Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“But what about the lurkers?”

The willow is too close to the house.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Bark louder, little dog.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Everybody saw this coming.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wheat Kings and Pretty Things

Reader Interactions

68Comments

  2. 2.

    Felonius Monk

    Hey mistermix — How about a rant on Andrew Cuomo and his creation of the Women’s Equality Party to undermine the Working Families Party in New York. What a douche-bagel.

  6. 6.

    wmd

    Does anyone here have experience negotiating on a job offer?

    Advice?

    I’m writing some talking points:
    How excited I am about the position and how it fits my career goals, how much I liked the team i’ll be working with… and that I’m a little disappointed with compensation and want to work with them to make sure everybody starts out happy.

    I’ve got information: market conditions (glassdoor salary info for my role and experience, number of open positions in my geo), discussion with hiring manager on salary (offer came in over 10% less – over 15% less than glassdoor says employer pays someone at my level).

  8. 8.

    PsiFighter37

    @Felonius Monk: He came right out the other day and dismissed WFP as a fringe party.

    Although their intentions may be good, the WFP is fucking inept and should have known they were going to get shivved in the back by Cuomo. I think what’s even more pathetic is that this exposes de Blasio for the complete lack of political clout that he appears to have. Being mayor of NYC used to mean you had some clout, but BdB is basically showing himself to be an amateur when it comes to politics (even if he’s better on the policy front).

    Now WFP is stuck with the guy running on their ticket line actively trying to discredit them and send their vote totals to minor-party margins (i.e. they don’t get an automatic spot on the ballot). I hate Cuomo, but the WFP should have seen this coming. If anything, it exposes how worthless progressives/liberals are when it comes to playing in the big leagues in NYS politics.

    ETA: I should also add that’s not even mentioning the shenanigans that are happening in the State Senate Races. LCV taking money and funneling it directly to support Grisanti? If anything, Cuomo is trying to increase the stature of the IDC so that true State Senate Democrats will never have a shot in hell at running the State Senate. That promise to force the IDC back into the Democratic fold was always bullshit – so transparent.

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @wmd: I would not use the word “disappointed;” try not to bring emotion into it. Rather, coming back with facts as you seem to be planning to do is a good idea. Ask for what you think is appropriate and show why it is appropriate. Also think in terms of the total package. If they don’t want to budge on salary, might they offer an extra week of vacation, for example?

  11. 11.

    Tenar Darell

    How much candy is too much when helping the aged parent out on Halloween? Or do you get a virtue reduction?

  16. 16.

    Anoniminous

    One of the tragedies of living in a small town in the middle of bumphumpf nowhere is …

    Not being able to buy English muffins OR Canuckian bacon in the local grocery store.

    Fortunately, I’m of hardy pioneering stock, capable of meeting adversity with a laugh to scorn.

  17. 17.

    Felonius Monk

    @PsiFighter37:

    the WFP should have seen this coming

    It was obvious from the get-go what Cuomo was doing and the WFP went along with it like sheep to the slaughter. They certainly appear to be politically inept. I’m not sure the WFP will recover from this gaffe.

  19. 19.

    gordon schumway

    @wmd: Check out the old book Getting to Yes. I found their general philosophy very helpful in my last negotiation. It’s easy to skim.

  20. 20.

    Tree With Water

    I’ve purchased the White Album in vinyl, tape, and CD; it’s as good as embedded in my memory, and I can summon it at the drop of a hat. I’ve recently purchased the best speakers I’ve ever owned, and am hearing sounds on the album that I’ve never heard before. The Beatles are a gift that keeps giving.

  22. 22.

    p.a.

    @Felonius Monk: I’m not a New Yorker. Why the dysfunction in the NY Dem Party (I mean in addition to being, umm, Democrats) that this pseudo-Republican can pull his shit? Simple name recognition and electability? Wall St. money?

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    So we found the first major flaw in our new apartment — the dishwasher leaks. Manager has been informed and says the plumber should be here on Monday. Waiting for G to get back with more paper towels and a dishrack so we can empty the thing back out and finish washing the dishes. Meanwhile, I’m putting drawer liner in all of the drawers so I can start putting the utensils in.

  28. 28.

    eemom

    @Mnemosyne:

    In old house news, a godawful long-festering water leak crashed through the basement ceiling Thursday and it turns out to have originated in the upstairs bathtub and descended to the basement via the downstairs coat closet, and the plumber’s still working, the closet contents are everywhere, the repair tab is rising and it won’t be done in time for this dinner thing we who never go anywhere need to go to tonight of all nights.

    Fun times.

  33. 33.

    kdaug

    Open question to those in attendance:

    When did become about fee-fees vs survival?

    (ETA: I suppose I’ve answered my own question. Once the food/shelter thing’s locked down, the navel-gazing begins. Carry on.)

  37. 37.

    joel hanes

    @Anoniminous:

    Not being able to buy English muffins OR Canuckian bacon in the local grocery store.

    So you’re free to order the best ingredients off the intertoobs for your eggs Benedict, not constrained to use whatever “Canadian Bacon” your local Bob’s Pretty Good Groceries might carry.

    Try Nueske’s, a prize-winning Wittenberg, Wisconsin butcher who ships.
    Their cherrywood and applewood smoked thick American-style bacon also deserves your attention.

    For sausage, OTOH, including bratwurst, landjaeger, and breakfast sausages, I like Miesfeld’s, in Sheboygan.

  38. 38.

    Tree With Water

    @Mnemosyne: @eemom: Relax. First of all, it’s your landlord’s problem. Second of all, it will probably be decades before the black mold spores you’ve inhaled begin to attack any of your vital organs.

  39. 39.

    MomSense

    Some of the school projects they assign these days are really over the top.

    I spent about $50 on supplies and my kitchen table looks like the staging area for a Martha Stewart Living photo shoot. I’ve even got the hot glue gun fired up and I haven’t used that thing since ’93.

  41. 41.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Waiting for game two of the Gophers vs. Bemidji series. Disappointing tie last night in which we didn’t play well but also couldn’t catch a break, including having a goal disallowed that should never have been waved off. Hoping for bettertoday even though three of our best players (including the top two scorers in the country) out of town for the Four Nations tournament.

  44. 44.

    J.D. Rhoades

    @Anoniminous:

    One of the tragedies of living in a small town in the middle of bumphumpf nowhere is …

    Not being able to buy English muffins OR Canuckian bacon in the local grocery store.

    Holy f8ck, where do you live? I live so far out on the sticks the Episcopalians handle snakes, and I can get an English muffin at the Food Lion.

  46. 46.

    gogol's wife

    @Mnemosyne:

    I missed the live-blogging of Curse of the Demon last night, but here’s my two cents:

    I understand the producer’s impulse — if you didn’t know there were real demons, then you wouldn’t be as exasperated with Dana A. But for me the scariest scene was the seance. You think the medium is a fake but then Maurice Denham’s voice comes out of him — terrifying! You really didn’t need the demon after that.

  47. 47.

    gogol's wife

    @eemom:

    Ooh, sorry. I have dreams like that (and they may come true).

    We finally put both cars in our new garage today. Feels great.

  48. 48.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @eemom: Black mold isn’t in the SRD but I believe that it’s a CR5 creature. I hope the plumber has some help.

  52. 52.

    JCJ

    At halftime the score in Soldier Field in Chicago is New Zealand All Blacks 43 – USA 6. The All Blacks seem to be a little bit better.

  54. 54.

    Another Holocene Human

    @PsiFighter37: The people who made those decisions aren’t really BdB, there were a bunch of union leaders–I think “bosses” is unfair unless we’re talking about undemocratic outfits like the Teamsters. BTW, ever notice that the US has absolutely no interest in guaranteeing union democracy like they do in Germany? But you better turn in those reams of financial disclosure forms!

    Union leaders who are naive or who have had it relatively good for a while and are used to backroom deal making with their employer’s representative, which can actually work in NY because they still have limited strike rights and therefore there’s some degree of counterbalance in the equation, this skillset does not translate to electoral politics and unions get fucked in the ass on this stuff all the time. That is why I do have to hand it to SEIU. Mostly out of desperation because they organize the powerless, they’ve learned to engage in direct political action and be political gadflies on the regional level.

    When WFP backed Cuomo they were completely out of touch with their rank and file who wanted their leaders to take a stand against a profoundly anti-labor politician rather than sell out in exchange for some meaningless concessions.

    The unions took BdB’s power away by telling their rank and file to stand down. On the other hand, losing elections stings and they’re kind of risk adverse. But you’d think they would have clued in by now that this guy is not their friend.

    Unfortunately union work sucks enormous smelly donkey balls so only insane people or narcissists become union leaders. The latter are about pumping their ego and faking enough that their membership don’t catch on or don’t catch on quick enough. All politics attracts narcissists but union leadership seems to attract a convergence of ego and cluelessness that even a wingnut lege can’t beat (unless they’re on the floor talking about abortion).

    I am convinced that the law will have to change re: union governance but I don’t know how that happens.

    I think experience has borne out that the German model of unions, which right now is forbidden by a law meant to stop company unions (however, I know of some company unions so ha ha, obviously it doesn’t prevent all of that kind of thing), is more successful than the Wagner act model.

  55. 55.

    raven

    So we see the official screen the d-back (which is part of the game) but we don’t see the receiver grab the corner by the back of the jersey. And BTW, the Florida player did not make the hit on McKenzie but no matter how many time the show it Danielson and Verne are going to shoot their wads over the great gator hit. Same old shit.

  57. 57.

    RedKitten

    @MomSense: I am living in fear of school projects now that SamKitten is in school. It’s bad enough that I had to make treats for their Halloween party, following their “healthy eating” policy, which prevented me from just buying a bag of Cheezies and calling it a day.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @J.D. Rhoades:

    I live so far out on the sticks the Episcopalians handle snakes

    Next time I move, it’s going to be waaaay out in the boonies, solely so I can use this line.

  66. 66.

    MomSense

    @RedKitten:

    Did you get the list of banned ingredients because of allergies in the class? I was tempted to just send bags of marshmallows and call it good.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks