Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Thursday Morning Open Thread: A Man’s A Man

Thursday Morning Open Thread: A Man’s A Man

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Your morning moment of uplift, via valued commentor LAMH36, from Buzzfeed:

When Branden “Skip” Brooks was in eighth grade, he went on a class trip to the U.S. Capitol building, where his class from Delaware got to listen to a presentation from then-Sen. Joe Biden. Afterward, Biden took questions.

Brooks told BuzzFeed News he has a stutter, which was apparent when he asked Biden a question. After the presentation, Biden pulled him aside and told him he once had a stutter too, but he never let it hold him back…

He took Biden’s advice, and began giving speeches as much as he could. Brooks is now a father and lawyer living in St. Louis, and works for a Christian nonprofit offering legal services…

On Wednesday, Brooks felt compelled to share, on social media, a letter Biden wrote to him after the trip in 1994 encouraging him to never give up. “Remember what I told you about stuttering,” Biden said. “You can beat it just like I did.”…

To his shock, Biden tweeted back…

After getting the tweet, Brooks shared with Biden another special part of their story. In 2008, after he followed his dreams and became a prosecutor in Delaware, he was sworn in by Biden’s son, Beau…

***********
Apart from remembering that kindness is never wasted, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    Apart from remembering that kindness is never wasted,

    I had a crappy day yesterday, and needed a reminder that they all won’t be like that. Thanks Anne Laurie!

  2. 2.

    Schlemazel

    Headed to Yellowstone next week. I expect it to be crowded but we have planned some early morning & late evening adventures to try to relax during.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Apart from remembering that kindness is never wasted

    I wish I could say that was true for me. But I hope I’m unique in this respect.

    I’ll miss Biden.

  4. 4.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: If he’s on my primary ballot here in the ‘Land of Fruit and Nuts’, he’s got my vote.

  6. 6.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: They were just talking about it on Morning Hoe(Hoe isn’t there today), the consensuses was that the only thing holding him back is he doesn’t want to lose by 40% every time.

  7. 7.

    satby

    @Baud: Sometimes finding it out takes years, just like this story up top.
    And sometimes we may never see the results ourselves. But I do believe that even if we don’t know it, kindness is never wasted. I occasionally need to be reminded though, because life has a way of disheartening us on a regular basis.

  8. 8.

    satby

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Or maybe, after 8 years as VP and many more as a Senator, and having just lost another child, the man just wants to be with his family and his young grandchildren. Did they speculate on that as a reason, or was it all about the horse race?

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Glub, glub, glub….

    Got another 1/2″ yesterday, and then last night… Flash flood warnings everywhere around here including on I-44. I don’t know how much we got but for the first time in the 3 years since I built the front porch, it was wet inside it. Had the Woofmiester majorly agitated last night, pacing and panting from once side of the bed to the other. Took me about an hour to get him settled down.

  10. 10.

    Mustang Bobby

    Joe Biden makes me think about vice presidents and what they show about the president who chooses them. In my life, the Republicans have picked veeps who scared the shit out of me (Agnew, Quayle, and Cheney), and with the possible exception of Nelson Rockefeller, I would never have envisioned them as president.

  11. 11.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: Mainly horse race(new poll has Biden in 2nd place, 1 point ahead of Bernie). It was also mentioned that his family(including Beau before his passing) are encouraging him to run.

  12. 12.

    satby

    @Mustang Bobby: I remember thinking that Biden was an odd choice when Obama picked him just because of how different they seemed from each other; but as usual, Obama knew what he was doing.

  13. 13.

    sparrow

    Along with kindness, good advice to the young when they’re in a mood to receive it is never wasted.

    Years ago during the post-Katrina hysteria of Hurricane Rita seemingly bearing down on Houston, I was evacuated in a private jet by the father of my then-boyfriend, along with several other of his business associates and their families. Apparently, during our short flight to Austin I had a heart-to-heart with two young teenaged girls about why I was training to be a scientist, what it meant to excel and aim for something in life besides making money, etc. I remember this not at all. Many years later I ran into the ex-boyfriend and he said, “hey do you remember talking to those two rich-kid girls on that flight?” Nope. “Well,” he says, “after they talked to you they completely turned things around academically, started taking their education seriously and now they’re planning serious careers they’re going to top colleges,” (etc) “and they mentioned how much that conversation with you made a difference in their lives.”

    I was totally flabbergasted and humbled by that.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I have an android lollipop question for you. When I turn location on using the notification drop down, it automatically is set to high accuracy. Do you know if there is a way to automatically have it turn on battery saving mode?

    I got lollipop yesterday. It pretty svelte.

  17. 17.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    I agree with JEB!(and President Obama), you don’t put peas in guac.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Oh, I know how to do it manually thorough settings. I was asking whether there was a way to have it default to battery saving for the notification bar toggle.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @sparrow: Many years after the fact, a buddy of mine’s very liberal wife told me I had cured his homophobia** with one simple question: “What do you care what people do behind closed doors?” (or something along those lines) I have no recollection of the conversation whatsoever.

    **I don’t think he was really homophobic, just indoctrinated.

  25. 25.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I just turn on battery saving and it sticks, HOWEVER it doesn’t reset location from High Accuracy. Google really, really wants you to use High Accuracy.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    That’s what I thought. The old power bar made it easy to switch between high accuracy and battery saving. The new toggle, not so much. I’m sure there is an app for that.

  31. 31.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Power Saving on Sammy’s throttle the CPU and turns off Haptic feedback(among other things) but doesn’t change location settings.

  34. 34.

    beltane

    Joe Biden is like the beloved uncle everyone wishes they had, but who most of us don’t have.

  35. 35.

    ThresherK

    @beltane: Yet most everyone has, on the other hand, far too many of the example known as “Crazy Uncle Liberty*”.

    So often the universe is in balance; I’ll chalk this up as one of the exceptions.

    (* h/t Driftglass)

  36. 36.

    Daniel'sBob

    @sparrow:

    I was totally flabbergasted and humbled by that.

    Been there. My senior year in high school I hung out for a while with a new kid in school who was living with his grandparents after his parents divorced. We had little in common and never saw each other after graduation–and I don’t recall ever thinking about him or wondering what happened to him–but 40 years later at my father’s funeral his grandmother told me how much it had meant to him during that period of upheaval in his life. I had no idea.

  37. 37.

    beltane

    @ThresherK: I grew up having relatives who were so utterly indifferent to my existence that I was even denied the opportunity to experience a Thanksgiving ruined by a Crazy Uncle Liberty. However, since many of my friends do have Uncle Liberty in their ranks, I’ve been able to share the magic he brings to family gatherings.

  38. 38.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Along with trying to be kind ourselves, we probably should also remember to tell others when their kindness has mattered.

    Sparrow, Daniel’sBob, and Biden have made my morning.

  51. 51.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @raven: They were freaking me out a bit earlier with the TERROR crap, the kid’s flying to NYC this evening with her sis for the weekend.

  52. 52.

    Ripley (Whiskey Fire version)

    @Baud:

    You could check out ‘IF by IFTTT’ or ‘Tasker’. They’re situational apps to control settings or other apps. I use Tasker, and there’s a wealth of recipes online for various scenarios.

    I have a profile that turns on Bluetooth when the phone rings, for example. A lot of folks use geo-location based recipes, e.g., if phone is home, turn on WiFi; or if at work, lower volume.

  56. 56.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Ripley (Whiskey Fire version): I use Tasker, it is a required app for anyone using Android. I also use autolocation for more precise location services. Another app I use is Lighting Launcher as a replacement for the standard launcher. It’s the Tasker of launchers.

  57. 57.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Tasker has a steep learning curve, but it’s well worth the effort. As I noted, give Lighting Launcher a try as well(it also has Tasker integration).

  60. 60.

    debbie

    Does anyone think anything will come of the DOJ’s look into the airlines’ “seat capacity discipline”?

  65. 65.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Sometimes finding it out takes years

    Yes. And also that you get back what you put out. I’m constantly forgetting this for myself, but I’ve witnessed this truth in friends/family a number of times.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    As long as the Android genius bar is open . . .

    My first-gen (1GB) Nexus 7 has been driving me nuts, I think because Lollipop has slowed it to a crawl. I have searched on line and implemented a bunch of speed-up tips, with varying success, but now I am thinking about “downgrading” to Android 4.4.4 (or whatever “official” version I can find).

    I think the tipping point was when I realized that I was unconsciously preferring to read/surf on my phone (Moto X) because it was so much faster. Admittedly, it’s updating a smaller screen, etc., but I get none of the Chrome hangs and severe slowdowns that I do on the Nexus with Lollipop. (The Moto X is running 4.4.4.)

    So, thoughts or suggestions on going back to pre-Lollipop Android? Or speeder-upper tips? The only other thing I haven’t tried is leaving Lollipop on there but doing a factory reset. I haven’t done that because the Nexus is pretty vanilla anyway; I haven’t added many apps and use it mainly for reading e-mail and surfing the Web.

  68. 68.

    Paul in KY

    I think Joe Biden would make a great president. I also like peas, just not in guacamole.

  70. 70.

    Gimlet

    The criminal investigation against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken a more serious turn, with special prosecutors now planning to present a first-degree felony securities fraud case against him

    Schaffer, a Houston criminal defense attorney, said the securities fraud allegations involve amounts well in excess of $100,000.

    A first-degree felony conviction is punishable by up to life in prison.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    everytime the economic report comes out, I continue to ask the question:

    What would it look like if one political party had not decided to commit ECONOMIC TREASON against this country beginning January 20, 2009?

  74. 74.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Steeplejack: I haven’t had any issues with 5.1.x on my Nexus 4. Sometimes it seems like the Android updates don’t fully “catch” for a while. (E.g. a friend was having trouble with very short battery life on his Nexus 4 after the 5.0.x update. It eventually worked itself out.)

    These little computers are very complex beasties.

    I assume you’ve turned it off and let it cold-start at least once.

    Maybe try letting it run down, charge it up fully, then restart once or more?

    HTH a little. Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Thanks for the input. The Nexus 7 is running 5.1.1, it tells me, and the last upgrade was long enough ago that I’m sure it “took.” I have done various reboots/resets, but I haven’t tried letting it completely run down the battery. Any idea why that would help?

  76. 76.

    Digital Amish

    The OP made me realize that I’ve never seen anyone refer to either Biden or Obama as an ‘asshole’. I don’t mean the nut bags. I mean credible anecdotes that demonstrate their character. Two genuinely good guys. Guys you really would like to ‘have a beer with’. Trying to think when the last time you could say that about our chief executives. Even Clinton, I believe had his ‘asshole-ish’ moments. Carter / Mondale maybe?

  77. 77.

    Xantar

    My first job out of colege was at the Superior Court of Delaware in New Castle County. One of the judges told me a story about one day when Joe Biden showed up for jury duty. Naturally, there was no way he was going to make it onto a panel, but he still had to be part of the pool.

    It should be noted that in that particular courthouse, any phone with a camera is prohibited. Since even flip phones have some kind of camera, this effectively meant no cell phones were allowed in the courthouse building.

    So anyway, that day that Joe Biden showed up happened to be the day that Jim Jeffords defected from the Republican Party and tipped the balance of the Senate to 51-49 for the Democrats. My judge said that poor Joe was one of the most miserable looking people in that jury pool because there was no way for him to find out what was going on.

  78. 78.

    SenyorDave

    @Digital Amish: I probably wouldn’t refer to Cheney as an asshole. Dirtbag, prick, sociopath, Voldemort clone, etc., but not asshole. I can’t call Cheney the same name I would call someone who cut me off in traffic.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud:

    Hopefully we’ll know the race of the shooter soon so we can classify this incident accurately.

    Isn’t that the truth!

  80. 80.

    Digital Amish

    @SenyorDave: Dave, I just assumed it was a universal given that Cheney had risen to a level far above ‘asshole’. His protege covered the lower level for that duo.

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    @Digital Amish:

    Cheney is in a class by himself, isn’t he?

    So is Biden, on the other side of the scale! What a mensch! He deserves a long and happy retirement with grandkids and such. On the other hand, if he runs, he’s got my vote.

  83. 83.

    Ezra

    For the majority of 8th graders stutterers, it will simply go away on its own in one’s adolescence. It has nothing to be with “beating it.”

  84. 84.

    lurker dean

    @Steeplejack: I have a second gen Nexus 7 and was about to downgrade because the lollipop upgrade caused all sorts of issues, made many of the apps completely unusable. Luckily, before I downgraded, I found out that further lollipop upgrades had been issued to address the earlier issues, but my device hadn’t loaded them. I can’t remember how I did it (maybe check in the settings icon for the system update?) but after I loaded the later upgrades, all is fine and it’s working as normal. And I avoided having to reset and reload all my apps. I’m not sure if the same applies to first gen, but it’s worth a shot to see if loading later lollipop upgrades helps.

  85. 85.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Steeplejack: The run-down-the-battery thing is just a guess. I vaguely recall some power management issues for some users with some devices (maybe the Nexus 4). Running the battery down and recharging it seemed to help – is my vague recollection. Since power management impacts performance (obviously) there may be some interactions among the modules that are biting you.

    But lurker dean’s comment above is probably a more reasonable avenue to pursue.

    Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  87. 87.

    mr_gravity

    @rikyrah: I remember hearing a similar story about Dick Cheney. It involved him shooting his friend in the face with a shotgun. He didn’t go to the hospital because he had to sober up first it would have been awkward. It was so inspirational how he waited until his friend was out of the hospital before he made a joke about it.

  88. 88.

    Paul W.

    A great story, honoring people for who they are is the best way to go through life in my opinion. I can’t think of a better way to phrase what I’m thinking right now since it’s almost the weekend, but I’ll just turn this into another tip of the hat the the amazing Biden clan.

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack

    @lurker dean:

    Thanks for the input. As best I can tell—and I have explored the issue at length—my tablet is up to date on all upgrades. (Last system check was done this morning.)

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