Latest from commentor & cat-mensch Marc:
Woke to this one roaming outside the nest. Guess I gotta start ‘kitten proofing’ the bedroom.
And for some TMI Thursday, kitten poo is bright orange.
**********
Here in New England, we’ve just registered our second official heat wave of 2015, and the weatherpods are saying it’ll break by this evening. With a little luck, the Spousal Unit and I won’t aggravate each other to death before then. (And yes, I know that a mere 96F plus ‘oppressive’ humidity is like a crisp Fall day to you Californians & Southwesterners, but we’re just not acclimated!)
Apart from pointing & laughing at me, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Goblue72
As a New Englander relocated to California – the natives out here would melt in the humidity of an average Boston summah.
Elizabelle
Would have bet on the marmalade as the first escapee.
Maybe this was the first one photographed.
Central Planning
I get to play in a charity golf tournament today. I think I last played maybe 3 years ago. Should be an interesting day
WereBear
@Elizabelle: I would have bet on the Marmalade too!
But perhaps he convinced the other kitty to be the first one. Alpha cat types are like that :)
And in a side note:
WOT? I may not be able to visit such places. I was promised the humidity of the Pacific Northwest was balanced by lower temps. But I cannot stand heat and humidity.
It completely saps my will to live.
raven
@WereBear: One adjusts.
Randy P
@Central Planning: Went bowling with a bunch of engineers a few days ago, a friendly competition between two neighboring organizations at work. Scores were tightly grouped in the 80-100 range, except for a few ringed in the 150-180 neighborhood.
I definitely haven’t handled a bowling ball since I was a kid, and I remember hating how heavy it was. But it was surprisingly fun, to the point that I’m actually contemplating doing more of it on my own and trying to improve my game.
Randy P
That’s “ringers”, not “ringed”. FY autocorrect.
WereBear
@raven: I know some people do, and others even thrive in such a climate.
I had ten years to give it a try. I was old school Deep South, sitting at the back of a concrete porch, rocker or glider to create a bit of breeze, glasses of sweating tea to sip.
At a certain point my skin closes all its pores and threatens me with agonizing death like the bikini girl in Goldfinger.
Can’t do it.
WereBear
@Randy P: Bowling shares with golf the lure of perfection. Next time.
Careful. You might acquire a shirt.
raven
@WereBear: Try Can Tho.
WereBear
@raven: I tip my imaginary hat to you. Now that’s a training ground!
No wonder Athens is a city on the hill to you :)
Central Planning
@Randy P:
Don’t do it! You might decide to join a bowling league. I was on a bowling league for one season… it was worse than hockey season. It went on FOREVER.
WereBear
I DID IT.
No big deal, but I managed to put the PDF Merchants of Deception in my Kindle Cloud. Now I can read it more easily.
It’s an incredible read… especially if you know Amway is tied in with Blackwater
Free download here.
raven
@WereBear: It was HOT!
WereBear
@raven: I just bet. Jungle.
In primary school, I wanted to be an explorer. Exposure to more tropical climates made me realize I wouldn’t be a good addition to that Amazon expedition. I’d be the one who gets all bug infested and goes mad and has to be shot.
raven
@WereBear: Heart of Darkness
MomSense
Had a most unfortunate encounter with wasps while walking the dog yesterday late afternoon. The dog has numerous bites and was in a lot of discomfort. Fortunately we had Benadryl in the house and she didn’t have to go to the vet because the only one open would have been a long drive.
raven
@MomSense: Have you seen Mr Holmes?
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I adjusted in the wrong direction. Used to be it was no big deal, now I fairly wilt. Just not the man I used to be.
WereBear
@raven: Exactly! I adore Conrad.
WereBear
Genetically, I’m more suited to Arctic expeditions, which is why I happily live where I live. (ADK Mountains of NY.)
But that grim moment where you have to kill and eat someone you’ve been on the expedition with… man, that would be tough.
Mustang Bobby
When I was in the cool and dry mountains of Colorado last weekend, I met up with a friend who claims that summers in Minneapolis are as hot and humid as anything we have down here in South Florida. Having never spent a summer in the Twin Cities, I’ll have to take his word for it, but I know that Miami isn’t as bad as Atlanta or even Orlando, which is inland, and we have the sea breeze.
MomSense
@raven:
No, but I really want to. I’ve heard Sir Ian McKellan is brilliant as Holmes.
Another Holocene Human
@Mustang Bobby: The Midwest can get downright nasty in the summer. As you surmised, it’s the inland thing. And don’t forget the air pollution.
As for the OP, the 90s in September in New England is not normal.
Climate change at the end of the medieval period in Europe caused major societal upheaval. Hmm.
Gimlet
Top big-wave surfer Shawn Dollar broke his neck in dangerous conditions off the central coast of California and remained in hospital on Wednesday, his management company said.
Dollar, who holds the world record for the largest wave ever paddled into, was in stable condition after breaking his neck in four places on Monday, according to a statement from the Titans of Maverick’s surf contest.
The 34-year-old father of two was cared for by surfers and then rushed to a hospital emergency room, Titans of Maverick’s said. Reports said he had not suffered any paralysis.
Mustang Bobby
@raven: I saw it. Terrific.
Thoughtful Today
“Bernie Sanders Takes the Lead in Iowa Poll.”
…
“The Vermont senator is favorite among 41% of Iowa likely Democratic particpaints, compared with 40% supporting the former Secretary of State, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday.”
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby:
He lies. Or he is completely delusional. I have a sis in MSP and it is so nice and cool in the summer, she doesn’t even have AC. They have a window unit for the one week every year it hits 90. Been there several times in the summer (why on Dog’s green earth would I go in the winter???) and I can testify.
Mustang Bobby
@Another Holocene Human: I remember summers in Toledo as being both hot and humid, and this was before our house had A/C. We’re a month away from switching to the dry season here; I drove in to work in a pounding rain which will turn the air into a wet sauna towel when the sun comes up.
bemused
I noticed the kittens were a lovely assortment of colors and markings when first pics went up, no two the same and thought it was going to be interesting to see how their beauty grows as they grow. The nuances are not obvious when they are tiny. The kitty above is already a stunner.
Mustang Bobby
@OzarkHillbilly: Well, he’s originally from Denver, so it may be rough for him. They get hot out there, but never as humid as the Midwest.
WereBear
@bemused: There’s also the distinct possibility of kittens in a litter having different fathers.
Another Holocene Human
@Mustang Bobby: The other deal is that urban temperatures can way outpace the ‘burbs.
satby
@WereBear: @raven: I’m with WereBear, after spending quality time on the Gulf Coast after Katrina with no power and no air conditioning, and then doing it again in Haiti, I would say “one endures”.
Baud
Haha. Good Morning America used “bromance” to describe Trump and Cruz’s relationship.
bemused
@OzarkHillbilly:
NE Minn where I live has a cooler climate than southern MN. Spring arrives about two weeks later and fall two weeks earlier. The maps of where to view the peak autumn leaf colors that come out every year are a good example of the difference. When the cities is in the high 90’s, up north we usually will be enjoying more comfortable temps. I’m not as happy when we dip into the 60’s when southern MN has 80’s.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Explain XKCD was essential (for me) for today’s comic.
Well done.
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
I’m happiest in a temperature range from 55 to a low humidity 80. Colder doesn’t bother me as much as hotter though I suppose that will change as I get older. It’s 55 here in SWMI right now, with a predicted high of 77. Tomorrow will be a high of 66, and my first girl from Indonesia will be arriving tonight and probably freezing to death. Then I pick up the girl from Bahrain tomorrow, and they can huddle under down comforters together to preserve body warmth. Poor kids.
Amir Khalid
@Thoughtful Today:
Yay Bernie.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: I flew thru Miami once and during the layover I took a walkabout. Felt about as oppresive as our worst. Suspect that is what you have every day. MSP can be humid, but their highs are 10-20 degrees below what we have here.
Iowa Old Lady
@Mustang Bobby: I saw it too. It’s really well constructed.
I’d rather deal with 0F temps than 95 and humid.
WereBear
@satby: When I was in Brazil, I was astonished at the mannequins in their department stores. They were Sophie Tucker, while actual Brazilians were more like Mary Martin in Peter Pan.
I figured it was more marketing: just make them feel like their figures are not adequate :)
I was almost a head taller than they were. My shoulders were wider, and my feet were like mutant feet. So Brazilians throw off heat faster than I could, simply because my dimensions were bigger; designed to keep heat in.
OzarkHillbilly
@bemused: Yeah, when I went up to work at my aunt and uncles fishing camp it was snowing in International Falls/Fort Francis… The first week of June. Just flurries but 2 days before I was well into another STL summer.
WereBear
@Amir Khalid: Feel the Bern!
He is ALL OVER social media. It’s astonishing. And yet, it’s not, because our American youth are terribly hard hit:
Lousy educations
Overpriced college
No job opportunities
Shrinking housing
Low wages
It’s a rough template handed to them: dreams crushed as impractical, but there’s no “sensible path” to take that has security, either.
JPL
Marc, Have fun herding the cats. lol
OldDave
@OzarkHillbilly: The temps feel worse in Orlando because of the stillness of the air – we get a sea breeze here on the coast which helps. What everyone seems to forget is temperatures are measured in the shade, and the direct sun here in the southern subtropics can be brutal. Hot! And the UV? Asphalt roads bleach to white, red cars and stop signs fade to pink, that sort of thing.
Amir Khalid
@Thoughtful Today:
Within margin of error, too far out from the primary to be meaningful, no minority voters in Iowa, yadda yadda yadda.
WereBear
@OldDave: Sea breeze is essential. I started out on the Atlantic Coast, Cape Canaveral, and then our inland years were sheer torment. Spent some time on the Gulf Coast before calling it quits.
OzarkHillbilly
@OldDave: A friend of mine spent her early summers in Clewiston and so she said.
debbie
@satby:
A dry heat can be just as oppressive. I remember waiting in line for a cab in Las Vegas on a 125-degree day. Wearing panty hose because it was a business trip, I felt as miserable as I’d been growing up in Ohio’s 90-degree, 80-percent humidity, zero wind summers.
Gimlet
“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you…”
GARNER, N.C.—Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush unveiled a sweeping tax plan Wednesday that resembles prior GOP attempts to lower rates but goes further in expanding breaks for middle-class households, such as the standard deduction, while curbing some breaks for businesses and wealthier Americans.
“My plan will help those who live on their paychecks who haven’t seen a raise in a while,” the former Florida governor said from a factory floor here at a plant that manufactures cooling equipment. “My plan works whether you’re on Main Street or Wall Street, no special favors, no special breaks.”
He said his proposal would create 19 million new jobs and allow 15 million more households to avoid paying income taxes. He also projected that taxpayers who earn more than $200,000 annually “will bear a greater share of our income-tax burden than they do today.”
“So the top 5% will bear a greater share,” he said. “And the top 10%, as well.”
OzarkHillbilly
National Geographic abandons nonprofit status after Murdoch deal
Talk about selling your soul.
debbie
@OldDave:
New England had a heat wave in 1974. I drove to the ocean at Hampton NH to escape a hot, no-AC apartment. I get there, walk down to the shoreline, and discover the breeze is coming off the land, not the water. Not even the water felt very cool.
Gimlet
@OzarkHillbilly:
National Geographic – “Fair and Balanced”
debbie
@Gimlet:
Where do these guys get their numbers from? This sounds totally bogus.
Baud
@Gimlet:
Ha. I remember when Republicans thought that was a bad thing. I believe the term “moocher” was used now and then.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: They pull them out of their asses.
Baud
@Gimlet:
Hmm. But what about the top 1%? Do they also bear a greater share? Where art thou, Occupy? Bush is modifying your meme.
Gimlet
@Baud:
But what about the top 1%? Do they also bear a greater share? Where art thou, Occupy? Bush is modifying your meme.
Why one would think that’s inferred to be in the 5%, 10% grouping.
Baud
@Gimlet:
Fun with numbers.
I can’t imagine that Bush is proposing to raise taxes on the super wealthy. So I assume he’s proposing to raise taxes on upper middle class folks to pay for a tax break for his buddies.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Finally, Trump has some real competition – John McAfee for President!!1
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gimlet: Was listening to an economist talk about Bush’s plan yesterday, said that it probably would create more jobs but there was no telling how many but one thing you could be certain of was it would blow one hell of a hole in the deficit that the new jobs would never fill.
JPL
@Baud: Yup.
satby
@MomSense: I’m glad to hear you and the pup are ok, wasps are nasty things. I’m still at war with the nest on my deck, But I’m slowly winning. There must have been hundreds, because I certainly killed almost that many.
Baud
@Amir Khalid: @WereBear:
If he gets the nom, at least we’ll finally get to test the long touted theory that voters will be receptive to a full throated defense of liberal economic principles.
satby
@WereBear: I always tell people it’s because I’m insulated so well.
bemused
@WereBear:
Yes, I know this well and wondered about how many daddies were involved.
When I was a kid, long ago, veterinarians were rare and few in rural/small town Iron Range MN and only treated the farm animals, cows and horses. No such thing as dog/cat/pet vets then.
As I grew up, our family always had two female long-haired calico cats. The original cat came from Michigan with my mother when she married my dad and we think she had some Maine coon in her because many of her descendants had slightly tufted ears and males would have lionesque manes.
Two unspayed cats produced a lot of kittens having two litters each every spring and summer sometimes a few weeks or even a month apart. My cat lover mom would set up birthing boxes and we kids learned a lot watching the births and then speculating from kittens’ colors which neighbor’s cats were the daddies. I think every litter had some ong-haired calicos or male tabby/torties. We didn’t often know who the daddies wee because toms can travel from miles away to find a female to mate with. We rarely saw mating either, cats seemed to like privacy more than dogs.
What I loved the most was when the second cat had her kittens, my mother, at the right time, would put second litter in the box with the first litter and both cats would feed and take of them all. So fun to see the smaller kittens, bigger kittens together and mother cats would take turns nursing not caring whose kids were whose. It was hard to let the kittens go to new homes but we kids had a blast while we had them. Good memories.
satby
@debbie: Last Vegas heat is actually what I envision as hell.
Aleta
Two summers in saga and Fukuoka, four in Ibaraki (where there’s horrendous flooding now) , 2 + in Tokyo. The last two years I learned to relax into it and almost enjoyed it.
Kay
@Thoughtful Today:
I’m surprised by Iowa. I think they have to explain why they haven’t had more success organizing there if they lose. I’m doing a shift at the fair for the county Democrats on Saturday. I’ll report back on levels of feel-the-Bernism :)
I read he did a conference call with 70,000 (!) rank and file union members. Can that even be right?
SomeDude
@Baud: Nah, to translate: “I’ll be cutting taxes, and these folks will be paying 5-10% more than those who are too poor to pay taxes = nothing.” After the write-off’s and deductions for those at the top, they may even be due for a refund…
satby
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: why not? The rest of the Republican field is just as insane, though he wants to go third “Cyber” party.
debbie
Ha, ha. Listening to NPR on the Tea Party rally, Trump channels his inner Sheen: “We will have so much winning if I get elected, that you may get bored with winning.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lid-donald-trump-promises-winning-washington-n424541
debbie
@satby:
Phoenix at 96 degrees in May didn’t bother me in the least, but Vegas definitely felt like the Maw in Hell.
bemused
@OzarkHillbilly:
Oh yes, that has happened more times than I want to remember. Even the most cold/snow lovers up north aren’t happy to see their breath in summer.
Amir Khalid
In case anyone’s curious, Rowling Herself has declared that the t in Voldemort is silent.
Baud
@Amir Khalid:
Didn’t the movies settle that? How was it done there?
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Tom
Continuing prep work for fall term. I’m teaching two classes, one of which I’ve done before (and I wrote). I’m also developing a course on business analytics so I need to churn some content out on that.
Apart from that, I need to get groceries and possibly do some blogging and (finally) update my web site.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
I’m pretty sure she had the director brief the actors on the correct pronunciation, but remember that many of them were very young.
MomSense
@Baud:
One of the commenters here calls it “the smarmularity” which I think is much better.
Tom
@OzarkHillbilly: How 19 million jobs got up in there, they’ll never know.
(h/t to Groucho)
rikyrah
hmmph
Republican anti-Iran deal plan falls apart despite rally spectacle
Rachel Maddow shares clips from assorted right-wing luminaries at an anti-Iran deal rally in Washington, D.C., and talks with Frank Thorp, NBC News Capitol Hill reporter, about how Republican disorder makes it unlikely there will be any actual vote of disapproval of the deal in Congress.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/gop-anti-iran-deal-plan-falls-apart-522669635935
rikyrah
the pictures of the kitties are so cute.
rikyrah
Liberal Librarian was on it.
……………….
the #irandeal and the great republican hissy-fit
By Liberal Librarian
With Senator Maria Cantwell becoming the 42nd Senate Democrat to come out in favor of the nuclear deal agreed to between Iran and the P5+1, President Obama not only has a veto-proof majority in the Senate and House, but also a bloc which can filibuster the bill of disapproval from even coming to a vote. In chess this is known as “checkmate”. The GOP has no moves left.
Except, of course, this is the GOP.
“Checkmate,” says Pres. Obama.
“Checkmate?” asks some elephantine GOPer. “Look, over there!” And then he proceeds to turn over the game board.
This is essentially what the GOP House has decided to do. The vote of disapproval was slated to be considered on September 11. That vote has now been put on hold due to a revolt among the hard right Teabaggers in the GOP House caucus, who for some reason don’t want to be forced to vote for a measure which Pres. Obama will swat away as he did famously to that fly years ago. So, as always, they’re revolting:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/09/09/the-irandeal-and-the-great-republican-hissy-fit/
rikyrah
ok….I already wanted to see it….now, I have another reason.
……………….
Dennis Haysbert Joins Sophie Okonedo & Adrian Lester in 6-part BBC Political Thriller – ‘Undercover’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
September 9, 2015 at 5:42PM
Dennis Haysbert has joined stars Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester in Peter Moffat’s original 6-part BBC political thriller – “Undercover.”
To be broadcast on BBC One (not ETA yet), the series is described as bold and gripping, starring Okonedo as lead character Maya, who’s about to become the first black Director of Public Prosecutions, and Adrian Lester as her husband, Nick. Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny, Maya discovers that her husband and the father of her children, has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? If she digs up his real past, will she be safe? And who wants her in this new job and why? Twenty years ago, Nick was a fearless and dedicated undercover officer, infiltrating organisations considered a danger to society because of their political beliefs. Nick built himself a fake past and now with his wife unsuspecting, and his conscience killing him – his secret identity may compromise the new Director of Public Prosecutions – Maya, his wife.
Haysbert has signed up to play a man who has been wrongly imprisoned and has been on death row for 20 years.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/dennis-haysbert-joins-sophie-okonedo-adrian-lester-in-6-part-bbc-political-thriller-undercover-20150909
rikyrah
about Trump
………….
From an essay from Tikkun Magazine: “Trump and the Ghost of Totalitarianism” (Excellent analysis of the Trump phenomenon)
“…And while liberals such as Michal Tomasky have pointed to his appeal to racial resentment, a gladiatorial style, and his ability to combine a war like discourse and elements of conservative fundamentalism with a flair for entertainment,[15] this type of analysis shies away from talking about Trump represents the challenge of understanding how totalitarianism now confronts Americans in new forms.[16]
He is the embodiment of a political party and casino driven social order in which informed judgments, moral responsibility, and collective action disappear from the world of politics. Trump’s often insulting, humiliating, misogynist, and racist remarks signify more than the rantings an antediluvian, privileged white man who is both savvy in the world of public relations and delusional in the world of politics. Trump represents the new face of what Hannah Arendt once called the “banality of evil.”[17] Unapologetic about the racist nature of his remarks, unreflective about an savage economic system that is destroying the planet and the lives of most of its inhabitants, and unaware of his own “criminal” participation in furthering a culture of fear and cruelty, he is typical of an expanding mass of pundits, anti-public intellectuals, and right-wing fundamentalists who live in a historical void and for whom emotion overtakes reason.
Clearly, the attack on reason, evidence, science, and critical thought has reached perilous proportions in the United States. A number of political, economic, social, and technological forces now work to distort reality and keep people passive, unthinking, and unable to act in a critically engaged manner. Politicians, right-wing pundits, and large swaths of the American public embrace positions that support Creationism, capital punishment, torture, and the denial of human-engineered climate change, any one of which not only defies human reason but stands in stark opposition to evidence-based scientific arguments. Reason now collapses into opinion, as thinking itself appears to be both dangerous and antithetical to understanding ourselves, our relations to others, and the larger state of world affairs. Under such circumstances, literacy disappears not just as the practice of learning skills, but also as the foundation for taking informed action. Divorced from any sense of critical understanding and agency, the meaning of literacy is narrowed to completing basic reading, writing, and numeracy tasks assigned in schools. Literacy education is similarly reduced to strictly methodological considerations and standardized assessment, rooted in test taking and deadening forms of memorization, and becomes far removed from forms of literacy that would impart an ability to raise questions about historical and social contexts.
For Arendt the inability to think, to be thoughtful, and assume responsibility for one’s actions spoke not just to a regrettable type of civic and political illiteracy, but was crucial for creating the formative cultures that produced totalitarian regimes. Absent any residue of moral responsibility, political indignation, and collective resistance, crimes committed in a systemic way now emerge, in part, from a society in which thinking had become dangerous and non-thinking normalized. Of course, thinking critically is largely produced in public spheres that instill convictions rather than destroy them, encourage critical capacities rather than shut them down, invest in public spheres rather than eliminate them by turning them over to private interests. What Donald Trump represents is rarely talked about in the media. He is the most current egregious highly visible symbol of a terrifying stage in American society haunted by the protean elements of a new totalitarianism. Totalitarian forms are still with us but they no longer find expression in the rounding up and killing of Jews, gays, and intellectuals or in the spectacles of militarism with the heightened show of armies of thugs dressed in military uniforms and black boots. The new totalitarianism is echoed in the resurgence of religious bigotry that runs through the current like an electric current and personified in the media celebration of bigots such as Kentucky clerk Kim Davis who believes that her religion gives her the right to both deny marriage license to gays and the disavow the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, Davis is more than an embarrassment politically and ethically, she reflects a sizable number of religious fundamentalists who have the backing of Republican Party and presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee.
Totalitarianism throws together authoritarian and anti-democratic forms that represent a new historical moment in American history. Economic fundamentalism now governs all of society rather than just the market and in doing so drives politics and sets polices that promote massive inequalities in wealth and power, produce huge amounts of suffering, and appear to delight in a culture of cruelty. Military fundamentalism points to a society that now militarizes everything from knowledge to schools. In this scenario, an increasing number of behaviors are criminalized, militarism feeds the punishing and incarceration state, and a kind of hyper masculinity now parades as the new model for legitimating aggression and violence in multiple spheres and against an increasing range of populations extending from women and black youth to Mexican immigrants. One of the most deadly fundamentalisms is education. We now live in a world in which illiteracy has replaced literacy and civic values have gone the way of the typewriter. As the orbits of privatization increase furthering what has been called by Mark Fisher the “empire of the self,” knowledge is transformed into the flow of non-stop information just as education collapses into training. Students are now defined as test-takers and celebrity culture has overtaken any viable notion of a critical, questioning, and informed culture. Trump’s rise in the polls is tantamount to the collapse of civic literacy and the public spheres that support it.
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/donald-trump-and-the-ghost-of-totalitarianism
Cervantes
@WereBear:
Not if properly cooked.
MomSense
@satby:
I’m sorry to hear the wasps are on your deck. They are nasty buggers. I had to pull them off of her and it wasn’t easy because she was doing a crazy dance and then dive bombing to the ground to try and rub her whole body on the grass.
rikyrah
but but but…he only appeals to a ‘sliver of the GOP…right…
Poll: Donald Trump surges to 32% support
By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
Updated 7:55 AM ET, Thu September 10, 2015 | Video Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump has become the first Republican presidential candidate to top 30% support in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, which finds the businessman pulling well away from the rest of the GOP field.
Trump gained 8 points since August to land at 32% support, and has nearly tripled his support since just after he launched his campaign in June. The new poll finds former neurosurgeon Ben Carson rising 10 points to land in second place with 19%. Together, these two non-politicians now hold the support of a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and separately, both are significantly ahead of all other competitors.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stands in third place with 9%, down 4 points since August, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz holds fourth place with 7%. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker follow at 5%, with all other candidates at 3% or less, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who notched the only other statistically significant shift in the poll by falling 5 points since August.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/donald-trump-ben-carson-cnn-poll/
Elizabelle
Good movie alert: documentary by Aviva Kempner out this week in limited release. Going to see this today.
Rosenwald [link has nationwide screening info]
For DC area Juicers: It’s at the Avalon in DC, the Cinema Arts Theatre in Fairfax, and the Shirlington 7 in Arlington. Stays at Avalon and Fairfax next week too; also in Greenbelt MD.
Believe it’s in Los Angeles and other selected cities as well.
MomSense
@Cervantes:
As we learned from Fried Green Tomatoes, slow cooking and lots of barbecue sauce are the way to go.
rikyrah
it’s Politico…but, it doesn’t mean that it’s not true.
Bernie Sanders overtakes Hillary Clinton in Iowa
People close to Clinton’s camp have recently been warning that the Vermont senator could win Iowa and New Hampshire.
By Gabriel Debenedetti and Nick Gass
09/10/15, 07:07 AM EDT
Hillary Clinton’s Iowa edge is gone.
Bernie Sanders leads the former secretary of state for the first time among Iowa Democrats likely to caucus in February, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll unveiled Thursday morning — the latest in a string of surveys that show a tightening race in the Hawkeye State.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/qpoll-iowa-213462#ixzz3lL9lASDj
rikyrah
Orange Glo continues to not be able to COUNT VOTES
…………….
GOP’s populist revolt arrives at Capitol, complicating Iran debate
By Mike DeBonis and Katie Zezima September 9 at 10:09 PM
The anti-establishment disenchantment now roiling the Republican presidential nominating contest landed on Congress’s doorstep Wednesday, with two presidential candidates rallying opposition to the Iran nuclear deal on the Capitol lawn, targeting not just President Obama but GOP leaders as well.
“We are led by very, very stupid people — very, very stupid people,” front-runner Donald Trump told the crowd, eliciting hearty cheers. “We cannot let it continue.”
The crowd frequently yelled “Amen!” and consistently booed any mention of Obama, congressional Democrats, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Meanwhile, inside the Capitol, a member revolt forced Boehner to revise his plans to hold a vote against the Iran deal this week — an unexpected showing of the internal GOP acrimony that has some fearing a government shutdown in three weeks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gops-populist-revolt-arrives-at-capitol-complicating-iran-debate/2015/09/09/2ebb9764-5731-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html
Cervantes
@Kay:
Not independently verifiable.
Meanwhile, did you notice that parts of the SEIU and AFT are calling for both nationals to postpone or withdraw endorsements of Clinton?
rikyrah
I have had differences with this President on foreign policy,but that’s only because I wanted us out of places sooner. Have said it before, will continue to say it: I do not, under ANY circumstances, Trust Hillary Clinton when it comes to foreign policy. There is NOTHING that this President has done that I could point to and say, ‘ Hillary would have done it better.’ Not.one.damn.instance.
………………..
In a break with Obama, Clinton lays out tougher worldview
By Anne Gearan September 9 at 6:32 PM
Hillary Rodham Clinton — who has spent much of her campaign embracing the policies of President Obama — signaled clear disagreement with her former boss Wednesday in key areas of foreign policy, suggesting in some cases that he has been too hesitant.
Again and again, Clinton pointed to instances overseas where she would have taken a tougher stance than Obama, from arming Syrian rebels to confronting an expansionist Russia. In some cases, she was talking about policy debates she lost while serving as Obama’s first-term secretary of state, or about advice she suggested was not heeded.
The critique, delivered as part of a Washington speech focused on the Iran nuclear deal, was in many respects subtle — wrapped inside overall praise for Obama and never targeting him directly. But the differences were nonetheless striking for a candidate who has worked carefully to soften her hawkish national security reputation and who badly needs Obama’s liberal coalition of voters to gain the White House.
“Those of us who have been out there on the diplomatic front lines know that diplomacy is not the pursuit of perfection,” Clinton said. “It’s the balancing of risk.”
That line was meant to answer Republican critics who say the Obama administration failed to drive a hard bargain in international nuclear talks with Iran. But Clinton echoed some GOP criticism of Obama’s hands-off approach to some world problems.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-a-break-with-obama-clinton-lays-out-tougher-worldview/2015/09/09/be77b058-570f-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
Elizabelle
Good documentary out this week: treat yourself (and support a small film): in limited release around the country. On 3 screens in DC/Northern Virginia area.
Rosenwald, by director Aviva Kempner
Director Aviva Kempner will into the film at 5:15 and 8:00 p showings at the Avalon Theatre tonight; Q&A after.
Hal
Holy crap. I saw Sarah Palin yesterday in clips on Rachel Maddow’s show and jeebus, that was like watching someone take acid for the first time. Amazing how someone can speak perfectly fine english and still need a translator. And what’s up with her Valerie Jarrett obsession? I know I’ve her Palin talk about Jarrett before.
Elizabelle
OK, will a front pager please check the spam filter?
Have been trying to put up two comments about Rosenwald, a documentary out this week and next in limited theatrical release that deserves a look. Not sure why it triggers the filter, but it does.
Thank you.
Sherparick
The NY Times columnists today, Cohen and Kristoff, have discovered who to blame for refugee/migrant crisis in Europe, that Black guy in the White House, who just refuses to use his Green Hornet ring to stop the fighting and make all the bad people go away. Somehow both have collective amnesia about how well American military power brought peace and prosperity to Iraq and Afghanistan these last 14 years (NOT!!!) Yes, Syria (and Iraq) are terrible situations. But so is Yemen and that has just been made worse by the Saudi invasion, backed by the U.S. Ditto Somalia, ditto much of the Sahel and Equatorial Africa, (where the wars and slaughters go back over 25 years now. Much of this is climate change and overpopulation and this is what the world has in its future as those problems get worse. If they want solve all these armed conflicts with an American military occupation, then we are going to need a larger Army.
Elizabelle
I don’t see a Bernie Sanders win in Iowa as bad for Hillary or the Democrats.
It would just put his issues out on the table, and good luck running away from them.
Interesting to see Trump causing Jeb! some fits and attempted “populism” (yes, that is how the New York Times has described Jeb!’s tax plan).
Another Holocene Human
Okay, so Amy Klobuchar was on the horn just now talking about the US taking in 65,000 refugees. Only apparently looks like it’s going to be 8,000, but we’ll see how the lobbying goes. Thought she did well in the interview arguing the case.
rikyrah
Black Jesus is coming…LOL
…………
The Second Coming Is Here – Watch Trailer for ‘Black Jesus’ Season 2 (Premieres Sept. 18)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
September 8, 2015 at 12:16PM
A year ago, Adult Swim ordered a second season of its then new Aaron McGruder series, “Black Jesus,” but given how long it’s been since that announcement, many fans apparently wondered if it was indeed returning for a second season. And it looks like it will be, so you can rest easy now.
“Black Jesus” season 2 will premiere on September 18 at 11pm.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/the-second-coming-is-here-watch-trailer-for-black-jesus-season-2-premieres-sept-18-20150908
OzarkHillbilly
@Hal:
She is everythin Sarah Palin ever wanted to be but isn’t: Intelligent, well educated, well spoken, and successful. She is also one thing SP doesn’t ever in any way shape or form want to be: Black.
It is the juxtaposition of the latter over the former that drives her nuts.
Another Holocene Human
@Hal: Valerie Jarrett is an uppity Black lady acting above her station. The fact that her job is (was) social event coordinatey makes it worse. (I realize that wasn’t her entire job. It’s the part that set them off, though.) You can’t assail Condi’s PhD or Michelle Obama’s law background (instead they go after her marriage, looks, femininity, womanhood, etc) but how could some no-name Black lady be on top of the social heap? Fetch the smelling salts.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: She loses me big time with this kind of shit. Arm Syrian rebels? How did that work out?
SuperHrefna
Thank you for the kitten fix Marc!
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: When those House stupid caucus people talk, they sound exactly like they sound on the floor of their state legislatures. Nobody slapped them down then, and nobody is slapping them down now, or when they do, they don’t seem to notice.
You’d think voters would get embarrassed by having such horrible representatives.
Bobby Thomson
@Elizabelle: soaking yuppies while showering cash on billionaires is doing populism wrong.
Mack
@MomSense: You may know this already, if so, never mind. But it’s important to understand the differences between yellow jackets and wasps. ESPECIALLY as Fall approaches. That is when yellow jackets are most active, and the most dangerous. If you had multiple attackers, it was likely yellow jackets, since paper wasps don’t normally swarm and attack as a group. Were they small?
Paul in KY
@OzarkHillbilly: I lived in Homestead for 3 years. In March it would be 90 at 9 AM in morn & 90 at 9 PM. In August, it was significantly hotter.
rikyrah
bought the EW with Shonda this morning. Congrats to her.
……………..
Shonda Rhimes opens up to Oprah about 100-pound weight loss on ‘Super Soul Sunday’
by Chris Witherspoon | September 9, 2015 at 2:17 PM
Shonda Rhimes is opening up for the first time about successfully dropping 100 pounds.
Rhimes recently sat down with Oprah for an all-new season of OWN’s Super Soul Sunday set to air November 15.
During the interview the acclaimed creator of ABC’s Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy opened to Oprah about how adopting the practice of saying “yes” for one year completely changed her life and also discussed her dramatic weight loss of 100 pounds.
As a self-proclaimed introvert, Shonda has chosen to spend much of her life out of the public eye, creating popular television shows and raising her three children. In an effort to evolve and step out of her comfort zone, Shonda shares with Oprah how her sister challenged her to say “yes” for an entire year to any unexpected invitations that came her way, which is chronicled in her upcoming memoir, “Year of Yes.” She opens up about this process, the powerful impact saying yes had on nearly every aspect of her life and what she says is one of the most amazing decisions she has ever made.
http://thegrio.com/2015/09/09/shonda-rhimes-100-pound-weight-loss/
Elizabelle
@Bobby Thomson: It’s not populism, it’s Jeb!ulism.
Language watch: I have noticed the NYTimes referring to Jeb! and Cruz and Trump as taking a populist turn.
Wondering if they are trying to spoil that word through misapplication.
Cervantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Also, she was born in Iran.
@Another Holocene Human:
Jarrett has degrees from Stanford and Michigan, as I recall.
Gimlet
Little boy or little girl kitty exploring?
Just One More Canuck
@rikyrah: “That vote has now been put on hold due to a revolt among the hard right Teabaggers in the GOP House caucus, who for some reason don’t want to be forced to vote for a measure which Pres. Obama will swat away as he did famously to that fly years ago. So, as always, they’re revolting”
They certainly are
Cervantes
@Elizabelle:
It’s the Times. Superficial coverage is their first line of defense.
(Superficial coverage of politics, I mean.)
Sherparick
@rikyrah: Yep, this is my biggest worry about Hilary. She has drunk a little to much of the Green Hornet Kool-aid of the Washington DC imperial village about how sending in U.S. forces just will “make everything better” and eliminate all those awful pictures coming over tv screen. Forget for moment the moral argument (War is always murder and there is no way to pretty it up, especially if it is guerrilla war and U.S. Forces versus 3rd world forces always become guerrilla war) and policy wisdom (see J.Q. Adams 1821 Independence Day Speech, about not going “abroad for Monsters to destroy.”see: http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3484). Politically, for a Democrat it is a particularly perilous policy to pursue as there will be no support for it from a Republican Party that will be dedicated to the destruction of her administration from its inception, as it has been to the last two Democratic administrations, and at the same time she will soon find herself at war with majority of her own party, who find such interventionism and the intractable wars of avarice and greed that arise from it morally evil and a diversion of resources from painful domestic problems of poverty, inequality and environmental devastation. Also the media will switch from its concern trolling about how “the Administration will do something to stop the Syrian Civil War” to how “the Administration will extract itself from its Syrian intervention as a steady stream of casualties turn Americans against the war” and the “unexpected” blowback from that intervention. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html
icedfire30
@OzarkHillbilly: I live in Minneapolis, grew up in New Jersey, and have visited Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Phoenix in August.
To me, Minneapolis’ worst days are pretty comparable in the misery index. A few years ago we had a 98 degree day with a dewpoint that hit 83 (unofficially, since it wasn’t on the hour)…I’m pretty sure anyone will take notice of that no matter how acclimated they are. Where Minneapolis is lucky is that our worst humidex stretches usually get broken pretty quickly.
Paul in KY
@Cervantes: and marinated. Don’t forget that.
Another Holocene Human
@Kay: “Join the call” if they use the same setup my union uses means they auto-dialed most of those numbers and that means they picked up. Doesn’t say how long before they hung up. There’s no way they were using one of those free conference call setups. They paid good money to hold that call.
These must be people who showed up to rallies or expressed an interest. It would be illegal for a union to just give a campaign a list of names and phone numbers, right?
MomSense
@Mack:
Yes, and they were in the grass.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: One of her shortcomings, to me. Makes me think she is trying, at times, for Republican Lite. Which is never a good thing.
OzarkHillbilly
@Paul in KY: My FL experiences exist to one brief trip to the Gulf shore of the panhandle, and my 1 flight thru Miami. Neither one of them gave me any kind of hankerings for an extended summer time stay. It gets hot here. It gets humid here. But at least we can usually count on getting a break every now and again. That state is a whole ‘nother level of unrelenting Hell.
Paul in KY
@Hal: She’s jealous of Ms. Jarrett’s great looks (and great smarts).
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Did you know that Earl Monroe’s early nickname was ‘Black Jesus’. Read that in one of Kareem’s books.
Paul in KY
@OzarkHillbilly: How do you know she doesn’t secretly want to be black?
OzarkHillbilly
@Cervantes:
Another secret Muslim in the White House!!!! 911 911 911
Thanx, I did not know that. The web of conspiracies gets more and more intricate hourly.
benw
@Sherparick:
Baud said it yesterday: the Times is a fine paper, except awful when it comes to US politics. I only read Krugman anymore out of all the opinion writers. I haven’t even seen Blow or Collins in awhile.
@Elizabelle:
The Times has never found a Republican that they’re not desperate to prop up. The back-to-back articles on “Hillary in disarray!” and “Jeb!s populist tax plan!” made me want to dump my coffee on my monitor.
OzarkHillbilly
@MomSense: They nest in the ground.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
Have a co-worker that really wants to see this movie. I hope your comments come through about the movie.
OzarkHillbilly
@Paul in KY: I don’t, but I do know that if she does she is in complete denial, kind of like the gay Evangelical who rails against the gay from the pulpit, but has gay wet dreams every night.
Another Holocene Human
@Cervantes: Which has nothing to do with whether or not she has the right … breeding.
Paul in KY
@OzarkHillbilly: Due to perceived crime down there, you had to roll up windows. Car would sit out in heat for 12 to 14 hours. When I got in, had to have towel on seat to avoid burns & could only touch steering wheel with tips of fingers, until it cooled down a bit. Fun times…
rikyrah
@Hal:
The right wing can’t stand Valerie Jarrett, who has the trust of BOTH the President and First Lady. And, despite the ‘Village”s efforts to discredit her, nobody can get closer to the President, because of Jarrett- the gatekeeper.
They also can’t stand her because she’s from of a family of multi-generational, unapologetic Black excellence. There’s absolutely nothing in the Black stereotype repertoire that you can hang on Valerie Jarrett, who is OKOP, through and through.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: I read the WaPo piece, and as usual, it was long on Villager “Dems in disarray!1!!” framing and short on actual quotes that indicated daylight between Obama and Clinton. Even the quotes produced in the piece were bereft of context that might put an entirely different spin on what Clinton said and how it related to PBO’s policies.
Like you, my foreign policy differences with PBO have been of the “get the hell out sooner” variety, and I am wary of HRC’s past hawkishness. But I guess I’m going to have to find a video or transcript of the speech and draw my own conclusions. The WaPo piece you linked looks like it might be more Villager clowning.
Paul in KY
@OzarkHillbilly: Good analogy. By all accounts, she did have a 1 night stand with Glen Rice, back in the day.
I was in Rupp Arena for the Regional that sent Michigan to the Final 4 back in 89. Glen Rice was on fire there!
OzarkHillbilly
@Paul in KY: Back when I was still working I just stopped rolling up my windows in the summer. ‘Course, most times I had the advantage of parking on a job site parking lot, so theft was not a worry.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: But suppose she was middle class and average in background, like the Obamas themselves. They’d still hate her with the fire of ten thousands suns because they believe the best Black person is lower than the worst white person so HOW DARE SHE judge them in that gatekeeping role.
Same reason WV voted for a white convict in the 2012 primary.
Cervantes
@Another Holocene Human:
It was you who called attention to the academic backgrounds of Rice and Obama:
I merely observed that Jarrett’s academic background is not negligible, either.
Were you trying to suggest that Jarrett’s “breeding” is somehow “inferior” to that of Obama or Rice? If so, please proceed.
Mack
@MomSense: You got yerself some yellow jackets. I used to just let them be and avoid the area…but after I was attacked and nearly hospitalized, I have instituted a zero tolerance policy here at Coyote Creek. If I see evidence of a nest, I kill it. They do not return to the same nest ever. So I have to wait until I see them swarming (usually in a circular pattern) and then I go back at dusk and pour in a little diesel fuel. If my son is with me, we generally light it just for kicks, but the fuel does the job on it’s own. It sure as hell ain’t the greenest solution…but ask anyone who has been swarmed if they care.
Mack
Oh, by the way, they will get worse in the fall, but stop flying at around 50 degrees.
rikyrah
@Another Holocene Human:
No….because Jarrett’s background is so far beyond what they deny ever exists in this country.
They can ‘reason’ that Barack and Michelle Obama got where they are because of Affirmative Action.
Jarrett’s family has been well off and success since right after the Civil War…..which comes up against all their ‘beliefs’ about Black folks in America.
Another Holocene Human
@Cervantes: whatever point I was making was not clear to you, so call it a miscommunication and leave it at that
rikyrah
@Cervantes:
It’s not the case, because, Jarrett is straight up Black Elite…generations of Our Kind Of People.
Cervantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Some kinds do. Others use crevices in buildings, etc.
@Mack:
Dusk is a good time to do it; night is even better as they have poor night-vision.
If you want not to use diesel: pyrethrin works.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: You’re assuming Sarah Palin and the rest are even aware of all that. I’d argue that they’re certainly not.
It would blow their minds, wouldn’t it? They actively avoid finding out anything about people they make a sport of hating.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mack: And watch your soda cans and your ham sandwiches. Was driving down the road one day eating my lunch when I stopped at a light. Took a bite of my sandwich and my teeth went crunch and then a POW! on my tongue. Fortunately I only react badly at half a dozen or more stings, and I just talked funny the rest of the day.
Cervantes
@rikyrah:
Precisely.
Cervantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Which explains why they’re sometimes called “meat bees.”
But still … OUCH!
Germy Shoemangler
DanR2
@MomSense: Sounds like yellow jackets. Not a particularly useful insect. Wait until dusk… watch them all fly back into the nest and then nuke it with a half a can of raid. If you think you’ll feel guilty about doing that, just step on the nest and get stung a few dozen times.
Gin & Tonic
@Mack: What do they do then, take the bus?
Cervantes
@DanR2:
Well, their propensity to eat other insects (and such) can be useful.
Cervantes
@Gin & Tonic:
“Staycations.”
Cervantes
@Another Holocene Human:
No problem.
MomSense
Unfortunately or fortunately these yellow jackets are not on my lawn but next to the sidewalk in my neighborhood. I don’t think I can spray or worse to them because it isn’t my property. I’ve never seen them like this in our area but this has been a strange year for insects. They were on one of our usual dog walking routes and very close to the sidewalk. It could end up being a problem for kids walking to and from the bus stop. I’ll send an email to the neighborhood group. I really hate doing that because then I have to deal with all the neighborhood busy bodies.
shell
The Black Death had something to do with that too. (Can the Republicans retroactively blame Obama for that?)
That little escapee looks like a kitten with a mission!
Cervantes
@shell:
Just think about it.
Mike J
@Cervantes: They’ll call it the half-black death.
Iowa Old Lady
There is no explaining what Sarah Palin says.
Mack
@Cervantes: Yeah I’ve heard that, but of course diesel fuel is something I always have on hand. You’d be surprised at how many different uses there are for it.
@Ozark: I am pretty sure they go after protein in the Fall, and sugar in the spring, if memory serves.
Miss Bianca
@Mustang Bobby: ‘Tis true. Which is why I left the Midwest for…the mountains of Colorado.
shell
Makes a great dessert topping!
bemused
@Iowa Old Lady:
I don’t know which is worse, the pitch of her voice or the gibberish that comes out of her mouth but the combination of both gives me a headache.
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: Gonna go see it this afternoon, and then might even venture into DC for the 8p showing at the Avalon, where the director (Aviva Kempner) will intro and take Q&A after.
I’ll try to put the info up again on a Betty Cracker thread; she tends to check in on the comments.
Hope your friend can see the movie.
Elizabelle
@bemused: Nails on a blackboard.
Maybe it’s more soothing to wingnutz, but I just see and hear “mean girl” and that does not include “mean smart girl.”
Mack
@shell: Ha. But I do use it for fuel, obviously, and for coating fence posts.
FlipYrWhig
@Elizabelle: The part of her address they played on Chris Hayes was essentially her saying “Obama, what a fag.” It was all about pink and sparkles and so forth. I was in school in the ’70s too. I know what that all means.
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: Sprung it!
Cervantes
@Mack:
Switch to “biodiesel” and you can cook with it as well.
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah:
Well, that’s disappointing, if Clinton is not just saber-rattling for the benefit of the WP.
Cervantes
@Betty Cracker:
Here.
Cervantes
@Miss Bianca:
Disappointing, perhaps, but not surprising.
Diana
I come late to this thread but the kittens are getting to their most saccharine stage of cuteness. Please consider this another request for kitten videos.
Gin & Tonic
@Cervantes: I think the moderation key was the first name of B. T. Washington, which is also the last name of the junior senator from NJ; FYWP thinks is may have to do with games of chance.
Paul in KY
@shell: And a floor wax!
Cervantes
@Gin & Tonic:
No idea about that!
I just provided a link back in case people had already read past that point. It’s a good film and deserves attention. (Thanks, Elizabelle.)
Iowa Old Lady
This afternoon, we’re heading for Europe for a couple of weeks. I don’t expect to have much internet access. Please don’t blow up BJ while I’m gone.
rikyrah
not surprised by this
………….
The Tiger Mom Tax: Asians Are Nearly Twice as Likely to Get a Higher Price from Princeton Review
by Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Jeff Larson, Sep. 1, 2015, 10 a.m.
Every year, thousands of high school students get ready for the SAT by using The Princeton Review’s test preparation services.
But few, if any, realize that the prices for The Princeton Review’s online SAT tutoring packages vary substantially depending on where customers live. If they type some ZIP codes into the company’s website, they are offered The Princeton Review’s Premier course for as little as $6,600. For other ZIP codes, the same course costs as much as $8,400.
One unexpected effect of the company’s geographic approach to pricing is that Asians are almost twice as likely to be offered a higher price than non-Asians, an analysis by ProPublica shows.
https://www.propublica.org/article/asians-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-get-higher-price-from-princeton-review
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: Sweet babby Jeebus! I know this isn’t the point of the linked article, but they charge as much for an online review course as it costs to purchase a decent used car?!?!? I bought my kiddo an SAT prep book (that she neglected to bother with) and called it a day. Guess that makes me a “Sloth Mom.”
Germy Shoemangler
@Iowa Old Lady: We want a full report on Europe when you’re back.
Applejinx
Yeah, you can’t allow politicians to saber-rattle for the benefit of the Village because that’s how that stuff works.
FlipYrWhig
@Betty Cracker: IMHO SAT prep courses are a massive scam. “Admissions Committees Hate Him! One Weird Trick to Ace the S.A.T.!” First they get you all worked up about how the SAT determines your kid’s future, then they sell you bunkum to outwit it, and people apparently pay. A book of old tests sounds about right as far as the kind of preparation that’s remotely worthwhile.
boatboy_srq
@Iowa Old Lady: Safe trip! Take lots of pictures ,-)
bystander
@Iowa Old Lady: There’s always connectivity in the big cities. If you’re headed for Corsica, a different story. And beware the WiFi.
Have fun! Best rate of exchange in years.
boatboy_srq
@rikyrah: Two thoughts:
1) Agree wholeheartedly.
2) This goes directly to HRC’s disappointing “honest and trustworthy” poll numbers. Even the people who expect to vote for her aren’t entirely happy with her positions and record – but that doesn’t necessarily have significant bearing on whether she isn’t the preferred candidate. Especially in this instance, that particular question will produce misleading results.
Origuy
@Mack:
You are correct. The adults live largely on carbohydrates. They go after meat when they have larvae to feed.
The yellow tubular traps work pretty well. I had one up at a campground a while back; it was filled with yellow jackets after a couple of days. I broke the “leave only footprints” rule that time.
Mike in NC
@Iowa Old Lady: Have a good trip. A great part of visiting Europe is being away from the rancid American news media.
Cervantes
@Iowa Old Lady:
Bon viatge!
Paul in KY
@Iowa Old Lady: Please don’t waste any time checking in here, while you are over there. Just soak it all up!
boatboy_srq
@OzarkHillbilly: Considering NatGeo was s0ft-c0re pr0n back in the day (it wasn’t pictures of b00b!es, it was documentation of quaint tribal figures and their culture-specific attire), this is less surprising news than it could have been.
Another Holocene Human
@FlipYrWhig:
I read Up Your Score and then used old test prep books free in the public library and got above 1500 scores including a 1600.
It is NOT hard to do if you’re already a good student. Or, maybe not a good student, but a good test taker who has been taking top classes and absorbing what was taught. (I was terrible with homework.)
So yeah, scam. And if your kid has test anxiety, see a professional. The cram school experience will likely make it worse.
Test anxiety literally makes people stupid at math.
Brachiator
@Baud: RE: “So the top 5% will bear a greater share,” he said. “And the top 10%, as well.”
By definition, the top 1% would be included in the top 10%.
I haven’t had time to look at any supposed details of this plan, but I strongly suspect voodoo economics, since this is coming from Jeb! But no matter how you slice it, the promise of tens of millions of jobs resulting from this is baloney.
The value of this proposal, I guess, is that it may provide something to talk about in the upcoming GOP debate. The other candidates, and especially Trump, will be challenged to respond. Nice tactical move on Jeb!’s part here.
daverave
Just in case trollhatten hasn’t weighed in yet, we are expecting 108-109 here in Sactown today. Likely the hottest temperatures ever recorded in September.