Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When we show up, we win.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Finding joy where we can, and muddling through where we can’t.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Surf’s Up (Open Thread)

Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    cmorenc

    Speaking of surf conditions, I’ve been able to cumulatively spend nearly a month altogether this summer down at the southeastern N.C. coast (albeit not consecutively), and during that time, there’s only been a couple of days with even half-assed surfable waves, which would have been fine had I been able to go out then, because I am at best, a half-assed surfer who can occasionally barely get up on his board for a couple of seconds. But I am immune to worrying about embarrassing myself, since I have so much experience self-inoculating myself against public embarrassment.

  3. 3.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @ThresherK (GPad): She was one of Brian Epstein’s original discoveries. He mentions her in his memoir “A Cellarful of Noise” as being one of his favorites.

  4. 4.

    Big ole hound

    You Floridians complain about the hot days and yet nobody having lunch outside on a nice cool stormy day. Sheeesh

  6. 6.

    DCrefugee

    Betty, down here in Sarasota we’re about to float away. Supposed to start drying out by the middle of the week, but it can’t come too soon.

  7. 7.

    Schlemazel

    Minnesota has been suffering through one of the nicest summers I can remember. Yeah, way too much rain but plenty of really nice days. This, of course, scares the hell out of real Minnesotans who know full well tht nothing this nice comes without at least an equal dose of pain. It’s not possible to enjoy the summer waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  8. 8.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    I think it’s kinda pretty. But I would, being a (long) day’s drive from the nearest ocean beach.

    I still laugh about the native Californian teenage boys I met during a summer there in my teen years. They knew of my area because of sports (baseball: Big Red Machine and all that), but they had no grasp of geography. One asked “so how long does it take you to get to the beach?” They were stunned when I told them “about a day and a half.”

  11. 11.

    Snarkworth

    Sunny and 80° in SE PA.
    August weekends are lovely. Everyone is Down the Shore, so there’s lots of room on the roads, in stores, and such.

  13. 13.

    Gimlet

    Still seems like Donald Trump saying immigrants are a threat to American workers, then recruiting temporary low wage immigrants for his hotels.

    I think the Kochs profited well, even a form of corporate welfare, for their dabbling in Wisconsin politics.

    DANA POINT, Calif. – Charles Koch, in a Saturday evening speech warned about 450 assembled donors and a slew of Republican elected officials of a “life or death struggle for our country.”

    Koch went on to lambast “irresponsible government spending from both political parties that’s bankrupting out nation,” and a “foreign policy that repeats the mistakes of the past and feeds special interests at the expense of a national defense that truly makes Americans safe.”

    And he called on the assembled business leaders to reject “corporate welfare,” that he said is creating “a two-tier society” by “creating a permanent underclass, crippling our economy and corrupting the business community

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Gimlet:

    And he called on the assembled business leaders to reject “corporate welfare,”

    I wonder how he’d feel if we started with that sacred cow?

  17. 17.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Gimlet: Interesting article in the Business Insider. Koch seems to have Rush Limbaugh’s sense of humor, as least when it comes to Harry Reid:

    Charles Koch – introduced by the meeting’s emcee Kevin Gentry as “our great leader” – stumbled slightly on his way to the stage, as attendees squinted into a hot Southern California sun.

    “That was Harry Reid that was trying to trip me there,” Koch cracked of the Senate Democratic leader, who has waged a campaign to brand the Koch brothers as the personification of the big-money takeover of American democracy. “I didn’t see him, but I know he’s watching. No, he’s got the bad eye, he’s probably not even watching us anymore,” said Koch, alluding to exercise accident early this year that left Reid blind in one eye.

    Koch went on to lambast “irresponsible government spending from both political parties that’s bankrupting out nation,” and a “foreign policy that repeats the mistakes of the past and feeds special interests at the expense of a national defense that truly makes Americans safe.” And he called on the assembled business leaders to reject “corporate welfare,” that he said is creating “a two-tier society” by “creating a permanent underclass, crippling our economy and corrupting the business community – present company excepted, of course.”

  19. 19.

    Gimlet

    “I don’t think there’s a dime’s worth of difference between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders,” Christie said.

    “No, I don’t see any difference between the guy who calls himself a socialist and the woman who calls herself a Democrat,” he reiterated.

    “Hillary will try to convince you come the general election that she is a centrist Democrat,” he said of the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

    “That’s the same thing Barack Obama tried to convince everybody too, isn’t it?” Christie asked. “He doesn’t seem like much of a centrist to me.”

    A RealClearPolitics average shows Christie taking the final tenth slot in the main debate with 3 percent support.

  20. 20.

    bemused

    @Schlemazel:

    So true! Minnesotans basking in a stretch of perfect summer always think and say enjoy it now, we’ll pay for it later. I do think we appreciate weather like that more than people who have it year round.

  22. 22.

    MomSense

    @Schlemazel:

    Oh yes, we New Englanders share your concern that we are going to pay dearly for this lovely summer.

    First world problem just hit me when my phone magically just provided me with voicemails from two weeks ago. I don’t even know how this is possible.

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Gimlet: He was Romney’s designated nasty blowhard up until the storm hit, sounds like he wants that job back, maybe as an audition for another. I suspect the difference between his wish list and what a hypothetical GOP president would be willing to give him would be pretty stark.

  28. 28.

    MomSense

    @Gimlet:

    God I hope not since I was caught up in the Bush surveillance of Maine peace groups once before.

    I actually think I had turned off my cellular data LTE function because it was the only way my phone would access the hotel wifi. It explains why I wasn’t receiving calls or making calls. I thought it was just being on the subway.

    Oh well.

  29. 29.

    Germy Shoemangler

    From “The Devil’s Dictionary” by Ambrose Bierce:

    Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man – who has no gills.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I always thought Lindsey Graham had a rather fragile psyche. I think, between this and “We win!” and “kill us all!”… that psyche may be cracking

    Jose A. DelReal ‏@ j delreal 21h21 hours ago
    Graham: “Have you ever met an illegal canadian? You have!? Where!? I’ll go get ’em!”

  32. 32.

    EdinNJ

    @DCrefugee: Spending 3 days in Siesta Key starting 8/11 before heading to Sanibel Island for the weekend. Any chance we’ll see some sunshine by then?

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    Journalists Attend Private Koch Brothers Gathering, But Agree Not To Name Donors

    Aren’t they a big part of the story?

    Michael Calderone
    Senior Media Reporter, The Huffington Post

    NEW YORK — Several news organizations gained rare access Saturday into a private gathering of influential Republican donors hosted by Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit organization backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.

    But journalists covering the three-day event, held at a luxurious California resort, had to agree to an unusual restriction. They weren’t allowed to report the names of any of the 450 donors attending without the individual’s permission.

    The Washington Post’s Matea Gold disclosed in a Saturday night piece that her paper was “one of nine news organizations allowed in to cover the traditionally private confab, on the condition that the donors present not be named without their permission.” Politico’s Ken Vogel also noted the ground rules in his story published around the same time…

    huffingtonpost.com/entry/journalists-private-koch-brothers-donors_55bde43ee4b0b23e3ce30e48

  34. 34.

    Randy P

    @Germy Shoemangler: I’m always amused by the fundamentalist line about “isn’t it amazing how the earth is designed just perfectly to fit humans”, completely oblivious that humans are not evolved to survive in the vast majority of the earth’s environments (poles, deserts, oceans, even most “temperate” climates), and need artificial means to survive.

  35. 35.

    the Conster

    @rikyrah:

    Donald J. TrumpVerified account
    ‏@realDonaldTrump

    I wish good luck to all of the Republican candidates that traveled to California to beg for money etc. from the Koch Brothers. Puppets?

    Trump may definitely be a Democratic plant. That’s some serious trolling. Hope he hammers on that in the debate.

  36. 36.

    Amir Khalid

    @F:
    I hadn’t heard from No Labels in years. Does their anti-partisan approach to things still get any serious attention, or have they had their 15 minutes?

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah:

    Six Republican White House hopefuls were invited to this weekend’s meeting: former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. All committed to attend except for Paul, who said it conflicted with plans he had to campaign in Iowa.

    Interesting Christie isn’t considered worth bothering with, or Graham.

    Karl may not be the worst, but he’s definitely in the running

    Allen said the arrangement was similar to when ABC News’ Jon Karl moderated forums at a Koch brothers event earlier this year. Some journalism experts criticized Karl’s participation, suggesting that reporters shouldn’t be moderating partisan gatherings that aren’t widely open to the press.
    Organizers approached CNN’s Jake Tapper about moderating candidate sessions this weekend, but he declined, according to a source familiar with the event

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Amir Khalid: they were running ads on MSNBC a couple of weeks ago, featuring IIANM Jon Hunstman, who is so committed to non-partisanship he gave a “six figure” donation to Jeb’s superpac

  41. 41.

    bemused

    @rikyrah:

    Charles Koch told the mega donor audience at this gathering that start to reform welfare by eliminating welfare for the wealthy, stopping the subsidies, mandates and preferences for business. No reporting on wealthy audience reaction, golf clapping, no clapping…

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    Our forecast is sun and smoke. It will probably not budge from that until the first storm, sometime October-Novemberish. We’re more or less surrounded by wildfires so it doesn’t matter which direction the wind is blowing, we’re always downwind. What really blows is when there’s no wind.

    Save us The Donald, you’re our only hope. Yell at the weather and make it rain.

  43. 43.

    SRW1

    @scav:

    Jebus, Brits apparently even queue in the cold and mist on a mountain top just to be able to take a selfie.

  49. 49.

    scav

    @SRW1: To be utterly fair, I’ve observed free-range Americans doing it in the desert sun to have their photo taken with the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. An entire median-parking complex had been constructed, to tour-bus scale.

  50. 50.

    gelfling545

    @Schlemazel: Here in Buffalo we’ve had disconcertingly good weather as well. Even the hot days had fairly low humidity so were still comfortable. We don’t know how to deal with it.

  52. 52.

    raven

    Been moving 15 years of shit from behind our attic walls in anticipation of the roofers and salvage work on the kitchen ceiling. Peeps are saying I need to dump the papers and handouts from years of great school. I’ve started but I’m keeping my 1971 paper from Soviet Foreign Policy!

  53. 53.

    Hungry Joe

    Dog has allergies in the summer, so we have to bathe her every week with special shampoo.

    Week 1: Bathe dog.

    Week 2: She suspects something is up, looks antsy, but I get the leash on with no problem. Bathe dog.

    Week 3 (today): Look for dog. No sign. Finally find her in spare bedroom, under the bed — where she’s never been before. Spend ten minutes cajoling, tempting with treats; finally manage to drag her out. Bathe dog.

    Next week … don’t even want to think about it.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    Keeping an eye on Hurricane Guillermo, which much more likely than not will track to the north, weaken, and just give us some very high surf and maybe a short torrential rain, maybe on Tuesday.

  56. 56.

    kdaug

    @Schlemazel: Austin had two (2) days @ or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in July.
    In Texas.
    In July.
    Plus massive flooding in June.
    If this is the end times, shit, bring it on. Meantime I’m sitting in a coffee shop with my dog writing a cloud rendering front-end for Max2016, weather’s nice, girls are cute, and the club sandwich was good (little too much avocado for my taste, but YMMV),

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @Hungry Joe:
    Disguise tub as a hidie hole?

    Ours has a certain scowly-grumpy-I’m-SO-disappointed-in-You-People look she reserves solely for when she realizes a bath is imminent. Fortunately she doesn’t struggle, she goes limp and then we have to lug her fifty pounds to her private hell.

  59. 59.

    Origuy

    @scav: The Welcome to Las Vegas sign isn’t at the LV city limits. It’s in Paradise, an unincorporated place. Las Vegas proper starts at Desert Inn Road, which is at the north end of the Strip. CGP Grey explains (spoiler: taxes.)

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Interesting too that the Kochs didn’t invite Kasich, since they like to pretend/believe they’re all about The Spending, and Kasich was Paul Ryan when Paul Ryan was still about half way through his first reading of Ayn Rand. I wonder if that Medicaid move was the sin they won’t forgive.

  63. 63.

    Amir Khalid

    @MattF:
    Interesting that the four who gave the most in total donations gave them to trailing rather than leading Republican candidates.

  64. 64.

    divF

    @Hungry Joe:
    How does dog figure out it’s Sunday ? Assuming it is not by counting to seven, you are going to have to vary your Sunday routine to eliminate the cues she is picking up.

  65. 65.

    Gimlet

    Obama should have put some high ranking people on trial and let them defend the practice to clear misconceptions.

    From ABC’s This Week:
    KARL: Would President Trump authorize waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques, even torture?

    TRUMP: …you mention waterboarding, which was such a big subject. I haven’t heard that term in a year now, because when you see the other side chopping off heads, waterboarding doesn’t sound very severe.

  67. 67.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    Interesting that the four who gave the most in total donations gave them to trailing rather than leading Republican candidates.

    Not too surprising, though; playing catch-up is more expensive than trying to maintain a lead.

  68. 68.

    Right to Rise

    Kasich would make an excellent VP for Jeb, but he’s going to have to apologize for Medicaid first. He sold Ohio’s soul and his political principles for federal cash that is going to go away soon due to the debt crisis. Uncle Sugar can’t keep dumping money that we don’t have into Medicaid for ever.

    Great to see the Koch Brothers involved in the process though.

  69. 69.

    Right to Rise

    Interesting Christie isn’t considered worth bothering with, or Graham.

    Christie is yesterday’s news. He made his bed when he was cozying up to Obama in 2012. Now he gets to sleep in it.

    And Graham’s conservative credentials are as limp as his wrist.

  71. 71.

    RaflW

    @Schlemazel:

    Minnesota has been suffering through one of the nicest summers I can remember.

    It’s true! And though I’ve lived here 20 years, I am not a native, so I don’t have to bother with the Keillor-esque sense of foreboding.

    It helps that I have a Subaru. And that like to ski & snowboard. And have a condo in the CO rockies. So, y’know, winter, schminter. Party like it’s July 31st!!

  72. 72.

    the Conster

    @Right to Rise:

    Conservatism died the day Hank Paulson darkened W’s door with his hand out asking for a trillion dollars. What you’re seeing now with all the GOP candidates and their billionaire sponsors is the plan going forward on how to most effectively keep the grift going on rubes like you.

  74. 74.

    MattF

    @Right to Rise: It’s known that Kasich has an anger-management issue, so it’s unlikely that he’ll be apologizing to anyone for the policies he’s promoted.

  75. 75.

    shell

    @raven: Just make sure….when I was dumping a box of old college papers, found a lot had my SS number on them. Had to go thru all of them to find out what needed to be shredded

  76. 76.

    Right to Rise

    @MattF:

    Good point. I think it will be Bush/Walker or perhaps Bush/Rick Snyder. We need a strong midwestern Gov from a swing state. Snyder would put Michigan in the bag and ditto Wisconsin for Walker.

  77. 77.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I tried to start my car a bit ago, and the steering wheel lock wouldn’t undo, so I couldn’t turn the key or budge the shifter. Bless the Internet, because it pointed out to me that there’s a little hatch next to my shifter, and if I pry that open and press my key in, I’ll be able to shift into neutral and unlock things.

  81. 81.

    Right to Rise

    Here’s a bold idea from Jeb, the “one in, three out” rule to curb the federal beureaucracy:

    We can expect more than 10 percent of the current federal workforce to retire over the next 5 years. It’s a fairly safe bet that not everyone who leaves has to be replaced.

    We will go by a simple three-out, one-in rule across the federal workforce, with exceptions for critical positions related to our security and safety. Only one new hire for every three who leave.

    This policy can, on its own, reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy by 10 percent within 5 years.

  82. 82.

    satby

    @rikyrah: I love that movie too, thanks for the heads up! I was watching the Colin Firth version of Pride last night. Now I can watch Bride and Prejudice tonight!

  85. 85.

    Gimlet

    @Right to Rise:

    Maybe we can combine that with “privatization” or contract the work out? It won’t show up on the books and it can be a win for crony capitalism.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @MattF:
    Hilarious! More probably Resists Bath Face in our case. It’s somewhat related to “You are so not jamming that pill down my throat” lockjaw. How did that giant maw become so tiny?

  87. 87.

    MattF

    @Gimlet: Remember the OPM data catastrophe? Just coincidentally, OPM contracts out almost all of its investigative work.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @the Conster:

    I have to admit, I find it weirdly fascinating that people like R2R seem to be genuinely convinced that if we end Medicaid, people will magically stop having Type I Diabetes, congenital heart deformities, seizure disorders, severe asthma, cancer, etc. After all, if we just prevent people from getting medical treatment, they’ll stop needing medical treatment and all our problems will be solved!

    He also has a bit of a problem with basic math since he seems to genuinely think that paying $30,000 for an emergency amputation of a diabetic’s foot is more cost-effective than paying $1,000 a year to keep that person’s diabetes under control. But a lot of conservatives seem to have trouble with basic concepts like “cost effectiveness” and “taking care of a small problem before it becomes a big problem later.”

  89. 89.

    Right to Rise

    @Gimlet:

    My local school district is in the process of firing all their (unionized) custodial staff and turning to a private subcontracting firm to clean the schools. It’s estimated this will save tens of millions of dollars a year for the taxpayer.

    Something like that at the federal level could be a real winner for Joe Taxpayer.

  90. 90.

    satby

    @Gimlet: Because cutting an already lean and underfunded workforce by 2/3 wouldn’t be a problem, amirite? Easy peasy and then we can cut taxes even moar!

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    @Right to Rise:
    Wow, just look at you posting away! Got the ol’ floppy drive up and running, eh?

    Getting Kasich to dump the whole Christianity thing sounds like a great idea. It’s certainly done wonders for Huckabee.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    @Right to Rise:
    Note: those midnight-to-six janitors will be composed of the illegals y’all are busy running out of the country via their cantaloupe calves. Just so you know.

  95. 95.

    satby

    @Right to Rise: you’re a silly troll who doesn’t even believe the tripe you spew, but no one who’s worked in corporate America for the past 10 years of outsourcing will buy the assertion that it saves money. It almost always ends up costing more.

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Right to Rise:

    We need a strong midwestern Gov from a swing state. Snyder would put Michigan in the bag and ditto Wisconsin for Walker.

    Why didn’t the strong midwestern governors put Michigan and Wisconsin in the bag for Romney in 2012?

    Especially considering Romney had Paul Ryan, Scott Walker has organized GOP voters 3 times in Wisconsin, and Romney’s father was a Michigan governor.

    People in Michigan and Wisconsin were just waiting for the governors to be on the national ticket, as VP, so they figured in the meantime they’d vote for Obama with margins of 7 points in WI and 9 in MI?

    The VP will overcome a 7-9 point Democratic lean?

  97. 97.

    Gimlet

    @Right to Rise:

    Smart fella like you should be trying to convince local politicians of the benefit to helping some businessman finance a casino for the local economy.

  99. 99.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Right to Rise: You’re no doubt aware of this (from 2010) if you’re a fan of privatization:

    Filthy floors. Unsanitary bathrooms. Strangers in the hallways. These were everyday conditions at schools in the Upper Freehold Regional School District in Allentown, N.J.. The culprit? Privatization.

    For 15 years, private contractors employed by the Upper Freehold schools walked in and out and all over district contracts. They came and went and in their wake left a mess that others had to clean up.

    “It was a revolving door,” says Warren Gessmann, president of the Upper Freehold Regional Education Association (UFREA). “Those custodians did token cleaning.”

    It wasn’t always like that. The district’s custodial services were once performed by UFREA members who were well-trained, lived and voted in the community, and enjoyed working with students. The fiasco began in 1995 when a private company low-balled a bid to clean the schools. The district accepted the bid, believing, like many districts strapped for cash, that they’d save money. They didn’t.

    […]

    But that was an outlier experience, amirite?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  101. 101.

    divF

    This week’s homework assignment: compare and contrast R2R, srv, and mclaren. Consider issues such as effectiveness, sincerity, purity of approach, and whether they like pie.

    For extra credit: analyze the prose stylings of BiP, either in English translation or in the original Russian.

  102. 102.

    Gimlet

    “Right to Rise” stirs the pot, counts the number of responses and calls it a day.

    He’s probably gone on to another site. There are time constraints to a workday.

  104. 104.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Right to Rise:

    Dude, a private corporation told you that they’re going to save you money in the long run by paying people less and you believed them?

    Hint: those Medicaid and food stamp costs you’re bitching about? You’re going to be paying even more of them to cover those non-Union janitors, because they’re not going to be getting health insurance or a living wage from that private company. And you’re going to bitch about the mean ol’ government picking your pocket because you don’t understand the definition of “false economy” and were too stupid to realize that those “cost savings” are still coming out of your pocket, only at a higher cost and from a different direction.

  105. 105.

    divF

    @Gimlet: LGM has already been warned of R2R by one of the stalwarts here. They will have the red carpet out for him when he shows up, I’m sure.

  106. 106.

    scav

    Decimation was traditionally applied to the military to punish units or large groups guilty of capital offences, such as mutiny or desertion. Well, I supposed cutting out 2/3rds would clear out the police and military forces of their dead and diseased wood a little faster than those socialist Romans ever dared manage . . . . .

  114. 114.

    divF

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    pure asshole

    I would classify mclaren as “intermittent asshole”. Kind of like Dave Barry’s characterization of Ross Perot as someone who says sensible things some of the time, then goes completely crazy for no apparent reason. Search on “Dave Barry Ross Perot dog satellite”.

  116. 116.

    RaflW

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): (re: R2R’s nonsense)

    if we end Medicaid, people will magically stop having Type I Diabetes, congenital heart deformities, seizure disorders, severe asthma, cancer, etc.

    Well, in short order, they will. If you’re dead, you are conveniently symptom-free.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @RaflW:

    Not nearly as quickly as conservatives seem to think, though. But they’d rather pay sky-high emergency room costs than basic healthcare because they’re fucking idiots. I’m guessing R2R never changes his oil and then bitches when he has to pay thousands to have the engine rebuilt because who knew that preventing a problem could be cheaper than trying to fix it later?

  118. 118.

    GregB

    Right to lie.

    Gotta get in on some of that wing it welfare boiler room troll cash.

    Got a number to share?

  120. 120.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @Mike J: My youngest is at the Blue Angels Show today. She got 4 VIP tickets from a friend and wanted to share them with us but with the prospect of the heat plus not knowing what the seating would be like we had to tell her “No, thank you.” She’s sending us photos and it looks like it’s a lot of fun.

    Dave had back surgery less than two weeks ago and he would likely have been very uncomfortable if it was bleacher seating, and she didn’t know. He’s doing fine but we don’t want to undo all the good.

  121. 121.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    Since this is an open thread…

    I have a non profit. I work with a school in a small town in Honduras. I help them find English speaking teachers, and then I try to raise money to pay their wages. That way, the school gets free teachers and they can use what they would have had to pay them for other things. I’ve been posting here for a long time, so I guess this isn’t any news to a lot of you. Anyway…

    So, I’m not really temperamentally suited to be a fundraiser, and it’s hard for me, and up until now, I’ve only been supporting one teacher each year. This summer, though, I committed to paying for three teachers. I thought maybe I should just take a leap off the diving board and sink or swim at this, so that’s what I’m trying to do this year.

    I was wondering how people here at Balloon Juice would feel about having one of those fundraiser threads to try to get some money? There have been threads like that before for animal causes and political causes, and I was hoping maybe we could try one for my non profit. I have 501(c)3 status from the I.R.S., so it’s a legitimate non-profit. Am I stepping out of line here, or is this something people might be willing to see happen?

  124. 124.

    gene108

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Omnes Omnibus says:
    August 2, 2015 at 3:30 pm
    @divF: In order, paid troll, pure troll, and pure asshole

    I would not call srv a pure troll. He (or she) just comes at things from a different angle.

    Might not add much to a “conversation” here, but I think that’s not trolling.

    “A guy” would be more of a pure troll.

  126. 126.

    Glidwrith

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Actually, I think they don’t care in the slightest about those health problems. It is your fault if you got sick, just like it is your fault you are poor. It matters not at all so long as they keep their money because such things happen to someone else and not their own self-righteous selves.

    I think Alan Grayson never spoke more truly when he said if you get sick, they want you to die quickly.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @gene108: By pure troll, I mean srv will say almost anything in order to stir up the pot. No agenda other other than trying to wind people up.

  129. 129.

    gene108

    There are a couple of cases, when contracting / outsourcing makes sense.

    1. The work will be temporary.
    2. The work is not something your business has any expertise and will not benefit much from becoming experts. Payroll tax filing by an accountant or payroll processing company comes to mind. It’s not going to add to the bottom line, so it does not make much sense in keeping someone on the staff to do this. More cost effective to let ADP handle things.

    Otherwise it would be better to have your own employees in most other cases.

  131. 131.

    Bruce Webb

    @Right to Rise:

    My local school district is in the process of firing all their (unionized) custodial staff and turning to a private subcontracting firm to clean the schools

    Well that is awfully good news. Because it is so hard for new prison parolees to find a steady job and a lowest bid janitorial firm is JUST the right place for them to start off using those prison industry skills. What could possibly go wrong here?

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