Overnight Open Thread (7-5-2016)

Quote of the Day I

The frights, the cold, the smell of H.E., the horribly smashed men still moving like half-crushed beetles, the sitting or standing corpses, the landscape of sheer earth without a blade of grass, the boots worn day and night till they seemed to grow to your feet - all this shows rarely and faintly in memory. It is too cut off from the rest of my experience and often seems to have happened to someone else.

-- C.S. Lewis on his experiences during WWI

Quote of the Day II

Excluding people from a debate because you disagree with their views is an odd conceit, but odder still is that the practice has rapidly gained credibility on both sides of the Atlantic as morally valid.

-- Peter Wood

Quote of the Day III

One of the most common mistakes people make is to tidy room by room.  This approach doesn't work because people think they have tied up when in fact they have only shuffled their things around from one location to another or scattered items in the same category around the house, making it impossible to get an accurate grasp of the volume of things they actually own.

The correct approach is to tidy by category.  This means tidying up all the things in the same category in one go.  For example, when tidying the clothes category, the first step is to gather every item of clothing from the entire house in one spot.  This allows you to see objectively exactly how much you have.  Confronted with an enormous mound of clothes, you will also be forced to acknowledge how poorly you have been treating your possessions.  It's very important to get an accurate grasp of the sheer volume for each category.

-- Marie Kondo, Japanese expert on tidying

So How Did We Get to Where We Are Now?

Let this video catch you all up on the last few million years +/- a millennia or so. And yes this will be on the exam.

Sarah Palin Calls Republicans Who Won't Support Trump 'Bad People', 'Traitors', Says 'You're Either With Us or Against Us'

Okay. Except that Sarah Palin really has no standing to call out republicans for not supporting the GOP nominee:

With less than 24 hours to go until Election Day, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Mitt Romney.

After remaining silent for months, Palin made her case for the GOP ticket in a Facebook posting, arguing that Romney "deserves a chance to lead.".

In contrast, her former running mate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a tireless advocate for Romney.

Or lecturing them on putting party loyalty above personal feelings:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin snubbed home state Republicans this year, instead endorsing an independent candidate for governor and his Democratic running mate for lieutenant governor.

Her across-the-aisle endorsement is a jab at incumbent Republican Gov. Sean Parnell, who served as Palin's lieutenant governor when she was the head of the Alaskan state government from 2006 to 2009.

During her tenure as governor, Palin increased oil taxes in the state, a revenue generator for Alaska heralded by the 2008 vice presidential candidate as one of her biggest achievements. But Parnell dismantled the tax, causing a divide between the former coworkers.

I'll just say it - Sarah Palin has been a huge disappointment to me.

I really loved her in 2008 and even when she abruptly resigned as governor I still thought she had large role ahead of her either as a pundit/writer or as a political kingmaker on the Right. But as the years went on she kept playing footsie with running for the Senate or presidency even when it was past its expiration date and she just wasn't all that impressive as a writer or as a pundit. But this year of all years should have been her moment to shine - but she's basically been the political dog that didn't bark (and I'm even making allowances for the disruption of Todd's snowmobile accident and his recovery).

Frankly her speeches and writings this year have been pretty bad - almost embarrassingly so (the one in the link is the best in a while and it's...okay - if you can overlook its Loretta Sanchez nature.). She's one of the few politicians whose speaking and writing skills have actually deteriorated over time. I have some theories as to why but since Ace has enough lawyer trouble, I'll just leave them unspoken.

Nigel Farage Resigns as Head of the UK Independence Party

Probably a mixture of both vindication and fatigue.

Festivals in Northern Europe Are Now Pretty Much Grope and Rape Fests

Due to the usual suspects which the authorities very much don't want to talk about.

The Swedish police face over 40 reports of rape and sexual assault at two music festivals over the weekend in Karlstad and Norrköping.

The police have identified seven suspects described as "foreign young men."

The victims are mostly under 18-years-old with three under 15. The youngest victim is only 12-years-old.

New Food Stamp Rules Will Kill Many Convenience Stores

On Feb. 16 the department announced a rule that would require Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorized retail establishments to offer seven varieties of foods in four staple food groups such as dairy, breads and cereals, meats, poultry and fish, and fruits and vegetables on a continuous basis. Stores would also be required to stock at least six units of each variety, meaning there would have to be at least 168 of the required foods at the store.

..."They changed the underlying definition of staple foods to exclude foods that have multiple ingredients so that a mixed fruit cup or can of chicken noodle soup could no longer be counted towards a retailer's stocking requirements," Ready said.

Why Cops Fear Domestic Disputes

When a man and woman became involved in an altercation in their vehicle at 1:30 a.m. in Prince Solms Park in New Braunfels, TX, seven soldiers from Fort Hood intervened to resolve the situation between the two.

Thinking the situation was resolved, the soldiers went on their way, but unbeknownst to them, the good samaritans had only merged the couple's anger and directed it toward them.

The soldiers, ages 18-25, told police the female retrieved a 9 mm handgun under the driver's seat and handed it to her boyfriend, who immediately began shooting at the soldiers.

New Braunfels Police said the soldiers stated they were forced to run to their vehicles for cover as the suspect continued to fire in their direction. One soldier was able to retrieve his personal handgun and shoot "cover fire" to ensure his fellow soldiers could find cover.

New Marine Corps Fitness Standards for Combat Weed Out Men, Women Alike

But mostly women.

The Marines developed a detailed progression of physical standards that recruits must meet to get into the combat jobs. And officials insist that standards will not be lowered to allow more women to pass.

The results underscore the difficulties for women. Nearly 86 percent of the women failed the tests, compared to less than 3 percent of the men.

So far this year of the 7 women recruits attempting to qualify for a combat position, 6 have failed. Which clearly means the standards are sexist since they didn't yield the correct results.

Survivors of the Battle of the Somme

Raging 100 years ago this week. It went on for six bloody months with almost a million overall casualties. Net result: The British advanced their lines by 6 miles.

• Adolf Hitler
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Otto Frank (Anne Frank's father)
• Harold Macmillan (future PM of the UK)
• JRR Tolkien
• C.S. Lewis
• Siegfried Sassoon
• Robert Graves

Let John Cena Lecture You About How You're Probably Racist and Sexist

In case you were unaware.

Ringo Starr, Ordinary Lad

Growing up in an environment of abject poverty, neglect, and poor health Richard Starkey AKA Ringo Starr was by all accounts - likely including his own - destined for the scrapheap of humanity and an early death. But when he was 13 years old and recovering from tuberculosis in a sanitarium something happened which gave him a purpose in life and set him on a completely different course.

These days it's common to dis Ringo's skills as a drummer but there are reasons he deserves respect including the fact that he kept amazingly consistent timing through multiple takes without ever using a click track.

The Yahoo AoSHQ group - it's got electrolytes and shit.

And my twitter thang.

Tonight's post brought to you by the Columbia Pictures model:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to the place. The ONT green room now offers both kinds of malt liquor for your drinking pleasure.

posted by Maetenloch at 11:27 PM

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