A good place to stick a link to a news article that one wants to share and for which one has little to nothing to add.
(I’ve stopped my use of “O/T” comments in FP threads because it had become another thing for the neos to crab about. Putting them in diary threads is often less than desirable.)
Would have been a good place for the DT and Mika and Joe spat. That one now appears to be on holiday (after the old Trump/McMahon wrestling video tweet) as rating are up for both (the WWE wrestling lady McMahon was two points more popular in CT and DT), they may be saying, “mission accomplished.”
Today, NJ provides the fun
On Saturday he said the beach house was separate from Island Beach state park and his family would not be using any state services.
Asked if this was fair, Christie said: “Run for governor, and you can have a residence there.”
Maybe not for long if the existence of a summer beach house for the exclusive use by the Governor of NJ is news to NJ residents. Can’t find any history on this beach house. May be an open secret among NJ govt elites and the media, but they appear to have been mum about it. (Unlike Drumthwacket, the NJ governor’s mansion since 1981.)
UPDATE — NJ.com, July 7, 2017 Bye-bye beach house? Guadagno wants to sell Christie’s Island Beach retreat
Blasting Gov. Chris Christie’s summer home as “a private luxury paid for with public money,” a Democratic state lawmaker is proposing legislation to lease out the property, and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is calling for it to be sold outright.
…
“There is no real burning need to have a private beach house,” state Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said. “Especially in a state as small as ours.”On Friday, Wisniewski, a former Democratic candidate for governor, introduced two pieces of legislation addressing what’s become known as “Beachgate.”
The first bill (A5131) would require the state-owned beach house located at Island Beach State Park to be offered for rent to the general public.
“Run for governor, and you can have a residence there,” Christie said when asked about his use of the facility earlier this week.
…
But Wisniewski’s second bill (A5132) would change that, too. Except for Drumthwacket, it would prohibit the use of “any residential property owned by the state and provided exclusively or primarily for the governor’s use – including the beach house at Island Beach State Park — during a state budget-related government shutdown.”
Privatizing a beach house located within a state park is a terrible idea. However renting it out could easily produce a half a million dollars in gross revenue per year with minimal additional costs to the state.
UPDATE
State parks, beaches to reopen on Independence Day. Interesting that ridicule and public outrage can sometimes work. Bullies do cave when the sand gets kicked into their eyes and kneecap spanners begin to appear.
Observation — I’m thoroughly enjoying all the different directions this thread has taken. Learned some interesting stuff. My heartfelt thanks to all the contributors so far.
Thx for the Open Thread invitation. The mentioned O/T additions in my diary never, ever bothered me.
Sometimes I have to check whether I’m writing at the pond … some bloggers maintain a open communication of pertinent John McCain entries. Irresponsible replies and warmongering with lack of FP knowledge. Even memory of events since the attacks of 9/11, its implications and effects are lost to them.
The war between Qatar (Muslim Brotherhood and the HRC factor) with Saudi Arabia (protector of Islam’s holy sites and mission to proselytize Wahhabism across the globe) has been postponed 48 hours!
○ Call on Qatar to decide wisely as 48-hour extension announced | Gulf News |
That’s why I stated that criticism of my O/T comments was limited to FP threads. You’ve welcomed them.
The do seem to completely miss the fact that the Watergate break-in was in June 1972 — and while the criminal case and media attention (mostly WaPo) was ongoing from that point, it didn’t hamper Nixon’s re-election by one iota. Thus, the court case and investigations proceeded without any mention of overturning the election or impeachment because that would have been putting the cart before the horse.
Like good little Democrats, they don’t shirk from praising horrible and former GOP presidents and nominees.
the Qatar crisis seemed to come out of nowhere.
best story I’ve seen on it is at Vox:
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/2/15882682/saudi-arabia-qatar-natural-gas-boycott
IMO the Saudis wouldn’t have started this shit with a different US president. The first but surely not the last attempt to take advantage of Trump’s inattention.
It’s been on a slow boil for a very long time. You didn’t think the US bombings of Al Jazeera locations were accidental did you?
All very complicated by the various factions/organizations in that part of the world and it’s not easy to stay up to date on the alliances and changing landscape.
Trump expressed explosive views on his very first visit to the Gulf region. His aim was to undo Obama’s policy versus Iran in the nuclear deal by calling Iran a terror state, criticizing Qatar and confirming alliance with the Saudi monarchy and the fascist state of Israel. Saudi Arabia followed with a palace revolt or coup d’état by appointing the king’s son as crown prince. That was not an unanimous decision, so more firework can be expected.
○ Hare On Fire!
In de Sahel region were both Qatar and Saudi Arabia funding Islamic extremist groups to impose their version of Islam and ousting the moderate Sufi clergy and followers. See especially Mali and Libya. In Syria the emir of Qatar and the Saudi King agreed on the overthrow of the Assad regime, the Alawites, by starting the proxy war through funding of foreign led jihadists. The US, UK, France and ultimately NATO gave logistic support with Turkey doing the heavy loading through its long border with Syria.
○ Deep State Signs $12bn F-15 Contract w Qatar
HRC tried to coordinate both main opposition groups but fell short through the differences between Qatar and the KSA. With backing of the Trump regime, King Salman felt strong enough to have his day of revenge with tiny neighbour Qatar. The gorilla in the room is Erdogan’s Turkey who had support from HRC and Obama and has now a conflict with the EU/Germany and the US. Of course Russia’s Putin is glad to fill the void and has become friendly with former foe Turkey.
○ Trump Just Strengthened the House of Saud in the Gulf Region
Trump doesn’t have “views.” At least about anything other than himself. He just mouths whatever PR sounds good to him at the moment.
○ Ford Gives Pardon to Nixon, Who Regrets ‘My Mistakes’
The newest invincible aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford brought to by our sponsors the military industrial complex. Price tag $13bn!.
Some of the shame/blame belongs to Caroline Kennedy and the Profile in Courage Award. Ford but a deal and it had nothing to do with courage.
As disgusting as Kissinger getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
Assume “cut a deal”. This site has nice navigation but badly needs an edit function.
You assume correctly. The Profile in Courage Award was a nice idea, but structure without the right content demeaned the idea. Obama is the latest recipient — as if he needed an award.
I wouldn’t blame CK too much. She comes from the idealistic liberal wing of her family. No surprise when she went full on board for Obama’s Hope and Change in 08.
And nominees for that award, and the vote for the winner, have to go through a real mixed bag of Establishment and conservative committee folks at the Kennedy Library Fdn.
If this was mostly a family choice, I would be a lot more upset, but go look at some of the names on that list. It’s like so many of these committees/commissions that are set up — you can usually determine outcomes by looking at who is sitting on the board, and I don’t think the family had a majority vote in who got on that committee.
I’m fine with CK’s endorsement of Obama in ’08. He had a good enough liberal schtick and there wasn’t a viable alternative.
I do understand that the Profile in Courage awardee is selected by a committee. However, she presented the award to a totally undeserving person. And she off all people had an additional reason to balk at this:
Certainly very awkward for CK, and I wouldn’t doubt there was some grumbling inside the family about awarding the unworthy Ford. Maybe she could have called in sick and let someone else hand it out, but otherwise she had no choice once the Al Hunt-led committee decided.
That award may have come — just my guess — during a period when there began to be considerable public reconsideration of Ford’s pardon in the msm. Recall that a lot of msm media liberals and sensible centrist Broder types suddenly came forward to announce that contrary to their initial hostile reactions, what Ford had done may have saved the country. Nonsense of course, but for the most part it all went unchallenged, and the Left, as usual, was rather quiet about raising objections to the NewThink.
Ford, btw, was also directly involved in shenanigans on the commission to misreport the actual location of the president’s back wound, raising it from the back to the back of the neck, the better to fit in with Arlen Specter’s magic bullet theory. That and he apparently used w/o authorization some classified material from the Commission for his 1965 book. All done with impunity as he sailed through a mostly gentle confirmation hearing for VP in 1973.
One more on Ford, from the What Pols Say in Public vs What They Say in Private: then Pres Ford, sometime in the mid-70s, met up with French pres Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and the latter, who had met President Kennedy in the early 60s when Giscard was Finance Minister for DeGaulle, wanted to know directly from Ford what the real situation was wrt the assassination.
Ford’s response definitely was considerably different than all his usual public utterances of smug confidence in the commission’s report. Giscard was surprised too, and put their exchange in his memoirs years later (doubtful if his book was ever properly translated into English, let alone published in the US).
Credit to Giscard for trying to get at the truth. Did any US MSMer ever dare be so bold and direct with Ford?
At least Ford had a connection to the Navy and Aircraft Carriers Don’t know about that new launch system. It might be prone to the problems that hydraulic launch systems had. Old timers told me that hydraulics would sometimes fail and drop the plane off the end too slow to become airborne. Double plus ungood. Steam would always fling you into the air. No stopping a steam catapult. Or so they told me. I have no firsthand knowledge.
Conventions for naming US ships. Since 1968 all new aircraft carriers have been named for a person (a questionable decision IMHO, but it was at that time when lots of public properties were being named for JFK, plus in ’45 one of four that year was named for Franklin Roosevelt) — the next new one, projected completion 2025, will carry the name of the carrier it replaces, the Enterprise. Except for the Nimitz (named for a WWII fleet admiral), service in the Navy has nothing to do with it.
The two that weren’t former Presidents, the Carl Vinson and John C Stennis, were very bad precedents because they weren’t Presidents and both were rabid segregationists. A problem with the Gerald R Ford is that he was never elected President or VP. Would have been more appropriate to name it the Jimmy Carter (and not that it matters, but he was in the Navy for ten years and another ten in the reserves).
Conventions are made to be broken. Actually, Destroyers are typically named for people important to the Navy.
Aircraft Carriers are named all over the place. Battles, Presidents, old warships. Personally, I’d like to see the USS Constitution or Bon Homme Richard back.
Guess I should have scrolled down further, but as the topic was the Gerald Ford, an aircraft carrier (the high-end), didn’t stop to wonder about all the other ships for which there are no conventions or rules as to naming them.
Still, most aren’t named for an individual. Pathetic that anyone would feel honored to have a destroyer named for them.
Probably not a big deal because the lifetime of US navy ships is less than that of humans. In general, I don’t care enough to know more than the little bit I gleaned about aircraft carriers. But now I also know:
Well, Destroyers (original name Torpedo Boat Destroyers) used to be the most common warships. Battleships were named for states (Texas, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin, etc) and Cruisers were named for cities (Oklahoma City, Chicago, Newport News). An intermediate type, the Battle Cruiser was named for territories (not quite a state, i.e Alaska and Guam). All of those ships were derivative from Napoleonic Era tactics that were proven obsolete by the WW I Battle of Jutland. The name convention has shifted to submarines with missile subs named after states and attack subs after cities.
Sailors are rather superstitious and don’t like it when a ship is renamed. As for who would consider it an honor to have a warship named after themselves, well, certainly a Naval officer.
An old class: list of Fletcher class destroyers
A newer class: Spruance class destroyers
Too new for me: Arleigh Burke destroyers
And another answer to who would like to have a destroyer named after themselves: USS John S. McCain DDG-56 You don’t doubt that he would like it, do you? I think he might be pouting because he doesn’t have aircraft carrier named for himself.
I prefer avoiding o/t discussions in Booman’s diaries so I think this is a good idea. Not just because of sidetracking his topic, but if the o/t stuff gets interesting then I’m always trying to remember where it was.
Chris Christie is just such an asshole. Celebrate the 4th with a loud public “fuck you” to the people of New Jersey.
I can’t. I feel sorry for them, living in the Garbage State, cemetery for the NY mob.
60% of NJ voters re-elected Christie. Their choice.
Went swimming in the Atlantic at Asbury Park once. Water was covered with an oil slick. Lake Michigan beats it hands down.
Went swimming in the Pacific at Santa Monica once. Hotel room opened onto the beach. It was summer and very pretty but the water was C-O-L-D! Pretty beach, clean water, excellent low-priced Mexican restaurants, but I’ll still take Lake Michigan.
Never swam in San Diego, but one night, with a bunch of other Navy guys, we went roaring around San Diego Bay full throttle with out lights out, half drunk. (OK, more than half drunk.) Nearly collided with someone else roaring around the bay with their lights out. Saw there bow wake at the last minute. Great fun!
Can’t do that on Lake Michigan. Chicago cops are pretty humorless.
No one ever talks about beaches in San Francisco. How are they?
if you thought the water was cold at Santa Monica, you don’t want to talk about San Francisco beaches. also, the ocean end of SF tends toward cool and foggy. There is one nice big beach.
There are nice beaches with usually warmer weather south of SF towards Santa Cruz but the water is still too cold for me to want to swim in.
I’ve always assumed the water at SF beaches was not only colder than down in SMonica, but also a little more shark-infested.
Couldn’t say for sure. Haven’t actually been in the water beyond my ankles since that Spielberg beach movie came out a few years ago.
There’s a reason why Californians that want swimming beaches vacation in Mexico and Hawaii. What SoCal beaches are good for is getting a sunburn. OTOH, that cold water keeps the climate relatively cool in the summer and relatively warm in the winter. I never use the A/C and gas to heat in the coldest periods of the winter never exceeds $50/month.
NJ beaches don’t have a great reputation, but I’m sure that varies throughout the year.
I believe it. Lake Michigan is BIG, but warms up OK in late summer. I always preferred smaller lakes like Lake Wauconda, which used to have public beaches. A co-worker at USPS that lives in Wauconda told me all the beaches are private now.
OTOH, The Pacific doesn’t ice over in Winter like Lake Michigan.
Wauconda IL
They call it Bang’s Lake, but we called it Lake Wauconda when I was a teenager. Good place to meet girls too (always a prime consideration in those days).
Used to take the CTA bus here with my mother when I was little. North Avenue Beach, Chicago
Contrast with Reagan-Bush-Clinton timeframe during which the public was banned from Wauconda’s formerly public beach.
Why California Beaches are open to everyone.
Might be the last time a good proposition passed. (Note: RR was governor in 1972; so, “his way” hadn’t been adopted by a majority of voters. Jerry Brown was governor in ’76 when the legislature made it permanent. Still, plenty of wealthy folks keep trying to cheat on this. (Half expected that Schwarzenneger had junking this on his to list, but he didn’t even try.)
High tide line, a good rule. If you don’t like seeing the commoners out in the surf, build inland.
It does make a security problem, but if you build on a waterway, you inherently have a security problem.
Really? Examples?
No neighbor behind you to report suspicious activity. Burglars arrive and leave by boat so no reports of suspicious vehicles or license plates. (nosy neighbors can be good.)
The kinds of places I’m talking about have bigger lots than the typical city/suburban. That also makes it easier penetrate.
Swam in Lake Michigan as a child. It was cold. And not always that clean. San Diego beaches have problems with sewage drifting in from Tijuana. As well as local sewer line breakages.
The link I posted showed a water temperature of 69 at that time. June isn’t good. August is better.
Atlantic wasn’t cold, just greasy. Pacific was cold. I don’t recall the time of year, but the air temperature was nice. Hey, it was Santa Monica. Nice and hot are the only temperatures, never cold air — right?
Didn’t swim in San Diego, just boating. Went out of the bay once into the open ocean – Urp! Long slow waves. Michigan has short choppy waves. Yes, I know it’s because of the relative sizes. My stomach tolerates fast and choppy (like driving on an Illinois road!) better than long and slow.
Lake Michigan is much cleaner than it used to be, with high E. Coli counts from sewer system failure and dead alewives on the beach. Asbury Park was a sewer.
I swam by myself. My wife refused to even walk on the debris-strewn beach and couldn’t wait to get home to Virginia (we’re both born and raised in Chicago).
Northern Virginia was nice. I wish I could afford to move back or to California, but CA was always the impossible dream.
Where the elites gather to laugh: Politico – Out and about in the Hamptons at Lally Weymouth’s annual party
See — David Koch gets along better with George Soros than the neos and the leftist do at the Pond, but leftists take note of elites hobnobbing with each other and neos don’t.
Legends in their own minds.
Unfortunately, they’re running our world and we’re paying for it.
Never forget this photo. It says it all.
And this one too, if you need more.
AG
World of Astronomy, UC Berkeley: that Nemesis theory might be true after all. Our sun may have a twin. Way way out there for sure, but it might be something that could be essentially confirmed in the not too distant future even if it won’t pass our way again to wreak havoc for many lifetimes yet to come.
Of much more concern in the astronomical realm is Asteroid Apophis — as big as the Rose Bowl — and not its passage very near our planet in 2029 (close call) but the next one in April 2036. Yes, I understand Nasa has been downplaying it, publicly at least, but the Chinese and Russians are apparently taking the threat seriously.
Astronomy at Berkeley is awesome. I’m very impressed with their exoplanet research.
WSJ Saudi Arabia Moves to Silence Deposed Prince, Dissidents A necessary second step as the current King of KSA deposed the heir apparent in favor of his son (which is unprecedented in the order of KSA succession over the past hundred years)?
OTOH, KSA is almost out of Ibn Sa’d sons to pass the crown to. Remains to be seen if King Salman has established a new dynasty with his sons and grandsons to rule for the next century or two.
Greenwald tongue-in-cheek response tweet:
Battles for power among royal families (including bumping off the competition) is nothing new, particularly in kingdoms stuck in the middle ages.
Nayef (the old heir) has also been confined to his palace (can we call this a palace arrest?). …presumably to guard against a palace coup. Nayef had friendly relations with Qatar, so I guess that could be another reason too. From an international perspective, Nayef was responsible for reducing Saudi support of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
At the time of the Allegiance Council vote, there were reports that they also decided that Salman’s sucessor could not be any of his descendants, though I haven’t seen any confirmation of this. Even if true, it might not matter considering how young Salman is.
Assume you mean Mohammad bin Salman (all of 31 years old at the moment). Considering that papa is now 81, Salman the younger could be around for fifty-plus more years. OTOH, plenty of other bin Salman princes (both older and younger) and many other KSA princes around to challenge him. And reportedly King Salman doesn’t have all his marbles.
Ben Norton tweet
Yeah, the “dignity” of the office of the President of the US — the facts be damned when the US is doing the killing.
From the “esteemed paper of record” 1988:
Not much has changed since then — civilian deaths Iraq, Yemen, Syria, etc. from US attacks “raises stern questions for those countries.
○ NATO Holds Military Maneuvers In Poland, Near Lithuanian Border
My opinion why Brexit is necessary to save Europe from UK Tories and US military aggression …
○ A Confirmation of Positive Side of Brexit
Posted earlier in my diary about the Applebaum and Sikorski Show …
○ Wanker of the Day … A Blogger
Isn’t that special. Trump buds with Poland would confound circa 1970 Archie Bunkers.
○ The Use of Force in Armed Conflicts | ICRC |
○ The Definition of the Crime of Aggresion and Its Relevance for Contemporary Armed Conflict | ICD |
Wasn’t that invasion sanctioned by the UN?
The initial military invasion was a joint action by the United States and close ally Great Britain under Tony Blair. Lord Goldsmith was put under political pressure to change his recommendation de invasion would be illegal under International Law. Has been covered extensively before and after the Iraq invasion – link.
… the Chilcot Inquiry will hear from Lord Goldsmith, who, as attorney general in 2003, eventually declared that the war would be legal in a 337-word statement issued at the last moment, in slightly mysterious circumstances, after Goldsmith abandoned the reservations about the war’s legality that he had had for months.
The Dutch entered later when the UN was asked to pick up the pieces after the invasion to rebuild the country. Recall the devastating bomb attack on the UN HQ in Baghdad killing dozens and the top UN representative. How to cause chaos and make sure the occupier gets bogged down.
The British are masters in reports of long duration with white-wash as intent.
○ Dutch Investigation: Iraq Mission Ruled Illegal
Maybe I’m thinking of the first Gulf War.
More cynically, only the losers are tried for war crimes. e.g. The USA executed a Japanese General for waterboarding American prisoners.