Patterico's Pontifications

11/29/2017

NBC: Matt Lauer Out, Facing Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct

Filed under: General — Dana @ 3:06 pm



[guest post by Dana]

NBC, which recently passed on Ronan Farrow’s blockbuster Harvey Weinstein scoop, announced that Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC’s “Today,” was fired as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct:

On Wednesday, NBC announced that Lauer was fired from “Today.” It was a stunning move for a co-host who was widely considered the crown jewel of the network’s news division, with a $25 million annual salary. The cause of his dismissal, according to sources, was a detailed complaint from another current NBC employee about inappropriate sexual conduct from Lauer that started on a trip at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and continued for several months.

The employee met with human resources at NBC on Monday night. In a statement, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack called this the first complaint about his behavior in over 20 years and acknowledged that it may not be the last: “We were also presented with reason to believe that this may not have been an isolated incident,” Lack said.

Lauer’s misbheavor was indeed, not just limited to the Sochi Olympics:

As the co-host of NBC’s “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.

He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they’d slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “f—, marry, or kill,” in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he’d most like to sleep with.

These accounts of Lauer’s behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time. They have asked for now to remain unnamed, fearing professional repercussions.

Because Lauer maintained a carefully constructed “good guy” public persona, coupled with being an easily recognized face, interactions were limited to employees “in his stable”:

Despite being married, Lauer was fixated on women, especially their bodies and looks, according to more than 10 accounts from current and former employees. He was known for making lewd comments verbally or over text messages. He once made a suggestive reference to a colleague’s performance in bed and compared it to how she was able to complete her job, according to witnesses to the exchange. For Lauer, work and sex were intertwined.

“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” says a former producer who knew first-hand of these encounters. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.”

And most creepily of all:

His office was in a secluded space, and he had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up. This afforded him the assurance of privacy. It allowed him to welcome female employees and initiate inappropriate contact while knowing nobody could walk in on him, according to two women who were sexually harassed by Lauer.

Apparently NBC knew, to some degree, of Lauer’s misconduct but allegedly chose to protect their $25 million per year investment:

Lauer’s conduct was not a secret among other employees at “Today,” numerous sources say. At least one of the anchors would gossip about stories she had heard, spreading them among the staff. “Management sucks there,” says a former reporter, who asked not to be identified, speaking about executives who previously worked at the show. “They protected the s— out of Matt Lauer.”

Most ironically, Lauer took Bill O’Reilly to task last year about his bad behavior, exhorting the fallen O’Reilly to “think about how intimidating” it was for women to file their complaints against the biggest star at the network:

In September, Lauer asked Fox News star anchor Bill O’Reilly if he’d ever sent lewd text messages to colleagues. “Think about those … women and what they did,” Lauer said. “They came forward and filed complaints against the biggest star at the network they worked at. Think about how intimidating that must have been. Doesn’t that tell you how strongly they felt about you?”

This, unbelievably, from one of the biggest stars at NBC, who dropped his pants and showed his penis to a female employee. In his secluded office that had a secret lock concealed under his desk to lock the door. And then actually took the employee to task for not sexually engaging with him.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

189 Responses to “NBC: Matt Lauer Out, Facing Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct”

  1. What a schmuck.

    Dana (023079)

  2. Hey Matt,

    Have you thought about moving to Alabama? Running for office?

    noel (b4d580)

  3. And garrison Keeler and DAve Sweeney And Michael oreskes. Maybe they should rename nor.

    narciso (d1f714)

  4. Sequel to New Jersey Housewives..

    Last Man Standing

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  5. At least they didn’t murder nuns.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  6. Where in the world is Matt Lauer’s brain?

    noel (b4d580)

  7. But who is going to ask Hillary the tough questions next time?

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (5e0a82)

  8. Please let David Brooks be the next perv exposed.

    mg (60b0f7)

  9. Where in the world is Matt Lauer’s brain?

    noel (b4d580) — 11/29/2017 @ 3:17 pm

    It’s in his little head… next!

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  10. Omg, it’s not just Lauer with the secret door lock:

    I know everyone is talking about this door lock button, but Matt Lauer isn’t the only per to have this button at NBC, it’s something other execs have, including women NBC executives past/present. Not condoning it, but important to note that others have it/had it, including women.

    The button lock only becomes problematic if the person with access to it is a very powerful individual and untrustworthy pig, I guess.

    Dana (023079)

  11. Although it appeared to be very sudden – Matt Lauer hosted NBC coverage of the Thanksgiving Day parade, and was scheduled to anchor coverage of the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, which they do every year, they knew about this for some time.

    Variety was researching this for two months and also the New York Times. But one woman just went public and they reacted immediately – just like so many corporations do.

    They had a number of complaints from people who did not go public, and also Matt Lauer didn’t just act, he talked uncomfortably to people, asking people about their sex lives and discussing which co-anchor(s) he would want to sleep with.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  12. Apparently, Katie Couric and “everyone in the control room — including the executive producer” at the Today Show knew firsthand of Lauer’s leering behavior:

    Matt Lauer creepily whispered to Katie Couric … “Keep bending over like that. It’s a nice view” — and it happened on set, while cameras were rolling.
    This all went down in October 2006, and it’s a little bizarre how it got out to the public. The show had gone to commercial, but in at least one city, the local affiliate stayed on NBC’s in-studio feed. Matt was seen sitting on the couch as Katie got mic’d up.
    As she leaned over in front of him to grab scripts, you clearly hear Lauer say, “Pretty sweater. Keep bending over like that. It’s a nice view.”

    The report also mentions that Couric said during an interview with Andy Cohen that Lauer “pinched her ass” alot.

    Dana (023079)

  13. Katie Couric!?!? No accounting for taste!

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  14. Yes Dana. Many of us are waiting for the other gender to drop their shoe. Some brave females gave gone public on female responsibility. So far they’ve escaped blaming victim narrative. Men should avoid taking part. No mansplantions.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  15. Who’s Matt Lauer?? Haven’t watched NBC’s ‘Today Show’ since January, 1986. How’s Bryant’s golf game and Jane’s cartoonist hubby doin’ these days.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  16. Lets all rid of the notion that these guys are some unique and great talent that can’t be replaced. The truth is that nearly all of them were given a great job with a ridiculously high salary because one producer out there decided one day that he liked their act. Simple as that.

    There are millions of talented people who can do the job if given the chance. Maybe Matt and the other guys know it. After all, what truly secure guy needs to “force” women to have sex with him?

    They had everything including fame, money and power. But, being the dumb arses that they are, they had to throw it all away. They just had to do it.

    Next!

    noel (b4d580)

  17. @12

    Every one knows about the casting couch since time began. Whether it’s Hollywood or Kansas City, power is sexually attractive and abusive. Really this feigned naivete has to stop.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  18. Lol. If power weren’t sexy how did Mnuchin snag that hotjob?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  19. now he’ll have time to go to college and get an education!

    but sweetie you needs to pay super close attention at orientation – there’s some behavioral guidelines what you need to sorta be aware of

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  20. So many of the left’s virtue signalling buffoons caught with their pants down, literally.

    NJRob (c191ed)

  21. “As the co-host of NBC’s “Today,” Matt Lauer once gave a colleague a sex toy as a present. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

    On another day, he summoned a different female employee to his office, and then dropped his pants, showing her his penis. After the employee declined to do anything, visibly shaken, he reprimanded her for not engaging in a sexual act.

    He would sometimes quiz female producers about who they’d slept with, offering to trade names. And he loved to engage in a crass quiz game with men and women in the office: “fvck, marry or kill,” in which he would identify the female co-hosts that he’d most like to sleep with.

    These accounts of Lauer’s behavior at NBC are the result of a two-month investigation by Variety, with dozens of interviews with current and former staffers. Variety has talked to three women who identified themselves as victims of sexual harassment by Lauer, and their stories have been corroborated by friends or colleagues that they told at the time. They have asked for now to remain unnamed, fearing professional repercussions.

    On Wednesday, NBC announced that Lauer was fired from “Today.” It was a stunning move for a co-host who was widely considered the crown jewel of the network’s news division, with a $25 million annual salary.”

    http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/matt-lauer-accused-sexual-harassment-multiple-women-1202625959/

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  22. Quite teh tool.

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  23. It included an explicit note about how he wanted to use it on her, which left her mortified.

    where is the note

    is it at the link?

    these ones could be like them other honey boo boos what just expect to be believed without proof

    a lot of these boo boos are big honking liars you know

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  24. @22. OTOH, looking through his ‘Rose’- colored glasses, Matt had a helluva run and apparently a lot of fun from his POV.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  25. Rumor has it the sex toy was a Sunbeam Mixmaster…

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  26. 24

    25 million buys a lot of redemption too.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  27. @25. Rumor has it the sex toy was Al Roker.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  28. Katie Couric said, five years ago, that Matt Lauer’s most annoying habit was….. get this…. “he pinched me on the ass a lot”.

    Come on now. Can you be a bigger idiot? Sexual harassment policies have been around longer than Matt’s career which WAS a long one.

    noel (b4d580)

  29. The clearest case of ‘sexual assault’ on NBC’s Today Show was when they pushed Barbara Walters into millions of living rooms. Among the most endearing memories of my late father from decades ago was him grabbing a cup of coffee on his way out the door to the office and as he passed the TV in the living room, said without missing a beat, “How they think anyone can stand looking at that woman’s ugly face so early in the morning is beyond me.”

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  30. Yes that wee a violation of the Geneva and Vienna convention,

    narciso (d1f714)

  31. “An ex-intelligence watchdog says that from the very start of the Clinton email investigation, Hillary Clinton’s campaign coordinated with the State Department and Democrats on Capitol Hill to push back against him with threats and intimidation.
    “There was personal blowback. Personal blowback to me, to my family, to my office,” General Charles McCullough III, former inspector general for the intelligence community, told Fox News’ Catherine Herridge on Monday.

    McCullough was back on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday to provide further details about Hillary and her Democrat allies’ coordinated campaign to thwart his investigation…

    “You were acting as the inspector general,” Carlson noted. “You’re supposed to have some independence here. Again, you’re a career government employee and former FBI agent — why would the Clinton campaign have anything to do with this conversation?” he asked.

    “They shouldn’t have!” McCullough answered, adding, “I’m well aware there was strategic coordination between the campaign… certain officials in the State Department, certain law firms in town, and people on Capitol Hill.”

    https://pjmedia.com/video/former-intel-ig-clinton-camp-coordinated-state-dems-push-back-email-probe/

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  32. @8. mg: NR’s Rich Lowry and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. There was a time when Chrissy virtually drooled on camera oozing platitudes to a somewhat visibly uncomfortable Peggy Noonan, among others. Viewers couldn’t help but notice. And, of course, Lowry’s wicked-hard pangs for Palin were just creepy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  33. Maybe its because I am a steaming hunk of manhood or something but I would rather slit my wrists than force someone into a sexual encounter. Matt, Charlie, Al and the rest of these guys have fame and buckets of money. Getting lucky really shouldn’t have to look this desperate.

    noel (b4d580)

  34. Actually tingles was a bit more explicit, in his sentiments toward the huntress,

    narciso (d1f714)

  35. Raw Story has some claims and some video of Matt Lauer.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  36. Link: https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/watch-matt-lauer-in-sexual-harassment-parody-video/

    I should say that it was Mark Levin who said that NBC had to know, apparently because Variety was working on this story for two months (he said) and interviewing people. Two months would take this back before the first Harvey Weinstein story. What’s going on, in that case?

    NBC I am not sure who at NBC or what executives but this was reported on the NBC Nightly News issued a statement saying that its “current management:” first heard about anything on Monday. If so, they acted too fast, although not as fast as CBS did in firing Charlie Rose.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  37. Really this feigned naivete has to stop.

    Don’t read my comment at 12 as feigning naivete. I was simply adding to the post that any number of individuals not just gossiped about Lauer’s behavior, but witnessed them first-hand. As we also did with the video.

    Dana (023079)

  38. Trump is likely to get his wish.

    Comcast Board of Directors will likely clean house in the NBC Executive Suite within 10 days.

    There seems to be pretty credible reporting that Lauer’s predatory behavior was well known to NBC brass, but he was worth so much revenue from the Today Show, they protected him from his conduct.

    My guess is they all are forced to resign before Christmas.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  39. when are come the thirty million dollar o’reilly-style settlements though Mr. shipwreck

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  40. Are the board members liable for failure of due diligence.

    narciso (d1f714)

  41. Another tree that fell in the forest but nobody heard (Geraldo Rivera)

    Here’s somebody on Twitter reporting the NBC statement:

    https://twitter.com/TomKludt/status/935991004385161216

    Tom Kludt‏
    @TomKludt

    Statement from NBC News spokesperson regarding the Variety report: “We can say unequivocally, that, prior to Monday night, current NBC News management was never made aware of any complaints about Matt Lauer’s conduct.”

    1:56 PM – 29 Nov 2017

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  42. https://twitter.com/yashar/status/936005318164844544

    Yashar Ali 🐘‏Verified account
    @yashar

    WATCH: @BetteMidler to Barbara Walters in an interview over 20 years ago. She says @GeraldoRivera and his producer shoved her into her bathroom, stuck poppers under her nose, and proceeded to grope her.

    2:53 PM – 29 Nov 2017

    The video could not be played. One comment says she says “I’m going to get in trouble” before making her statement and then says “he was unseemly” which the Twitter poster opinion is that that’s an understatement.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  43. a lot of people are being really hard on matt lauer and there’s really not a lot of proofs he ever done anything wrong

    that sort of falls under the heading of a “matt lauer problem” though more than a “me problem”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  44. I would like to see Lauer’s contract, and see if they built into it some kind of protection against sexual harassment suits a la O’Reilly or Weinstein.

    Dana (023079)

  45. 8. mg (60b0f7) — 11/29/2017 @ 3:21 pm

    Please let David Brooks be the next perv exposed.

    Would you believe…Geraldo Rivera? But that was mid-afternoon.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  46. Lol. If power weren’t sexy how did Mnuchin snag that hotjob?

    “First, choo get da money. Then, choo get da powah. Then, choo get da women.”
    – Tony Montana, Scarface

    (I remember mentioning that quote to a female friend who had never seen the movie. She said, “He’s got the order right.”)

    Dave (c37c3d)

  47. Yes and that was the worst Cuban accent till maximiliam Schell in 1990, or rod steoger in 1994

    narciso (d1f714)

  48. I was simply adding to the post that any number of individuals not just gossiped about Lauer’s behavior, but witnessed them first-hand.

    “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

    Dave (c37c3d)

  49. i’d like to see Matt Lauer’s certificate what shows he completed the sexual harassment training

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. i got mine in my email

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. NBC News was reporting it went back to 2014 and Sochi. But there are earlier reports.

    Roch Lowry? Isn’t he the person who said the accusations against Roy Moore should be believed, and repeated that about him saying he was the District Attorney of Etiwah (sic) County.

    https://nypost.com/2017/11/23/no-more-easy-escapes-for-predator-pervs/

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  52. the accusations against Mr. Moore are completely phony and ginned up Mr. Finkelman

    everybody knows it’s all a bunch of lies

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  53. @happyfeet Look at this:

    From this September in the Gadsden Times:

    http://www.gadsdentimes.com/news/20170927/cdc-etowah-county-no-1-in-stds

    CDC: Etowah County No. 1 in STDs

    </b

    Number 1 in the country.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  54. “I remember mentioning that quote to a female friend who had never seen the movie. She said, “He’s got the order right.”

    Dave

    You hang with shallow women, Condave.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  55. ugh them poopers need to learn to swipe left once in a cotton-picking while

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  56. 48. Dave (c37c3d) — 11/29/2017 @ 4:56 pm

    “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

    Trump was lying! Unless you think that ““When you’re a star, they let you do it.”

    Trump even said he was lying. he said it was:

    locker room talk

    Which means lies.

    Only it seems Trump is not comfortable with the idea he was lying:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/us/politics/trump-access-hollywood-tape.html

    Despite his public acknowledgment of the recording’s authenticity in the final days of the presidential campaign — and his hasty videotaped apology under pressure from his advisers — Mr. Trump as president-elect began raising the prospect with allies that it may not have been him on the tape after all.

    Most of Mr. Trump’s aides ignored his changing story. But in January, shortly before his inauguration, Mr. Trump told a Republican senator that he wanted to investigate the recording that had him boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.

    Boasting that wonen let him do it!

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  57. if this were Mr. Moore though all the supposed evidence would have been printed already – the dirty texts, the dick pics, the note what went with the sex toy

    it would all have already been released

    i ask you why does matt lauer get super special protection

    it makes no sense – he’s just a nasty celebritard on one of them shows where you learn how to make homemade halloween decorations out of household garbage

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  58. Just as with Eric billing, but the Murdoch boys needed to throw him over so Comcast and sky could take a morsel of newscorps

    narciso (d1f714)

  59. that’s the one whose kid killed himself cause he was so upset

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  60. mama pikachu would float an ice cube in her red sometimes, but that was in south texas where if you have a bottle of wine on the porch it could easy be 80 degrees or even more if a sunbeam get hold of it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  61. oopers wrong thread

    but not irrelevant really

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  62. CNN Producer Ousted Over Alleged Inappropriate Behavior

    CNN has fired a senior producer of Jake Tapper’s show State of the Union, over alleged inappropriate behavior.  In a statement, CNN confirmed Teddy Davis ‘is no longer with the company.”

    http://deadline.com/2017/11/cnn-producer-fired-alleged-inappropriate-behavior-1202217029/

    ‘wrap=wrap=wrap… Are you now or have you ever been a sex predator? Answer the question!!’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. teddy still has his twatter up and at em

    but he’s not really saying much lately

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  64. So if a woman gets trapped in Matt Lauer’s office she can get out with an electric ax.

    I hope callbacks are ok here.

    Pinandpuller (1d9c36)

  65. You hang with shallow women, Condave.

    She was a Ph.D. physicist, and while not particularly attractive, sort of specialized in seducing (or being seduced by – it was usually a mutual thing) powerful, older men. Broke up more than one marriage, including her own.

    Didn’t leave her very happy, in the end. She died of alcoholism about 10 years ago.

    Dave (445e97)

  66. Katie Couric said, five years ago, that Matt Lauer’s most annoying habit was….. get this…. “he pinched me on the ass a lot”.

    Come on now. Can you be a bigger idiot? Sexual harassment policies have been around longer than Matt’s career which WAS a long one.
    noel (b4d580) — 11/29/2017 @ 4:02 pm

    Chris Hansen has been around a long time. Did they ever do To Catch a Predator in NYC?

    Pinandpuller (1d9c36)

  67. I know everyone is talking about this door lock button, but Matt Lauer isn’t the only per to have this button at NBC, it’s something other execs have, including women….”

    Jennifer Aniston had one, but it was after she left NBC and became a dentist.

    harkin (92ce59)

  68. I repeat: Moral Panic. People will now relate the flimsiest of evidence so that they don’t get left holding the “I knew and I didn’t talk” bag.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  69. Please let David Brooks be the next perv exposed.

    I’m hoping it’s Sulzberger.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  70. I’ll be right back. We’re out of popcorn…

    Kevin M (752a26)

  71. Hanson is back on some show, somewhere after his little kergluggle

    narciso (d1f714)

  72. I’m hoping it’s Sulzberger.

    Put me down for Hannity.

    Dave (445e97)

  73. “How they think anyone can stand looking at that woman’s ugly face so early in the morning is beyond me.”
    DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/29/2017 @ 4:06 pm


    In a sizzling new memoir, Barbara Walters reveals she had a passionate affair with a married senator – and dishes on Star Jones’ “lies” and Rosie O’Donnell’s divalike antics.

    Walters, 78, writes in her book, “Auditions,” that the affair with former Massachusetts Sen. Edward Brooke in the 1970s almost ended both their careers.

    At the time, the twice-divorced Walters was a rising television news star and co-host of the “Today” show. When her lover, who’s now 88, told the newswoman she was the oldest woman he had ever been with, she wanted to say – but never did – “Oh yeah? Well you are the blackest man I have ever been with,” Walters writes.

    Brooke, the first black member of the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, was so in love with Walters he told his wife he wanted a divorce.

    Enraged, his wife tried to reveal the affair to the National Enquirer, Walters writes. A phone call from a worried friend reminding Walters that Brooke was up for reelection the next year and that her job could be in jeopardy persuaded Walters to call it quits.

    Pinandpuller (1d9c36)

  74. Most of Mr. Trump’s aides ignored his changing story. But in January, shortly before his inauguration, Mr. Trump told a Republican senator that he wanted to investigate the recording that had him boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.

    Boasting that wonen let him do it!
    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9) — 11/29/2017 @ 5:19 pm

    Billy Bush didn’t see Matt “Cyrano de Bergerac” Lauer in the back of the bus.

    Pinandpuller (1d9c36)

  75. They never aired that part of the video, must have made Lauer twitchy.

    The same metropolitan police that mossed the isamists

    narciso (d1f714)

  76. That were featured on the BBC but had time to handle Katie hopkins.

    narciso (d1f714)

  77. He’s quite teh tool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnpf-pZg9Ao

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  78. Put me down for Hannity.

    Dave (445e97) — 11/29/2017 @ 6:06 pm

    FIFY, you choose teh day and time.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  79. “I know everyone is talking about this door lock button, but Matt Lauer isn’t the only per to have this button at NBC, it’s something other execs have, including women….”

    Jennifer Aniston had one, but it was after she left NBC and became a dentist.

    harkin (92ce59) — 11/29/2017 @ 6:00 pm

    Hilarious.

    NJRob (b00189)

  80. @74. Dad was right, PP. Ugly woman.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  81. Good grief, that’s embarassing.

    narciso (d1f714)

  82. It’s deja vu all over again.

    Lenny (5ea732)

  83. @38. swc. Believe most recent NBC statement says ‘current’ NBC management. Any complaints filed years ago under different ownership/management structures may easily have been ignored in a different corporate climate. However, the tolerance displayed by on air talent in earlier times (Couric, for example) is curiously inexcusable, especially w/videotape of at least one incident making its rounds on the web and Couric’s own admission of ‘bottom pinching’ incidents. She could have easily derailed him years ago, but then, why wreck the gravy train. They were both milking NBC for a helluva lot of moola and ‘Today’ is a network cash cow.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  84. @88. Uncle Walter’s faux striptease was reportedly much more alluring, narciso.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  85. Re this bit:

    His office was in a secluded space, and he had a button under his desk that allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up. This afforded him the assurance of privacy.

    In the fall of 1978, when I was a second-year law student, I interviewed for a summer clerk job at Houston’s Baker Botts. During my second interview of the day, with a fairly senior partner in his corner office, we reached a moment at which he leaned forward across his desk toward me, preparing to whisper some confidential and important recruiting tidbit or such. And without looking behind him, he simultaneously reached behind him to the built-in credenza and bookshelves behind his desk chair, slapping lightly but precisely at one of two small brass buttons that protruded upwards from the credenza’s top.

    With a near-silent “whoosh,” his heavy, solid office door — some four or five feet way from us both, solid but finished with a gorgeous blond prima vera wood like the rest of the lawyers’ offices and corridors — instantly swung snugly closed.

    I wondered what was going on. It turned out that I was not being locked in, but rather (as one of the firm’s associates explained, and then demonstrated for me later that day), each of the firm’s lawyers had such a pair of buttons in their offices. One released an electromagnet that normally held upon the office door. The other brass button would cause a small indicator light outside the office door to glow red, signaling the mail room clerks and other clerical personnel that they shouldn’t enter or interrupt. The firm’s switchboard operators could also cause that indicator light to glow green, indicating to a lawyer returning to his or her office that they’d taken a phone message which needed to be retrieved and returned.

    It was a splendid and eminently practical system, and I came to enjoy it quite a bit during the six years I later worked at that firm early in my career. I’ve never seen it exactly duplicated anywhere else, but it certainly impressed me on that first day of interviews, and the firm’s lawyers knew how to use it to excellent effect to impress visitors, be they opposing counsel, clients, or others.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  86. The reasons why women, out upon in this way, don’t call the police, or complain in some other way, are difficult to put into words, but it is not because it doesn’t mean anything. People can let a lot of relatively minor – and not so minor – things slide, because of the inconvenience and a lot of other things..

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  87. (Young George W. Bush once had a summer job as one of those Baker Botts mailroom clerks, and I’ll bet he still remembers those buttons and the red indicator lights; but that was years before I got there. If I ever meet him in person, I’ll ask.)

    Beldar (fa637a)

  88. (I’ll bet Dubya does remember, and that — like probably most other people well acquainted with Baker Botts’ Houston offices from the mid-1960s onwards — those brass buttons were the first thing he thought about after hearing of Matt Lauer’s “lock ’em in” button.)

    Beldar (fa637a)

  89. Bah. Errata #91: That ought have read “an electromagnet that normally held open the office door.”

    Beldar (fa637a)

  90. “What happened in most of these cases is extortion and abuse of power. Almost all of the fields where this happened are highly oligarchic and controlled by the left. The males who rose to power in it, mostly by mouthing feminist platitudes, were, therefore, left I unchecked power over the careers of a lot of women. I come from a similar field, and I’m going to tell you I have lots of sympathy for those women. . . . And the sexual extortion in Hollywood, in news, in various kinds of showbiz happened because women gave in to it, cowered to it, and even protected the offenders. Because they wanted a career. . . . No one can victimize you unless you allow it. And allowing yourself to be victimized for power and money is not victimization, it’s greed and ambition. The continuous denunciation carnival grows tiresome, much as we on the right are watching your cannibal feast in growing fascination. The end result of it is to run men from public life as though women had no part in this system.” – Sarah Hoyt

    Interesting take and yes she starts off acknowledging she’ll be accused of victim-shaming.

    https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-moving-finger/

    harkin (92ce59)

  91. Beldar,

    In the hands of the wrong person, such a specific control of one’s environment can truly be used for evil purposes.

    Dana (023079)

  92. Oppenheim blocked farrow from the Weinstein expose, but as Dr. Malcolm put it, ‘naturs finds a way’

    narciso (d1f714)

  93. To be crystal clear, Dana, the brass button only released the electromagnet that normally held the doors open. It didn’t lock them. All anyone had to do was push, and the door would swing open, back to the electromagnet, which would hold it open again unless and until the button was again pushed.

    If the button locked the doors, then yes, that could have become problematic. But the door-closing button enhanced privacy — while also sparing one the 8-1/2 calorie expenditure needed to stand up, walk to one’s office door, and close it.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  94. 74.

    At the time, the twice-divorced Walters was a rising television news star and co-host of the “Today” show….. A phone call from a worried friend reminding Walters that Brooke was up for reelection the next year and that her job could be in jeopardy persuaded Walters to call it quits.

    Brooke was up for re-election in 1972 and 1978. Barbara Walters was not named co-host of the show until after Frank McGee’s death in 1974, and she left the show in 1976 to co-host the ABC Evening News (a pairing that did not work out well)and she spent the rest of her career at ABC.

    However this may not be a serious error – she had a prominent place on the TODAY show as the “Today Girl” and had been there in some role since the early 1960s.

    affair with former Massachusetts Sen. Edward Brooke in the 1970s…her lover, who’s now 88

    Former Senator Edward Brooke (born October 26, 1919) died at the age of 95 on January 3, 2015. He would have been 88 years old in 2007/2008. I thought Barbara Walters was born sometime around 1935, but the Wikipedia article about her says she was born on September 25, 1929, making her indeed 78, about the same 2007/8 time period. She;s now 88 years old.

    The book is called Audition not Auditions The book came out in paperback on – May 5, 2009, You can get it now in hardcover On Amazon for $1.72, or even 25¢ (plus could be about $4.00 shipping) The 25¢ is used – new will cost you $1.41. (plus shipping, if any, and sales tax, if any.)

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  95. I’m hoping it’s Sulzberger.
    Kevin M (752a26) — 11/29/2017 @ 6:03 pm

    Why do they call him Pinch?

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  96. @74. Dad was right, PP. Ugly woman.
    DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/29/2017 @ 6:41 pm

    Terrible speech impediment.

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  97. They are about as petty and spiteful as an American can be: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/11/how-hateful-are-the-democrats-this-hateful.php

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  98. If the button locked the doors, then yes, that could have become problematic. But the door-closing button enhanced privacy — while also sparing one the 8-1/2 calorie expenditure needed to stand up, walk to one’s office door, and close it.
    Beldar (fa637a) — 11/29/2017 @ 8:16 pm

    The ones you describe sound a little like fire doors. Held open until they are “triggered”.

    If the NBC doors indeed do lock they sound like hospital doors. Like in maternity wards.

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  99. The book is called Audition not Auditions The book came out in paperback on – May 5, 2009, You can get it now in hardcover On Amazon for $1.72, or even 25¢ (plus could be about $4.00 shipping) The 25¢ is used – new will cost you $1.41. (plus shipping, if any, and sales tax, if any.)
    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9) — 11/29/2017 @ 8:38 pm
    That book should have been called What the Hell Happened?

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  100. “Why do they call him Pinch?”

    Because he was a cheap, penny-pinching little prick, and the name Niggardly just wouldn’t fly.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  101. Most of us, most of the time, worked with our doors open. But if one was in a confidential meeting, or on the phone, or otherwise in a situation when one suddenly needed to cut out the possibility of outside noise and chatter, those buttons were very handy. And the “Do not disturb/message” light was very discreet but handy.

    The doors had regular keyed locks on them, but no one ever locked his or her door while in the office, and the brass buttons simply had nothing to do with locks. They door button just electrically “unlatched” the door from the magnet on the wall that was 90-degrees perpendicular to the doorway, allowing the door to swing shut normally. You could also shut it by hand, of course, just by tugging lightly enough to overcome the magnet (which was just barely strong enough to hold the door open).

    Also: The brass buttons weren’t hidden beneath someone’s desktop, but were in plain (if still discreet) view.

    It was classy, not creepy, but still a little startling, in part because the interruption 0of the electromagnet’s current made no sound at all, of course. It’s not like there was a solenoid firing off to close a lock, which would indeed seem very prison-like.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  102. What idiot figured Lauer was an irreplaceable source of revenue?

    Richard Aubrey (d7bc30)

  103. He’s Pinch because his daddy was Punch, btw, and he’s a shadow of his old man. Punch got his nickname in turn from his father, as a counterpoint to his sister Judy.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  104. Sometimes the most aggressive attackers are those who are themselves guilty.

    Blech.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  105. A hallway outside the courtroom of Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison Breaux. Holly Kassim Ahmed, an assistant Summit County prosecutor, filed a report with the sheriff’s office and sent a letter to judges and court supervisors that claimed a court employee assaulted him when she bumped into him in this hallway. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)

    Source

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  106. This piggish behavior is not limited to one particular political ideology, men being men and all. But the Left has certainly shown a propensity for it. Of that there is no doubt.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  107. True Colonel Haiku

    But just for fun you can play Democrat Bingo

    Pinandpuller (e767d3)

  108. This reminds me of the Arab Spring in 2011. One dictator after another fell. Even Qaddafi of Libya, who had been thought too big.

    Until it came to Syria…

    Bashar Assad is still in power, and it;s a foregone conclusion that any negotiation between various groups will not end with removing him.

    w Putin says the opposition must give up the idea

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  109. This reminds me of the Arab Spring in 2011.

    It reminds me a bit of what people called a “preference cascade”, except in this case it’s more like a “revulsion cascade”.

    It’s people who believed they were alone in their beliefs who suddenly find out that they are part of a much larger group. It’s human nature to not want to be an oddball. It’s human nature not to want to be a one-man revolution. It’s when you find out that most of the people around you share your views that revolutions are made.

    The once-great Glenn Reynolds connected that phenomenon to the Arab Spring, which was triggered by a Tunisian street-vendor who set himself on fire.

    This illustrates, in a mild way, the reason why totalitarian regimes collapse so suddenly. (Click here for a more complex analysis of this and related issues). Such regimes have little legitimacy, but they spend a lot of effort making sure that citizens don’t realize the extent to which their fellow-citizens dislike the regime. If the secret police and the censors are doing their job, 99% of the populace can hate the regime and be ready to revolt against it – but no revolt will occur because no one realizes that everyone else feels the same way.

    This works until something breaks the spell, and the discontented realize that their feelings are widely shared, at which point the collapse of the regime may seem very sudden to outside observers – or even to the citizens themselves.

    In this case, of course, there is no “regime”, but rather a pernicious tradition of acquiescing to grossly inappropriate behavior because one is afraid to report it. Nevertheless, there is definitely a form of tyranny involved.

    Dave (445e97)

  110. Has any major media figure ever had a more apt name than Andy Lack?

    One very good result in all of his for matty – he no longer has to go to South Korea to cover boring Winter Olympics.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  111. he no longer has to go to South Korea to cover boring Winter Olympics

    At the rate we’re going, Korea will probably be a radioactive crater by then anyway.

    Dave (445e97)

  112. Rear admiral ben burnee bro being his blackfeet tribal self.
    https://www.cartoonmovement.com/depot/cartoons/2011/04/08/smoke_signals__jan_erik_ander.jpeg

    mg (60b0f7)

  113. Ewww, that smell! Can’t you smell that smell? http://abc7.com/mysterious-odor-plagues-west-la-residents/2715642/

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  114. Remember… these people are the elites and claim to know what’s best for you …

    “The woman said Mr. Lauer asked her to unbutton her blouse, which she did. She said the anchor then stepped out from behind his desk, pulled down her pants, bent her over a chair and had intercourse with her. At some point, she said, she passed out with her pants pulled halfway down. She woke up on the floor of his office, and Mr. Lauer had his assistant take her to a nurse.

    The woman told The Times that Mr. Lauer never made an advance toward her again and never mentioned what occurred in his office. She said she did not report the episode to NBC at the time because she believed she should have done more to stop Mr. Lauer. She left the network about a year later.”

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  115. these people are silly

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  116. Remember defense exhibit ahttps://pjmedia.com/video/katie-couric-2012-matt-lauer-pinches-lot/

    narciso (d1f714)

  117. After a while, this is just mangy squirrel.

    narciso (d1f714)

  118. So where layers enabler, Oppenheimer, lack, goes it go all the way to Comcast president

    narciso (d1f714)

  119. I knew no good was going to come out of that $72 million Fox paid out to just three [hey, happyfeet, what’s another word for h**chies?]. Now every lady of few compunctions and moderate acting ability, who can plausibly make up a story about any man with deep pockets, or an employer with deep pockets, has hopes of winning the “Please, sir, don’t touch me there” lottery.

    nk (dbc370)

  120. So why did they do it, the Murdoch boys wanted to deepsix any opposition to their Comcast and sky news brundlefly act

    narciso (d1f714)

  121. During his sermon-like speech Wednesday night, Moore again dismissed the women’s claims as “false and malicious,” blaming the raft of stories about his alleged misconduct on a “conspiracy” cooked up by “Democrats pushing a liberal agenda” who have “tried unsuccessfully” to ruin his campaign.

    “When I say they who are ‘they?'” he told the clapping congregation. “They’re liberals. They don’t hold conservative values. They are the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender who want to change our culture. They are socialists who want to change our way of life and put man above God and the government is our God. They’re the Washington establishment…who don’t want to lose their power.”

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/roy-moore-just-blamed-the-lgbt-community-for-the-sexual?utm_term=.moqMMoVXg#.yy0bbl5op

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  122. yes yes false and malicious

    them Alabama boo boos are simply not credible

    they don’t pass the smell test

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  123. In recent days, thanks to White House sources who are plainly terrified, we have learned that the president* still thinks his predecessor may have been born in Kenya, still thinks millions of illegal votes cost him the popular vote in 2016, and, strangest of all, that he thinks the infamous Access Hollywood tape may have been faked. This latter business is new and bizarre but, as to birtherism and the hijacking of the ballot, his adherence to those fantastical conspiracies makes him virtually no different from most of the Republicans who voted for him. Which, by the way, is on the people in my business as much as it is on anyone else.
    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13977495/is-trump-crazy/

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  124. Why am I not surprised that a Buzzfeed writer cannot read? When you list a variety of kinds of people, you are not identifying them as all the same, not in English anyway.

    If Roy Moore said he had bacon, pancakes, and toast for breakfast, Brianna Sacks’ headline writer would say “Moore claims toast is made from pork”.

    Frederick (0997b5)

  125. there’s no such thing as the “lgbt” community

    gays and trannies are totally different (you can tell by how the gays eschew self-mutilation)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  126. Buzz feed doesn’t speak Old Testament Cotton Mather insanity. There is a communications gap .

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  127. mango squirrel

    Fusion cuisine in Alabama.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  128. hey, happyfeet, what’s another word for h**chies?

    for now they’s all honey boo boos

    we’re gonna have to work on what follows the honey boo boo “omg and them we drank a glass of wine but me i was only 18 and law of Alabama says you gotta be 19” molestation epidemic

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  129. oopers and *then* we drank a glass of wine i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  130. and seriously what’s with the chick in #122

    even on the face of it that seems a lot like a good example of someone making extremely bad life choices and then trying to expiate their shame by acting like a victim

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  131. At this point, will foreign automakers be cajoled (moreso the German ones than the Japanese ones the Japanese dont go for SJ stuff- just look at their zip-code redlining hiring practices) into scouting new sites for plants away from Alabama, to make a point. Duke lost to Edwards as much due to economic blackmail as to any great awakening.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  132. 141, if there was a tape of the incident in #122 the release of that would truly break (as in crash) the internet.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  133. “He ravished me and ravished me, then he left the room for seven hours and when he came back he did it again”

    When he came back? ***** please.

    – whoopi goldberg, commenting on Jessica Hahn’s allegations that Jim Bakker raped her

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  134. Isn’t that scene from Maggie gyenhalls ‘secretary’ performance, there needs to be a little more context or else its a parody of fifty shades

    narciso (d1f714)

  135. Maggie Gyllenhaal (sp?) is another great Cincinnati Bengal.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  136. She sort of replicated this pattern in that BBC series, which was a parody of beds earnestness

    narciso (d1f714)

  137. Anyways there is this series by an American counterpart to stross:

    https://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Seeds-Milkweed-Ian-Tregillis/dp/0765361205

    narciso (d1f714)

  138. there needs to be a little more context or else it’s a parody of fifty shades

    Mitt Romney sagely observes that context can be very unhelpful when your goal is to incite a lynch mob (like the kind what killed Joseph and Hyrum Smith).

    It’s almost the same as asking for evidence to help you evaluate someone’s allegations.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  139. Tillerson is gone…

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  140. thank jesus

    his penchant for cozying up to the PLO was so nasty

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  141. Who would’ve ever thought this leftwing rap motherfather would be a rapist!?!? #sarcasm

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/writer-jenny-lumet-russell-simmons-sexually-violated-me-guest-column-1062934

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  142. 148, thats resistance catnip, not unlike the recent Wolfensteins

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  143. how much of this reveals a deep and abiding contempt for failmerica’s laughingstock justice system, this phenomenon where we use twitter as judge and jury for sexual assault

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  144. 122. 141. I don’t understand that, either.

    I mean I can understand how he might have made her feel small and vulnerable by locking the door, and intimidated her into consent, but I don’t understand why she should have lost consciousness. Did he give her a Bill Cosby drug? She doesn’t say so. Did he choke her? Wouldn’t she know that? So she is saying that she fainted. Would she have had an extended period of unconsciousness, though?

    Unless she’s got epilepsy, she should know some more. She’s leaving something out there. Or including lies.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  145. happy, that might be all well and good, but if Cotton gets slid over to CIA, that might be a bad sign for some of Cotton’s pet legislation: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/us/politics/state-department-tillerson-pompeo-trump.html

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  146. Except this fellow is physicist, yes nuxin is president in 63, in this altverse.

    narciso (d1f714)

  147. 122. The New York Times says she was in her 40s at the time, which was about Matt Lauer’s age. He was married to a woman nine years younger than he was. She was still legally married but separated.

    Matt Lauer married his second wife (but at least third serious relationship) in 1998, but according to this woman, that apparently did not stop Matt Lauer from pursuing her. She started work in the late 1990s and he began making inappropriate comments to her.

    One time over dinner when they were traveling, he asked her whether she had ever cheated on her husband. On the way to the airport she said she felt he sat uncomfortably close to her, and when she moved away, he said: “You’re no fun.” (same trip?)

    But after whatever happened in his locked office, she says Matt Lauer never approached her or spoke of it again. This sounds like Amnon after the rape of Tamar. (II Samuel 13:15)

    She left her job about a year later, but, recently, she told her former supervisor at NBC about that, and it was reported to NBC News yesterday, and NBC News then had someone from Human Resources contacted her, and it’s all in today’s papers, without her name being printed..

    As for Matt Lauer, his wife filed for divorce in 2006, about two months before she gave birth to their third child (about age 37, he was 48) but withdrew the petition, and she’s still married to him. The papers were sealed but obtained or given to the National Enquirer in 2014. In the papers, Matt Lauer’s wife said that he was controlling over “even the smallest decisions” relating to finances, travel and decorating, (wasn’t that included in finances?) and that he was (at times) filled with “extreme rage and hostility” toward her.

    Matt Laeur is reported to have maintained or used (besides his office) a room in hotel for trysts.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  148. Mr. Cotton’s one of the few politicians what came out of the military that seems to have his head on straight, but he was never one of those “top brass” dorks and there’s a big difference between regular military and sleazy pentagon piggies like Colin Powell and virulently anti-semitic trash like H.R. McMaster

    and I bet Mr. Cotton understands this better than most

    i think he’s wasted on the senate in this narrow window we have for swamp-cleaning

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  149. 118. Dave (445e97) — 11/30/2017 @ 2:13 am

    At the rate we’re going, Korea will probably be a radioactive crater by then [the time of the Winter Olympics] anyway.

    Probably not. There may be a little more time, and I don’t think Trump wants to use nuclear weapons. As for Kim, he would use a nuclear bomb on Japan or Guam, at airports on the premise that the United States military would not want to expose its troops to an area contaminated by radioactivity. He thinks he can defeat South Korea if it is limited to forces in place.

    It won’t get that far. At the point when North Korea looks like it could have the ability to deliver and explode a nuclear weapon using a missile, the United States and South Korea will launch a joint non-nuclear attack, which they hope will destroy Kim’s military in the space of a day or two or three before Kim Jong Un can give any order to do anything like rain artillery on Seoul. There will probably be an element of communications sabotage. It will either succeed almost bloodlessly (except for the poor North Koran soldiers) or it will be a disaster, but still a limited one.

    Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations has called just the testing of missiles and act of aggression and warned that North Korea could be destroyed.

    I think they’ve got plans. and the plans are further advanced than many people think, and the reason that the threats from Mattis and Trump have not been repeated, is that they want to maintain the element of surprise should a decision be made to go ahead. Trump and his NSC have probably already decided what would trigger it. The decision is made, and only depends on what Kim Jong Un does, and and it will involve also South Korea, even with its current president. (South Korea probably joned in in part to veto any idea of the use of nuclear weapons.)

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  150. but I don’t understand why she should have lost consciousness

    It may be just one more lie that women tell to make their husbands and boyfriends feel inadequate, but many women claim, publicly, that a woman can reach such heights of orgasm that she loses consciousness.

    nk (dbc370)

  151. It may be just one more lie that women tell to make their husbands and boyfriends feel inadequate, but many women claim, publicly, that a woman can reach such heights of orgasm that she loses consciousness.

    nk, that may be their way of saying the guy is so bad a lover she slept through it.

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  152. They can be very inventive in their spite. My favorite is Selena Gomez who, when questioned on TV about Justin Bieber taking her virginity, replied: “Only the first two inches. The rest is still fresh.”

    nk (dbc370)

  153. nk, if that isnt an invitation to “those with carbon to immolate”, I dont know what is.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  154. Only Bieber-deep in that bieber?

    Colonel Haiku (63965c)

  155. @161 Sammy

    Do you remember the movies Puppet Masters and Wrath of Khan? Maybe we have super smart parasites we’ve released over NK. Or maybe parasites that respond to UHF’s. They could debilitate the army on command.

    Some folks have speculated about an EMP burst also.

    Pinandpuller (b122d5)

  156. Also die anoyhter day, they could have a rogue Korean col disguised as a British billionaire with his orbiting space mirror.

    narciso (d1f714)

  157. Fainting would not be an unusual response to a sudden change in position (like bending over a chair or desk) or extreme emotional distress. It’s called syncope or vasovagal syncope.

    DRJ (15874d)

  158. @120 Colonel Haiku

    Ethyl mercaptan is added to LP and natural gas as an odorant. It’s basically supposed to smell like a dead body. That’s why so many wasps like to build nests under a propane tank dome and it attracts flies. I suppose you could use it for a chemical attack of sorts. Or somebody at a refinery or pumping station spilled some.

    Pinandpuller (b122d5)

  159. During WWII they developed two mild chemical weapons. One smelled like rotten cabbage and the other like rank BO. The first they used in the Pacific Theater and the second the European Theater, for obvious reasons.

    Pinandpuller (b122d5)

  160. the key thing is going forward everyone needs to make a special effort not to rape each other

    every rape we prevent today can prevent a lot of heartache and confusion come 2050 when it gets reported

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  161. I suppose the German’s have less problem with “kink” than with bad sauerkraut.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  162. The only time I ever see the Today Show is if I’m in a hotel breakfast room so I was not aware of this before he cratered but Lauer actually opened an interview of Anne Hathaway with a reference to an up-skirt photo of her making the rounds on the internet….and people had no clue his character might be in the gutter?

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/matt-lauer-apos-icky-interview-120349297.html

    harkin (374706)

  163. #161:

    If they haven’t been using the last few months bringing weapons and supplies into South Korea and Japan, I’d be very surprised. Somewhere there needs to be a pile of artillery. I also wonder at the force levels in Japan.

    You can look at this several ways:

    1) It’s about NK nukes able to hit the US. If that is the only concern, containment and assured destruction might be acceptable.

    2) It’s about NK nukes being an existential threat to our allies in the region, a means of constant blackmail, and a shield behind which the NKs can be utterly pernicious. Deterrence could also work here, but it’s more precarious as an advanced NK capability would put US cities at risk in an escalation.

    3) It’s about nuclear proliferation by a country that GOT its basic capabilities as a result of a solemn promise to forswear nukes, and if this kind of bad actor can game the system and succeed, then anyone can. Starting with Iran. Not only is the issue, unabated, going to lead to 1) and 2) but the idea of dozens of nuclear powers is extremely destabilizing (and the very horror that led all but 4 of the countries on earth to sign the NNPT).

    If 3) then there is no choice and waiting even a day longer than needed is a mistake. When the day comes when they CAN put an H-bomb on Manhattan, it’s too late.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  164. @150. He’s been walking dead, fossil fueled, Exgone and Mobil for ages.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  165. Tillerson apparently had an agenda of clearing out State of the folks that drove him up the wall as a CEO. His energy has been focused on that, and not on the ongoing biz. The problem now is who will take jobs with Trump, given the utterly toxic politics involved. Anyone who joins the administration is going to be blackballed from the university and business world as the Left will have their blacklist and will be enforcing it like they did with Prop 8.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  166. @179. Only a dummy would work for a moron.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  167. @180 DCSCA

    It sounds like GHWB was more Louis DePalma than we were led to believe so don’t believe every thing you think.

    Pinandpuller (b122d5)

  168. did someone link this already

    too funnie (the tale of Princess Lindsey and the Kook Not-Kook)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  169. Only a dummy would work for a moron.

    That depends on your objectives. I’d go to work for a filthy rich moron.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  170. @181. “Bottom” line: Nardo was out of his league, too.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  171. @183. A regular Charlie McCarthy, eh- until ordered to ride piggyback on a buzz saw.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  172. If they haven’t been using the last few months bringing weapons and supplies into South Korea and Japan, I’d be very surprised.

    There has not been even a hint of that. I find it very hard to believe it could happen on a scale large enough to matter without being reported.

    I strongly suspect the South Koreans are not on-board with any military escalation. Kim’s ICBMs really do not worsen their security situation at all, unless the US seriously weighs pulling out under the threat of nuclear blackmail.

    Dave (445e97)

  173. unreadiness vis-a-vis north korea is one of torture-turd john mccain’s favorite bargaining chips when he wants to slop his sleazy pentagon piggy friends

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  174. South Korea is run by feckless versions of Jimmy carter and George Mcgovern.

    narciso (d1f714)

  175. South Korea is run by feckless versions of Jimmy carter and George Mcgovern.

    And our country is run by a feckless version of Commandant Klink…your point?

    Dave (445e97)


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