I see that boycott of Netflix for signing the Obamas is going well. https://t.co/6OkfM1iOJi
— shauna (@goldengateblond) May 25, 2018
Netflix stock hit record highs Thursday, and for a few hours it was more valuable than Disney https://t.co/VIhKXga5sb
— Variety (@Variety) May 25, 2018
Protect @terrycrews at all costs pic.twitter.com/prTjwqhhqN
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) May 25, 2018
Meanwhile…
New: Emails Roger Stone did not turn over to congressional investigators obtained by @WSJ. "Please ask Assange for any State or [Hillary Clinton] e-mail from August 10 to August 30–particularly on August 20, 2011," reads one message. https://t.co/5dbmymzfR7
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) May 24, 2018
Per Huffington Post:
… Stone has long denied any involvement with the trove of hacked Democratic National Committee emails that WikiLeaks published during the 2016 campaign. He also testified before the House Intelligence Committee last year that he only “wanted confirmation” that Assange had information about Trump’s opponent.
But according to a series of emails The Wall Street Journal reviewed for its Thursday article, Stone did more than ask for confirmation. In September 2016, he apparently badgered radio personality Randy Credico to press Assange for emails related to Clinton’s alleged role in disrupting a purported Libyan peace deal while she was secretary of state.
Credico reportedly emailed back that Stone should check the WikiLeaks website for the information he wanted, since WikiLeaks had already posted the hacked DNC emails that July. According to the Journal, Stone responded: “Why do we assume WikiLeaks has released everything they have???”…
Stone became so insistent that Credico told the Journal that he “got tired” of Stone “bothering” him. Credico said he didn’t even pass along Stone’s message to Assange, whom he had interviewed for his radio program, but still told Stone that he had.Stone tweeted during the election that he had a “back channel” to Assange, which could have meant Credico. He soon deleted the tweet.
In response to the Journal’s story, Stone sent a text message claiming that Credico and WikiLeaks had “provided nothing” to him and that his testimony before the House intelligence committee was “complete and accurate.”…
Fitting Roger Stone’s down fall will be…an email.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) May 24, 2018
If the IRS doesn’t bust him first, says CNN:
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been probing Roger Stone’s finances as it summons a series of witnesses to gather more information about one of President Donald Trump’s longtime advisers, according to people familiar with the situation.
Mueller’s team has questioned associates about Stone’s finances, including his tax returns…
The interest in Stone’s finances could be tied to Mueller’s charge of investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion, though another possibility is Mueller is pursuing something unrelated that turned up in the course of the investigation.
“The normal thing for a prosecutor in the course of your investigation is if you come across something that is itself worthy of criminal investigation, you don’t turn a blind eye to it. You investigate,” said CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldin, a former assistant to Mueller…
… Mueller’s mandate when he was first appointed specifically gives him the authority to investigate “any matters that arose or may arise” directly from the Russia probe.
So far, Mueller’s team has contacted at least eight of Stone’s current or former associates, Stone told NBC News on Sunday. He subsequently told CNN “they are all young people who have no knowledge about my personal, political or business activities.”…
Low-level coffee boys, every one!… I drink a lot of coffee, okay?!?
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
Good morning to you all, and a happy Friday evening to all of us down here in Oz
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
And if Netflix/Amazon continue to do well, I find myself wondering if a documentary series on the Manafort/Stone/Atwater partnership that follows them through the Young Republicans, Watergate, the Reagan conventions, all the way up to however this ends might be appealing to them.
Mary G
Reposting from below:
**Everyone who likes Penzey’s spices, they are doing a giveaway of your choice of one 1/4 cup jar, one 1/2 cup jar, and a 3/4 bag of their top 20 spices free. Ends today at 1 pm EDT/10 am PST.
It’s in honor of immigrants and there is the usual lovely email:
There’s a lot more, all good.
I am also fighting insomnia and will go back to bed again. If you follow Twitter, the hashtag #HomeToVote about Irish men and women flying in from all corners of the globe to vote to give women the right to choose made me weepy, but in a good way. Almost all are voting yes, but a few are against, but without the nastiness we get here, at least in the ones I read.
Mary G
@Comrade Nimrod Humperdink: It’s called “Get Me Roger Stone” and it’s on Netflix now. Good summary of Stone and Manafort’s partnering in dirty tricks all the way back to their college days. Really good.
Of course, hoping for part two, The Prison Years.
OzarkHillbilly
Tesla that crashed in Autopilot mode sped up before hitting truck – police
When is somebody gonna sue the fuck out of Tesla? The very idea that somebody would engage the autopilot and then “stay alert, keep their hands on the wheel and maintain control of their vehicle at all times” is ludicrous on it’s face. Human nature demands that when one does not have to be engaged in the act of driving, one’s mind (and eyes, hands, etc) will wander.
Baud
We’re going to need a bigger Super Max.
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
@Mary G: ha, well hell, might have to look into that… might not be on the Aussie version. The selection can be more limited here
NotMax
DVR alert!
TV premiere this Sunday, May 27, on MeTV of the documentary Wait for Your Laugh, all about the late Rose Marie. promo
May have to check your local listing for time.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: How do you maintain control of the vehicle at the same time you’re blowing up the autopilot??? Makes no sense.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: When you’re smoking the obligatory “after” cigarette?
MattF
Stone was, um… lying? Caught lying, I should say.
Baud
This is something that might finally get Republicans interested in climate change.
WaPo
Mary G
@Comrade Nimrod Humperdink: Hope you can. Some apathetic friends of mine watched it and are all fired up for the midterm elections.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Proof that to be white, is to be persecuted.
p.a.
@Baud: If they’re
vegetariansherbivores the Rethugs won’t care: obviously lieberal fauna.rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
I know. The entire premise is ridiculous??
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
rikyrah
Russiagate Primer
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/999818348136423425?s=20
rikyrah
ICYMI
ICE asked for permission to destroy records. We all know why??
https://twitter.com/chainfree2b/status/999794498623356928?s=20
rikyrah
Joy nails it. The GOP voter doesn’t give a shyt about economic anxiety.
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/999874299338117120?s=20
rikyrah
Police have killed 378 Black people since Kaep first took his knee stance
https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/999811518849015808?s=20
rikyrah
Bet she turns White now?
https://twitter.com/lovebscott/status/999784004948713473?s=20
Lapassionara
@rikyrah: This was a chilling revelation. These people need to be arrested, tried, and put in prison.
Thank you, Rikyrah, and good morning, everyone. I wonder what fresh hell awaits us.
gene108
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of starting dialysis. Not as bad as I thought it would be, so there is that.
Man, wish I had put in for taking the day off. Beautiful day, with not much happening in the office.
tobie
Good morning, Jackals! I’m never up this early but am trying to get on European time. Leaving Sunday for 6 weeks. I want to a country where the entire criminal cabal known as the GOP has been indicted.
rikyrah
THREAD
Remember that they have already lost 1500 children?
This is now the United States of America ‘s official POLICY
https://twitter.com/KeeganNYC/status/999781072417177600?s=20
Comrade Nimrod Humperdink
@rikyrah: Ah, hahahahahaha, 15 years for welfare fraud AFTER pretending to be black and running the local NAACP. I miss you Spokane!
Baud
http://www.governing.com/government-quotes/gov-art-acevedo.html
OzarkHillbilly
Predictable:
Amazon’s explanation?
Makes perfect sense to me.
Nope, nothing to see here. Move along folks.
rikyrah
John Legend explains the bail system
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/999423915452706817?s=20
Citizen Alan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Personally, I have never believed that driverless vehicles would truly take off because I don’t think the early adopters could survive the inevitable products liability suits. Unless, of course, Congress grants them some sort of immunity like they did the gun manufacturers.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Never ever will I own one of those devices??
Feathers
@OzarkHillbilly: I have an Echo, but I live alone, so no conversations to record. I also forbade it my contacts, set it up at my miles away, and it still thinks it is there. At least that is where it gives the weather forecast for.
It is basically a voice activated jukebox for me. I just cannot imagine using it as a companion, as so many do, despite living alone.
OzarkHillbilly
@Citizen Alan: In a perfect world I would snap one up in a New York second. To be freed of the hassle of driving and not have to worry about accidents? What’s not to like? But it ain’t a perfect world and Tesla’s weaseling (matched by Uber’s) only highlights that fact.
rikyrah
Yes, LarryO, Dolt45 is LYING
https://youtu.be/_dUE75u4t8E
rikyrah
Maddow explores the many Mueller investigative threads
https://youtu.be/6awR-bmHmeQ
Baud
Lindsey Graham was just trying to sell war with North Korea on Today show. I don’t think Savannah Guthrie was buying it.
debbie
How will WSJ’s “obtaining” these emails not imperil the prosecution of Stone?
Baud
@debbie: How?
Bruce K
Posted my absentee ballot with Hellenic Post today (NY12, Dem primary), and I found myself wondering on the way to and then from the post office: will this matter? Will this make a difference in the face of such monumental evil?
Aside from the news about ICE ripping children from their parents and then fbeeping LOSING them, about the Korea fiasco, about all the monstrosities going down every – goddamned – day, I ended up in a Twitter argument with someone who argued that there’s no point in taking down Twitler because Pence would be even worse. I was all “uh, what about the real possibility of T bumbling his way into a nuclear war?”, and the response was that he’d rather die in a nuclear war than live in the sort of theocracy he’s afraid Pence and company will install. My counter-argument was that a theocratic dictatorship can at least be overthrown, but the answer was better dead than Pence, and nothing I could say would convince him otherwise.
So, yeah, I’ve been stewing over that choice. The Handmaid’s Tale versus On the Beach. What the hell kind of choice is that?
debbie
@rikyrah:
I wonder if the Jets co-owner’s promise to repay players for any fines will have an impact on other teams.
tobie
@OzarkHillbilly: This skit on Alexa never gets old. Uh-huh.
Ken
@Feathers:
Do you go in for the long, ranting monologues? I’m more of a constant-muttering-under-my-breath guy myself.
Either way, add an Alexa and you’ve got a Black Mirror episode.
rikyrah
@Bruce K:
False choice. Will never allow anyone to give me that choice
debbie
@Baud:
It would be better if they could get Alex Jones to shut up.
Ken
@Baud: During your inaugural address, please announce that you’ve ordered that Lindsey Graham and John Bolton be parachuted into North Korea on a secret mission to change the regime.
debbie
@Baud:
Poisoning the jury pool? Claiming he can’t get a fair trial?
Baud
@Ken: When I’m president, they will prefer NK to the United States.
@debbie: He’s not well known enough to taint the jury pool.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Today show is about to cover this story.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Some of these people really need to rot in jail for a long time. That was our big mistake after Watergate. Too few really high people went to jail. Same with Bush the Younger’s administration. I get it. “Not dwelling on the past,” and “looking forward” are good things. We don’t want to live in or obsess over the past, and we do want to get on with our lives. But that only goes so far. When somebody kills somebody, we don’t say, “Well, that’s too bad, but let’s not dwell on the past; let’s get on with life.” We prosecute the killer. We need to prosecute these people. People in power, and Republicans most of all, need to learn that they have to follow the law, too.
debbie
@Baud:
That is where Trump and his Big Mouth steps up. Stone will be the GOP’s next martyr.
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: My sister and BIL have these listening devices in their home, and the devices are obviously, y’know, listening all the time. That’s what they are designed and built to do. They get your data, send it out, and correlate it with data Amazon already has about you in the cloud. Bear in mind that Amazon just happens to be the biggest cloud service provider out there.
And, oh, also– Amazon is lying. Big surprise.
Sheila in NC
Except I heard her say something along the lines of, “of course, we could just drop a massive bomb on NK and take care of it that way.” I was appalled. No mention of Seoul’s proximity, killing millions of people, etc. Our media people are SO BAD.
I turned it off after that.
MattF
@debbie: More like complaining that he will get a fair trial.
Baud
@debbie: Trump is going to be worried about Trump. If they could prosecute a famous person like Cosby, they can prosecute Roger Stone.
Immanentize
@debbie:
Tainted jury pool claims almost never work. There are always people (in this case millions) who never heard the news at all. Then the standard is simply, “if you heard about this can you set it aside and be fair?”. Also, it will be part of the evidence (I assume) so the jury will hear it eventually anyhoo. The only issue is whether you as a juror can keep an open mind during the whole of the trial until deliberations begin. If you say “yes” to that, you are good to go.
Baud
@MattF:
“It’s unfair how bad the evidence makes me look.”
Baud
@MattF:
Cloud services are sold to enterprises. I would be surprised if those agreements allow data mining.
Immanentize
@Baud: At some level, regardless of pitcomes, I am so glad fortunes are already being spent by and on behalf of these weasels.
In Federal prosecutions — you lie, you get caught, you get prosecuted for lying. Roger stone, come on down!
debbie
@Immanentize:
You’re trusting that saying “yes” will be saying it honestly. I don’t assume that with any Trumpster. You don’t think the WWC will lie to protect their leader?
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie:
Suits me. Can I drive the spikes?
Immanentize
@Baud:
Under evidence rules, testimony or other evidence can be excluded if “its robative value is significantly outweighed by it’s prejudicial value.” Students in practice simulations always say, “Objection, prejudicial.” And I always say if I am acting as judge, “It sure is prejudicial and is likely to send your client to prison given how probative it is. Overruled.”
Amir Khalid
I have discovered a wee issue with Sister: the 22nd fret is slightly high under the high E string. The B on the 19th fret gets choked out, while the 20th and 21st frets both give me a D instead of a C and a C# respectively. I can fix it myself, but only at the next string change, sometime in July. Otherwise she and The Girl are doing splendidly.
In Malaysian news, Najib’s party UMNO has claimed ownership of the millions and millions in cash seized from his residences by the police. Presumably this is to keep him from facing corruption charges over all that Vitamin M, but I see a problem or two: (1) proving they own it, which is not easy with cash, and (2) explaining (2a) how they came by it legally and (2b) why Najib was keeping it at his house.
What does the future hold for Najib’s coalition Barisan Nasional? A world of hurt, according to this analysis in Malaysian Digest.
You will not be surprised to learn that Russia has again denied any responsibility in the shootdown of MH17 despite the Joint Investigation Team’s latest finding. (WaPo link.)
MattF
@Immanentize: Innocent until proven guilty, guilty, guilty.
Immanentize
@debbie: I never assume that saying you can be fair is an honest statement. But now you are suggesting the opposite — that people will purposely lie to get on a jury in order to find Stone not guilty? That is a hypothetical which is years away and is a risk I would certainly accept if it means Roger Stone is going to trial. The man’s a dandy and a coward. He will flip or die before going to trial.
eric
@Immanentize: Posner (I think) has a similar line about “self serving” affidavits. OF course they are.
Princess
This story about ICE losing 1,500 children, some of them ending up with human traffickers (no doubt because they are letting anyone “foster” who asks) is chilling. This is who we are as a country now. I feel sick.
Immanentize
@eric: exactly. Why write one if it isn’t self-serving?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m getting a simplisafe security system today. Our previously mellow block has seen two groups of “tweakers (I’d never that before last week)” so I figured I’d step up.
danielx
@OzarkHillbilly:
Do. Not. Want.
SFAW
@Feathers:
Me too.
Also, Alexa can’t hear the voices in my head. Fortunately.
Matt McIrvin
@Bruce K: My argument there is that in policy terms Pence may be as bad as or worse than Trump, but a Pence who gets into office because Trump was removed is likely a politically wounded President himself, without Trump’s weird asshole charisma or TV celebrity status or the ability to swing the national conversation that Trump has. He’d initially be far more popular than Trump because people would see him as Generic Republican, but that would be short-lived. Things would hurt him that leave Trump unscathed. He’d be the Ford or the George H. W. Bush, but without as much competence as either of them.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin: Agree.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Lots of high level people(Chief of Staff, Appointments Secretary, White House Counsel, Campaign Manager(and former AG)…) went to jail in Watergate, about the only one who didn’t was Nixon.
Kay
This reminds me of when Kushner told one of Chris Christie’s thugs that creating a traffic jam was “badass”:
This is what they do at immigration meetings in the Trump Administration. Trump says nasty, mean-spirited things and the low quality hires all giggle.
Coddled, pampered, soft people who punch down because that makes them feel like manly-men.
Immanentize
@Kay: It’s just locker room talk…. Hitler’s locker room.
Alain the site fixer
@raven: I’ll be getting one later this year. Currently have 2008-era ADT system that requires phone line so, with paid service, I have to pay approx $100 a month. SimpliSafe’s setup will cost me much less as it uses cell signal for calls.
That said, I installed a Ring video doorbell a year ago, and it’s pretty sweet. I do like being able to talk to whomever is at the door no matter where I am. More than once, I’ve been running late and can tell the repair person that I’m just a few blocks away and to please wait.
debbie
@Immanentize:
Ha! I admit to being very skeptical about this. Good thing I never aspired to attorneyhood!
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: We have a “camp” of…. Lower reputations about 4 1/2 miles away. It is one of the worst 1/2 acres I’ve ever seen. Started out with one mobile home and a barn. The barn burned down and the fire spread to the mh. Place was abandoned for over a year when in less than 2 weeks it was repopulated with 3 dilapidated mh’s, the original mh was chopped up and 2/3 hauled off, a little camper was brought in and a pop-up too. The only electric was extension cords run from the service pole and septic is non existent. Not sure how they are supplying water to anything. Oh yeah, the remains of the barn were never cleaned up. Over the 1st 6 months the pop-up up and left, 2 of the mobile homes and 3 cars were immolated in fires and all of this was just added to the ever growing piles of trash and rubbish. And people still live there.
Now I can’t say with certainty that they are tweakers, but all the signs are there. I just thank dog I am 4 1/2 miles away and tweakers are generally lazy and not very smart. I really feel for those who have to live next door to that shit but this is Washington Co and there probably is nothing they can do about it.
rikyrah
This is who they are ?
https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/999983684513083392?s=19
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Baud: There’s a melanin difference between Cosby and Stone. However, hearing that Harvey Weinstein is facing prosecution means that at least rich white Democrats can be prosecuted.
We’ll see if rich white Republican dudes fall under that bar.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
Wait…
He just had piles of cash sitting in his home?
For real?
Alain the site fixer
@Alain the site fixer: oh and no Alexa or a google at home stuff for me. I have hey Siri turned on for my watch but that’s it. One critical flaw in these always-on, listening devices is that sub-vocal/inaudible sounds can be crafted to trigger these devices, not to mention hacking or intentional surveillance by people with ill intentions.
A friend works for a intel/military contractor and they got those Echo devices and smart bulbs, etc for Christmas. I am still surprised that he lets those devices in his sanctum.
Kay
@Immanentize:
Amusing that the low quality hires are still leaking. Tattling. Each loathes the other members of the Trump Administration. They probably especially resent Kushner because he’s the nepotism hire.
Mean-spirited, nasty people who are miserable and project that onto everyone else. It’s a nightmare of a workplace and they fit right in.
rikyrah
@Kay:
You are too mild mannered about them here. Their policies are anything but giggle fests. Their policies are an abomination ?
Jager
@OzarkHillbilly: The system in the new Cadillac, is called “hands free”. It, from what I’ve read, works great for highway driving. It has a head tracking device that alerts you if you’re not paying attention, their slug line is “hands free, eyes on the road”. One of the tests I read, a writer drove from NYC to Charlotte and the car drove its self about 75% of the time on the highway. It’s pretty slick, but it’s not an “autopilot”,Tesla fucked up calling their system that. http://www.cadillac.com/world-of-cadillac/innovation/super-cruise
Brachiator
@OzarkHillbilly:
How do you feel about “cruise control?”
I see attempts at improving auto-pilot as inevitable, and largely positive.
Related, I’m a bit more cautious about an always listening Alexa or other device, but also see this as inevitable. Hell, I use voice commands with my phone, and it’s usually on all the time.
We assumed a voice activated command model in the past. Device does nothing until we tell it. But improvements in automation and AI make a more “anticipatory” model very workable and more reliable.
Mike J
@Baud: Did you see that Trumps new has a head has had a change of heart, says he now accepts science and believes climate change is real?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m not sure what to think. The people across the street are hanging all over the porch with kids and “granny” who lives there. I’ve given one of them a couple of jumps but otherwise am just trying to stay away. My next door neighbor and tenant had them wake her up to ask for a jump, bummed smokes and then came back later for more cigs and she ran him off! There is nothing I’ve seen that is illegal and I hate judging people by their SES but damn!
OzarkHillbilly
@Jager: I’ll pass. I like the idea of an actual fully functioning autopilot but anything that enables my ADD mind to wander from the task at hand by taking over *some* functions should not be pursued.
** I make a hypocritical exception for cruise control. I can set the speed to the speed limit and not worry about cops, but I still have my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road..
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: we’re gonna have a real. . . good time!
Kay
There are about 17 different versions of the Trump Legal Defense Team meeting. I have no idea which one is true.
Now we can’t even get a factual recitation of actual events as they happen or immediately after they happen. Sanders alone presented three different versions. We’re going to require videotape or “who was there?” will remain an open question, subject to interpretation and revisions.
Live events can no longer be accurately described. Instead you have to sift thru a pack of lies – you throw your hands up- “I have no idea who was at that meeting” – which is probably the point.
To get the truth out of these people all exchanges with them have to be conducted like a deposition. Simple things “who was at the meeting?” can be and are lied about. You need a record or they’ll lie about the lie they told the day before.
OzarkHillbilly
@Brachiator: See me @OzarkHillbilly:
lowtechcyclist
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Um, everyone but Nixon went to prison. (Thanks for nothing, Gerald Ford.) Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Colson, Magruder, Dean, Strachan, Liddy, Hunt, McCord – all these guys went to prison. Other than Nixon, what Watergate principal didn’t go to jail?
The Iran-Contra crowd also should have gone to prison, but GHW Bush (the ‘good’ Bush!) pardoned them all on his way out the door, which is why so many of them are still active in public life. And of course, Shrubby’s crew should have been investigated to see who broke our laws against torture in particular. Not only should Gina Haspel have gone to prison, but everyone in the chain of command going up from her should have too, all the way to Cheney if not Bush himself.
Baud
@Brachiator:
All I want is a blog that will remember my nym.
Baud
@Kay:
None of them, Katie.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly:
when you’re going to the Roadhouse?
Brachiator
News story claims that China convinced North Korea to take a hard line, which led to Trump pulling out. I don’t know that I entirely buy this, since North Korea has indicated that they still would want a summit.
Also, Trump clumsily and foolishly insulted South Korea with this summit fiasco.
I gotta think that a fully staffed State Department, with a competent president relying on expert advice, would have avoided problems instead of creating them.
Story link
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/north-korea-summit-crumbled-after-china-lined-against-it-n877341
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
Damn straight. Atrios keeps pounding the table on this one, and he’s absolutely right to do so. If the car can’t drive itself without your help, then you need to be driving. There’s no good in-between.
Baud
@Brachiator:
What part of OMG EMAILS! is confusing to you?
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: @rikyrah: Me neither. Never. Not even for free.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Trump appoints an immigration hard liner for a key post.
This shit needs to be blocked.
Link:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/24/politics/assistant-secretary-of-state-ronald-mortensen/index.html
Patricia Kayden
Glad to hear about Netflix. Just subscribed based on the Obamas deal. Looking forward to watching whatever they put out. Also really loved Letterman’s interview of President Obama on his new show. Very touching (and Rep Lewis makes an inspirational appearance).
So much for Rightwing boycotts.
JPL
@Kay: God help us all. Immanentize was right. @Immanentize:
Immanentize
@Kay:
Many of these attorneys –definitely McGahn and maybe Flood, but perhaps not — do not represent Trump but the Government in some way. McGahn you s Whitehouse counsel, sort of a policy attorney for the executive branch. Like a corporate counsel — reports to the President but does not represent him. And I think Flood is not Trump’s prsonal attorney,. But is attorney for the office of the President (the presidency himself). Although I have not seen any push yet by Mueller, I am not sure either of these two can call the President a client -+ therefore no attorney/client privilege? This came up during Whitewater I think.
Kay
What did the DOJ and the FBI get in return for giving Trump everything he demanded? The two men got to keep their jobs?
What the point of keeping the job if keeping it entails discrediting all the work you’re supposed to be doing?
They’re giving away the thing they’re supposedly guarding, and insisting they have to so they can remain in place. They’re guarding nothing, defending nothing.
Jager
@OzarkHillbilly: I like to drive, but I do like cruise control on the highway. Our Grand Cherokee has cruise that was developed when Mercedes and Chrysler were married (short and stormy as it was) it’s active in the sense that you set it at 70 and set the distance you want to maintain behind the cars ahead of you. If the car in front is going 65, our car slows down and maintains the spacing, pull into the passing lane and it speeds back up. The system will slow you down when the traffic slows and can stop the car if the car in front of you stops. Lights flash and buzzers sound. It’s saved my ass once when a car ahead of me did a panic stop from 60 mph. The automated cruise is great when I put the GC in tow/haul mode when we hook up our little Airstream. On the highway all I have to do is steer, on down hills, it maintains the speed, applies the brakes, etc. The tow/haul system adjusts the shift points and engine parameters according to the load…hell of a system
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I know the type, had many such neighbors during my time in the city. They may not be tweakers so much as moochers. Once they find a soft touch they’ll push until they get pushed back. Usually pretty harmless. I always kept my distance, polite without being friendly.
Tweakers are a species of their own, usually a combination of bad hygiene, bad teeth, questionable health, and unpredictable behaviors tending to outbursts of violence. If shit starts disappearing from around the neighborhood you’ll know where it’s going.
Kathleen
@Baud: Cue series of NYT interviews determining if they voted for Trump
Brachiator
@Baud:
Whenever I write “competent president” ya gotta read that as “goddammit, Hillary Clinton should have been elected in an undisputable landslide, screw them goddam emails!!”
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Did you even see Winter’s Bone?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m on the case!
Brachiator
@OzarkHillbilly:
No. It just says that auto-pilot is not for you, not that everyone else should go without it.
People can get pretty lazy even with cruise control. And refinements keep coming to this system.
Wait. Oh shit. Maybe we need to get rid of cruise control, too.
Link
https://amp.cnn.com/money/2018/05/25/autos/fca-recall-cruise-control/index.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Oh yeah, we own it. Last Xmas I found the book on the SALE table at a Barnes and Noble and snatched that baby up. It is of course better than the movie (the movie tracks the book very closely but there are differences). Woodrell is intimately familiar with the people of the hills and hollers and their language. He can really weave a tale and his dialogue is so true I feel like I am at home. I am very fond of him.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: There’s some areas of north Georgia that are similar and very tribal.
raven
@Brachiator: On my first honeymoon in 71 we picked up a Fiat 124 sports coupe in LA and drive it back to Illinois for a friend. It didn’t have cruise but it had a manual throttle pull on the dash that you could twist and set. This was in the days of no speed limit across Nevada and Utah and we hauled ass!
OzarkHillbilly
@Brachiator:
It says Tesla is going to get sued for millions when the inevitable happens. There’s no 2nd amendment for vehicles and no NRA for car manufacturers.
Peale
@rikyrah: be careful with that 1,500 story. I think it’s a trap. Basically, these kids aren’t disappearing. They are hiding. The alternative to releasing them is keeping them locked up. Once they are back in overcrowded ICE centers like they were in 2014, what then? You think ice will build less crowded nice centers this time? Hahaha!
You think of them as lost and are upset. Trump thinks of them as escaped gang members. Trump is in charge. I wouldn’t give him an excuse to hold kids in detention “for their own good”
Kay
Comey and Rosenstein and Wray made this great deal. They exchanged the inventory of the liquor store for a promise not to burn down the liquor store and keep them on as clerks.
Now they’re standing behind the counter, sign is flipped to “open”, but there’s nothing to sell.
chris
Woke up to this.
For those who don’t know, Doug (Rob’s brother!) Ford, may soon become the premier (think governor) of Ontario. Canada’s richest and most populous province will have its very Trumpish troglodyte in charge and there’s nothing I can do about it because I don’t live there. Going outside now to hit pieces of wood with with a large sharp implement.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Who are these people who put on their auto-pilot and just trust, though? There are ordinary mechanical failures in cars all the time. They trust the super-secret and incredibly complex operating system more than something like a tire? I buy used cars and the one I have now has the tire inflation alert system. My mechanic reset it because it kept saying the tires were underinflated, which is demonstrably not true. Just override that nonsense without a second thought. I sort of loved it. Go count the safety mechanisms that people disable on power tools. I bet more are disabled than are operating. “I tie that off because it keeps quitting”
JWR
@Amir Khalid:
Have you ever been to Stewart Macdonald? (StewMac for short.) They’ve got everything under the sun for guitar fixin’-uppin’. I gather from your description that you might want to take a look at their Leveling site, and also their Shaping and Crowning page. Be careful, do it by the book and you’ll be a very happy camper!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay: It takes less time to replenish the inventory than it does to rebuild the store.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
Oh yes. Imagine having US$29mil or so sitting in a stack of moving boxes in your spare bedroom. I can’t imagine a dumber way to hide money.
TerryC
@OzarkHillbilly: I worry now about even cruise control. Had a friend die two years ago when his car went heaX-on into a big roadside tree really fast.
I used to use cruise control all the time but now I do it only on a fast highway. If I have a heart attack and my foot comes off the grass I want the car to slow down not keep on going.
Gin & Tonic
@raven:
I’ll bet by the winter of 72 you could see daylight through the rust holes.
Just One More Canuck
@chris: The NDP (social democrats) is making significant headway in the polls recently – a poll was released this morning that shows them with a 14 point lead – more significantly, it was a 21 point swing from the previous poll by the same firm (Forum Research). It remains to be seen how that translates into seats, but Ford and/or his candidates keep putting their feet in their mouhts
mad citizen
At home on a conference call, get out of the shower, wife calls and says there is an active shooter situation at the local middle school. Actually the suburb up from ours in Noblesville Indiana. Hop on BJ to see if it’s national news, thread, etc. How bad is it? Well in the scheme of things, hopefully no one will die–two in cricitcal condition, suspect in custody. Just another day in our schools in America. Doesn’t even make the Google News front page.
http://wgntv.com/2018/05/25/active-shooter-situation-at-indiana-middle-school-suspect-in-custody-report/
Cermet
@gene108: Glad all is going well on that front.
@tobie: I live English time here on the east coast of the u s of a.
The Other Chuck
@lowtechcyclist:
So we should not have collision detection or lane detection, being half-measures and all at which humans are always infinitely better?
Or maybe Tesla just shouldn’t have called it “autopilot”?
Citizen Alan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Honestly, given yesterday’s SCOTUS opinion by Neil “I’m not even a pimple on Merrick Garlands Ass” Gorsuch, I assume Tesla can just stick an arbitration clause and an indemnity clause into every sale contract and completely escape any liability.
chopper
@Brachiator:
i dunno if kim actually wants a summit or not, but he sure as hell is interested in looking like the adult in the room. which he accomplished here. his whole point with this is to raise his international standing and its worked.
Chyron HR
@chris:
Ha ha, no, somebody needs to explain to these worry-warts that ONLY Hillary Clinton could lose to a semi-literate nazi thug. There is no surge of white nationalist no-nothing sentiment threatening western civilization, so let’s all continue to vote our purity at any cost.
schrodingers_cat
The President and his cronies are burning down everything to ground and every thread I open on Balloon Juice these days, there are commenters asserting with 100% certainty, that not only are things bad now but they are never going to get better. Balloon Juice has become The Daily Dirge.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@SFAW:
Wait unti you see the next-generation product line!
Barbara
@The Other Chuck: Tesla should not have called it autopilot, but it still amazes me to see the daredevil behavior of some drivers, like the guy who filmed himself from the backseat while the car was driving.
Elizabelle
Good morning jackals.
Friday of infrastructure week. Oh, for the days when bad news was buried with late Friday releases.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
Was working a rather large job when OSHA paid a visit. We were told to roll it all up, lock everything in the gang boxes and wait for him to leave. So here comes Mr OSHA inspector and he across 50 carpenters, a dozen or so laborers, 2 dozen electricians and about the same of plumbers and pipefitters sitting on their lunch boxes at 8 AM and he says to himself, “Gee, I wonder why nobody is working?” (answer- if a tool in violation of OSHA rules isn’t being used, it’s not actionable) He spent app 6 hours “inspecting” the job site effectively fining the companies 6 hrs of our wages for taking actions to hide violations.
2 times I’ve seen guys almost get killed by tools that had their safety mechanisms tampered with. It can get serious real quick.
mali muso
@Mary G: Thanks for the heads up about the Penzey’s giveaway. I like their stuff and want to support their business given their openly progressive political stance, but always forget to order. So I added about $20 of other spices in addition to the freebies. Now off to buy some for my mom too!
OzarkHillbilly
@Citizen Alan: Good point. The MO Lege is trying to pass such a law for the TAMKO roofing products owner.
Jager
@Kay: My nightmare scenario is people with “self driving” cars coming back to LA from Vegas on Sunday night, drunk, tired and broke. They climb in their car on 1-15 set the “autopilot” crank back the seat and go to sleep. Of course they won’t know what happened when they run into the back of a semi trailer truck on one of the long uphill slogs will they?
rikyrah
@mad citizen:
Middle school??
rikyrah
The group least likely to want America to take refugees?
You know….
https://twitter.com/Otpor17/status/999809048873709574?s=20
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: Ha!! Stop the White Animal Genocide.
rikyrah
@Amir Khalid:
In.moving.boxes??
Da phuq???
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: I feel that way too. The opposite of readership capture.
different-church-lady
WE CAN’T EVEN GET AUTO-CORRECT RIGHT, HOW WE GONNA HAVE THE DEVICES DRIVE THEMSELVES?!?
different-church-lady
@rikyrah: If you steal $29 million, you have to move a lot.
Or so I’ve heard…
BluegirlFromWyo
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Don’t forget Christian. Harvey Weinstein is Jewish, after all.
No Drought No More
To paraphrase the o;d chestnut, “there is only one way to look at any republican, and that is down”.
OzarkHillbilly
Oldest known case of dandruff found in 125m-year-old dinosaur Next to it was a fossilized bottle of Head and Shoulders.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: Its unrelenting. I have been spending less and less time over here.
I have to agree with this Omnes comment from one of yesterday’s threads.
Steve on St. Simons Island
@Jager: cruise control is critical for me on the highway. Without it I get impatient and run afoul of the popo. Happened a couple of months ago—cop lasered my me going 89 in a 65, but only gave me a warning when I told him I was taking my wife to Mayo.
A cool cop—who would have thought? Or maybe the rules are different for middle aged white men in Mercedes-Benzes.*
*”Benzes” added because I’m not sure how to make “Mercedes” plural. Mercedeses?
schrodingers_cat
@Steve on St. Simons Island: How is she? Do you have a diagnosis.
Gelfling 545
@OzarkHillbilly: Even in the best of iterations it would be driving by an internal logic on roads with people who are not. Could make things messy.
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: I hear you. I am trying to wean myself off too, although it’s fun to be here for breaking news.
What was it some commenter said here (and I loved it): “If telling us all to give up gives you the strength to go on …”
I got better things to do than have my mood deflated by surrender monkeys and cynics. I wish some people would realize how enervating and depressing it is to wake up every day in TrumpWorld. This is a first; we’ve never had such a craven government. Never. And then to have all these fools braying about how Trump will skate … probably even be re-elected.
It’s like the folks here should say about animals in peril — just bash it in the head. Nothing else you can do. Save your money and move along.
MomSense
@Ken:
My mom has an Alexa and she talks to it all the time like it is a real person. It freaks me out. I like to say random, scandalous things just for fun.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I think people do come here when they feel scared or defeated – totally rational responses to what is happening. Instead of shaming them or telling them to stop, it’s better to acknowledge the feelings and then offer something to focus on. Right now I’m very focused on voter registration. There are lots of good groups working on this like headcount.org so if I have a period of dread, I give them a few dollars and check to see if there are any events near me. I also text 504-09 and contact my Congress critters. If we can help channel people who feel scared and defeated into doing just one thing we will all feel better.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Steve on St. Simons Island:
It sounds like you’re joking – but the rules ARE different, and it’s NOT funny – it’s unjust and all too often deadly.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: And it’s still early and I apparently am in need of more coffee – sorry for the harsh tone ?
germy
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/assange-could-soon-be-booted-from-ecuadorian-embassy.html
Kay
I was thinking about how we have a bit of an advantage this time out against Trump because we know the approach. We know “he says X and then media say Y”, etc.
I’m not convinced Michelle Obama was wrong about “going high” because that doesn’t mean passive – it doesn’t mean “above it all”, or, it doesn’t have to. People want to be good. They want to be associated with good people. Not the Trump base, but forget about them- they’re gone. When Trump holds a hate rally we could hold a rally that makes OUR people feel good.
It doesn’t have to suck. It doesn’t have to be a grinding war. Sporadic voters aren’t going to volunteer to enlist in a fucking war, because why they should they? The whole “war” thing is bullshit anyway. Highly paid professionals wearing suits and sitting on cable tv saying they are in a “war” is just offensive and silly. Paid campaign people promoted this “war” analogy because they are self-aggrandizing and foolish. Bannon is a soft, coddled rich person. He’s not a soldier. Nothing fucking happens to him if he loses his “war”. He’d probably make more after losing than he did winning.
Let’s make this appealing for our voters. Something they enjoy, or at least don’t loathe. That definition of “go high”- a proactive definition.
bemused
@Kay:
Probably the same people who totally trust their GPS and then drive their vehicle into the ocean or onto railroad tracks.
The Moar You Know
My new Subie has the Eyesight adaptive cruise control system. It’s fancy cruise control. Even though it’s pretty much the same thing as Tesla’s “Autopilot”, they don’t call it that. Tesla should never have called it that. It won’t steer for you (that’s a biggie, I think). The autothrottle/brakes have already kept me out of one accident and I’ll bet it does it again. Godsend for SoCal stop n’ go traffic. And, here’s the deal: it’s a better driver than I am. Doesn’t go thinking about work or setting up a guitar or any of that “drift off” stuff we all do. Just drives. I’ve never had a car that even had power windows, so this is a bit new to me, but I’m a convert.
Full disclosure: I’ve done software dev and embedded systems work in the past, so I know what the hazards with this kind of thing are, more than most people. My hands stay on the wheel and I stay alert.
Also: my estimation of John has gone up now that I, too, own a Subie. They are simply great cars and nobody knows about them.
munira
@chris: And Quebec is about to have the CAQ, its own little anti-immigrant party – scary times.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Moar You Know: A couple of points: Cole now drives a CR-V. And if you live somewhere that has winter, it seems like one out of every three cars on the road is a Subaru.
Kay
@bemused:
I have trouble second guessing GPS. Let’s face it- I love GPS. GPS changed my life on trips to Pittsburgh. I feel as if Pittsburgh was deliberately designed so people won’t go there which is a shame because it’s great. Over a bridge, thru a tunnel and then back again! I sometimes stay on a state route, pass it, and then go back because it’s easier and usually faster.
different-church-lady
@schrodingers_cat: “The Pornography of Despair”. (One of the best posts there ever was on Daily Kos.)
different-church-lady
@Kay:
The City Council of Cambridge, Massachusetts would like some tips on how to achieve that.
Shalimar
Alan Dershowitz was just on MSNBC explaining that everything Trump does is wonderful. At the end, he was asked about Harvey Weinstein and refused comment because Weinstein is a client. Are there any horrible people anywhere Dershowitz doesn’t take money from?
Elizabelle
@MomSense: I do not think we are speaking of the same people. And you are a better person, and more patient, than I am.
How are you feeling this morning?
MomSense
@Kay:
Have you checked out headcount.org ? They go to concerts and events and register youngs to vote. The Parkland kids are making it cool to be involved. Sadly, I don’t have any events until June but Raven could be busy every day until November registering people to vote at concerts.
different-church-lady
@bemused: Probably the same people who tie their bank account to every Tom, Dick, and Company on the internet so they can buy things by shouting into a puck.
No Drought No More
I just now saw a bluejay, that was standing on a garden railing, do a literal somersault from the standing position and land in the same spot but facing the opposete way, that after another bluejay had landed on the same railing and startled the great gymnast..
Kay
Also, we know Trump hates to be laughed at and will obsess and scheme over any public humiliation, to the point of his own detriment. REVENGE. He’s driven by 100% negative emotions but revenge is top three. So our candidate has to be funny. Easy. A happy person. I wanted Al Franken for just that reason, but I was cruelly denied that experience.
He has no sense of humor. That’s a weakness.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
I’m a little better today. I kept down the pain pill so I actually slept for a few hours.
Amir Khalid
@Steve on St. Simons Island:
I normally say “Mercs”.
different-church-lady
@Kay: Al Franken? I thought you said funny.
bemused
@Kay:
There are those people who won’t believe their own eyes vs gps. It’s got to be noticeable to driver that he/she isn’t paying attention to turn directions, turning too soon. Wait, those are railroad tracks or water access ramp, that can’t be right.
bemused
@OzarkHillbilly:
No smart appliances for us. We are suspicious people and don’t want to access our washing machine or furnace controls on our phones. If we can, someone else could also.
different-church-lady
@OzarkHillbilly:
…yet.
different-church-lady
@bemused: WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO DUMB TO OPERATE A TOASTER ANYWAY?!?
bemused
@different-church-lady:
Lolol.
debbie
@MomSense:
You’ve seen this, of course.
Fair Economist
@Jager: Is that worse than having drunk, tired, and broke people driving straight through 4 1/2 of the wee hours in the morning?
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
All well and good until your Subie ends up stuck in the field. Forever. Now where’s your smarty-pants cruise control?
My new, used fancypants car is available with adaptive cruise and I though that’s what I had, until it repeatedly failed to slow as it approached freeway traffic. I complained only to be told “Yours doesn’t have that” by the dealer. That could have been interesting but raises the question: how do you learn to use these tools the first time?
Spouse learned this week her Volvo has pedestrian safety features we were unaware of before having the windshield replaced. The system requires special glass and surprise, we needed that. But how do you test pedestrian collision avoidance? Guess I’ll ask Uber.
Amir Khalid
@The Moar You Know:
I gather the issue with Tesla is that they promoted Autopilot as a safe hands-off system; and now, when faced with evidence it is unsafe to use that way, have done a U-turn and told people to keep their hands on the wheel.
Nelle
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t want to shame people but it is worth remembering that we are just over a year into Trump ism and about four decades of Reaganism. As a people, African Americans have been living with this shit for centuries. And if so many of them put their shoulders to the wheel, we better humble ourselves and join them, whether we see the results we want in our lifetimes or not. Not for ourselves, but for others, now and in the future. One never knows when one more person joining the heave-Ho is the push that tips it all over into a more just society.
bemused
@OzarkHillbilly:
It’s gotta be at least somewhat annoying to own an Alexa and someone or a pet in your home is named Alexa.
Fair Economist
@different-church-lady:
lol.
Seriously, though, 2 of the 3 recent automatic driving fatalities have been from outrageous bugs, where the program simply did the wrong thing (ignoring a pedestrian and speeding up into a slowing truck). On one hand, it indicates the problem isn’t automatic driving itself, but on the other hand it reminds us that automatic driving programs have to be essentially bug free and that isn’t easily done with software.
Fair Economist
@bemused: I saw an article a few months back about a woman named Alexa Seary (=Siri). She said it was a big problem.
zhena gogolia
@Nelle:
Soviet dissidents are now out of fashion, but I think the same of them. If they could keep plodding along with no hope in sight, we should remember their example. I think it’s just the suddenness of going from Obama to Dolt 45 that has shattered people — there was no gradualism about it, at least on the surface. But yes, of course the rot started with Reagan.
different-church-lady
“ALEXA, WHY DOES JEFF BEZOS HAVE ALL MY MONEY?”
trollhattan
@Fair Economist:
Turns out the Uber car in the Arizona fatality had its auto-braking system disabled. Shows how much they trust the systems to date.
mad citizen
@rikyrah: They just did a short press update in today’s school shooting in Noblesville Indiana. Yes, it was a middle school male student who shot an adult teacher and one student (both at hospitals) They didn’t take questions; didn’t say what grade the shooter is. There was a secondary threat to the nearby high school where the middle school students were transferred, but seems like it was only a threat.
The school says parents can pick students up now, or if you’re working can wait until normal dismissal today. Can’t imagine a lot of learning happening in these schools today…
Kay
Consider Clinton’s campaign. Don;t get mad- I recognize she was up against an unprecedented situation- but consider Clinton’s campaign from the view of her voters. Her campaign became ABOUT the people who weren’t there- the Trump voters, the Bernie voters.
What’s the worst thing you can do as host of a party? Ignore your guests and talk about the people who didn’t come.
We have voters. We have more of them than Donald Trump does. Let’s make a campaign that appeals TO THEM. If other people come, great! But they’re the first priority. Because they showed up.
chris
@Just One More Canuck: Yeah, I’m just so disgusted that this is even possible. That there is a much greater than zero chance of that amoral buffoon being elected makes me very stabby.
different-church-lady
@Kay:
The problem is “appeals to them” is so incredibly specific to each individual liberal that you can’t craft a coherent campaign out of all that individuality.
Stan
I have been making the opposite assumption – that they WILL take off, and quickly, once they are dramatically better than human drivers who are killing about 30,000 Americans annually. They don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be substantially better. At some point it’s going to get very expensive to buy insurance to be a human driver. I figure with ten years of life left in my current car, I’ll never drive another.
Fair Economist
@trollhattan:
It can’t be that simple, or it would have crashed at the first stoplight. My understanding is that the system has a problem with braking for random things on the road (pieces of paper blowing by, steam from manholes, etc., to the point that it slams on the brakes every few blocks) and *that* was turned off – which made it unable to brake for a pedestrian, which is a “thing on the pavement” to the robocar.
Edit: this is plausible speculation I heard, not confirmed data
Brachiator
@Fair Economist:
Didn’t she marry Ralph Okeygoogle?
different-church-lady
@Stan: The danger is that they will take off BEFORE they are substantially better than human drivers.
This is not about safety. This is about consumer love of gadgets.
O. Felix Culpa
@Nelle:
Hear! Hear! Just imagine what would happen if nevertheless, we all persisted. I am confident that the (not so) mighty Trump will fall.
different-church-lady
So what I really want to know is, will my self-driving car be able to rescue me from the robot dogs?
Kay
@mad citizen:
I don’t know why the “terrorism” analysis we heard for 30 years somehow doesn’t apply to schoolchildren. The events are not a large portion of child deaths, that is true, but the specter of the event impacts their quality of life. Every day.
Children live in school. Next to home it IS their home. It is, in a very real sense, their community. Some of them hate their community but that’s true of adults too. It’s still where they live. This adult penchant for quoting fucking STATS at them in response to what is their daily reminders that this could happen to them is just unbearably smug.
I’d like to see the adult response to a similiar situation focused on a work sector. The Newspaper Shootings. The Factory Shootings. The Wall Street Shootings. No one would be lecturing them on the statistical chance of them dying. They would be fucking demanding action. “We’re being targeted!” they would say. “This keeps happening, specifically, WHERE WE WORK” But it’s kids so we get mathematical analysis and minimizing. They’re supposed to ignore that these mass casualty events occur at the one place they spend the vast majority of their time for 12 years.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: Good to hear. Hope you have a speedy recovery.
Doug R
@OzarkHillbilly: My GPS sometimes mistakes laughs or sneezes or random noises as its “wake up” phrase. It isn’t connected to the internet at least.
Anything with a microphone that uses a “wake up” phrase is OF COURSE always listening.
Brachiator
@Kay:
This seems like common sense. Who is questioning it?
I guess the devil is in the details.
When is the last primary election?
catclub
@Stan:
12 years till 2030 sounds reasonable to me. That will be a big shift in insurance if self driving takes over that way, but I agree it is likely the way.
Now there are lots of accidents which are just accidents and no lawsuit involved. If the likelihood of a lawsuit is higher for a human driver, wow.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia:
I think that’s a really good comment. And the institutions that had protected us had been hollowed out, and fell, one after another, like dominoes.
Because government and good policy is a common good. And it’s been under attack from the rightwing and the moneybags that prop them up for years upon years.
catclub
@Doug R:
I would like to tell Alexa to NOT listen for 30 minutes, then try to wake it up. I bet it would wake up.
Stan
But be sure to count your fingers and toes after every use because damn…….
Miss Bianca
@The Moar You Know: “Nobody knows” about Subarus? You’ve obviously never spent any time in Colorado, where they are the official state car.
Barbara
@Amir Khalid: Well, they did not promote it as totally hands off, not when you buy the car from them. But calling it autopilot is misleading, and there are Tesla owners who like to test the limits of the technology — for instance, using it in non-highway conditions, trying to get work done while driving. Let’s say there are a lot of people who are ready for true autonomous driving cars before those cars are ready for them. Tesla will tell you that for every type 1 incident associated with a Tesla (grand failure, obvious to all) there are way more type 2 incidents — accidents that could have and would have been avoided if a car actually had more autonomous features. One of the features they have included in later models is adaptive cruise control, where a car in cruise control automatically slows down when it senses slower traffic ahead.
germy
@Elizabelle:
And the anti-abortion movement has been an excellent sledgehammer to smash up the government. A tool for the moneybags (who still get abortions for their daughters and/or mistresses whenever needed) to bring the rubes to the voting booths.
Brachiator
@different-church-lady:
Get a horse!
raven
You can have my 66 Chevy Truck when you unwrap my cold, dead hands off the steering wheel and Our Lady of Guadalupe gearshift knob!
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: Horses bite.
germy
Here’s something I don’t understand about uber: Recently, there was a story about a driver who refused a passenger who changed their destination at the last minute. I don’t remember all the details, just that the passenger wasn’t allowed to change his mind about his destination.
And other story about an intoxicated passenger who was ordered out of the car by the driver.
I thought the whole point of taxis and uber was to keep intoxicated people from driving themselves? And once you choose a destination you’re not allowed to modify your plans?
Light rail and trolleys. Bring them back. Lay down track and build beaux arts stations.
schrodingers_cat
@Miss Bianca: Also of New England. I owned 2 Subarus (not at the same time) when I lived in Maine.
Stan
I find it pretty easy. Boston, on the other hand…..harder to get around and a LOT less worth it!
schrodingers_cat
@MomSense: Is expressing frustration with direction the blog comments have taken, shaming them? We must not read the same comments then. The voices that emphasize fighting back are being drowned out. Its all despair all the time. About how WASF and how the Rs are going to win no matter what. Interspersed with endless ruminations about white people in general and T voters in particular and how they will never change and keep voting R. Then there are people who garnish this doom porn with violent fantasies.
Stan
Yeah if you’re a Mainer and don’t own a Subaru people look at you like, “you DON’T have a Subaru?….wtf?”
raven
And other story about an intoxicated passenger who was ordered out of the car by the driver.
I hate the fucking Eagles man. . . .
different-church-lady
So when the Ukrainian hacker demands 300 bitcoin before he’ll unlock your autonomous car, does paying the ransom depend on whether you’re in the thing at the time?
schrodingers_cat
@Stan:When I traded the first Subaru in, it was old and rusted but the engine was still running. I still miss that old station wagon.
Stan
So in the mid-sized northeastern city I live in, the old trolley tracks are still there, buried a few inches under later layers of pavement. Underneath, though, is beautiful cobblestone and brick streets with trolley tracks on the main roads.
I can dream can’t I ?
MomSense
@schrodingers_cat:
I’ve seen a lot of shaming. Not all the responses obviously.
bemused
@Fair Economist:
No doubt!
stinger
@Elizabelle: I for one would be sorry if you left.
germy
It’s sad when I walk past old buildings that have been ruined over the years. An 1890 structure that someone in 1960 decided had too many windows, so bricked up half of them. Or beautiful old homes where the new owner replaced an old tall window with something smaller, and then used plywood to make up the difference.
germy
@MomSense:
There is a scene in Justice League (I know, it sucked) where the League has to rescue a bunch of hostages.
The Flash confesses to the Batman that he’s terrified. He reveals his list of phobias: tall people, bugs, conflict. He never fought anyone before. “I just push people and run away,” he whispers.
The Batman tells him “Just save one.”
The Flash still doesn’t understand. “Just get in there and save one hostage. Then do it again if you can.”
The hostages are saved.
Elizabelle
@different-church-lady:
I disagree. I think Trump’s administration has been a wakeup call WRT you cannot continue to take good things for granted. Get off your asses and vote.
Climate change and gun safety are incredibly broad umbrellas under which we can organize. Leave the polarizing and microsplitting to the rightwing, which depends on it, because their actual platform is poison. Which is why they are so fucking dishonest and need their own network — their reality is not reality at all.
schrodingers_cat
@different-church-lady: Do you have a link? Or remember the author.
Elizabelle
@stinger: Thank you. I would miss a lot of people here too, so probably won’t, for good.
But this place is a “sapper” (some commenter used that term yesterday, and I love it) as much as it’s a place to rally and converse. There’s a fine line between staying informed and wallowing in misery.
@schrodingers_cat: I will always have your back on this. When here to see the comments!
different-church-lady
@germy: My god, the horrible things people do to buildings.
https://camilojosevergara.com/Harlem/65-East-125th-St/1
catclub
@Brachiator:
I thought that was the flying cars.
germy
@different-church-lady: That slide show pretty much says it all.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
I rarely see this, and it generally comes from a sprinkling of Trolls.
And the most inspiring posts come from everyone who is politically active, who work to get out the vote, who point out candidates who deserve our vote and support.
But simply writing about the opposition, or providing context to what people are fighting for or against is not the same thing as pessimism.
This would be like saying that the only weather forecasts ever presented should be those which predict sunshine and cool breezes.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: Context is good. Its those comments that predict with 100% certainty that we are doomed now and forever that get my goat.
Omnes Omnibus
@Elizabelle: A big part of the problem is that the negative people are using the blog as a place to vent about their worry and that is their coping mechanism. This becomes problematic when other people who are just as worried use looking for signs of normalcy and even progress as their coping mechanism. This should be no problem, but their are a couple of commenters who cannot leave any remotely positive comment alone and have to reply explaining why no good thing can happen. I say vent if you need to but don’t shit on my coping mechanism while you are doing it.
stinger
@Nelle: Lovely metaphor!
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
Again, those comments are very rare.
Also, they are wrong.
Also, I do not see posts here that say that supporting Candidate X is pointless, or that voting is pointless.
In fact, some of the most encouraging posts I’ve read recently were those pointing out all the victorious primary candidates.
But there are people being hurt by this administration every single day. And there are people trying to bring more pain.
What seems to unite commenters here, even those you think are pessimistic, is active commitment to trying to make things better. Active commitment.
I don’t think you could want a better bunch of jackals than those who want to defeat Trump and the GOP.
chris
This is very good.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/2/28/950932/-Do-Not-Get-Off-On-The-Pornography-of-Despair
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: There, not their. Dipshit.
J R in WV
@lowtechcyclist:
The problem is that cruise control works so well, people just assume a little more complexity to steer/brake also is just a little more cruise control. It’s not!
I do use cruise sometimes to maintain a steady speed, if traffic isn’t too congested. Even the slower of our two cars, the VW, can creep up to 80 pretty quickly if you are paying attention to the traffic as opposed to the speed. The other car could suddenly be in triple digits, though it never has yet, thank Baud! Some cars are just too smooth!
Will never have or use an auto-pilot, willingly. Really don’t want all the touch-screen controls, they aren’t safe. You can grasp a knob and turn up the heat or down the volume without looking. Not with a touch screen!! Will any high-end cars come without touch screens? SAD!
Elizabelle
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I do recognize some of it as a coping mechanism. A self-indulgent one, no?
Elizabelle
@chris: Thank you. Reading it this weekend.
Jager
@Fair Economist: Usually they are the one’s sleeping in the parking lot at Peggy Sue’s Diner, too tired to drive.
J R in WV
@schrodingers_cat:
OK, there is a little bit of that, because we’re all scared. I’m not paralyzed by fear though, I’m finding candidates to support. Amy McGrath just won a (D) primary over in KY, in the Lexington area, over a DCCC candidate, a millionaire former mayor of Lexington. I shot her a generous contribution the day after her win.
She was the first F-18 fighter pilot in the US military, a naval academy graduate, holder of a graduate degree, with 3 cute kids, and running as a D. Retired from the Marines after a standard 20 years hitch as a Lt Colonel. So this is one smart driven person, willing to be a standard bearer for the Democratic party.
And this is why I don’t give a F’in’ nickel to the DCCC or DSCC any more!!! They pick terrible candidates who can’t beat the Rs.
Hang in there Schrodingers_Cat — Balloon-Juice is what it is, a community of people, some of whom are more scared than others.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: Instead of dealing what is happening here and now, worrying about some future hypothetical is self indulgent. I always look forward to reading your comments.
mad citizen
I’m touring the Subaru plant where they make the Outbacks in about a month…
My best friend in Colorado has one, we were just out there. His is eating oil, but just below the threshold where Subaru would replace the engine; and it’s near the end of the 100,000 mile engine warranty.
mad citizen
@Kay: I don’t know why the “terrorism” analysis we heard for 30 years somehow doesn’t apply to schoolchildren. The events are not a large portion of child deaths, that is true, but the specter of the event impacts their quality of life. Every day.
Children live in school. Next to home it IS their home. It is, in a very real sense, their community. Some of them hate their community but that’s true of adults too. It’s still where they live. This adult penchant for quoting fucking STATS at them in response to what is their daily reminders that this could happen to them is just unbearably smug.
I’d like to see the adult response to a similiar situation focused on a work sector. The Newspaper Shootings. The Factory Shootings. The Wall Street Shootings. No one would be lecturing them on the statistical chance of them dying. They would be fucking demanding action. “We’re being targeted!” they would say. “This keeps happening, specifically, WHERE WE WORK” But it’s kids so we get mathematical analysis and minimizing. They’re supposed to ignore that these mass casualty events occur at the one place they spend the vast majority of their time for 12 years.”
This is an excellent comment, Kay. Update on this incident, the science teacher stepped up and stopped the shooter. Seems like maybe teachers should get the same benefits as police officers.
from indystar:
The teacher injured in the Noblesville West Middle School shooting Friday morning has been identified as Jason Seaman, according to multiple parents interviewed by IndyStar who have children in the school.
Parents also described how Seaman intervened to help stop the shooter.
Seaman has been a science teacher for Noblesville schools for nearly four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also has been a football coach for seventh-graders for two years.
I just talked to the teacher’s neighbor, Steve Vedder, who said Jason Seaman is a “really, really nice guy” with two young children.
Jeremie Lovall said his daughter, a seventh-grader in the school, was in the classroom when the shooting started. She called her dad, who lives in Kokomo, to tell him she was OK.
“She kept saying, ‘I saw my teacher get shot,’” Lovall said. Her daughter was in Seaman’s class.
Steve Vedder, who lives across the street from Seaman, said the teacher moved into the Noblesville home in November.
“He’s a hero in my mind,” Vedder said.
Vedder said when he heard on the news that the injured teacher was a seventh-grade science teacher, “I knew it had to be him.”
“You see it on the news, you just don’t think about it happening in your backyard,” Vedder said.
“Our prayers are with him and his family.”
J R in WV
@Steve on St. Simons Island:
We always call them Benzes, much shorter than Mercedeses.
J R in WV
@Doug R:
I have turned off / disabled the cameras on our laptops we use on the Internet all day. I used black electrical tape over the camera lens. It is reversible, but I can’t see wanting it back on ever. Never ever!
Anyone penetrates our access and activates the camera will see what it sees, Blackness. The USGS has information on it’s Volcano Cams, telling everyone that the cameras see what is there, including night. Hmmm.