More iris from Howler acres, last year’s batch.  My iris come out at different times so the show lasts several weeks.

The pollen comes back with a vengenance tomorrow.  It will be in the ten range.

Who has sprung for the new ipad?  Does anyone own the ipad 3?  So far I have resisted.

 

 

 

 

114 Thoughts to “Open Thread………………………………………………………………………..Monday, April 23”

  1. Cato the Elder

    @Moon-howler

    Guru was right, except there was a little more to it than that.

    Every time AAPL gets close to reporting earnings little bears come out of the woodwork whispering rumors, this time is was that weak handset results from Verizon and AT&T would read through to AAPLs report (rumors are always more credible when mixed with an element of truth).

    And every time AAPL smokes them all like a cheap Philly Blunt. Some people never learn.

  2. @Cato,

    Good time to buy. [evil laugh]

    He gave me the short version. He was on his way home and was dodging a wreck. He is in CA so he can’t get caught on the cell phone.

  3. Oy Vey

    @Moon-howler

    Yes, it is sad, and very disappointing. Used to be that issues were debated votes were taken and the majority will was respected. What we have here is an attempted minority coup. With respect to Mr. Randolph, I know that Manassas is a republican town. I think it is because the candidates they ran and we elected were a acceptable to a large group, and they did a good job for the citizens. They didn’t let personal agendas override civility or the greater good. Not sure when this changed or why. Ideological puritanism seems to be the new order. Maybe some people need to talk to their priests and pastors about all of this. I still can’t figure out what Aveni hopes to gain by stirring up a mess.

    1. @Oy Vey

      Praise, adoration and POWER.

      Manassas has been an R town for a long time but it wasn’t a town of exclusion. That’s the difference. There was a big tent and D’s and R’s liked each other most of the time. Now R’s don’t even like each other.

      Oy, do you think our area is worse or do you think it just reflects what is happening nationally? I saw a little of the nastiness this past summer in the county, Gainesville specifically, but it seems to have cooked down some. Actually, the people it was used against have pretty much been proven right.

    2. @Oy

      I forgot to say, I have heard Jackson Miller is up to his ears in all of this. I fail to see why he would involve himself, especially since I know for a fact he has been eye balling Senator Colgan’s seat when he retires. It makes no sense to get all involved in coucil stuff, especially contentious council stuff. He could very well get challenged by both D and R for the Senator’s seat. Miller will need friends.

      I think Senator Colgan’s wife and kids will lock him in the basement before they let him run again.

      Perhaps I have been misinformed.

  4. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    @SlowpokeRodriguez
    So did you upgrade from ipad 2 to ipad 3?
    I have ipad 1 and it is on an unlimited plan. I was told I could keep the plan as long as I draw breath. I mostly use the wifi part of it. Are the people with download problems the people who travel alot and don’t use hotel wifi?

    Yes, 2 to 3 for me. I’ve said it before, while Jobs was alive, he could have told me to go out and buy iCyanide and eat it, and I’d have been dead inside of 24 hours. Is your “unlimited” plan one of those “unlimited as long as you don’t go over 5Gb?” plans? I had unlimited, but when I got a 4G mifi device, they moved me to a 5Gb plan. I don’t know the usage habits of those who run out of data so fast, but I bet they don’t use as much wifi as they should. I’ve got 5Gb/month on my Verizon mifi, then another 5Gb / month from my work-supplied iPhone tethering.

    If I were moving from a one, I’d get a three (but that’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?) I’d get the three for the display and at least try to stay current, but there absolutely NOTHING wrong with the 2. What is it, 100 bucks difference between the 2 and the 3?

    1. Thats the part I didn’t know….

      I have the unlimited with ATT and its a single. I don’t use all that much data. What I don’t know is if they will let me put a new one on that plan. I guess I could call and ask. It ran out once because I hadn’t upgraded my credit card and they let me go back on. I want to keep that unlimited. I will even stay with stinky old ATT to do it. Everything else is Verizon.

  5. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Jobs could have walked out on stage and said “here, folks, go buy this new apple service, iRaphanidosis”, and I’d have said “where do I sign up?!”

    1. @pokie

      And I love it that you just admit it, right up front. I always know who to go to for iApple advice too. I just go to the open thread and bellow for you. You show up eventually.

  6. Lafayette

    @Moon-howler
    You’ve got mail! “Photo of the Year” attached. 👿

  7. SOFO for sure, Lafayette. SOFO!

    Too bad there wasn’t some Dukes of Hazard music in the background.

  8. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Work gave me an at&t iPhone. I can imagine worse than AT&T. I totally dig at&t’s 3G home extender. We have one in the office. BANG! Full strength!

  9. SlowpokeRodriguez

    WOW!! I just head Ann Coulter on Hannity suggest Ken Cuccinelli for VP! Talk about having liberals twitch and jerk.

    1. That would be a guaranteed loss for Romney. I doubt that will happen.

  10. marinm

    I know there are more than a few iphone/ipad fans here so for those inclined to not let the “government” know what you’re doing when you’re browsing the interwebs.

    http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/onion-browser-brings-encrypted-mobile-browsing-to-iphone-20120425/

    In an era when security is at the top of our minds, mobile web browsers seem to be lagging behind. There are few options for secure web sessions on smartphones, but a new iPhone app called Onion Browser is changing that. Onion Browser connects to the Tor network to encrypt all your data.

    I also like this

    Onion Browser is open source, so if you’re the coding type, you can take it apart and see how it works. Since iOS is a walled garden, the app is made available in the App Store, but it isn’t free. According to the developer, Mike Tigas, a portion of the $0.99 sales price will go to the Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He isn’t specifying how much that share will be, but at least it’s something.

  11. marinm

    For those less technically inclined because I already know I’m gonna get asked.

    Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. Messages are repeatedly encrypted and then sent through several network nodes called onion routers. Like someone unpeeling an onion, each onion router removes a layer of encryption to uncover routing instructions, and sends the message to the next router where this is repeated. This prevents these intermediary nodes from knowing the origin, destination, and contents of the message.

    Onion routing was developed by Michael G. Reed (formerly of Extreme Networks), Paul F. Syverson, and David M. Goldschlag, and patented by the United States Navy in US Patent No. 6266704 (1998). As of 2009, Tor is the predominant technology that employs onion routing.

    You can find out more by going to WIKI and looking up ONION ROUTING or TOR NETWORK.

    http://bit.ly/IaThKg

    1. So child molester and kiddie porn addicts can hide behind this?

      I am not so sure I think everyone is entitled to full privacy.

  12. @SlowpokeRodriguez
    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    Boy, wouldn’t THAT toast McDonnell’s undies!

  13. They probably should be toasted but….Cucinelli is far too conservative to run in a national general election.

  14. Starryflights

    2 House Democrats Defeated After Opposing Health Law
    By JONATHAN WEISMAN

    WASHINGTON — The defeat of two conservative House Democrats by more
    liberal opponents in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary illustrates the
    strong hold the new health care law still has over committed
    Democratic voters and foreshadows an even more polarized Congress
    next year in the aftermath of the latest round of redistricting.

    Representatives Jason Altmire and Tim Holden both lost in primaries
    to opponents who joined together with activist groups to pummel the
    veteran lawmakers over the opposition to the new health care law and
    climate change legislation — positions they had used to their
    advantage in the past to show their independence from President
    Obama and the Democratic Party.

    A lot of us thought of his record as his strength,” said Hugh M. Reiley, the chairman of the Schuylkill County Democratic Party, referring to Mr. Holden. “He was not falling prey to all that party bickering. He was able to reach across the aisle.”

    “Last night, the Democratic Party became more liberal,” he added.

    While Republicans have seized on the health care law as a political weapon to employ against the president and Congressional Democrats, many Democratic voters and party activists see it as a major achievement and are poised to punish Democrats who fought it. The results on Tuesday also suggest health care could be a major rallying cry if the Supreme Court overturns all or part of the law this summer.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/us/politics/2-house-democrats-defeated-after-opposing-health-law.html?_r=1

    It is good that health care law opponents have been defeated at the ballot box.

  15. Steve Randolph

    Happy Days!

    – Caps win 7th game of playoffs in Boston. Thank you Joel Ward!
    – Nats win again – best start for a Washington baseball team since 1932!
    – DC United has a winning record.
    – Even the lowly Wizards have won 5 staight.
    – RG III officially becomes a Redskin this week!

    (Only downer are the nasty racial blog attacks from Boston fans toward Ward,
    one of the few Afro-American players in the NHL.)

  16. Morning Joe is all about Bob Dylan this morning. Oh happy day here.

    Book: Who is that Man?

    Argument: Bob Dylan is the greatest song writer of all time.

    Opinion?

  17. @Steve Randolph

    I have a happy granddaughter over those caps. She is a big Ovechkin fan.

  18. @pokie

    What did you do with your old ipad? Do your boys play with it? The 6 year old loves the ipad. She plays games, watches movies, etc.

  19. Betsy and the Moonhaters

    I can see the Dumbo Squad is flying low again over on bvbl. Betsy (sic) and the moonhaters? bwaahahahahahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds like Josie and the Pussycats.

    What mental midget is calling the plays over there this week? 🙄

  20. Elena

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrJsm0Qd0sA

    a classic cartoon. I named one of my kitty’s Josie!

    Yes, apparently behaving like decent person regardless of political affiliation sets off the mentally unbalanced!

  21. punchak

    @Cargosquid
    Holy Smokes all over!!!

  22. punchak

    @Moon-howler
    What kind of movies does a six year old girl watch?

    1. She watches kids movies. Last time she was over I think she watched My Little Pony. She also watches a bunch of Disney stuff. She goes to her section on Netflix.

  23. SlowpokeRodriguez

    I gave my iPad 1 to my father in law. Sold my 2 on eBay for a very nice price.

    1. Your kids should get at least 1 out of the deal. Did they have G3 ?

  24. SlowpokeRodriguez

    punchak :
    @Moon-howler
    What kind of movies does a six year old girl watch?

    If they’re at my house, Caligula!

  25. SlowpokeRodriguez

    That’s OK, I bet one person saw it and laughed….and that’s enough for me.

  26. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    Your kids should get at least 1 out of the deal. Did they have G3 ?

    I’m sorry…G3? I’m not sure I know what that is. They have my old ipod classic, but they kind of got over that..and they’ve got my previous generation ipod touch….but again, they don’t really mess with it too much….they just wanted it because I had one. They just drag if from room to room. When they’re older, they might be into it. I use my iPad to let my 4 year old watch Max & Ruby and Bugs Bunny cartoons if we’re in tight spot and there’s nothing else to do, but he doesn’t get to mess around with my iPad. Too expensive.

    1. @pokie, I meant to say 3G + wi-fi or just wi-fi?

      My gdaughter gets to use it but she has specific rules. Like she has to sit a certain place, not take it in the kitchen on the tile floor and never leave it on the floor. She does pretty well. However, I have to use industrial Nair to get all the mung off it after those little gimlets have touched the screen all afternoon.

  27. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Actually, Moon, they’re both not into the techie-things right now, but they ARE really into me reading to them, and I love that. Even if it’s just for a little while, I like that they’d rather be read to than watch a cartoon. I’m going to enjoy that while it lasts!

  28. marinm

    Dang. I missed the joke.

    Pedophilia will not stop if the govt we’re to rescind the 4th Amendment and disallow any encryption. And, as we know if you get rid of legal encryption people will do it anyways.

    Mind you encryption doesn’t stop the po-po from making arrests. We have ways of making people talk. 😉

  29. punchak

    @SlowpokeRodriguez
    When I was “just a bride”, my husband used to read to me, mostly from the Atlantic or Harper’s. Loved every minute of it until I fell asleep! (do you suppose he had a hidden motive?)

  30. @marinm

    I am not sure what you are talking about marin. Is it relevant or are you just horsing around with Pokie?

    I just don’t think pedophilia should be laughed about, even in joke form.

  31. Starryflights

    Trying to decide if to sell my Apple shares right now. Some analysts think it’s at its peak.

  32. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Starryflights :
    Trying to decide if to sell my Apple shares right now. Some analysts think it’s at its peak.

    You should sell immediately

    1. No! Pokie, don’t tell him that!

      My person who advises me on such matters told me not to sell now.

  33. Oy Vey

    Following the debate regarding the Winter’s Branch Bike Trail, I find some of the comments over at bvbl and a bridge too far very disturbing. The main spokesperson is a guy named Greg Tsukalas. (Funny how guys named Greg love to stir up the neighbors). His latest comment: “You also ignore the demographics of the situation that the existing trail is on City property predominantly and that the neighborhoods that that trail woudl formally connect are different in many ways than these are. ”

    What he is saying is this trail would connect a minority neighborhood with a white neighborhood, and he won’t stand for this. I’ve never been back there. I haven’t ridden a bicycle in years, and I don’t care what people say about you never forget how to ride one. I’d end up crashing. From other comments for and against, it appears the trail already exists for public works access and is paved in some sections and gravel in others. Public works uses it access city utilities. So what’s all the hullabloo about? It is about ultra-rightwings using this as a campaign issue, terrifying residents with visions of hungry hordes of “people who don’t look like you” will be able to come into the Wellington neighborhood. This isn’t about the cost of the project. This is about dividing the people in this city using racist invective. Ironic, considering the ultra-right will be the first to claim Democrats like to use race to divide. I can’t help but think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle “black” or “brown” or “yellow”. But no white kettles.

    1. Hi Oy Vey, the only bike I ride these days is a stationery. Sigh.

      I tried to do a read back on what you are talking about. Does that bike trail run over next to Georgetown South? It sounds to me like a path to the white neighborhood already exists. Ho HO HO. Years ago I was told that the reason PWC wouldn’t pay in to getting the metro out here is because minorities from DC would find their way out to the burbs. This was back in the pre-planning days. I have always wondered if that illogical thinking was the truth.

      I don’t see why a bike trail should be so contentious. Would they rather have the cyclists on the streets? You have some strange uber-cons over your way in the city and they stir up some strange stuff. They seem to want to do things that clearly aren’t in their jurisdiction like closing clinics, taking money away from schools and other things they really can’t legally do. I even heard someone wants to check birth certifciates for legality.

      Sorry, back to your rainbow kettles. There are a few people there who really don’t try to hide the old neighborhood barrier thing. I am still trying to figure out why they hate the bike path so much. What do you see as their real objective? If they scare the white into thinking that the “others” are coming to slay them, what do they hope to gain?

  34. Cato the Elder

    Starryflights :
    Trying to decide if to sell my Apple shares right now. Some analysts think it’s at its peak.

    Collar it up if you’re nervous. Sell the 630 call and buy the 575 put, that way you have protection for a 5% move in either direction and it’s basically free because you finance the protection by selling the call. (note you need at least 100 shares to execute this strat)

  35. Steve Randolph

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/bicyclesafety-tips,8077/

    May need to wear a helmet at public hearings on proposed new bike paths.

    1. You would think Hell’s Angels were in town, Steve.

  36. Lafayette

    Moon, check out item S4. I thought of you.
    Where the three districts converge.

    http://eservice.pwcgov.org/documents/bocs/agendas/2012/0501/4-s.pdf

    1. thanks, Lafayette…what is that old expression about urination and the ocean? That isn’t a real big budget.

      What really needs to happen is a community plan to get those gas lights converted or repaired at a group rate. If everyone had those things working it would help the lighting situation a whole lot.

      Meanwhile, Willie Nelson, and many others had a song about it…dark as a dungeon…

  37. Ray Beverage

    @Moon-howler

    Moon, the proposed bike path is north of GTS…as you go up Wellington, the shopping center is on the left. On the right is GTS, that section of “newer” town homes (when compared to the older homes in GTS), then the somewhat wooded area. This path would lead up through that area, and come out at a court that is part of housing just south of Prince William Street.

    Connection-wise, it would come down from those homes (Prince William Street,School Street, McKinley Drive, Rondulue Road) to about across from Grace Methodist Church.

    1. Ray realizes that I need a picture because I live on the northwestern side town and am clueless about that side of town. I used to live over there years ago but that was then and this is now. I could hear roosters back in those days.

      It sounds to me like certain people in the city resent any money spent on anything and if they have to use scare tactics, well, that’s nothing new. “Others” always have to be menacing in the minds of some.

  38. Oy Vey

    Moon,

    It’s very hard to sort out. I heard about it when I received a flyer to stop the trail. It looked to be more of a campaign flyer, put out by that Greg fella. It listed a bunch of crimes that were committed in the city, and a community cookout for several officials and candidates for council and schoolboard. Well, one schoolboard candidate. Mr. Sutherland is an angry man. So, if I vote for this angry man the mean brown people in Georgetown south won’t be able to come down this trail and loot my home?

    1. @Oy

      Ah, the old “other fear.”

      Isn’t that Sutherland fellow the one running for school board who doesn’t bother to hid his distain for certain folks?

      That’s really not a good plan for a school board representative. Doesn’t he realize he represents all the children when he takes on that job?

      Bet he’s friends with the one who wants to bull doze over GTS every time something happens over there. And if I recall, he’s one of those people who used to shriek “rule of law” all the time. Funny how “rule of law” only works in favor of the shrieker and no one else.

  39. Weird….

    The comment count has gone from 99 to 110 but Moon’s #54 comment is still the last comment.

  40. And NOW my comment is #54, which THIS one will probably be.

  41. Censored bybvbl

    All the scaredy-pants who are afraid of the bike trail should just get in shape and ride faster if they’re so intimidated by that proposed stretch of trail.( And the big whiner who always wants to raze GTS should have done his homework before buying his house if he’s in such fear for his life.What a baby!!)

  42. Cato the Elder

    @Censored bybvbl

    Fighting off rapists is one way to get in shape I suppose, if one were to do it on a regular basis.

  43. Censored bybvbl

    @Cato the Elder

    When I was younger, I rode my bike from Mt. Vernon to DC occasionally. I was never afraid to ride through some “crime-ridden” parts of Alexandria. Sometimes I rode with my husband but frequently I rode with my younger sister. We were in shape girly-girls (not the husband) and didn’t let fear of “others” stop us from enjoying our rides. Sometimes we were approached by kids from poor neighborhoods but we didn’t run screaming in fear. (My father sometimes transported felons, AWOL country boys, and others. They often stopped for dinner. We met a variety of people and, being Yankees in the 1950s/60s South, knew what it was like to be the “other”. I like a variety of peeps.)

    I’d suggest that the scaredy-pants types get out there and “claim” the bike trail if they want to use it. Use it frequently. Get to know the regulars. (I know most of the regulars where I walk my dog. It’s an easy thing to do. I would guess the bike path would have its regulars as well.)

    There has been crime on the Washington and Old Dominion trail but that doesn’t stop hundreds of people from using it.

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