Overnight Open Thread (12-4-2013)

The Family from the Carol Burnett Show

So I've been on a kick of watching old Carol Burnett episodes especially the classic Family skits. Some of these I haven't seen since they originally aired and I was pleased to see that they're still as funny and timeless as I vaguely remembered. (Mama's Birthday and Forgive Your Enemies are classics)

Of course I see a lot of Eunice, Mama and Ed in my own extended family (I suspect I'm not alone in this which is what made them so appealing) and watched many a family holiday start out with high hopes and a veneer of good cheer and joviality while the tension and periodic squabbling slowly built until you just knew a Scene was about to erupt. Entertaining as long you're not involved and just accept Christmas screaming matches and reconciliation as another family holiday tradition. Good times, good times. Norman Rockwell they weren't but that doesn't mean that they don't love each other (mostly) and aren't a real family.

Another thing I noticed is that the skits are rather long by today's standards. Some are as short as 10 minutes but most run around 20 minutes or more which allows for a good amount of build-up and character development. After watching a few I've realized that they were essentially written as short one act comedy plays with recurring characters (as well as an underlying layer of pathos).

You can watch practically the entire collection here.

Blog Alert: CAC will be on The Wrap with Bruce Carroll and Amy Otto at 10:30pm eastern discussing his blog treason excellent piece for the Federalist.  You can listen here.

Tough Times For the Treacher

Some guy named Josh did this to me tonight, because he thought I was rude when he tried to run me over. http://t.co/j2zVnrwYb1

- Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) December 04, 2013

I think the sooner he gets back to Indiana the better his life will be. And despite the various kerfuffles here the Morons wish him well. There are people who are willing to help him - if he'll let them.

'12 Years A Slave' Is Making People Crazy

The award for craziest response to 12 Years a Slave has to go to Jonathan Chait, however. Chait claims** to have been so emotionally devastated that he laid in bed unable to sleep for five hours, tossing and turning and tearing up the sheets even though he saw a morning matinee and didn't go to bed until 10 hours later. Indeed, the movie so deeply and profoundly affected Chait that it reminded him that all conservatives are engaging in racist tropes every time they criticize the president.

Granted, it doesn't take much to make Chait think that conservatives are super-terrible race-baiting bad guys. For instance, did you know that Republicans who seized on Obama's "you didn't build that" gaffe were engaging in a racist assault on the president? Don't worry, Chait was all over it. Dog whistles and such.

WTF Facebook?

The Facebook Messenger app requires users agree to be monitored by microphone at any time without their permission. ? pic.twitter.com/NLokWsNlrt

- Richard J. Wood (@RichardJWood) November 29, 2013

Stop it, Facebook. Just stop.

And apparently they also make you agree that they can monitor your phone camera as well. Did no normal human being ever review this?

Munchausen Identity by Proxy

An identity defined in terms of victimhood needs fresh injections of oppression to sustain its existence. Those African-Americans who define "blackness" not in terms of positive values but in terms of negative values, need white racism, the real thing or the fake one, to remind them of who they are. And the same holds true for other minorities who define themselves not by their culture or values, but by their resentments. 

The left's need for victimisation means that increasing levels of tolerance actually lead to escalating confrontations with these manufacturers of intolerance. The assertion that all white people are innately racist because of their privilege is one such response to increasing tolerance. By claiming that whiteness itself is racist, the left gets back to political identity, rather than actual discrimination, as the source of conflict, and redefines even the most tolerant university multicultural spaces as racist.

The manufacturers of intolerance, whether they're tenured academics like Ward Churchill, professional politicians like Barack Obama or angry waitresses like Dayna Morales, respond to tolerance with provocations. Their goal is to elicit evidence of intolerance to sustain their political identity. The more tolerance they encounter, the more they escalate their provocations. Their goal is not a tolerant society. It's not a multiracial society or a post-racial society. It is a society perpetually at war over identity politics. That conflict is what gives them power.

Is the Government Manipulating the No Fly List To Keep People From Testifying in Court and Then Lying About It?

It sure seems that way. The fact that there's no due process of any sort with the no-fly list has always bothered me.

How to Sell Hockey Tickets in Russia

Hockey is as Russian as gulags and alcoholism. So who would've thought the Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League would need grassroots marketing to sell out a home stand for a team that is 18-7 and third in its division?

Mostly SFW I think.

Space Suits and the Picard Maneuver

We moved on to wool gabardine. When you're doing heroes, when you want the characters to look heroic, there are certain things that you must do to make them seem that way - Broader shoulder, narrow of hip, as vertical as possible, chest out, ready to go after evil. As well as being more comfortable for the actors, changing the uniform to a shirt and pants combo, rather than a jumpsuit, meant that Patrick Stewart's shirt almost constantly rode up, thus creating the iconic Picard Maneuver. Starfleet Uniforms Part 3: 2350s - 2370s

Japanese Waterpark Lets Tourists Watch, Play with and Eat Dolphins

Well whenever I go to an aquarium or Sea World it always make me crave seafood so this makes perfect sense to me. Mmmmm...Flipper. Who's on top of the food chain now MFer?

Teh Tweet!

Le AoSHQ groupe de Yahoo. Ooh la la!

Tonight's post brought to you by ironic or maybe perfectly fitting:

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:45 PM

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