I think we can all agree by now that Republicans have not a single useful thing to say about rape. The whole notion of consent confuses them and no human alive can draw firm absolute moral lines about abortion and talk about rape at the same time. Even the GOP gets it, at least from what I can tell since 2012. Perhaps Todd Akin did not lose in vain.
With that in mind you can imagine the general joy in GOP leadership circles at the thought of Donal Trump hijacking their first Presidential debate with loud, dumb defenses of things he said in his announcement speech that have practically unified the entire Spanish-speaking world in loathing him. If you were not clear what made his comments so outrageous, he said it again louder in a follow-up interview with Don Lemon.
“Well if you look at the statistics of people coming, you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything coming in illegally into this country it’s mind-boggling!” he told Lemon, in a clip previewed on CNN’s “Situation Room.”
“If you go to Fusion, you will see a story: About 80% of the women coming in, you know who owns Fusion? Univision! Go to Fusion and pick up the stories on rape. It’s unbelievable when you look at what’s going on. So all I’m doing is telling the truth,” Trump said.
Lemon replied that the press stories are about women being raped, but not about criminals coming across the border.
“Well, somebody’s doing the raping, Don! I mean somebody’s doing it! Who’s doing the raping? Who’s doing the raping?” he asked.
Maybe the RNC can cut off his funding. Ha ha, oh right.
debbie
I hope it’s giving the GOP nightmares.
chopper
that’s just…ugh.
Derelict
@debbie: As well it should. Reince Preibus may well make history as the guy who had to shut off the lights at RNC headquarters for the last time.
West of the Cascades
If it wouldn’t bring down anguished squeals of victimization, a 30-second ad bashing the GOP for its role in income inequality that ended with a clip of Donald Trump crying “who’s doing the raping?” might be pretty effective.
Betty
@West of the Cascades: While liberals would get this, I’m afraid the diehards would just be further confused.
TooManyJens
“Well, somebody’s doing the raping, Don! I mean somebody’s doing it!”
::looks around at 100 million or so adult American men::
Welp, couldn’t be any of them!
Tao of Nope
Inspirational Campaign Slogans:
Donald Trump: “Somebody’s doing the raping!”
Chris Christie: “The lying and stealing already happened.”
Jesus. Grading on a curve, “Jeb!” is genius.
WaterGirl
@TooManyJens: Hmm. I thought it was the Occupy crowd (and 100 million other men)
Big ole hound
Trump did the raping of all his creditors when declared bankruptcy….several times.
dmsilev
@TooManyJens: “Illegal immigrants taking ‘jobs’ away from Americans!”.
A two-fer, so to speak.
J R in WV
This guy is so toxic it’s almost a visible halo!!
I guess he requires everyone he meets to be agreeable ass-kissers, so for years now no one has been able to say “Don, that’s such a steaming pile of crap, get your mind set straight and stop spewing such obvious BS!”
At least no one gets to do it more than once!
So sad to see how that “bubble” environment turns some so severely toxic, like an aged Faux News addict. But he does deserve it, being treated like the obvious POS he really is, by everyone who isn’t financially beholden to him.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Men. Yet I do not see the GOP advocating for the wholesale banning, extermination or slaughter of all the men in America.
Odd.
askew
GOP has to be freaking out. They are about 1 election away from cementing the Latino vote as a permanent part of the Dem base like the AA vote has become. And the GOP can’t win national elections with Latinos and AAs voting at 80-90% Dem. Plus, this has enraged Latinos enough that it might actually increase their voting turnout rate, which would spell even more doom for GOP.
And there is no hiding Trump’s words away. Not when you see them played on Shakira’s Facebook page with her rebuttal. Shakira has the world record for # of fans on Facebook at 100mm. So, Trump’s message of hatred has truly been spread.
WereBear
Of course he does. And of course they do.
I’ve always been astonished by people who instantly become groveling Uriah Heeps when they meet someone with money. It’s like it happens on a cellular level and they have no control over it.
TooManyJens
@WaterGirl: Clearly, Occupy was just a front for sneaking in illegal immigrants!
shell
@chopper: Yeah, those last sentences; I could see that coming from someone wandering down the street wearing a tin foil hat.
MomSense
@shell:
In the Donald’s case, that would be an improvement.
WereBear
I see Donald Trump as a cautionary tale; this is what happens when you spoil a child rotten.
debbie
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Actually, no. Isn’t the initial reaction that the woman must be lying?
shell
Oh, and has the Donald released his birth certificate yet? And how about those tax returns?
Mandalay
Ted Cruz shows who is the boss by genuflecting to the person who is raping him in the polls:
Good luck with that approach Ted. He’ll shit on your corpse.
muddy
@debbie: That one woman lied that one time, and now you want to call the police just because I held a door for you!
Kenneth Fair
“Who’s doing the raping?”—The Dean Scream of 2016.
I will be seriously disappointed if I don’t see a montage of this on YouTube.
muddy
@shell: Tax returns probably have more pages than the dreaded ACA.
debbie
@askew:
After listening to Glenn Beck just now, Trump is being cast as both a loudmouth and a victim of Progressives and Socialists. In that world, Trump has the right to say what he wants, while the people objecting to his statements apparently don’t have the right to speak up. Boycotts = Terrorism.
It’s a very one-sided world we live in.
How long till the youtube video, “Leave Donald alone!”
Amir Khalid
It’s surely not just the Spanish-speaking world that despises Trump for his hateful words. I remember the reports of that TV debate from the last cycle, when the gay soldier got booed by the audience and none of the candidates dared rebuke the booers. Obama, the incumbent they were competing against, got to (or rather, as President, had to) publicly denounce their shameful cowardice. The Republican party must already be aware that things will
lookbe exponentially worse when the loudmouth bigot is a presidential candidate theoretically as good as any other on that debate stage.KG
@shell: I forget which magazine or paper or website it was, but somebody requested Trump release his long form birth certificate and passport records, since he demanded the same of Obama. Trump told them to fuck off
SatanicPanic
Don Lemon interviewing Donald Trump is my Room 101
Paul in KY
@WereBear: And give him $20 million when he turns 18 (as described in ‘The Art of the Deal’).
Seriously, who couldn’t make some dough with $20 million in seed money!
Mandalay
George Pataki’s open letter to the other Republican candidates, sent yesterday:
If he had sent that letter two weeks ago he might have had a point. Now Pataki is no different to those conveniently flip-flopping over that flag: spineless.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: Well, they’re all bigots, though some are not as loudmouth as The Donald.
dmsilev
@KG: Forget the birth certificate, I want to see a genetic test on that hair. It’s time America learns exactly what species has colonized Trump’s head.
Jeffro
@KG: That is just awesome. The thought of all of them – not just Trump, but every last one of these hypocrites – being called on their b.s. for the next 16 months is sooo sweet.
Tommy
@Paul in KY: My parent have a few bucks. I don’t have access to it, was supposed to make my own way in the world. But I am the oldest and I see how that $11M or so is invested. If you are half sane you have to try to lose that money.
MattF
This is going to make 2012 look like a good year for Republicans. I can’t think of a single positive sign here for the GOP. They’ve spent the past thirty years beshitting their bed, now, finally, they have to lie in it.
Botsplainer
@WereBear:
Actually, if you look at his history, Donald was a problem child in the Trump household. As a youth, they shipped his ginger ass off to military boarding school to get rid of what they deemed a surplus of confidence.
In short, he was a shit from way back – the truly spoiled child is never, ever shipped off to military boarding school.
opiejeanne
@Tommy: what? Why do you have to lose it?
Belafon
@MattF: 100 years ago, both parties could say this stuff and get elected. Now, it’s all concentrated in one party and, unless Roberts and the rest of the SCOTUS conservatives give them too much help, it will be their undoing. This I truly hope for.
Botsplainer
@KG:
That’ll actually be a net positive for him in a GOP primary – cranky white people love assholes.
germy shoemangler
@Mandalay: Pataki waited for Jeb. Once Jeb expressed his displeasure with Trump’s remarks, it became safe to wade into the pool.
Just One More Canuck
@Paul in KY: And that was $20 million in 1964 – that would be over $150 million today – Trump is the epitome of someone born on third base, thinks he hit a triple, and then proceeds to steal second
Jeffro
@germy shoemangler: Where’s the denunciations from Rubio, Paul, and the rest (but especially those two)?
gf120581
Unfortunately side effect of CU for the GOP: crazy billionaires like Trump can get in and until they get tired of blowing money, there’s no way to get them out. Same with the candidates they back. You think Newt would have lasted as long as he did if he didn’t have Adleson pouring money down that sinkhole?
Tommy
@opiejeanne: You don’t. My parents make about $187,000 a year on their investments. They are pretty frugal. Don’t spend a portion of that. When you get to that amount of money it just replicates money.
gf120581
@Botsplainer: I believe it was the Guardian.
WereBear
@Botsplainer: Thanks, didn’t know that. But then, I try to know as little about Trump as possible :)
I lived in the NY Metro area when he was riding high… now I’m allergic.
germy shoemangler
I wonder why NBC was caught off-guard by Trump’s most recent comments. It’s not like he didn’t have a history.
MattF
@gf120581: I remember when our pal, old George Will, was insisting that limits on campaign contributions violated free speech. Well, now they’ve got free speech, good and hard.
Cervantes
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Reminds me of what Golda Meir said about rape and curfews for women.
azlib
Why is anyone taking Trump seriously. Oh wait, news == entertainment these days.
Another Holocene Human
@chopper: It’s more about racism than about rape. One of those “when rape isn’t about rape” moments. Because it’s actually about his xenophobic feels, and women who have been raped or who might be raped in the future are just a prop.
different-church-lady
It’s a special kind of talent to keep Don Lemon from being the dumbest guy in a room.
Cervantes
Sure — but you raise an obvious question.
Another Holocene Human
@West of the Cascades: The squeals would be most of the point. Hehehehe.
kathy a.
Most rapes are perpetrated by people known to the victim — friends, intimate partners, family members, acquaintances. Stranger rapes are less common. Maybe someone who takes aim at a random group of strangers should know more about the subject.
shell
A little OT, but is anybody else experiencing some real slo-down on the internet today?
I blame those peas in the guacamole.
Another Holocene Human
@askew: Shakira, still kicking ass and taking names.
(And TBogg pipes up: Such a pretty ass, too.)
Another Holocene Human
@debbie: If they accuse cis white het men known to them, yeah, then bitches be lyin’.
MattF
@shell: The horror.
Bobby B.
When reading my eyes caught the name “Lemon” and I was reminded of Liz Lemon. Trump’s like the surrealistically evil guys on “30 Rock”.
opiejeanne
@Tommy: on their investments; I assume the investments are those millions you mentioned.
Otherwise, I have no idea what you’re talking about. You say you need to lose those millions, then you say you don’t. Are there a couple of words missing?
Gin & Tonic
How far have we descended, that Don Lemon is considered a voice of reason?
Mandalay
@Jeffro:
Nowhere to be seen. Paul is too busy begging Cliven Bundy to be his VP, and Rubio is hiding under his mommy’s bed:
How’s that leadership thingummy workin’ out for ya, Marco?
germy shoemangler
@opiejeanne: I assumed “lose” meant give to charity; set up a charitable foundation.
Because you cain’t take it with you.
J.D. Rhoades
@Botsplainer:
Exactly. Unfortunately, he has to split that large asshole/bully worshiper vote with Christie.
opiejeanne
@shell: where did this peas in the guacamole thing begin?
Another Holocene Human
@different-church-lady: Boom! Close the thread.
KG
@Botsplainer: “fuck off” might have been too strong a term, he just refused to release it. and apparently, it was the Guardian that made the request.
Another Holocene Human
@Gin & Tonic: Possibly down his South Sea wormhole.
muddy
@germy shoemangler: @opiejeanne: I think he means that once you have that size of a pile you would have to be trying to lose it to actually lose it. If you are not trying to lose it, it just gets bigger on its own.
I think.
srv
USA!
Gin & Tonic
@shell: Can someone explain that peas in guacamole thing in 25 words or less for someone who’s always late to every meme?
Botsplainer
@srv:
So who is number 1?
KG
@Mandalay: I’m pretty sure that’s Paul’s way of saying that Trump isn’t a serious candidate. Rubio is obviously too busy planning to filibuster the first ambassador to Cuba since the 1950s, because that makes any kind of sense.
Botsplainer
@Gin & Tonic:
who the fuck would put nasty peas in delicious guacamole?
muddy
@Gin & Tonic: NYT had a recipe. Everyone lost their minds.
MattF
@Gin & Tonic: It’s from a recipe that was published in the New York Times.
Another Holocene Human
@KG: Go Guardian.
My wife was complaining that the world blames Israel for everything it does but not the US. I gently pointed out that the world is in fact intensely interested in what the US is doing (because of invading everybody), and that foreign media does a better job reporting on ethnic tensions in the US than US media does (for example, see all the foreign reporters in Ferguson early on), and that just because the US media machine doesn’t tell US what the foreign press are saying about us doesn’t mean that they aren’t saying it!
El Caganer
Who’s doing the raping? All of them, Don. Trump/Palin ’16!!!!
Another Holocene Human
@MattF: Ew.
MomSense
@Gin & Tonic:
NYT published recipe suggesting peas in guacamole. People went nuts. PresO was doing twitter Q&A and was asked about it. Revealed he hasn’t yet evolved past traditional guacamole which in this case is same fruit guacamole.
Gin & Tonic
@muddy: I think it was someone from the Bronfman family who said something along the lines of “turning $1,000 into $1 million is work; turning $10 million into $100 million is automatic.”
I’m sure Cervantes will give the exact quote, with time, date and source.
shell
Since there’s a avocado shortage, I assume peas have become the ‘Hamburger Helper’ of guacamole.
Another Holocene Human
@Botsplainer: Peas are not nasty. (upper right image)
J R in WV
Didn’t Trump inherit a shipyard from his Dad? You’re talking serious money there, way past $20 million, which wouldn’t pay the utility bill for the yard.
What a maroon! The military boarding school didn’t work, obviously. Too bad. My Dad was sent to one, I have no idea why, maybe just to get him out of the local public schools?
He hated it, never held a gun the rest of his life. Heart murmur kept him out of the service in WW II… the story of his draft medical was hysterical, the docs were listening to his heart after one called the others over… one says something about this kind of sound in medical Latin, and Dad asks “Is that good, Doc?” and of course it was, kept him out of the Army, he died at 80 from chemo side effects for his leukemia, which he beat. It was the cure that killed him…
Jeffro
@Mandalay: I’m genuinely surprised (especially at Rubio) but I guess I shouldn’t be. These folks sure do know their base, don’t they?
Another Holocene Human
@shell: I have a friend who uses yogurt.
You could go all Chipotle Restaurants and throw in chunks of tomato and onion to fool the customer into thinking they were buying more.
WereBear
@muddy: The horror.
Paul in KY
@Tommy: Exactly!!! Hope you do get it some day. If you do, and I know you will, just don’t act like you earned it all (said for anyone who will inherit a good chunk of change).
KG
@Botsplainer: those numbers are from 2010 and via wikipedia and are the number of reported rapes per 100,000. Apparently, South Africa is number 1 with 132.4 per 100,000, Botswana is number 2 at 92.9. Of course, there are several countries that haven’t published numbers, so there could be worse. Japan was apparently at 1 per 100,000 and Canada at 1.7, four countries registered less than Japan.
ETA: the number in the US steadily dropped between 2003 and 2010 (from 32). Mexico’s has been pretty steady in the 12-13 range.
EconWatcher
I can’t remember Trump ever saying too much about politics before the 2008 cycle, and during that cycle, I honestly wondered whether he was a stealth liberal troll. His persona was so over the top, it seemed like a Colbert-type parody. It still looks that way to me, but I’ve been forced to conclude he’s actually playing it straight.
Paul in KY
@Just One More Canuck: Good point on that!!! 20 million in mid 60s dollars. Jeezus!
srv
@Botsplainer: South Africa.
From Fusion: Is rape the price to pay for … the American Dream?
Another Holocene Human
@Jeffro: Why the surprise? Rubio has always been a grifter, and a stupid one. There was his fake book with his fake family history, his defalcations from the Florida Republican Party (nothing to see here!), his not ready for prime time dry throat rebuttal, his flip-flop pandering as he can’t seem to figure out that Florida Republicans are a slightly different cultivar from national Republicans.
If he were smart he’d be trying to save his Senate seat. He is an incumbent, after all. But he’s stupid so Patrick Murphy is going to kick his ass from the Keys to Pensacola. Couldn’t happen to a better loser.
Gin & Tonic
@J R in WV: Thing is, Trump Sr was (for an NYC real estate guy) relatively unassuming, and made his fortune building normal houses for normal people.
Another Holocene Human
Obvious racist troll is obvious today.
MattF
@Another Holocene Human: But… the Village thinks he’s handsome. All those female-American voters will swoon.
Another Holocene Human
Pay no attention to how US policy has made economic/social (what’s the term for crime-fleeing?) migration even more harrowing and dangerous for underage migrants from Central American countries.
Another Holocene Human
@MattF: Ladyvoters vote with their ladybits. Everyone knows that.
Another Holocene Human
@EconWatcher: Trump is obviously racist as fuck, but he may also have a bit of a problem-with-authority type personality because he is on record criticizing Reagan back in the 1980s.
I thought he was for real on the birf sertifikate shit. He thinks he looks really smart by questioning stuff no sane person would question. Then he got a bunch of positive response so he had to ride that horse into the ditch, like the actual idiot that he is.
Another Holocene Human
@KG: Yeah, I mean you have conflict areas and you have big problems comparing numbers because of varying reporting, varying legal definitions, varying cultural issues and also issues of victim intimidation. The official rape figures put out by the FBI are a known undercount. They also don’t include prisoners, of which we have more per capita than most countries in the world. (I guess there’s some controversy as to whether China or US is worse.)
Rapes are going to roughly track all violent crime, so the preponderance of evidence would indicate (not just looking at crime but also at social evidence) that, for example, Japan’s very low reported rate in fact reflects a very low rate of rape in that society. And many countries have annual series of figures that can be compared to discern trends. But to sum it up, that wiki page is incomplete and doesn’t reflect apples to apples figures.
mak
WELL, DON? WHO? WHO IS DOING THE RAPING, DON?!? WHO THE FUCK IS DOING THE GODDAMN MUTHERFUCKING RAPING, DON? WHO!!?? GARRR!!!!….
gbear
@Tommy:
I’m guessing that being ‘frugal’ on $187K doesn’t include a mortgage payment (on any of their properties).
Tommy, do you have any idea how gauche that sounds to those of us trying to get by on a quarter of that, including our house payments and trying to save for emergencies and retirement? Can you keep how filthy rich you are as just your own little secret? We can’t even really relate to how ‘normal’ you try to keep your life when you’re in line to inherit eleven fucking million dollars.
We get that you’re not like Trump, but jezuz…
(edit: Sorry, but I’m in an ‘eat the rich’ mood today)
Mandalay
@Jeffro: Rubio is tanking:
He’s disastrously on the wrong side of public opinion over Cuba, and if he speaks out against Trump he’ll alienate Republican voters. He’s also pushing for a path for citzenship for all those Mexican rapists.
It’s not looking good for the lying dumbfuck.
opiejeanne
@germy shoemangler: I wondered about that but wasn’t sure if that’s what he meant.
My niece was in college with a lot of children of wealthy families. Some of them use big chunks of dough to sponsor things like libraries and art museums, but you already know that. Some donor made such a large grant to the music department at Yale that there is no tuition for masters candidates in that school. And some of these people are also guilty of being the worst sort of .001%ers.
Jeffro
@Another Holocene Human:
I think it’s my soft bigotry of low expectations for these clowns. In a field of 14-16 candidates, even as a cynical exercise in defining themselves as being different, more broadly appealing, or at least having a shred of humanity, I’d have thought Paul and Rubio might be the two who’d call Trump out. Silly me.
It really doesn’t matter how big their field is, or who the eventual GOP nominee is. In the end, the RepTea Party base will force any & all of these folks into the same mold anyway.
Mandalay
@gbear:
This x1000. The bragging is repulsive, whether it’s true or not.
MattF
@Mandalay: Also, Walker’s share sank. The article says he’s at 6% with a 5% error margin.
Jeffro
@Mandalay: Noted (with a grin!). The party establishment must just be dying – their multicultural, young, rising star is dead in the water while Trump is what, #2 in the GOP polls?
different-church-lady
@gbear: I can gauran-fuckin-tee this is going to come up EVERY SINGLE TIME Tommy makes a point someone doesn’t agree with from this moment forward.
germy shoemangler
Mandalay
@different-church-lady: Send Tommy off to military school and he’ll mend his ways. It’s not like you see Donald Trump bragging about his wealth.
Omnes Omnibus
@different-church-lady: Nope. I won’t use it.
different-church-lady
@Omnes Omnibus: You won’t, but you follow a code of reasonable conduct. Others, on the other hand…
opiejeanne
@muddy: I was wondering when they’d actually get to the avocado.
Whew. That recipe is too much work, especially in this heat, and I have to ask, what is wrong with good old guacamole? ( the silly ad for salsa comes to mind: NEW YORK CITY??!!)
That recipe is not only too much work for something that doesn’t need it (see Alton Brown’s apple pie episode of Good Eats) but I have to ask why you would want a sweet flavor in your guac.
And charring the pepper under the broiler is kind of silly. Use a burner on the cooktop but have your exhaust fan turned all the way up.
Capt Seaweed
@Mandalay:
That’s just unpleasant….
different-church-lady
@opiejeanne:
NY Times readers always need something to make them feel special.
The sad thing is Megan McArdle is bound to chime in on this…
gbear
@different-church-lady:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Look, I promise I won’t ever mention it again too, but it rubbed me the wrong way when I was already in a crappy mood about my own finances. Sorry.
Cervantes
@different-church-lady:
Sad? To me, it would be the silver lining.
Paul in KY
@Gin & Tonic: Peas cheaper than avocados. Businesses trying to increase profit by adding peas to guacamole.
opiejeanne
@J R in WV: my dad was a skinny little guy, smaller than Sinatra (who got a deferment because of his size) and Dad had a heart murmur. Noisy thing. Insurance companies cancelled him twice because of it, but by then, in his late 40s, his doc had decided it was benign. His mother had it, and so do I but not as pronounced.
The point of my anecdote is that nothing was going to keep dad out of the service. They rejected him twice before he signed up with the signal corp and they decided he was healthy enough.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Another Holocene Human: A lot of “local level” problems get taken care of in China by the good old-fashioned American tradition of extra-judicial murder, which keeps the overall jail population pretty low relative to the population.
Otherwise they’d have 10 million people in prison.
Cervantes
@gbear:
Understandable reaction. Don’t worry about it.
Just make allowances for others and for yourself. Remember what Sartre said: We tend to define ourselves by what others reflect, but we need not do so, and should not necessarily do so, for that way lies Hell.
Omnes Omnibus
@gbear: I am not being high minded here. I have my own set of annoyances that I will bring up when necessary.
opiejeanne
@Paul in KY: I don’t think Tommy would ever fall into that trap.
I inherited a bit from my parents a couple of years ago and felt myself changing into someone I didn’t like so I had to rethink things. Meanwhile, I gave some chunks to my adult kids, gave some to charity and fixed my roof, bought a new car to replace my 11 yo one, fixed the kitchen, and have sat on the rest. It is a small percentage of what Tommy mentioned but it is nice to have a bit of a cushion for once.
Haydnseek
@gbear: Relax. Tommy’s lack of self-awareness simply represents the peas in his personal guacamole.
Bobby Thomson
@debbie: no, the standard MRA response is that because women sometimes rape, however rarely, a message that men shouldn’t rape is sexist and THE SAME THING as saying people of a given race shouldn’t commit crimes.
opiejeanne
@Haydnseek: lol.
And now I regret my comment, above. It sounds like a humble brag, which is stupid.
Matt McIrvin
Am I the only one who thinks the peas in the guacamole might not be bad? I haven’t tried it…
If they’re, like, canned peas like I used to eat as a kid back in 1975, now that would be terrible.
gbear
@opiejeanne:
When my dad passed away each of us kids received about $17,000. I paid off a car and transfered about $14,000 into my 401k at work. About six month later the housing bubble burst and about half of the $14k got wiped out. My dad was so frugal. He would have been pissed. I was pissed for him.
muddy
@opiejeanne: I eat what I refer to as “cheaty-guac”. Cut the avocado in half. Sprinkle with a good quality garlic salt. Eat out of shell with a spoon. I’m not a chip eater.
I’ve had success freezing avocados too. I mash them up with a tiny bit of lemon juice and vacuum seal the bag. I love doing this when they are on sale. When I get them back out of the freezer I can just squeeze it out of the bag like toothpaste. And the part that remains in the bag doesn’t darken because there is no air in there. Haven’t wasted a bit of an avocado since I got the machine.
germy shoemangler
@muddy:
I confess that’s my technique as well. And I was so proud when I learned the fancy chef way of removing the big bocce ball seed by hacking it with a knife and twisting it out.
I suspect the nytimes “peas in guac” thing was restaurants trying to justify their skimping on avocado by cutting them with peas (like coke dealers selling baby powder).
“Look! it’s a trend!” rather than just a way of dealing with expensive avocados.
muddy
@germy shoemangler: At least it’s green (although I am still not in favor), some people put yogurt in it and then it just looks like baby poop.
MattF
@Matt McIrvin: The Times has published a followup.
And I’m sure Melissa Clark, the Times reporter who wrote the original story, wouldn’t get within 50 yards of a canned pea.
MomSense
@Matt McIrvin:
I put fresh peas in salads with some soft lettuce (like bibb or equivalent) with fresh herbs and a lemon vinaigrette. Sooo tasty. I might try some peas in guac. Then again I do love guac the way it is.
opiejeanne
@muddy: oh how my husband misses having an avocado tree in the yard. At the last house the tree was in the neighbor’s yard and hung over the fence. They were such nice people and we had to stop them from trimming it to save the fence. We told them not to worry about the fence, we’d repair it. Big, monster avocados
He loves them, I do not. They are like gold here in the PNW.
germy shoemangler
@opiejeanne: And some good health benefits. Does anyone remember alligator pear salads?
Frankensteinbeck
@KG:
I figured it would be somewhere in the southern regions of Africa, because of one terrible tragedy: A folk medicine belief got wide circulation that having sex with a virgin will cure AIDS. The rate of rape skyrocketed, as did the rate of HIV transmission. Sad as Hell.
@Jeffro:
Don’t ever expect Paul to do anything decent. If he ever says anything on the right side of any subject, it’s because he has a well established history of saying whatever he thinks his audience wants to hear. He is quite definitely racist as all get out. He has publicly stated he does not believe the Civil Rights Act should have been passed, for example.
boatboy_srq
@Tao of Nope: Not a curve, just the more attractive half of a Mobius strip.
oklahomo
@shell: What is the frequency, Kenneth?
J R in WV
@gbear:
Tommy is trying to make the point that family money doesn’t inevitably make you a racist bigot, or otherwise anything like Trump. As he often does, he doesn’t express that thought as well as he might, but you don’t need to jump on him for bragging, as he isn’t at all.
ETA: When my Dad died we inherited a nest egg. The main effect is that I’m more paranoid about investments than ever before.
opiejeanne
@MomSense: we had sugar snap peas and young pea pods in our salad last night, with lettuce and cukes we grew ourselves. Our peas are late this year because we didn’t realize at first that the rabbits were nipping off the tips with the twining bits.
opiejeanne
@germy shoemangler: my mother made a “salad” that was chunks of avocado and chunks of navel orange with a bit of mayo as a dressing.
Frankensteinbeck
@Bobby Thomson:
It’s about 40/60. 80/20, women raping more, for statutory rapes like teacher/student and camp councilor/scout. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. NOBODY SHOULD BE RAPING ANYBODY, and blaming the victim is disgusting.
Bobby Thomson
@KG: no, that’s Paul’s way of not pissing off his Klan base.
Germy Shoemangler
just saw this:
Adventures in racism at the supermarket checkout
Amazing story. Well, actually not amazing at all. Very typical.
Bobby Thomson
@El Caganer: she would bring gravitas to that ticket.
muddy
@J R in WV: He may not intend to brag in a shitty way, but there is a constant refrain of the perfection of his town, his family, everything his dad does or says, the one ancestor from Scotland in 1870 that constitutes his entire family history. And he gives the background a million times as though we are imbeciles that can’t remember what he said an hour ago. I find it wearing as well.
MomSense
@opiejeanne:
Sounds delicious. I’m super hungry now.
muddy
@Germy Shoemangler: Yes, typical. I had someone point out to me when we were indoors in the a/c on a hot day, that “they” were all standing right outside because “they like it hot”. I said they had something else in common that made more sense – they were smoking. FFS.
Or, “You can’t believe them when they say the police are lying, they have rap sheets as long as your arm!” I said, They got the rap sheets from the lying cops in the first place, have you considered that?
Germy Shoemangler
@muddy: My favorite story of Tommy’s is when he told us he lives in a huge house his parents gave him; it has six bedrooms and he hasn’t been in five of them in over a year. Like half the house is just blocked off like a museum.
Tommy is a nice person. Someone here mentioned he lacks self-awareness. I guess we all do, to some extent. I know I’m lacking in that department.
I’m not sure he means to brag. Maybe it’s some sort of exhibitionist thing [opens raincoat: Flash! Look at my money!]
I don’t know.
Bobby Thomson
@Matt McIrvin: no, you’re not. I like to try new things.
Germy Shoemangler
@muddy: What pissed me off about the supermarket cashier story is that the EBT card got locked up because of the repeated errors. So now they can’t use it for 24 hours.
It reminded me of a local shitty car dealer who advertises nonstop around here. He targets low-income folks with bad credit. His commercials feature him screaming “bad credit, no credit, no problem – I’ll get you financed!”
But what he does is a scattershot application to a hundred lenders, which apparently will lower a person’s credit score even more.
I found out when we applied for our last mortgage that each time someone checks our credit score, it goes down. WTF?
Paul in KY
@opiejeanne: I don’t think there’s any problem at all in inheriting money (unless you quickened the process), I just hate those ‘born on 3rd & think they hit a triple’ folks. I run into too many of them. Most wealthy Republicans (IMO) tend to fall into this group.
muddy
@Germy Shoemangler: That’s how those Lending Club and etc work. They just give out your info to anyone, and they all check individually. I’m always getting this kind of bullshit in the mail. I’m poor, not stupid.
I think they used to ding your credit score if you asked for it yourself, and only recently changed that. (I think)
MattF
@Germy Shoemangler: Yeah, the mere desire to borrow money makes it cost more to borrow.
Paul in KY
@Germy Shoemangler: Man, it sucks to be poor and/or black in America. I would be so damn frustrated all the time.
muddy
@Germy Shoemangler: Well, pretty much everyone gets told off in here at some point, I certainly have been. Place would be boring if we were all sweetness and light. I think Tommy is a big boy and can handle it.
Paul in KY
@Germy Shoemangler: I just think Tommy isn’t going to or feels he needs to apologize for his personal situation in any way. He’s obviously lucky & I’m sure knows he is lucky, but if the facts are that he lives in a huge house that his parents bought him & he hasn’t been in 5 of the bedrooms, etc. etc. & he feels it is germane to his story, he’s going to mention it, as probably all of us wouldn’t mind getting a free 6 bedroom house.
gbear
Long comment written – long comment deleted.
I don’t think Tommy is bragging either, he’s just talking about his life. He’s won the parent lottery and is just sharing his normal experiences.
I apologize to Tommy and I’ll stop now.
opiejeanne
@different-church-lady: neither would I.
My code of conduct is not as circumspect as Omnes, but I try hard to be patient and when I’m not I focus on the thing in front of me.
WereBear
@gbear: I totally understand the feelings.
During the ACA bill fight, I brought up a couple of times the total life reboot I had to do after losing my husband, business, and house. He died because we couldn’t afford health insurance.
A few years ago, I was reading a memoir about someone’s husband recovering from a serious accident. There was a scene where the husband’s parents came to the wife and told her they had money put away, so don’t worry about keeping the house, or getting the health care aide she needed, and the children could keep the summer camps they had been signed up for.
And mentally, internally, I lost it. I was filled with this absolutely frothing rage.
It wasn’t anything the memoirist said; the writer was very grateful and realized this lifted a tremendous mental burden, and was truly generous of her in-laws.
But the contrast between our situations was so stark and unfair it set off a whole torrent of negative emotions. Because my situation is a lot more common than her situation. After a horrible loss, I didn’t have anyone who could step in like that to buffer the effects.
The losses just kept on coming. And I guess I’m still kind of upset about that. Because it wouldn’t happen now.
And it shouldn’t have happened then.
Cacti
I think The Donald has a legit shot at being the GOP’s 21st century Barry Goldwater.
He pushes all the right buttons with the nutters, while everyone else finds him repellant.
Germy Shoemangler
@WereBear: Money is too often a matter of life or death. A few decades ago I was unemployed and watching too much daytime tv. Elke Sommer was on some insipid talkshow and in response to some stupid question she insisted that money was not important. I remember thinking the ring on her finger was probably worth more than my house.
wasabi gasp
Everybody makes everything about Tommy.
youtube.com/watch?v=2zfxZRBm3EY
Jeffro
@germy shoemangler: Here’s cheaty-guac for you: buy some of that fresh, made-in-store salsa and drain it, add diced avocado (1 to 3 ratio) and perhaps add a bit of garlic salt & a dash of lime juice, mix, let sit. You get the tomato, jalapeno, onion, and seasonings from the salsa and it makes perfect guac.
gelfling545
@Tommy: Bumper sticker I saw today: I started with nothing & I’ve still got all of it.
Germy Shoemangler
@Jeffro: That sounds excellent, thanks! But why does it have me thinking of vodka now?
WaterGirl
@WereBear: I’m so sorry, WereBear. I knew you had lost your husband and had to reboot your life, but I had no idea he died because lack of health insurance. That’s just so wrong. I’m just so sorry.
We all know life is not fair, but there’s not fair and there’s beyond NOT FAIR. That one person gets to live and another one dies because of how much money they have in their f-ing pockets is about as wrong as it gets.
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: Money isn’t all that important, as long as you have enough. But when you don’t have enough it’s the root of most problems. It’s so unfair.
P.S. A fellow who used to work for me dated Elke Sommer once.
WaterGirl
@Jeffro: @Germy Shoemangler: My cheater guacamole is one fresh avocado and a heaping tablespoon of really good chunky salsa.
Edit: and I seem to be talking to myself. Three comments in a row at the end of a thread. I hate when that happens!
opiejeanne
@Germy Shoemangler: for some reason I thought he bought the family home.
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl: WereBear’s story brought up a flood of emotions. Mostly anger at what she and her husband went through.
My cousin went into labor with her first child many years ago. She was rushed to a hospital, turned away, and then taken to a second hospital. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, by the time someone helped her, her son lost oxygen. He is “profoundly retarded” (as they called it). Never learned to speak.
Germy Shoemangler
@opiejeanne: I thought he said they gave it to him. We’ll have to ask him the details!
Possibly it was one of those things where they sold it to him for a dollar.
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl: thread’s still alive!
opiejeanne
@Germy Shoemangler: she was turned away while in labor? Terrible. Do you know why?
I remember there was a point when some hospitals closed their emergency rooms and refused to admit anyone in need of emergency traent including women in labor. People died, and there were other tragedies like your cousin’s child. I can’t remember the exact cause, something about money.
Germy Shoemangler
@opiejeanne: It was back in 1968. I’m not sure why they turned her away; I suspect money and/or insurance (or lack of it).
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: The rage I feel at reading about that makes me temporarily unable to speak at the present moment.
I hope they sued the hell out of that hospital so maybe the hospital will think twice about doing that again.
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: Thank god I’m not responsible for a dead thread. I hate when I feel like I’ve killed the thread.
opiejeanne
@Germy Shoemangler: you’re probably right. I forget details sometimes.
And, you made me laugh with that imitation of a gossip monger.
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl: No there was no lawsuit. I remember asking her about it when I was a few years older. She told me the doctor explained to her that “these things happen” and nobody is at fault.
Our family is working class. I noticed older members of the family would defer always to a professional. Doctors, dentists, bosses. My parents and uncles and cousin accepted whatever was said by these people.
The tragedy tore the family apart.
lol
@Germy Shoemangler:
Depends on the type of inquiry if it even counts but multiple inquiries within a certain period of time (two weeks I think) should all count as just one single inquiry for credit score purposes. Each individual inquiry will still show up on the report of course.
@WaterGirl:
Studies have generally found that the first $75,000 (nationally, differs by state of course) buys you a lot of happiness in that you’re typically not dealing with much money related stress/problems at that income level.
opiejeanne
@Germy Shoemangler: oh damn. That’s. Terrible. Monstrous.
We had Kaiser for many years and all three of our kids were delivered at their hospital, which was a bit of a drive over rough back roads, about 15 miles, but taking the freeway would have nearly doubled the mileage. I worried about that drive with every pregnancy, but I knew that kaiser would cover us if we couldn’t make it to their facility, and there was a hospital within a mile of where we lived that would have taken care of us.
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl:
That’s always happening to me. I’ll show up late; everyone is chatting and having a great time. I’ll say something like “check out this link: the world’s oldest parakeet! LOL!” or something, and then suddenly everyone is upstairs talking about the world cup. And i’m left picking lint off my trousers.
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: It would take a better person than me to let a tragedy like that go.
WaterGirl
@lol: That sounds about right. Thanks for the info!
opiejeanne
@Germy Shoemangler: I feel the same way.
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: Yeah, me too. The worst is when I’m late to a really interesting thread – I’m replying to people, posting links, and then I get to the end and see my pathetic collection of comments on a long dead thread.
WereBear
Thanks for the sympathy, ya’ll. See you on the NEW open thread!
Patricia Kayden
@dmsilev:Late to the thread, but had to say “ha!!” Whatever is on Trump’s head is more qualified to be President than he is. That’s one thing for sure. Cannot believe the GOP is humoring him like this.
Renie
@gbear: Thank you. I have always found it in bad taste that Tommy talks constantly about how wealthy his parents are. I’m always late to threads and don’t post a lot but I thank you for saying this. I hope its just his total lack of awareness that many people suffer financially that is the reason and not gloating.
satby
@Renie: word.