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MODERN-DAY NERO


Obama Pictures and McCain Pictures

MODERN-DAY NERO: Multitasks while California burns.

Who is that in the picture? Tell us in the Comments

picture: Time. lol caption: jpb

» Recaption This

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» 137 comments

  1. Tehshay says:

    Real American Hero.

    This Bud’s for you! *clink*

  2. froofrou says:

    Gotta love the Segue. WANT!!!!

  3. charro says:

    Well, it’s going to fall off into the ocean anyway… Who cares if it’s on fire? It’ll get doused eventually.
    Or.. are the fires god’s way of punishing CA for voting yes on prop 8? Hmmmm.

  4. no one says:

    Caption FAIL?

    • w4c0m says:

      no, Nero is right

    • Sarah says:

      Nope, Nero played the violin while Rome burned. :) Not really, but…history gets distorted sometimes!

      • lora_vine says:

        He was probably taking a dump and in those days a euphamism for dump was playing the violin…

        “where is Nero? ROme is on Fire?”
        “He’s playing the violin, if you know what I mean.”

      • Danbala says:

        Who, for certain, knows today whether he did or didn’t? If he did, the story’s better, and as the most important materia is narrativiium, I’d go for that. :o )

      • Kuromisa says:

        Or so the idiom goes. : )

      • hotsauce says:

        Except the fiddle/violin hadn’t even been invented yet, and in fact Nero wasn’t even in town when the great fire happened. As soon as he found out about it, he rushed back to town, arranged food for the refugees, and opened up his palace to them. When the are that was burned was being rebuilt, he made sure less flammable building materials were used. But his political opponents spread distortions and outright lies to make it look like he’d done a horrible job instead of a good one.

        In other words, he was swift-boated.

        • rhorho says:

          Oh noes!! Not another Librul!!!
          Welcome aboard, Hotsauce. :o )

        • thruthiness says:

          Of course you leave out the part where he blamed the Christians, burned them, crucified them and threw them to the dogs.

          Yup. Swiftboated.

          The account you quote (one of 2) was written by Tacitus who was 9 at the time and lived through the fire. The other account to survive mentions that he played his lyre while it burned. Now when you take into account that that lyre fell out of fashion and most people wouldn’t know what it is I’m sure you can agree that the violin fits in nicely as modern day substitute.

          • PortlandMark says:

            I understand it was “just coincidence” the areas burned were areas where Nero wanted to do a few urban renewal projects that had been too unpopular to accomplish before the fires. Does anyone know if there’s any truth to that story?

          • hotsauce says:

            I didn’t mention it because it isn’t part of the modern idiom. I mean, nobody says “Nero fiddled while Rome burned, then blamed the Christians because at the time they were a bunch of weirdos that made handy scapegoats” do they? And yes, he was fond of playing the lyre, and since he was away from Rome on business and didn’t know it was burning, there’s no reason for him not to have been doing so. But it sounds better to say “he played while Rome burned!” and let people think what you want them to think. Kind of like saying “I served in Vietnam with John Kerry,” and letting people believe that you knew him and served alongside him, when in fact you were simply in the same country as he was during roughly the same time period. So yes, swift-boated.

    • Sam says:

      Grasp of world history FAIL for you.

  5. ck says:

    A modern-day warrior
    Mean mean stride,
    Today’s Tom Sawyer
    Mean mean pride.

  6. LimeyG says:

    “I made a huge mistake …”

  7. this guy over here says:

    Yeah, but what else would you expect from GOB Bluth?

  8. Danbala says:

    Hey… If I was living there and had a segue, that is pretty much exactly what I would be doing (I couldn’t properly call anyone, since no one friggin’ answers when I phone ‘em).
    QQ

  9. Jack Bauer says:

    Goddamnit dad…I told you everyone would think you were a douche with your BlackBerry.

  10. BAW says:

    IMHO, we ought to have let Mexico keep California; it has been more trouble than it has been worth. Ditto Texas.

    • froofrou says:

      Speak for yourself.

      • rhorho says:

        Ditto Froo.
        -
        D@mn, that felt weird!

        • slanagat says:

          That’s right, you’re not from New England.

          New England wants you anyway.

          • rhorho says:

            Awww! What a sweet thing to say!
            So, you’ve never had a hankerin’ to don a Stetson and scoot a boot?

            • herb says:

              You never wanted to wear a peacoat and knit cap, eat a bowl of (white) clam chowder?

              • rhorho says:

                That sounds like fun. Oh, and it would be neat to see one of those cool lighthouses, too!

                • slanagat says:

                  When I was a kid my parents used to stand watch at the Coast Guard radio station at the Lynde Point (Old Saybrook inner harbor) lighthouse. Saybrook Outer was automated by that time, and at high tide the jetty had about an even chance of being underwater.

                  Lovely view from Lynde Point. The light itself is automated of course, but with the ship to shore radio chatter for company and that splendid view, those were some wonderful days.

                  • rhorho says:

                    None of my posts are appearing! At any rate, here’s a funny:
                    .
                    US Ship: Please divert your course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

                    CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

                    US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course.

                    CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course!

                    US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA*, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!!

                    CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

    • Jessi says:

      K, sure, and in this imaginary world, does Mexico also get to keep the rest of the land that Texas gave to America to pay off our debt to y’all? ‘Cause that’s a significantly larger part of America than I think most people realize. I mean, yeah, it’s not *huge*, but it does include areas or OK, KS, NM, CO and WY.

      I’ll defend CA, too, if no one else stands up for it, but I’ve had a bit to drink and will have to do it tomorrow…

      • rhorho says:

        Texas-giving-land-to-America fail.
        Somebody just got to the worm in the bottom of the tequila bottle.

        • rhorho says:

          In fairness, Jessi’s statement stands, as an oversimplification of what actually happened. Land, including the states mentioned, was ceded to the U.S., and Texas did have a $10 million debt, but:
          The annexation resolution has been the topic of some incorrect historical beliefs—chiefly, that the resolution was a treaty between sovereign states, and granted Texas the explicit right to secede from the Union. This was a right argued by some to be implicitly held by all states at the time, and until the conclusion of the Civil War.

  11. nako13 says:

    It kind of looks like Dr. Cox from ‘Scrubs’

  12. nostalgic for CA says:

    Aah, how Ive missed CA. Moved away two years ago and haven’t been back to visit in at least 6 months… Seeing this picture, however, brings it all back to me. Well-to-do folk with high tech gizmoes and gadgetry standing by, blissfully portraying helplessness, in the midst of crisis. “Someone else should be ascending from the heavenly PDA store in the sky to deliver me in MMS format from this evil that roars before, to a better, less conflicted place… perhaps Vegas!” Don’t worry, CA. We wouldn’t want you to get your hands dirty taking care of yourselves…

  13. sharon says:

    so the “masked rider” is Neil Peart?

  14. Sorsha says:

    Very clever.

    well done.

  15. eddiepscetti says:

    Qantas has been having lot’s of mechanical problems lately though. Still no crashes, but lots of flights aborted for one reason or another.

  16. slanagat says:

    Ed, I suspect that’s why they’ve got a bulletproof safety record, when they find a problem they don’t shrug and fly anyway.

  17. eddiepscetti says:

    No, that’s true. They have had some pretty serious incidents lately but they still managed to get the planes down without any injuries.

  18. P: Midget called, wants hammer back.
    S: Not gonna happen.

    P: Live bugs taste terrible
    S: Warning sign up saying not to eat mothballs.

  19. Uncle Fester says:

    It’s from the ‘don’t get mad, get even’ dept….

  20. AC says:

    What’s that? Does it spam you back? Does it do something evil if you click on her address?

  21. slanagat says:

    I’d give you very long odds indeed against the linked e-mail address actually belonging to the poster.


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