplying the rebel freedom fighters who remain a mystery other than not being Qaddafi loyalists,  sending big bombs over Tripoli and harbors, drones rendering surgical strikes (but, alas,  as with all surgery, sometimes there is a glitch),   assassination attempts on Qaddafi and killing of his family,  death and destruction to prevent a blood bath, and a cost, in just two months, of almost $1Billion.  

    Moreover, we are really out of this; it is NATO's baby, and NATO's alone, despite the fact that US Admiral James Stavridis is Supreme Allied Commander/US Commander of European Command and the Canadian General, Charles Bouchard, who commands the Libyan campaign, reports to Admiral Stavridis.

    It is highly likely that Congress would give approval if asked, as few Republicans have seen a war they do not like, and even fewer Democrats have seen a spine when it comes to a president, especially President Obama.

    But, that tact does not play into the role of a Royal Presidency.  Maybe President Obama will have more luck  implementing those Ruritanian palace guard uniforms for his Secret Service Detail than did Nixon.

    It has been firmly established that (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by MO Blue on Sat May 21, 2011 at 02:59:08 PM EST
    whatever the president of the U.S. does is legal. There is no domestic or international law or treaty that applies to the president.

     

    Parent

    Maybe President Obama's (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by KeysDan on Sat May 21, 2011 at 03:26:01 PM EST
    favored transformation president has been transmogrified into Richard Nixon.  (Nixon: "if the president does it, it is not illegal")

    Parent
    It really is maddening (none / 0) (#41)
    by Nemi on Sun May 22, 2011 at 04:52:07 AM EST
    ... sending big bombs [...] drones rendering surgical strikes [...] assassination attempts [...] killing [...] death and destruction ...

    As if nature-made catastrophes - Rapture untold - didn't cause havoc and human suffering enough.

    Parent
    Fascinating "debate"/interrogation (none / 0) (#12)
    by brodie on Sat May 21, 2011 at 02:37:43 PM EST
    from late 1964 just posted in the full audio version, with WC critic Mark Lane agreeing to a challenge -- more like an attempted cross-examination -- from not one, not two, but three WC lawyer proponents, some of the top legal talents around at the time in SoCal, one who'd been on the WC staff (Jos Ball), another was head of the SoCal chapter of the ACLU (A.L. Wirin).  

    Note how they try to trip up Lane over fairly trivial matters like distances in feet in Dealey Plaza, note how they quickly move to the next question when Lane destroys their line of questioning with specific rebuttals from the Warren Report itself, and note how towards the end the WC defenders fall back on character assassination of Lane via guilt by association with a far-right character of the time.  

    Wirin finishes by disgracing himself with a very un-ACLU like argument in favor of allowing a known or suspected innocent defendant to be railroaded by the legal system in order to prevent a larger (albeit purely speculative) societal harm.

    Also fascinating is to hear the post-debate interviews with numerous audience members there at Beverly Hills HS.  Most interviewed were outraged about the 3-on-1 unfair format, another relates how he heard some in the audience giddy over how fortunate they were that such debates were allowed -- as if questioning authority were somehow not the norm -- as the interviewee then notes how sad it was to hear people in a democracy have that reaction.

    Debate was scheduled originally to be broadcast over Pacifica's KPFK-LA radio station, but when it was over the WC proponents refused to sign a legal release form to permit it.  Listening to the 2-hr debate, I can see why they would have refused.

    Btw, Mark Lane has just finished his final book on Dallas -- The Last Word -- to be released later this year.  One of the original critics of the case, and on this issue at least, a hero in my book.

    I had the fascinating experience (none / 0) (#17)
    by Peter G on Sat May 21, 2011 at 04:22:57 PM EST
    of co-counseling a case with Mark Lane a couple of years ago and thus to get to know him a bit.  Quite a character, with a long string of adventures behind him. (He's now almost 85 years old.) Where did you get the information about a forthcoming book?  I didn't see anything about it on his website, on Wikipedia, or with a quick general Google search.  (And thanks for the link to the 1964 debate.)

    Parent
    Lane talked about his (none / 0) (#25)
    by brodie on Sat May 21, 2011 at 06:25:45 PM EST
    upcoming book in the opening-introductory segment I cited to above.  Also he mentions an indy filmmaker is finishing up a documentary film about him -- dunno when/where it will be screened -- to be called Citizen Lane.

    After hearing this 1964 Beverly Hills HS debate vs Ball, Wirin et al, which again I strongly recommend people check out as an important American historical document, I'd also like to be able to track down his other debates.  Like the 1964 one against Melvin "King of Torts" Belli in NYC where Belli, who was Jack Ruby's counsel in that murder trial, talked about how he would hate to live in a country where the citizens don't trust the word of our law enforcement authorities (sic).

    Or his 1967 debate with yet another prominent American atty of the time, Louis Nizer, who'd written a very favorable Foreward to one of the initial major Warren Report publications.  Most of all, I'd like to see/hear the complete 1967 "debate" he had against Arlen Specter at the BBC (again, as with BH, one of those last-minute deceptive changes in format by the producer resulted in Lane being alone against 3 or 4 opponents).  The story of that one is told in his fine 1968 book, A Citizen Dissents.

    Looking at just those I can recall, it also looks like Lane debated or engaged in quasi-debate with many of the leading legal lights of the 1960s (a list that also includes non-lawyer Wm F Buckley) -- and there would have been more, and more direct and actual debates, especially if Lane been able to persuade the MSM the assassination of the president was a sufficiently important enough issue for them to cover.

    Parent

    Is there anything more tiresome (none / 0) (#35)
    by Militarytracy on Sat May 21, 2011 at 07:03:10 PM EST
    than arguing with a conservative on facebook?  Can't possibly be

    Arguing with (5.00 / 3) (#36)
    by Zorba on Sat May 21, 2011 at 07:51:51 PM EST
    a conservative actually face to face?  That can get really tiresome, really fast.  Especially when their veins start to pop out and their spittle starts flying.    ;-)

    Parent
    My technique (none / 0) (#40)
    by lilburro on Sun May 22, 2011 at 12:53:54 AM EST
    is to bait them into discussion about the big banks.  They become incoherent(er) shortly after.

    Parent
    Were they not raptured? (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by lilburro on Sun May 22, 2011 at 12:53:02 AM EST
    I was looking forward to it.  I figured my dating life would become easier...alas.  sigh. ;)

    Parent
    They were not raptured (none / 0) (#43)
    by Militarytracy on Sun May 22, 2011 at 07:40:29 AM EST
    It seems to have put them in a sour mood.

    Parent
    I've (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun May 22, 2011 at 06:29:07 AM EST
    done it and it's a waste of time. They make excuse after excuse.

    Parent
    LAPD arrest a suspect in case of (none / 0) (#46)
    by oculus on Sun May 22, 2011 at 11:41:44 AM EST
    Giants fan severely beaten in Dodger Stadium parking lot on opening day. Police decline to name the suspect. LAT