A Tramp Abroad II – Germany

by | Mar 2, 2020 | Beer, Travel | 286 comments

The Residenz.

Since we have perpetually itchy feet, Mrs. Animal and I took advantage of the long President’s Day weekend to fly the Friendly Skies once more, this time to Frankfurt. 

We arrived Friday morning, and drove to Heidelberg, where I was stationed briefly (six months or so) when I was reactivated in ’96-97 for President Clinton’s Balkans fracas.  I lived in the Rohrbach district in a residence hotel (efficiency apartments, more or less) called “The Residenz.”

Turns out that this place is now a regular hotel, still called The Residenz, and Mrs. A and I booked a room there, two doors down from my old apartment.  The U.S. Army is pretty much gone from Heidelberg; the buildings I worked in, which were then the headquarters of US Army, Europe (USAEUR) are now standing empty.  Since the Rezidenz catered largely to semi-transient soldiers, it’s not surprising that it’s now converted to serving tourists and local visitors.

Nobody I remembered from my time there was around.  My favorite neighborhood bar is now an Ethiopian restaurant, and one of my two favorite German restaurants is now an Indian restaurant.  But things are inevitably going to change in twenty-three years, so none of that was too surprising.  In three days, I swiftly regained my bearings and was pleased to see how familiar the basic area and its people were to me.  Now, as to those three days:

Friday was chilly and rainy, but later in the afternoon the sky cleared and we were able to go walkabout and see some of the old neighborhood:

 

Saturday was a bright, sunny day.  We went for a long drive in the Odinwald, an area of forested hills where I spent a fair amount of time exploring when I was there the first time, and from there along the Neckar River back to Heidelberg:

On Sunday, we went downtown to the famous Bismarckplatz, went from there down to the “Fusseganger” shopping area, saw the Heidelberg castle, the famous Neckar River bridge and some other sights.

Lately I’ve been experiencing a little of the old man’s nostalgic desire to visit places I enjoyed in my younger years.  This flying visit to Heidelberg was born of that impulse, and I’m really glad we did it.  I would have liked to have stayed longer, but there may well be a time to return and, if the country hasn’t been too wrecked yet, experience a little more of Germany; Oktoberfest in Munich has long been a bucket-list item of mine, and I’d dearly love to explore the Austrian Alps.

One of these days.  In the meantime, it was an enjoyable weekend.  Little neighborhoods like Rohrbach are, I find, pretty much the same anywhere you go, and I was pleased to see that these old stomping grounds of mine hadn’t changed much.

About The Author

Animal

Animal

Semi-notorious local political gadfly and general pain in the ass. I’m firmly convinced that the Earth and all its inhabitants were placed here for my personal amusement and entertainment, and I comport myself accordingly. Vote Animal/STEVE SMITH 2024!

286 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    The roof style of the building on the left of the second row of pictures always makes me think the house has melted.

    • Mojeaux

      That’s a mansard roof.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have to disagree. Mansards have two roof slopes with dormers, this just has one slope with dormers.

      • UnCivilServant

        That roof has two angles – flat and the garret siding. Though, more properly the top should be peaked instead of flat.

      • Mojeaux

        Okay, you’re totally right. I’m not interested in getting into a detailed discussion of roof angles. I was just trying to help by supplying a name.

      • Swiss Servator

        You have entered…the AKTCHUALLY Zone!

      • Gender Traitor

        Hip roof, fancy “shed” (as opposed to gable) dormers? (If I’m looking at the correct pic.)

      • UnCivilServant

        This one since I see the vagueness in my text description could be an issue.

      • Mojeaux

        Apologies. We were not looking at the same picture. I was looking at this.

        Yours is a hip roof.

      • Mojeaux

        Not that it matters, but I thought, “Ah ha! A question I can answer today and won’t screw up!”

      • UnCivilServant

        Sorry for the confusion. I should have just linked the picture. Yes, that one is a classical Mansard.

      • Gustave Lytton

        No need to apologize! It was quite an interesting diversion reading on roof styles. I’m visually familiar with the non-hip style, just didn’t know their names and details. Thank you!

      • Mojeaux

        I was unreasonably bitchy with UCS and there was no call for that.

      • Jarflax

        That is a Second Empire style!

        .

        .

        .

        I actually have had this discussion in my work life, and yes Second Empire and Mansard are sort of synonymous (and both are types of hip roof)

        *sort of because Mansart was long dead by the second empire but the roof became common then and is tied to the style

      • Not Adahn

        I’m visually familiar with the non-hip style,

        Ok boomer.

      • Gender Traitor

        Yep – that’s the one. Don’t know if there’s a specific name for a dormer with curved lines like those.

      • Tundra

        Eyebrow.

      • Gender Traitor

        Ooh! I like it! Thanks, T!

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s the dormers that really give it that melty feel, because the actual roof style is pretty common.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I thinking the other day how flourishes used to be more common sight when I was a kid. Curved rooflines for instance.

        Maybe not quite common, but they were around.

      • Pope Jimbo

        Is that feminist-speak for retard?

      • UnCivilServant

        It’s a tax-evasion roof style designed to allow more usable space under a roof without technically being additional taxable floors.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh, are we looking at the same picture? I see there’s a building with a mansard in the second block of city photographs in the second row on the left.

  2. Urthona

    Love Germany. Too bad so much of its history has been firebombed.

    • Charles Easterly

      “Love Germany. Too bad so much of its history has been firebombed.”

      Ouch.

      • Charles Easterly

        For reference.

        “More than 3,400 tons of explosives were dropped on the city by 800 American and British aircraft. The firestorm created by the two days of bombing set the city burning for many more days, littering the streets with charred corpses, including many children. Eight square miles of the city was ruined, and the total body count was between 22,700 and 25,000 dead”

      • Urthona

        That sounds relatively unpleasant.

      • Homple

        Visit Dresden and Hamburg and you would never guess they had been bombed.

        Dresden’s Frauenkirche was a pile of sorted rubble when I first was there in 1994. This is what it looks like now.

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche

    • Certified Public Asshat

      The lederhosen survived though.

      • Urthona

        Praise Allah.

    • Rebel Scum

      Sick Burn.

    • Swiss Servator

      The people of Rotterdam and Coventry do not sympathize.

      • Homple

        Nor Carthage, Nankin, Warsaw, Tokyo, Atlanta….

  3. Tundra

    I’d dearly love to explore the Austrian Alps.

    I spent a little time in and around Salzburg. The lakes district is among the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. My next trip there will definitely include a visit to Innsbruck.

    Thanks, Animal. Sounds like it was a fun trip!

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      I spent a few days in the Tyrol region west of Innsbruck. It had the best mountains of the trip. We had driven up from Venice through Cortina and the Italian Alps. then over to Austria and finishing up through Switzerland (St. Moritz) and back down via Italy’s lake district.

    • Rhywun

      I did a week of skiing in a little valley town near Innsbruck. Just delightful.

    • Nephilium

      Make sure not to meet up with any strangers while you’re in the Alps though.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I lost a windshield that way.

      • Bobarian LMD

        You see what happens, Larry?

    • R C Dean

      Salzburg gets a thumbs-up from me. Beautiful little city, very walkable, obviously lots of money there. We are every dinner at the big monastery with the beer hall (its been, well, many years; don’t recall the name). Excellent beer in liter mugs, and food vendors around the courtyard.

    • DEG

      There are some fantastic views from Hohensalzburg

  4. Spudalicious

    Nice write up!

    • JD is Unemployed

      Hovered; didn’t click. Maybe next time, old bean.

      • invisible finger

        I clicked, blocked at work. I’m probably on the next headcount reduction list now.

      • Swiss Servator

        I made that mistake a few too many times. I am on the Information Security “Oh no you didn’t” list.

      • R C Dean

        I get thank you notes from IT: “We have added [skeezywebsite.com] to our blocked sites list. Thanks for finding something too obscure for the published lists of inappropriate websites for work!”

  5. Mojeaux

    Animal, great write-up. I enjoy your writing and your voice.

  6. Nephilium

    I’ll be heading up in to Koln this summer, and I know there’s been some rumblings about planning a Glib meet-up at Oktoberfest in the past.

    • DEG

      rumblings about planning a Glib meet-up at Oktoberfest in the past.

      Yes.

      I would still like to do it.

      This year is out of the cards for me. Maybe next year?

      • Nephilium

        Next year is a possibility for me. It’ll depend on if the new PTO format sticks at my job or not, and if it doesn’t, then what they replace it with. This year I have to burn up all my accumulated PTO, hence the European trip in the summer.

      • DEG

        My PTO situation will depend on if I stay at my current job.

        I expect either way I can make a trip to Oktoberfest work.

    • Caput Lupinum

      Looks like it is the castle, Heidelberg Palace is made from red sandstone. If it was the town you’d see more buildings at about the same height, but you can see some smaller buildings through the trees below the main feature of the photo.

    • Urthona

      that one john lennon guy was awesome

      • Heroic Mulatto

        If I didn’t know any better, I would guess he’s a Glib.

    • Mojeaux

      So the girl with braces gets capitalism. Quel surprise.

      • Tundra

        She was great. The other youngsters sound like the dipshits here.

      • Mojeaux

        I don’t link good teeth with prosperity. I link it with ignorance or an unwillingness to go to the dentist because bad teeth aren’t necessarily a money issue.

        But! I link orthodontia with prosperity. You get orthodontia if you can afford to.

      • kinnath

        I don’t link good teeth with prosperity.

        Think again. I worked with a couple dozen engineers in Moscow that were middle-aged and above. It was not uncommon to return to Moscow after a couple of months and see people missing a couple of teeth that were there before.

        Forget about braces, just having all your teeth was limited to the upper echelon in Russian.

        Oh, and it was really common to meet 50-something engineers/managers that were missing a finger from an industrial/farming accident.

      • Mojeaux

        I said that badly.

        To me, only the poorest CAN’T go to the dentist but the upper income people I’ve seen with bad teeth DON’T WANT to go to the dentist. Therefore, I don’t NECESSARILY link that to individual prosperity.

        The running joke is that Brits have bad teeth. Is that a cultural thing, a financial thing, or a fear thing?

      • kinnath

        https://www.newsweek.com/english-peoples-teeth-are-international-disgrace-and-national-health-disaster-769635

        Austin Powers jokes aside, dental hygiene is reportedly a very big problem in the UK. In a recent letter to The Daily Telegraph, British dentists warned that their nation’s oral health was on its way to becoming an international disgrace, calling it a “national health disaster.”

        The root of the problem does not seem to be simply individual poor oral hygiene. National health service issues also appear to play a major role. The letter states that unreasonable targets and unnecessary red tape regulations have made it increasingly difficult for many dentists to provide the public with the care they need.

        Last year, The Guardian reported that twice as many children in England received hospital treatment for tooth decay as those who needed to be treated for broken arms. Although high sugar diets likely do not help the problem, lack of proper intervention allows the decay to progress dangerously. Nearly four out of five children in England between one and two years old had not seen an NHS dentist in the past year, The Guardian reported.

      • kinnath

        Reportedly, the dental healthcare in the UK is so bad that they are enlisting help from international organizations. For example, last year Dentaid, a charity that normally helps to care for people’s teeth in the developing countries, set up clinics in the UK specifically addressed to help low-income families, homeless people, and migrants who were especially in need of dental care, The Independent reported.

      • PieInTheSky

        Nearly four out of five children in England between one and two years old had not seen an NHS dentist in the past year, – I would say that at least for some of those the parents afford private care. or fly to romania for some dental tourism.

      • Mojeaux

        I would say that at least for some of those the parents afford private care.

        That’s what I mean. If so, WHY didn’t they get dental care?

        Aside: XX just got her braces off last year. XY doesn’t need them, BUT the dentist said he did because of future crowding. Fuck that, his teeth are straight, lucky duck.

        Me, I had a few cavities when I was a kid and I needed braces (teeth went back to normal, so no net gain as an adult), but I go to the dentist about every 2 years because that’s all I need to. No cavities in decades, very little plaque, enamel just fine.

        Every hygienist ever: We haven’t seen you in 2 years. How do you do it?

        Me: Hard-bristled toothbrush.

        Every hygienist ever: *gasp in horror* *lecture about how bad that is for your teeth*

        Do you know how difficult it is to find hard-bristled toothbrushes in the store? Impossible. I have to get them in bulk on Amazon.

      • Mojeaux

        Oh, AND…

        I had 4 teeth removed before I got my braces. They did that routinely in the 80s. The hygienist told me it was called “4 on the floor.”

        I will never forget that. It was the most disturbing sound I have ever heard, that CRAAAAAAACK bouncing around in my head.

        I’m sure it would have been worse if Pat Benatar was not cranked to 11 in my ears.

      • B.P.

        I had 8 baby and 6 permanent teeth extracted for the purpose of braces. The permanent ones really, really wanted to stay in my mouth.

      • Toxteth O’Grady

        JD or the other Brit here (whose name escapes me right now) are probably the best people to answer, but I’ve heard that NHS dentists in the decades after the war were fairly brutal and also were paid only for extractions.

        Plus tea seems to stain teeth even more than coffee.

      • PieInTheSky

        Maybe it shows one is aristocratic enough to not care.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        To me, only the poorest CAN’T go to the dentist but the upper income people I’ve seen with bad teeth DON’T WANT to go to the dentist.

        It’s not clear to me that there’s a link at all between bad teeth and going to the dentist. I think genetics, diet, and daily teeth hygiene habits play a much bigger role.

        Last fall, I went to the dentist with at least 8 years, maybe even a solid decade, since my last visit. Dentist said my teeth and gums were perfect. Even told me that they don’t recommend the optional fluoride treatment that I asked for and was willingly to pay cash out of pocket because my teeth were in such good shape. Brush and Listerine 2x daily with no flossing. And I’m on well water without fluoride.

        I don’t see the value in twice a year dentist visits for adults unless you have preexisting problems.

      • Heroic Mulatto

        I think diet matters as well. My ex was from salt-of-the-earth Thai peasant stock. She, and all her family, including her elderly mother, had a full set of healthy white teeth. A diet low in sugar and high in foods that require a lot of chewing seems to count for a lot. They never had any problems with wisdom teeth either. There is increasing evidence as to why. (Ignore Ehrlich. I’ve read the science from other sources – he’s a stopped clock getting his one out of two chances of being right with this one.)

      • kinnath

        I think diet matters as well.

        I’m sure the Russian diet wasn’t helpful either.

      • PieInTheSky

        vodka kills plaque

      • Mojeaux

        In my research for the WIP, I learned that medieval people’s teeth were also much healthier than thought because of low sugar diets and lots of grit in the bread from the stone milling wheel. Their bigger problem was the wearing-down of their teeth from the grit.

      • PieInTheSky

        I had braces as a kid but because my parents were careful about such things… I had classmates of equal socioeconomic level with bad teeth and no braces. Then again I as a kid was also more willing to wear the things…

      • Tres Cool

        I liked blondie, the vaguely asian Jon Bon Jovi

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Yeah, she was awesome!

    • kinnath

      It’s pretty amazing just to watch Russians out in public speaking on camera.

    • grrizzly

      One of my favorite Russian songs.

      The English translation:

      Only our grandfather Lenin was a good leader.
      All the other ones are such shit.
      All the others are enemies and such fucking assholes.
      Over the homeland, the land of our fathers, an insane snow was falling.
      I bought a “Korea” magazine–they have it good too.
      They have Comrade Kim Il-sung, they have the same as we do.
      I am sure that they have the same thing and everything is going according to plan.

      And everything is going according to plan.
      Everything is going according to plan.

      Well, when we get communism it’ll all be fucking great.
      It will come soon, we just have to wait.
      Everything will be free there, everything will be an upper.
      We’ll probably not even have to die.
      I woke up in the middle of the night and realized

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Only our grandfather Lenin was a good leader.
        All the other ones are such shit.

        In the cultural context, would the listeners understand this as snark or is it a sincere expression of praise for Lenin? Kind of like how the Red Chinese stand in opposition to pretty much everything Dr. Sun Yat-Sen stood for (and fair enough, if they weren’t fighting the Japanese, we’d have no problem identifying Sun and Chiang as the fascists they were) but still accord him the respect of “Father of the Nation” as he organized the republican revolution against autocratic monarchy.

      • grrizzly

        Actually, I would say it’s both. The song was written in the ’80s when praising Communism and the Soviet way of life was an obviously contrarian position in the Russian rock and punk scene. In the ’90s the song writer, Egor Letov, expressed his support for Bolshevik/Communist parties. So, it’s entire possible that he put a significant degree of sincerity into the lyrics. I’d say that in the ’90s it was widely perceived as snark: the lyrics are hilarious in Russian. Since his death 12 years ago, he’s widely considered a Russian cultural icon even by the people strongly opposed to socialism. Most of his songs are apolitical. He’s the kind of artist whose work I enjoy regardless of political differences.

        Until my visit to Beijing I had no idea that Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s widow played a big role in the Chinese politics after 1949 until her death. She was the (vice-)head of the Chinese parliament and was even appointed the Honorary President of the PRC on her deathbed. She was not a member of the Communist party. She was either still considered a member of the left wing of Kuomintang or “independent.” It’s interesting that some non-Soviet Communist regimes liked to prop up a non-Communist party. She was educated in Wesleyan and according to her letters from the ’50s she still thought in English decades after returning to China. Somehow I managed to visit her house in Beijing and Sun Yat-Sen’s house in Shanghai.

    • PieInTheSky

      that was deceptively edited!!

  7. leon

    No One is now at 65% in Five Thirty Eight. Not that things can’t or won’t change…. But a man can dream can’t he? A man can dream. I think a most it goes into the convention with no candidate with a majority of pledged delegates, and the unpledged ones (because of dropouts) push them over.

    • Urthona

      Yes. A brokered convention is now the most likely outcome, according to their models.

      Which would be the most amusing outcome.

      • PieInTheSky

        A brokered convention – so Hillary?

    • Mojeaux

      The little kids…

      *deer in headlights*

      • Heroic Mulatto

        Props to the actress going for it without even blinking. That’s some improv game training right there!

  8. Rebel Scum

    Germany is neat. I hear they are good at racing. Masters, even.

  9. B.P.

    Clever Germans…. repurposing a guard tower into a playground.

    • B.P.

      And the photos of the countryside look quite inviting.

  10. Not Adahn

    I knew that the Germans were into excrement, but do they really need all those lights shining into the baboon’s butt?

    • UnCivilServant

      Are those lights? I thought they were CCTV cameras.

  11. leon

    After Pete and Steyer dropping out, narrowing the field into Super Tuesday: Let us remember those who have fallen. (In order that they announced)

    Delany
    Yang
    Ojeda
    Castro
    Gilibrand
    Harris
    Buttiigieg
    Williamson
    Booker
    Inslee
    Hickenlooper
    Messam
    O’Rurke
    Gravel
    Ryan
    Swallwel
    Moulton
    Bennet
    Bullock
    De Blasio
    Sestack
    Styer
    Patrick

    Highlights from the Race:
    – State Senator Ojeda resigned his senate seat, before crawling back to ask for it back. The Republican controlled President of WV senate said no.
    – It looks like almost every Democratic Senator ran for president.
    – Delany Announced his candidacy in July 2017. The earliest ever.

    • Gender Traitor

      ::takes deep breath, begins to play “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes::

    • leon

      Damnit Klondikebar!!!! I had just made the list!

      • Gender Traitor

        ::takes deep breath, begins to play “Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead” on kazoo. Stops, decides to save it for Warren::

  12. kinnath

    Facebook tells me that Amy K-Bar is dropping out of the race.

    • robc

      Who is left? Sanders, Biden, Bloomberg, and Gabbard? Anyone else?

      • robc

        Oh yeah, Warren. Totally forgot about her.

      • R C Dean

        She’s staying in just to split the loony left vote. Maybe to preserve her viability as a VP candidate.

        I think after they rob Bernie, she will be their VP choice to try and mollify the Berniebots.

    • kinnath

      Google new says nothing. So my friends just might be wrong.

      • Juvenile Bluster

        Luckily for her campaign workers she told them over the phone. Less chance of things flying at their heads that way.

      • kinnath

        Someone, someplace is running interference for Joe The Smoocher Biden.

      • Jarflax

        Or Bloomberg is buying them out of the way and is about to release Biden’s medical files showing advanced dementia.

      • leon

        I think Bloombergs only play is to split the establishment vote so that Biden can’t secure a Majority, and hope that Bernie can’t consolidate more than the 30% that he has.

      • robc

        Sanders is going to win CA and enough other states that Biden won’t get a majority either.

      • leon

        True, but in a Two Way race, someone has to be the winner. I don’t know if Bernie can really put a coalition together that gets more than 40% of the Democratic party.

      • robc

        You are also right, if it gets down to just 2, someone probably secures enough delegates. But it aint going to 2 on Tuesday, there might not be enough left after that.

      • leon

        Yeah. I’m not sure what the DNC rules are for delegates who are pledged to candidates that have dropped out. Do they get to vote free? do the vote for the candidates who dropped? do they vote for whomever the candidates endorsed? Not sure.

      • robc

        I thought they were still pledged for 1 round, but not sure. Maybe it is whether the candidate releases them or not.

      • robc

        I read the rules on ballotpedia. They are intentionally unclear.

      • robc

        should have refreshed.

      • robc

        A vote for anyone under 15% is effectively a partial vote for everyone over 15%. Eliminated the chaff flattens out the delegate distribution.

        But it also means a dominant candidate can get a majority. I don’t see anyone dominating the rest of the way.

      • pistoffnick

        Stick a fork in her

      • Not Adahn

        Surely you mean a comb?

    • Jarflax

      A second withdrawal within 48 hours of super Tuesday? Someone is pressuring them out and things might get funny to watch here. I’m still sticking with my prediction though. If Sanders has the most delegates entering the convention he gets the nomination.

      • leon

        ^^^ This. there is no reason to drop out this close to Super Tuesday other than they have gotten a VP or cabinet place. Or the got a visit from some Clinton Associates.

    • kinnath

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-drops-out.html

      Amy Klobuchar Drops Out of Presidential Race and Plans to Endorse Biden

      Ms. Klobuchar made her decision hours before Super Tuesday. She shocked the primary field with a third-place finish in New Hampshire, but ultimately could not compete with better-funded rivals.

      VP Klobuchar it is then.

      • Sean

        Wow. They’re really going to try to drag Biden over the finish line.

        Sad!

      • Rebel Scum

        He’d be better off picking Bootyjudge.

    • Rebel Scum

      I was wondering what all the Klomotion was about.

      Supposedly she will endorse Senile Joe.

    • grrizzly

      I should go and check if my neighbor removed the “Amy for President” sign from his window.

  13. Rebel Scum

    An inconvenient study.

    Researchers from Northeastern University said on Monday that school shootings are not on the rise over the past decade and remain rare events.

    James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern, and Emma Fridel, who is currently completing her doctorate at the school, revealed this week that their research indicates school shootings remain “incredibly rare events.” Their findings, which are set to be published later this year, indicate that shooting incidents which involve students have actually declined since the 1990s.

    The research team determined that, “on average, mass murders occur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school.” They said the rate of students killed in school shootings is only a quarter of what it was in the early 1990s.

    David Rutz breaks down the most important news about the enemies of freedom, here and around the world, in this comprehensive morning newsletter.

    “There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” Fox said.

    • B.P.

      I’m sure this will be the leading story on all of the news shows.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Common sense gun safety laws work. Shootings declined after passing the AWB and Brady Bill. We need more of them.

      /forthcoming talking points

    • kinnath

      from 2019

  14. Rebel Scum

    But what difference, at this point, does it make?

    A federal judge Monday granted a request from conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch to have former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sit for a sworn deposition to answer questions about her use of a private email server to conduct government business.

    Clinton has argued that she has already answered questions about this and should not have to do so again, but D.C. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth said in his ruling that her past responses left much to be desired.

    “As extensive as the existing record is, it does not sufficiently explain Secretary Clinton’s state of mind when she decided it would be an acceptable practice to set up and use a private server to conduct State Department business,” Lamberth said.

    The judge went on to recognize that while Clinton responded to written questions in a separate case, “those responses were either incomplete, unhelpful, or cursory at best. Simply put her responses left many more questions than answers.” Lamberth said that using written questions this time “will only muddle any understanding of Secretary Clinton’s state of mind and fail to capture the full picture, this delaying the final disposition of this case even further.”

    I guess she has to run for president now.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I’m confused. What standing does JW have in this case?

      • Ozymandias

        FOIA litigation, my friends. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        How does a FOIA request result in ordering Clinton to sit for a deposition? As much as I approve of it, it seems unlikely.

      • Ozymandias

        TL/DR – FOIA: WE HAZ ALL YOUR EMAILZ.

        Under FOIA, govt officials’ work emails are subject to inspection of We, the People – since we are, ya know, paying their fucking salaries. If your emails were disappeared, then you’ve got some explaining to do when/if someone submits a FOIA request, gets the usual denial or non-response, and then files suit. (Basically, if the dept that has the emails doesn’t respond to a request within 30 days, the requestor “acquires” the right to sue. The bureaucracy never answers FOIA requests within 30 days, but not everyone sues.)

        Given the shenanigans that have gone on around Herself’s, she would be the natural, normal person to explain why some 33,000 went missing. Given that the FBI under Comey (intentionally) fucked up that investigation, JW filed a FOIA lawsuit and the FBI and State continued to try to protect Herself. Ultimately, their attempts at covering it up blew up in their faces and so now a federal judge is finally calling her on the carpet to explain why that is.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        the requestor “acquires” the right to sue

        Interesting, I did not know that.

      • Ozymandias

        That’s a backhand way of explaining it, so please don’t give that description searching inquiry.
        WRT HRC, the entire point of the outside server was to avoid FOIA. I’ve been screaming this at the top of my lungs since she first posted the “BUT COLIN POWELL DID IT!!!11!!” justification in the media. Buried right in there was the motive: Powell told her that he had avoided FOIA by selectively using outside devices, BUT (and this is in there, plain as day) if she weren’t careful that excessive use of private devices could make them subject to FOIA.
        If you can, go find the MSM’s attempted cover up by pointing at Powell. Powell tells her plainly that she’s going to be subject to FOIA using outside devices. Voila! Completely stand-alone server.

        This judge has gotten sick of being ignored, including in related suits where she answered written interrogatories and just fucked it off. The Deep State runs cover for politicians and others who are above We, the Proles, in order to insure Top Men don’t have to be bothered to answer peons. FOIA litigation done well can be a giant pain in the ass and given how State is stitll trying to cover for her (and their own gross fuckups) we’re just now getting to a point where the judge’s patience has worn thin. So now JW’s lawyers get to depose Herself and we get to see her at her absolutely bitchy worst without the FBI running cover for her.

      • leon

        Ultimately, their attempts at covering it up blew up in their faces and so now a federal judge is finally calling her on the carpet to explain why that is.

        So that she can once again act like a stupid bint who had no idea what she was doing was wrong, and then cackle the way to the bank?

      • R C Dean

        Getting deposed isn’t a good look for any candidate for office. Assuming the video of the depo is released (and I don’t know why it wouldn’t be), that could kill her “candidacy” right there.

        I wonder when the depo will be scheduled, anyway?

        And why the judge keeps eating endless rations of shit from federal agencies.

      • tarran

        What’s so pathetic is that if Clinton hadn’t been a lying, incompetent, influence peddling POS, this suit would have been concluded ages ago.

        She and her proxies keep getting caught in lies, which means that honest people no longer want to give her the benefit of the doubt.

        She was supremely incompetent, so there were a bunch of loose threads flapping in the wind just begging for this sort of lawsuit to unravel.

        She was of course, corrupt, which necessitated the crazy bathroom server to ensure that she controlled all the evidence (as opposed to the State Dept’s IT admins).

    • Florida Man

      I want to believe something will come of this, but my head tells me nothing will. There really is a ruling class protected by the deep state.

    • robc

      8 weeks to ferment, slow activing, but not a surprise considering.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We were asleep, stop bothering us”

        /Yeasties

      • robc

        Oh…sugar? Nevermind, we will get to work now.

    • PieInTheSky

      Archaeologists also say the beer found in these clay vessels would have likely been produced from several grains, such as millet, corn, sorghum and wheat. – what is corn in this context?

      • kinnath

        what is corn in this context?

        not maize.

      • Nephilium

        Corn is a word in this case meaning journalist who didn’t realize that corn (maize) wouldn’t be considered an ancient grain.

      • kinnath

        Maize is ancient and contemporary with this recipe. It’s just from the wrong continent.

      • R C Dean

        So, you’re not saying its aliens, but . . . .

      • kinnath

        Mayan

      • UnCivilServant

        Last I checked, the Mayans live in Mexico.

      • UnCivilServant

        *and some parts of central america

      • leon

        Mayans may have lived in Mexico, but if we’re going to be technical, let’s not be arbitrary about it. The Mexica were the Aztecs, not the Mayans.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, when they do arrive, they grow maize too.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh, and Leon, no need for past tense, there are still Maya in Mexico.

      • gbob

        Corn, before the discovery of the Americas, referred to any kind of grain. You often read of corn shipments in ancient Rome or in the middle ages. One of the confusing terms for English speakers studying history.

  15. Swiss Servator

    when I was reactivated in ’96-97 for President Clinton’s Balkans fracas.

    Hmm. I might have just missed you – I went through there on the way to Sarajevo.

    • PieInTheSky

      I was smuggling petrol to Serbia over the Danube*

      *I was not, in fact, involved in petrol smuggling, but it did go on

      • Swiss Servator

        I prefer to think that you were.

      • leon

        Petrol unfortunately deals with handling dead organic matter, and you could see why that is a problem for Pie….

      • Jarflax

        Wine running on the other hand…

      • Nephilium

        Well, people have started organizing beer 5k’s. I do know of at least two supported bike rides that go through Ohio wine country, most ending at ~100 miles, but having several shorter options.

        /watches the oenophiles on this site collapse in laughter

    • Animal

      I was there, I think, from late August ’96 until early February ’97.

      • Swiss Servator

        Yup, missed you 2 months.

  16. kinnath

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/i-will-shoot-you-los-angeles-das-husband-pulls-gun-on-black-lives-matters-activists

    After years of demanding Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey meet with her constituents of color, activists took the protest directly to her house and were startled when Lacey’s husband opened the door with a gun pointed at them.

    A video, shared by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and several other high-profile liberal Twitter accounts on Monday morning, shows an older black man who appears to be David Lacey, the husband of Jackie Lacey, pointing a gun and saying “I will shoot you” toward an unseen group of California activists and community members a day before California holds its Super Tuesday primary.

    “Get off of my porch!” said the man in the video circulating on Twitter. “I will shoot you, get off of my porch. I don’t care who you are, get off of my porch right now.”

    • kinnath

      Finger on the trigger.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Yeah.

        And those people have zero fear of a loaded weapon. That is downright scary.

      • Drake

        He showed remarkable restraint.

      • kinnath

        Shielded by their righteous purpose I suppose.

        Or just idiots.

        I would have been screaming “gun” and headed for cover.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Didn’t notice that before. Nice catch.

      • R C Dean

        As agitated as he was, I suspect he came very close to an accidental discharge.

        I would laugh and laugh if somebody red-flagged him.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Yeah. That could have ended very badly for someone.

    • PieInTheSky

      can they stay on the lawn?

    • R C Dean

      an unseen group of California activists and community members trespassers

      They know that those people are brothers and sisters and are unarmed.

      Mr. Lacey knew no such thing.

      • Ted S.

        Are you suggesting California’s sensible gun safety laws don’t work to keep guns out of the hands of criminal trespassers?

    • R C Dean

      Sounds pretty straightforward under standard epidemiology protocols.

    • Sean

      Makes sense to me.

    • robc

      The other possibility is that Murphy infected them at the meeting, working as some soft of double agent (agent and a half maybe?).

      • Swiss Servator

        *hides dart gun*

        But however would Murphy have been infected???

      • kinnath

        It would be wonderful for corona virus to take out a big chunk of the Iranian leadership.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        As I was reading that sentence, I was expecting it to end with ” Congress”

      • UnCivilServant

        It will take a chunk out of some part of Iran. The pilgrims’ behaviour at the shrines isn’t going to delay the spread any.

      • Pine_Tree

        This is exactly the gripe my Iranian co-worker (came over as a teen-ager) has. She thinks the shrines are filthy and that the mullah’s don’t care whether half the country dies.

      • leon

        TRUMP!!!!

      • Drake

        Also present were Sen. Menendez, Sen. Van Hollen and John Kerry. Hope he got them all – particularly John Fucking Kerry who shows up in all sorts of meetings where he has absolutely no business.

      • leon

        But he was like the Secretary of State, so he should totally get to still meet as a diplomat.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Kerry needs to be put in his place. The sitting senators, if they are meeting Iran without executive branch approval or knowledge, are treading a fine line, but Kerry is way over it.

      • leon

        What if when Trump looses the election he refuses to step down!!!!!!

        Remember when that CFPB guy tried to take over after Trump was elected because he said that the guy before him had appointed him as his successor and that Trump had no right to appoint someone in his place?

      • Liechtensteinian Servator

        Sitting Senators? I think they’re well on the correct side. Since it is the Senate’s responsibility to ratify treaties and ambassadorial appointments, communicating with foreign governments would seem almost obligatory. As for Kerry…well, why *can’t* an American citizen meet with anyone he or she chooses? Now, he may be defrauding those foreign folks as to his actual capabilities, but since his (lack of) government position is public knowledge…

      • leon

        Liechtensteinian Servator

        Careful there, thats a good way to get the Swiss to bomb your country again….

      • Liechtensteinian Servator

        Did it as a joke during the lynx (Friday I think?). And it’s technically true. If HSH Prince Hans-Adam wanted me fired, it would happen (though he’s not involved in daily operations here by a long shot).

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        I’ll bet every one of those douchebags thinks Flynn should have been charged with violating the Logan Act.

      • Ozymandias

        The Senate’s job is to ratify treaties, yes, but the Executive is charged exclusively with conducting foreign policy. Otherwise you would have Congressional members pushing for treaties, etc. Tell me the last time you remember senators independently – without being emissaries for the Pres – conducting foreign policy on behalf of the US government?

      • Liechtensteinian Servator

        I don’t think they should be *conducting* foreign policy. I think *meeting* with foreign governments isn’t out of line, however. Where do you draw the line? I’m not sure where it should be, just asking in a non-adversarial fashion.

      • R C Dean

        I think *meeting* with foreign governments isn’t out of line, however.

        For what purpose?

      • leon

        just asking in a non-adversarial fashion.

        :Narrows Gaze: How very… Swiss of you….

      • Liechtensteinian Servator

        For what purpose?

        Networking, essentially. Getting to know each other, and understand each others’ point of view. Definitely *not* conducting foreign policy, but expecting people to vote on treaties without any communication with the other signatories seems…short sighted, I suppose. And (in an addendum to my response to Ozy) I’m pretty sure Congress critters have been pushing for treaties for a while now.

      • Ozymandias

        FWIW, the Supreme Court has read the Presidential powers on conducting foreign policy pretty broadly. I don’t think it is “normal” for Senators or any Congresscritters to visit foreign heads of state without it being the usual CoDels and all of the accompanying dog and pony shows. In a sane world, I think this would be prohibited unless you want to start having various factions of the Senate and House engaged in shadow foreign policy that runs contrary to whatever POTUS is doing as official US foreign policy. Of course, we know that Obama and Hillary put all of Her own folks in at State and we’ve seen what happens when that’s allowed – you wind up with people conducting their own version of FP behind closed doors. And then it leads to a coup when the President decides to conduct foreign policy in the way he wants and that doesn’t go along with the coverup for the prior regime’s FP. See, e.g. Biden, Joseph and Biden, Hunter.

      • R C Dean

        expecting people to vote on treaties without any communication with the other signatories seems…short sighted

        Sounds like a recipe for secret side deals, misunderstandings, and bribery to me. Communication with foreign countries is what we have a State Department for, for better or worse. Throwing Senators (literally without portfolio) into the mix just doesn’t seem the least bit constructive.

        In fact, the people who are ratifying a signed, sealed, and delivered deal are probably better served by not being involved in negotiations or other communications with the other parties. They are voting on what is on the page, and side conversations can only distract, confuse, or create conflicts about what they are supposed to be voting on.

        Networking, essentially. Getting to know each other, and understand each others’ point of view.

        Harmless enough, I suppose, but I see only a remote and tangential relevance to a Senator’s Constitutional role.

      • Liechtensteinian Servator

        OK, this may be a first for the entire internet, but I think y’all have convinced me I was wrong. As I said down below, the only other objection I had has an easily arguable counterpoint as well. Thanks for the chat!

      • robc

        I got chased by a dog across Liechtenstein one day.

        Well, much less than a day, it isn’t that far.

      • pistoffnick

        A Møøse once bit my sister… No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge – her brother-in-law – an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: “The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist”, “Fillings of Passion”, “The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink”…

  17. Rebel Scum

    Allahu Akbar?

    Devout Iranian Muslims are releasing online videos showing the faithful licking and kissing shrines to show they have no fear of infection during the country’s escalating coronavirus outbreak.

    Officials have confirmed 978 cases in Iran and 54 deaths, the highest death toll of any country outside China. But religious leaders continue to reject advice from the Health Ministry to close holy sites to help stop the spread of infection.

    Instead the videos, which have reportedly emerged from Iran’s coronavirus epicentre of Qom, show Islamic devotees spreading misinformation about the virus while forcing young children to also take part.

    I don’t think that earns you virgins in the afterlife.

    • UnCivilServant

      If the virus guts the zealots, will we see the modernists take over?

    • Mojeaux

      Snakes and strychnine.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Good lord, that’s insanely stupid.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        So is the popularity of Justin Bieber, but whatcha gonna do?

    • leon

      What happened with the case against New York where the NY AG pinky promised not to prosecute people for filling up with gas, even though it is totally within the bounds of the law.

      • Raston Bot

        no news yet on NYSRPA v NYC.

    • RAHeinlein

      Kudos on the avatar!

  18. gbob

    Damn it. A twenty year record of never having to see a doctor except for catastrophic accidents is being broken today. After three weeks of sinus headaches, being continually stuffed up, and generally feeling like shit, I finally agreed to see someone. Problem is, I had no idea who I put down for a doctor. Took an hour on the phone with y insurance provider, then I found out I had to a patient of a doctor before I could go to urgent care. I can now go to urgent care tonight, but in the process I got strong armed to make an appointment with my doctor.

    They’re not magic, What are they going to do? Tel me not to smoke? Drink less? Sleep right and exercise?

    I need to start making my own antibiotics.

    • Nephilium

      My doctor wanted to put me on meds that would require me to permanently give up drinking. I laughed at him, and said that’s not going to happen. Now I’m pushing to be off the meds I’m still on.

      • Toxteth O’Grady

        Ditto condolences.

        I lucked into a cool old doctor at a doc-in-box. If you can choose one from a list, perhaps go by age? The retirement possibility is a risk, obviously.

        Neph, can you discontinue meds on your own recognizance?

      • Nephilium

        Probably, but I’ll need to check my medical insurance’s most recent documents. I’ve noticed that a couple of my previous providers had provisions in there that if you were not taking prescribed meds, coverage could be terminated. They’re low dose, and no noticeable side effects, last time I saw him he wanted to do another panel of blood tests and agreed to starting to drop the meds if I had lost weight. I had already dropped ~20 pounds at that time, and I’ve dropped more since.

    • DEG

      Sorry.

    • Gender Traitor

      …except for catastrophic accidents…

      Yikes! I’d just as soon see the doctor & skip the catastrophic accidents. ::thinks back to last week’s colonoscopy, ahead to impending mammogram:: Nope – I’d still rather not get broken.

      Hope you feel better ASAP.

      • gbob

        I just hope it’s the corona virus, so I can be done with it, and spend the rest of the spring laughing at other people’s panic.

  19. R C Dean

    Sitting Senators? I think they’re well on the correct side. Since it is the Senate’s responsibility to ratify treaties and ambassadorial appointments, communicating with foreign governments would seem almost obligatory.

    Analogizing to the business world, it would be a fucking disaster if Board members were to engage in separate talks with third parties that the company is trying to do a deal with. One channel for negotiation is absolutely critical to getting to a decent result. The role of the Senate is to ratify (or not) what is in the four corners of the treaties put in front of it; its hard to see how Senators haring off on some junket to chat with foreign pooh-bahs is a constructive exercise, given the Senate’s actual Constitutional role. If they have questions, they should be asking State or the President, not the counterparty.

    • Ozymandias

      The analogy isn’t necessary, but yes, thank you for making the point I was trying to make above with our Liechtenstein Servator.
      You can’t have various members of the Senate engaging in their own foreign policy negotiations, nor even the possibility of it. Completely undermines the Executive’s ability to engage in negotiations when Congressional factions are pursuing their own agendas. I haven’t looked, but I imagine there’s probably some case law or historical precedent, or some other regulations/laws, that specifically forbid Congress from doing that.

    • Liechtensteinian Servator

      Totally makes sense from a negotiations perspective, I agree. I’m pretty sure that senators have been doing overseas visits for a long time, but I’m having trouble finding definitive info on the matter. And I suppose that, from a purely rights-based perspective, you can argue that by taking the job, one is voluntarily opting in to a position that disallows certain activities.

  20. DEG

    Thanks Animal. I like your pictures. Heidelburg is a part of Germany I haven’t been to but would like to go to.

    • Fatty Bolger

      I remember going to Heidelberg as a kid, and at night they lit up the castle with lights to make it look like it was on fire. It was pretty cool.

  21. leon

    Every time i look at FiveThirtyEight, Bernie’s projected shortage of delegates widens. If this goes contested and brokered…. I don’t know if there is enough buckets in the world for the tears…

    • Florida Man

      *rubs palms together*

      Good. Gooooood!

  22. leon

    So with Buttigieg and Klondikebar dropping out… Why hasn’t Warren dropped? she has no chance either. Looks like she’s getting left on the curb, with Bernie not trying to get her out by offering a VP slot, and it looks like Biden has decided to go for some young blood.

    That or she turned down Bloomies Money.

    • Jarflax

      That or she turned down Bloomies Money.

      Maybe he should offer blankets and firewater.

    • grrizzly

      The DNC thinks that Warren is taking votes from Sanders. She will drop out after the Super Tuesday.

    • RAHeinlein

      Power brokers and influencers are for Warren, or at-least pretend to be. They hate Bernie, don’t like Biden, and can’t endorse Mike.

    • Nephilium

      You think Bloomberg would trust her to keep her word? And it’s not like he could just take the money back…

      • kinnath

        And it’s not like he could just take the money back…

        Indian giver?

    • AlmightyJB

      Looks like the fix is in for grabby joe.

      • leon

        In a head-turning memo Sunday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign declared that “the reality of this race” is that “no candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates” at the July Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis. — setting out in stark terms the possibility of a bruising convention that party leaders have long feared, and outlining Warren’s strategy for winning the presidential nomination there in a dramatic “final play.”

        I actually thought about that, the other day. If it looks like no candidate can get a majority, then the incentive to stay in goes up because it means your hat will be in the ring come convention day, which in turn makes it harder for anyone to consolidate a majority. Really staying in is the smart play if she believes she can get the delegates at convention. I just think she’s off the reservation if she thinks its possible.

      • Ozymandias

        I just think she’s off the reservation if she thinks its possible.

        Uhhuh. Hmmm, I see what you mean. And how.

  23. leon

    Oh geeze…. Klondikebar was polling neck and neck with Bernie in Minnesota. I think she accidentally gave it to Bernie pulling out so close to super tuesday.

    • Swiss Servator

      “I think she accidentally gave it to Bernie”

      *projectile vomits*

      Oh, wait…votes.

      • leon

        LOL. :vomits: stop it you’re killing me.

    • Jarflax

      IQ test

    • leon

      Look if you can’t trust the cops to test your illicit drugs, who can you trust?

      • Nephilium

        Gale Boetticher?

      • Not Adahn

        Poor guy. And he made such excellent coffee.

      • Toxteth O’Grady

        If they confiscate them, they were good?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Stupid is as stupid does.

  24. Sensei

    Shocking nobody – the health department of NYC is designed to shake down restaurants.

    he Terrifying Genius of Restaurant Letter Grades Why the Health Department’s decade-old initiative isn’t what it seems.

    Another brilliant aspect of the grading system is that the DOH requires at least one person with a “Food Protection Certificate” to be in the restaurant at all times. Usually called a “food handler’s card,” the city asks cooks to pay $24 to go take a test at an office on the Upper West Side. If you pass, your license is good for life. (Is the city sure that, in this age of changing climates and mutating virus pandemics, food safety best-practices are not going to need an occasional update?) Yet it was also surprising to me how few cooks had food handler cards. It seemed like I was always hovering around 10 percent of my employees.

    • Rhywun

      Well that’s depressing.

    • l0b0t

      Can confirm. Since only one card holder must be present at any given time; all of the places here in the city I’ve worked considered having a card, a fast track to manager/shift leader roles.

  25. Mojeaux

    You people are a bad influence on me. I was reading my client’s list of self-care ideas and one of them is “give yourself a daily facial.” A hygiene routine was not the first thing that came to mind.

    • Sean

      Are you saying we’re rubbing off on you?

      • Ted S.

        More like rubbing out.

    • Jarflax

      Are you editting their bookake? Or just formating it for the money shot?

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Euphemisms aside, if you have the time to do that every day, then you don’t really need any self-care and should just go get a job instead.

      • leon

        Why are you oppressing them by suggesting they get a job?

      • ChipsnSalsa

        using their hands?

      • leon

        Everyone aught be anxiously engaged in some kind of work with their hands. It keeps them productive.

    • Not Adahn

      “give yourself a daily facial.”

      So your client is a yogi?

    • R C Dean

      I went off the rails at “self-care”.

      • leon

        Me too…. Straight to the gutter….

      • UnCivilServant

        Self-care is when someone stitches their own lacerations waiting for a national health service emergency medic to get around to seeing them.

      • Not Adahn

        Oi! You got a loicense for them sutures, m8?

      • UnCivilServant

        The sad part is, the guy who said he learned to suture his own lacerations continued to argue in favor of the NHS even after that anecdote.

        I’d think that when you’ve reached the point where you have to sew yourself back together because the official services can’t treat you, some skepticism might seep in.

      • Nephilium

        Well, it used to be called self-abuse.

      • Mojeaux

        You came out on top then.

    • Toxteth O’Grady

      I think in the 20C the women’s magazines called this pampering, but obviously it’s All Different Now.

      • Mojeaux

        True.

        This is a dude who does corporate rah-rah-sis-boom-ba-you’re-awesome seminars.

      • R C Dean

        Well, at least you can do your client a solid by pointing that “facial”, at least, has some, err, alternative meanings. Can’t be too careful in the #metoo era of self-editing.

      • Mojeaux

        LOL no.

        My job is to rain on his parade not jizz all over it.