Who needs concealed carry handguns when we have chairs? From the Grand Forks Herald: “Former officer opens fire in crowded bar”
“The gunman entered Jim’s Sports Club Bar and Grill through a back door Saturday night and started shooting at a table of patrons, which included his ex-wife… a bystander smashed a wooden chair over the gunman’s head, knocking him unconscious. “
Earlier: The Gunmen Among Us
Over at Say Anything Blog “North Dakota’s Most Popular Political Blog™” it appears they’re featuring content from past years. Like this 1991 debate about gays, AIDS and blood donation.
Oh wait, what’s that? This is a debate from two days ago? Oh my. Good to see rationality and factual information have finally started making it to North Dakota.
I have simply no idea why so much of the nation thinks about the wonderful Peace Garden State as an intellectual backwater full of hypocrisy about free living and individual rights.
Yes, the post office.. the employer of Mr. McFeely and my grandma (no joke).. is now an evil socialist entity that is to be here on out referred to in right-wing blog headlines as a “monopoly.” You know, like the socialist monopoly held by the police force.
After pouring over literature, message boards and talking with proponents, it’s challenging not to see those who carry a handgun as dweeby 15-year-old kids who carry a condom everywhere. They’re “prepared,” “just in case,” because “you never know,” “it could happen.” Equally, they both seem to fantasize about situations when they might actually use it. It’s this way that some CCWers emphasize rare or unlikely “tactical” scenarios that will never materialize that make it a test for a rational person to take the movement seriously. And yet, the effort should be taken seriously because the driving force behind much of it is a genuine desire to be safe and protect oneself because “the system” is failing at this responsibility…
Here is a post on “North Dakota’s Most Popular Political Blog” Say Anything which underscores just how polarized and paralyzing the online political discourse is. The post is by Rob Port, who during a recent trip to DC, pretended to be an investigative reporter.
During a tour of the White House, Port spied copies of several books he deemed “socialist,” including The Populist Revolt. The subsequent post? “Photo Evidence: Michelle Obama Keeps Socialist Books In The White House Library.” The post was picked up by First Things’ very popular Gateway Pundit blog, which wrote, “Figures. Michelle Obama Stocked White House Library with Books on Socialism.”
Of course, The Washington Post’s Short Stack pointed out that the books were put there by the Kennedys and that they’ve been in the library through every administration since (yes, Reagan’s too). Port put a small update in the piece itself but chose not to update the headline. The Gateway Pundit posting remains with no update.
Port rules by fiat and very clearly styles himself after Hannity or Limbaugh, though he shrewdly makes a point to disagree with them from time to time as an “independent.” He’s low-rent and local but fat with charisma and wit. Twenty years ago guys like Port made very good livings selling pieces of shit used cars to suckers. Then came the AM talk radio revolution and the Internet.
Does Port even care that his post was a lie? No. The goal of online partisan outrage factories like Say Anything is to find content, any content, to fire the machine. If that information turns out to be untrue, who cares. Post first, update (or not) later. A truth that makes right-wing accusations of inaccurate mainstream media reporting hypocritical and sad. And it makes my personal dealings with Port, including his decision not to speak with me due to concerns of my interview being all about “gothca’ journalism,” ironic and pathetic.
Think Progress’ Matt Yglesias looked at the story and came away with this conclusion: “Rob from the Say Anything blog is an idiot.”
Weather or not Port truly buys what he sells is unclear, but unlikely. Because the other focus of blogs such as Say Anything is to make a name for the owner regardless of collateral damage. Indeed, when The Post asked Port about his mistake, he said, “… I guess it is what it is.”
Gives me a tea party boner.
In related parapatriot rhetoric: “Olympics Require American Hockey Goalie To Remove “Support Our Troops” Message From Helmet.”
To many it was a shock last weekend when the film Dear John blew by ticket sales predictions by almost double to become the number one film at the box office. This week, experts like Entertainment Weekly are predicting Valentine’s Day is going open huge and that Dear John “is going to be crushed this frame by the Valentine’s Day juggernaut. If it drops 50% it should consider itself lucky.”
That’s not going to happen and not just because Valentine’s Day is more horrible than anyone expects.
The photo at the top of this post is from around my neighborhood. Those are just a few of the very humble homes displaying service stars that represent active duty personnel overseas. And that doesn’t mean in Germany.
Dear John is a sappy love story. But it also revolves entirely around a soldier serving in Afghanistan (and Iraq). But the story itself isn’t about the wars themselves (Hurt Locker). And it’s not about soldiers dealing with the toll of being soldiers (Stop Loss, Taking Chance). It’s simply a love story very specifically focused on the romance between a young soldier and a young girl… in South Carolina. Besides being a not-all-that-bad (if heavy handed) weepy romance tale, that specific situation very much appeals to a whole segment of the nation that writers of Entertainment Weekly do not come into contact with often (which is ironic as they are probably EW’s audience). It’s the same kind of thing that happens when a Tyler Perry film or a small Christian film like Fireproof open huge and all of the mainstream entertainment scrambles to ask “how the hell did that happen?”
Dear John will not be number one this weekend. But I predict the film is going to do way better than expected, again. And it’s going to remain wildly popular with soldiers, soldiers’ friends, soldiers’ wives, girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, a group that doesn’t see itself represented very often on the conventional popular entertainment landscape.
I know most New Yorkers don’t shovel a flake of snow, many in D.C. and other locales own are underwater on condos, houses and town-homes. Also, maybe some newly underemployed i-banker is now the super of your building and needs to know how to shovel fucking snow. Anyway, knowing how to shovel snow is a useful skill. I have shoveled literal shit-tons of snow in my life so here’s how.
First, chug a fucking glass of red wine.
Put on a hat and gloves. Next, throw on a light jacket. Not too heavy moron; you’re going to get sweaty. Also, it’s gotta be loose so nothing you bought at H&M. Armani? ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME? Next slam your feet into your boots. No, WITH PURPOSE. What, you don’t have boots?! (Rolls eyes). Okay, put on your Aldo dress shoes and put each foot into a few tall plastic bags, doubling or tripling up. Duct tape those fuckers on around your calves. You do have calves, don’t you? Yell to nobody in the house in particular, “I’m going out to shovel!”
Get your shovel.
This tremendous video was featured on Sesame Street. Reportedly, it was filmed at the Whapeton, North Dakota Minn-Dak Farmers Coop. Sugar beets are a billion dollar industry in North Dakota and one of the only crops that flourishes in the harsh climate.
The magazine racks in Noth Dakota really are a sight to be seen. While there is no New Yorker, Esquire, Harper’s, or GQ and rarely a Vanity Fair. There are always at least six (and sometimes as many as ten!) different gun titles. It’s worrying. Tactical Weapons: Combat Rifles?!
(Photo: Hugo’s Market on 13th)
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