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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Think Harriet Tubman Will Ever Get “A Moment”?

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Think Harriet Tubman Will Ever Get “A Moment”?

by Anne Laurie|  December 12, 20156:54 am| 163 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Vagina Outrage

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Since I grew up in New York City, where hustler-immigrant ODB Alex was our Founding Father, having people demand I listen to the latest fascinating news concerning a certain hot musical can feel like being an animation fan whose middle-school second cousin wants to bring me up to speed on this amazing unknown historical genius Chuck Jones (“way more significant than Disney, dude!”). But as a Tubman partisan, I’m glad Jack Lew has decided to do a bit of a walkback on his June decree…

The Wall Street Journal reports the “Treasury Will Delay Announcement on $10 Bill Redesign to 2016”:

The Treasury Department will delay until 2016 the announcement of which woman will be selected for the redesigned $10 bill after an unexpectedly large volume of public feedback prompted officials to extend their months long review, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced plans in June to put a woman’s portrait on the $10 bill, a spot that has been occupied by Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s founding Treasury secretary, since the 1920s. The department said in June that a decision would be announced by the end of this year following a public campaign to solicit ideas.

They received more than they bargained for from that campaign. While many applauded the decision to put a woman on the bill, some said they were disappointed that a woman wasn’t being put on the more prestigious $20.

The decision also drew surprisingly intense criticism from finance types that revere Mr. Hamilton, who is having something of a moment. A 2004 biography of the financier inspired a critically acclaimed Broadway musical that debuted this summer…

In response to the specific uproar over Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Lew has said Mr. Hamilton won’t come off the currency, creating a subplot that has at times overshadowed the bigger question of which woman will ultimately be featured on the bill…

Currency redesigns are driven primarily by security needs, and a redesign of the $10 bill was already in the works as part of an upgrade that will include tactile features on bills to assist the blind and visually impaired. Government agencies that oversee currency design and security recommended starting with the $10 bill in 2013, and outlined a timetable that could have the bill in circulation as early as 2020, which coincides with the centennial of women’s suffrage.

Mr. Lew hasn’t said whether Mr. Hamilton might ultimately find a home on a separate bill, but he has noted that the entire suite of paper bills is being redesigned. “It will ultimately be the whole series,” he said in July.

***********
Apart from picking apart every damned concession (as us women always do), what’s on the agenda for the day?

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Previous Post: « Life is Full of Interruptions and Complications
Next Post: Open Thread: Visual Proof »

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    Satby

    December 12, 2015 at 7:14 am

    Fresh new thread, nice. It’s the first day in a week that I got more than 4 1/2 hours of sleep and I feel like I’m going to get stuff done today. The last couple of days have been spent with me nearly sleepwalking through them, and that includes a day when I had 2 job interviews.

    I’m making up several spa basket gifts some lovely juicers that will go out early next week, and a few other orders. I still have free shipping for Juice readers, use coupon code NOSHIP. There’s no minimum for Juice readers, just mention it in your order comment.

  2. 2.

    Satby

    December 12, 2015 at 7:15 am

    And for the record, I voted for Harriet Tubman too.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 7:15 am

    Here’s to hoping the delay is due to getting Jackson off the 20, and not due to giving Harriet her rightful place in history. It’s politics, always.

  4. 4.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 12, 2015 at 7:24 am

    Today is our annual car club holiday party and gift exchange, which means I have to hot-foot it down to Walgreen’s and pick up some tchotchkes and wrap it.

    I also need a can of industrial strength Raid to finish off the ant infestation in the garage. Here’s hoping I don’t mix up the two and wrap the can of Raid and use the Whitman’s Sampler on the ants. (Although there are some people in the club who could use some insecticide, and the ants would love the chocolates.)

  5. 5.

    Satby

    December 12, 2015 at 7:27 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: How have you been doing? Aside from going stir crazy, I mean.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 7:30 am

    @Satby: I’m alive.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 7:30 am

    @Satby:

    My paper cut is healing nicely tyvm.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 7:33 am

    @Baud: That’s a relief. I was worried. I’ve heard of people losing limbs to gangrenous papercuts.

  9. 9.

    Botsplainer

    December 12, 2015 at 7:41 am

    I’m surprised we haven’t seen a Sense ofCongress vote to make it Reagan

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 7:46 am

    @Botsplainer: We have separation of Church and State in this country, so I think that pretty much bars the placing of Saints on our legal tender.

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    December 12, 2015 at 7:50 am

    No truth to the rumor that Baud is going on the $3 bill?

  12. 12.

    ThresherK

    December 12, 2015 at 8:04 am

    Well, I have mentioned that we are shopping for a late-model car to replace our Superannuated Sentra.

    This just got a whoooooole lot easier, as some lady backed out of a commercial parking lot between curbside legally-parked cars, and all my motorcycle training paid off!

    I swerved, braked, and beeped, turning what could have been an airbag deployment incident (I have no idea at what speed those go off) into a fender-bender with no injuries. Plus the RH door mirror got knocked off in a precise, surgical manner: Get out my wrench and it’ll go back right on. And the RH headlamp is now illuminating Alpha Centauri, rather than the road on that side of the car, but that’s because the bracket broke.

    We were getting rid of this car because it would not pass emissions in early 2017 without an unacceptable input of $$$. Plus the heat is spotty without a can of Bars Leaks every year. So, now with a passenger door that won’t open very much, any lingering guilt I had about not driving this car those last several months is gone.

    My plan is to take the money and bank it. Get a dent puller or crowbar and get the door to work (it closes fine), and just chalk this up to that “driving it into the ground” phase of its life.

    (Except for lying to the cops about how she wasn’t backing up, the other driver was fine. Calm and not full of attitude.)

  13. 13.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:05 am

    @BGinCHI: Not true. It’ll be the $3.50 ¾ bill.

  14. 14.

    Peale

    December 12, 2015 at 8:06 am

    @BGinCHI: the $3.14 bill, actually. Baud is a big believer that everyone should have access to an American Pie.

  15. 15.

    WereBear

    December 12, 2015 at 8:09 am

    @ThresherK: Always nice to see motorcycle training in action (II have some too.)

    At least you didn’t have to lay it down.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @Peale: oh I like that.

  17. 17.

    WereBear

    December 12, 2015 at 8:10 am

    I am rooting for Harriet Tubman. I do think many folks think such things are as easy as posting a pic online, but there’s lots to it.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @Peale: ouch

  19. 19.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:12 am

    $π

  20. 20.

    ThresherK

    December 12, 2015 at 8:18 am

    @WereBear: The only “lay it down” experience of my life was many years ago when my braking for a stop sign was interrupted by what looked like a pint of motor oil on the roadbed. Already going so slowly that the damage was pretty much nil. And picking up a 200cc Honda is a lot easier than I imagine my current ride is.

    My very limited car accident sheet is basically full of very-slow-speed items, on the road (rather than in parking lots, where one goes slow), so I guess I’m doing something right to mitigate tings. And the thing is, last night I was going to a dinner meetup and was so early that I had almost 15 minutes to cover the last mile. I am at ease knowing that I wasn’t subconsciously in any kind of a hurry.

  21. 21.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 8:21 am

    @ThresherK:

    Except for lying to the cops about how she wasn’t backing up, the other driver was fine.

    Is that “Filing a False Report” or do the cops not give a crap for minor accidents?

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 8:24 am

    @ThresherK: My only “lay it down” experience was when my bell bottom blue jean pant leg got blown over the kick starter. I pulled up to the stop sign and tried to put my foot down. Then I tried again. Then I…. found myself lying on my side while all around me people were laughing their asses off at the idiot who seemed to think motorcycles stood up on their own.

  23. 23.

    dr. bloor

    December 12, 2015 at 8:26 am

    The decision also drew surprisingly intense criticism from finance types that revere Mr. Hamilton, who is having something of a moment.

    I’m actually surprised that “finance types” were aware that currency came in denominations as little as ten dollars.

  24. 24.

    Satby

    December 12, 2015 at 8:26 am

    @Baud: Did it need stiches? I hear stitches help.

  25. 25.

    max

    December 12, 2015 at 8:27 am

    In response to the specific uproar over Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Lew has said Mr. Hamilton won’t come off the currency, creating a subplot that has at times overshadowed the bigger question of which woman will ultimately be featured on the bill…

    So having chosen the wrong bill to change faces on, by picking on the wrong upper-class dude to pick, and hooked that up with a silly half-assed plan to implement the change, Lew has now decided that won’t happen while still refusing to do what he should have done in the first place.

    Do you love the finance crowd? I LOVE the finance crowd.

    max
    [‘Jeb Bush feels his pain.’]

  26. 26.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 8:30 am

    @Mustang Bobby:
    I would expect you t hotfoot it to Pep Boys not Walgreen’s. Its a car club not the retirement home!

  27. 27.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 8:32 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    See, its comments like this one that need to have an upvote button. Nothing I can add to it, it is golden perfect in every way. I think ‘like’ buttons are silly but you really need one just for shuff like this one.

    @Peale:
    OK, thats 2 upvotes in one thread. Nice job kids!

  28. 28.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 8:33 am

    quote of the day:

    Norman Lear: Trump ‘Has Become The Middle Finger Of Their Right Hand’

  29. 29.

    Satby

    December 12, 2015 at 8:33 am

    @Mustang Bobby: This stuff was great at ridding me of my wasp nest, several carpenter bee nests and some ant nests. And I still have 1/2 the bottle left.
    Edited to add link:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Y6B4A8?ref_=pd_ys_ir_ol_2

  30. 30.

    ThresherK

    December 12, 2015 at 8:33 am

    @Germy: No witnesses. She claimed she was pulling into the parking lot.

    Only a jagoff blows their horn in heavy traffic at someone in front of them who slows down to pull into a parking lot. And I’m not a jagoff. But there it was: I blew my horn. In my universe, that’s prima facie evidence of what she was doing.

    (Actually I spend very little time leaning on the horn, because I don’t want to make it some part of the meaningless background din. Like many of the people assembled here I could justify using it a hell of a lot more than I acutally do.)

    I have, once in my life, been assessed a traffic ticket I did not earn. So at this point I don’t care as long as I get my money from her insurance co.

  31. 31.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 8:34 am

    We have separation of Church and State in this country, so I think that pretty much bars the placing of Saints on our legal tender.

    In Baud We Trust ®

  32. 32.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:37 am

    @Satby:

    Just for my whiny mouth.

    @Germy:

    E Pluribus Baudum

  33. 33.

    gene108

    December 12, 2015 at 8:40 am

    I personally want Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins on currency.

    It would high light how important the 1930’s were to what became the creation of the post-WW2 middle class, with all the radical changes to labor laws from the implementation of the minimum wage, to child labor laws, to collective bargaining rights to a 40 hour work week.

    Secretary Perkins championed this as Secretary of Labor.

  34. 34.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 8:43 am

    @ThresherK:
    Had the kids in the car years ago, we were at a stop light. Young guy, wife-beater & cut-offs riding a pretty, very new large (I think it was a Triumph) saw his light go yellow & goosed it then realized he was not going to make it & hit the breaks hard. Youngest son: “LOOK DAD, HE’S FLYING!”

    I turned on my 4-ways & got out to help him, he was wearing a lot of gravel but his only concern was the bike. I told him if he would just lay still I’d get it out of the road. I figured getting it up would not be a problem . . . boy was I wrong! Those things weight a lot more than I expected. Took two of us. At least he had a helmet on so his head was OK but he had some very uncomfortable days ahead. Scares the crap out of me to see people riding that way.

    PS: all my accidents have been getting rear-ended. Worst one, I was stopped to make a left & a guy hit me doing 40, never touched the breaks. Told the cop he was under the dash trying to get his wipers to work. He cut the back of his head on the steering wheel.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    December 12, 2015 at 8:44 am

    I understand the Hamilton reverence, but really, the man’s got a hit musical to coast on as he comes off the tenner, so he’s fine. I’ve run out of patience with those types who can’t handle change.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:51 am

    Our currency should scrap humans altogether and honor only dogs and cats.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 8:54 am

    Some people need to learn to respect IOKIYAR

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The co-chair of the Colorado Springs chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union resigned on Friday after posting on Facebook that he would shoot Donald Trump supporters before election day.

    Loring Wirbel told The Gazette (http://goo.gl/onVKKf ) the post was not meant to be taken seriously, but he acknowledged it could be seen as offensive.

    “It was intended totally as a joke,” he said. “They are taking that stuff out of context. It’s smear politics.”

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 8:57 am

    @Baud: Tunch on the $100.

  39. 39.

    ThresherK

    December 12, 2015 at 8:59 am

    @Schlemazel: The study a couple decades ago (I’m not looking it up) found that the largest plurality of motorcycle accidents were single-vehicle “fell off road” sorts, where too much speed led to either running off the road on a curve, or falling over owing to surface hazards, or falling over from too much braking in anticipation of collision. (In second place was the car-caused T-bone.) I’d bet that still holds true.

    If someone’s gonna do what that fellow did on a motorcycle, that’s the time they’d ought to just commit to their original bad idea unless there’s already a car there or crossing to crush him.

    My wife is a careful driver, but she’s the master of the “cartoon stop”, where the whole car feels like it’s accordioning up, then the rear wheels go back into their place once inertia is conquered. This is even when she doesn’t have to change her mind at the last second, because she doesn’t do stuff like that. And of course the “cartoon stop” is a lot more dangerous on two wheels.

  40. 40.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:00 am

    @BGinCHI: Since you need to be dead to be on our money, we’ll have to wait and see how Baud!2016’s paper cut heals.

  41. 41.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:04 am

    @Satby: Baud!2016 usually has me in stitches.

  42. 42.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:06 am

    @gene108: Social Security as well.

  43. 43.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 12, 2015 at 9:10 am

    Still despairing over all the Bernie Sanders supporters I see who are pledging to throw the general election if Hillary is nominated. Most of them believe in their heart of hearts that Sanders will win, so they’re not too worried about it.

    Dammit, I actually want to vote for that guy! They’re making it really hard.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 9:15 am

    Nevada Ranchers who Deny Existence of Drought Conditions Collect Millions in Drought Relief Funds

    Some ranchers in Nevada have collected millions of dollars in drought-relief subsidies despite their denials that there was a drought.

    In June, ranchers in Battle Mountain, Nevada, drove their cattle onto public lands in defiance of orders by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stay off areas affected by the ongoing drought.

    The ranchers claimed there was no drought and so their animals should be allowed to graze on the land. But at least two ranching families involved in the protest received $2.2 million from a federal drought disaster relief program according to Reveal.

    hattip: c pierce

  45. 45.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 9:16 am

    @Baud:
    I had thought we could do away with dead presidents. The $5 could have the Statue of Liberty, long-wise, it would be a stunning look. The 100 could be Rushmore.

  46. 46.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:17 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Most will get over it, just like Hillz folk did in 2008; except Ralph’s children.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 9:18 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Where do you see that aside from Salon clickbait pieces?

  48. 48.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 9:22 am

    @ThresherK:
    We had a 2-year streak around here a while back with a very large number of bike accidents/deaths in early June. Graduation gifts of huge motorcycles, kids unskilled and unable to deal with the power. They had bike dealers on the news begging parents to start the kids out on more reasonable machines.

    We go over to the U of MN regularly & in the last couple of years there has been an explosion of tiny scooters. Thats probably a good thing as no kid is going to be over powered by one of them.

  49. 49.

    Nicole

    December 12, 2015 at 9:28 am

    Hamilton! cast many of the Founding Fathers with actors of color, so that’s pretty cool. And Harriet Tubman has been the subject of more than one musical, including a new one opening in Indiana this year. A NYC-based children’s theater company has been sending out Freedom Train, which is about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, to schools for years. A friend of mine toured with it back in the 1990s and it’s still part of their regular repertoire.

    Note: This is not to be all “You’re wrong, nyah nyah nyah” but to to reassure it’s not that bad in the world of theater, honest! Can always be better, of course, but Ms. Tubman has not been ignored by composers and librettists.

  50. 50.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 12, 2015 at 9:30 am

    @Schlemazel: At 63 I am one of the younger members of the club. Remember, it’s an antique car club which also applies to the owners of said cars…

    Ended up with a box of those individually wrapped chocolate-dipped hazelnut candies.

  51. 51.

    ThresherK

    December 12, 2015 at 9:33 am

    @Baud: Yeah, that’s the “nouvelle cuisine” effect: It’s reported on much more than it actually exists.

    @Schlemazel: My wife’s actually at a service now for the 20-something son of a friend in her WW group. He was in a very severe motorcycle crash a week ago. The wake was last night, funeral today. When she first told me of the accident there were few details (which she knows I don’t need to be deluged by), except that very TBI was involved and the family were wondering about the decision to remove life support. Not sure if that decision was made, or if circumstances rendered it moot.

    We have had a spate of warm and dry days here in southern New England, so there are still motorcycles on the roads. At some point I enjoy the safety in numbers with the plethora of scooters, and I don’t know if this was a car-involved crash or not. However, as little as I trust “cagers” in the seven nicer months of the year, I don’t know that being on two wheels past Thanksgiving is just running too much risk of surprising some attentionless dolt than I would consider.

    My local Volvo dealer is holding a “customer care event” today with raffles and such. But none of the prizes are a new S60. I have driven to dealers in a used car which has caused salesmen to say “You got here just in time!” before and it looks like I’m at that point of my life again.

  52. 52.

    Eric S.

    December 12, 2015 at 9:37 am

    @Baud: panderer

  53. 53.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 12, 2015 at 9:38 am

    @Baud: Kos is full of those folks. They write multiple anti-Hillary diaries per day.

  54. 54.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 9:39 am

    @Mustang Bobby:
    I’m ready for membership, just need a car. I would expect white elephant gifts like fuzzy dice or shimmy dancer dash ornaments but I suppose those are way past over done by now.

  55. 55.

    Keith G

    December 12, 2015 at 9:46 am

    @Matt McIrvin: No need for despair.

    A – The election is still 10 months and a few week away.

    B – We don’t know who the GOP nominee is going to be, therefore we don’t know how important a handful of votes are going to be for our nominee.

    C – All communities have groups of people who get all fluffed up when they have a chance to demonstrate some aggressive peevishness. This seems especially true when politics is involved (see the Balloon-Juice archives)

    I would not expect most of those who talk like this now to feel the same way once they get over the thrill, the adrenaline rush, that this particular type of a “standing their ground” moment offers. I figure most of them will think a lot better of it as time goes by.

  56. 56.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:46 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: That’s the reason I’ve not been there in 5 years.

  57. 57.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 12, 2015 at 9:52 am

    @Keith G: Though there will be the “clarifying the differences” camp. Nach Trump uns.

  58. 58.

    Botsplainer

    December 12, 2015 at 9:54 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Freedom on OF religion, not freedom FROM it, you heathen. You have to listen to evangelicals and be polite about what you hear.

    It’s your civic obligation.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 9:54 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    What @BillinGlendaleCA said.

    ETA: Any anti-Baud diaries?

  60. 60.

    Hal

    December 12, 2015 at 9:56 am

    See which friends on Facebook like Trump. Defriending optional.

    http://www.bkmag.com/2015/12/09/make-facebook-great-again-you-can-now-see-which-of-your-friends-likes-donald-trump-and-then-immediately-unfriend-them/

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 9:59 am

    @Botsplainer:

    and be polite about what you hear.

    Ohhh, fvck that shit. It is my life’s goal to be burned at the stake. (early in life I repeatedly tried to have myself turned into a pillar of salt or struck by lightning but, contrary to what all the Christians say, it turns out God really doesn’t care)

  62. 62.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 12, 2015 at 9:59 am

    @Baud: They love you over there. Go and read.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 10:01 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Though there will be the “clarifying the differences” “privileged suburban white quasi-libertarian dudebro” camp.

    Fixed.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 10:05 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Well, that’s disappointing. I was going to use kos as my Sister Souljah to placate moderate voters. I’ll need a Plan B.

  65. 65.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 10:07 am

    @Keith G:
    Pretty much what you said.
    A lot of this is like Clevon Little holding the gun to his head in Blazing Saddles. I’ve came from a political family and have been involved in politics for nearly 60 years. During that time I have seen sore losers elect really bad candidates (in 68 that asshole McCarthy waited until the day before the election to say “Oh, I suppose I could vote for HHH.”), heated campaigns cloud reason sometimes. Mostly though adults realize they can’t always get what they want & have to compromise for the good of the nation – that is unless you are a Republican in which case compromise is ‘date rape’

  66. 66.

    Botsplainer

    December 12, 2015 at 10:10 am

    @Baud:

    Baud is just part of the two party corporatocracy, and is plotting to sell out progressives.

  67. 67.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 10:10 am

    @Baud:
    I believe Sista is still available & nothing works as well as the classics.

  68. 68.

    rikyrah

    December 12, 2015 at 10:11 am

    Good Morning Everyone.
    Off to swim and run errands.

  69. 69.

    Face

    December 12, 2015 at 10:16 am

    Why not just invent a new bill, like. $500 or a $75, and put The Tubs on that one?

  70. 70.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 12, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @Schlemazel: Come on down; you don’t need a car. I was on the club’s board of directors ten years before the Pontiac came of age. Our show season starts in January at the Art Deco Weekend on South Beach.

  71. 71.

    Calouste

    December 12, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @Schlemazel: In Europe there are age and/or experience requirements to get a license for heavier motorcycles. In the UK for example, you can’t ride anything over 125 cc until you’re 19.

  72. 72.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 10:38 am

    Meanwhile, our closest friends in the Middle East have decided:

    from the Associated Press:
    Saudi women vote for the first time in landmark election

    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Thousands of Saudi women headed to polling stations across the kingdom on Saturday, both as voters and candidates for the first time in a landmark election.

    Nearly 6,000 men and around 980 women are running as candidates for local municipal council seats. More than 130,000 women have registered to vote compared to 1.35 million men. The General Election Commission says there are at least 5 million eligible voters out of a population of 20 million, but the figure could be much higher.

    The election, which does not have quotas for females, is widely seen as an incremental but significant opening for women to play a more equal role in Saudi society.

    Candidate Latifa Al-Bazei, a 53-year-old public school principal, said her participation in the race felt like a continuation of her service to the community. She wants to see Saudi Arabia’s majority youth population under 25 years old get more involved in their local communities.

    “I’ve served 23 years as a teacher and school administrator … My goal is development, change and innovation,” she said at a Riyadh polling station after casting her vote.

    At the King Salman Social Center in Riyadh, Shara Al-Qahtani, a 50-year-old mother of eight, cast her vote for a male candidate whose name she says she recognized. Her two daughters said they voted for female candidates.

    Al-Qahtani, wearing a loose black dress known as an “abaya” that all women must wear in public and a traditional veil covering her face and hair, said women being allowed to vote “is good for people and good for society … Women are partners of men.”

    Despite enthusiasm for the race among some, not many women are expected to win seats because of the sheer number of male candidates and because many had no previous experience running campaigns. Many women said they also could not afford the high cost of running a highly visible campaign.

    “I don’t consider winning to be the ultimate goal … but it is the right of being a citizen that I concentrate on and I consider this a turning point,” said Hatoon Al-Fassi, general coordinator for the grassroots Saudi Baladi Initiative that worked closely with women to raise voter awareness and increase female participation in the election.

    “We are looking at it as an opportunity to exercise our right and to push for more,” she added.

    Female candidates will also contend with a deep societal belief among many Saudi voters that women do not belong in public life. Abdullah Al-Maiteb made his way into a polling station in the capital Riyadh Saturday morning, expressing a widely held sentiment about why women shouldn’t be on the ballot.

    “Her role is not in such places. Her role is at home managing the house and raising a new generation,” he said. “If we allow her out of the house to do such business, who is going to take care of my sons?”

    Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are not permitted to drive cars, largely due to pressure from religious conservatives in the kingdom. Saudi women are also governed by guardianship laws that require them to have the permission of male relatives, usually the father or husband, in order to marry, obtain a passport, travel abroad or access higher education.

    In line with Saudi Arabia’s strict gender segregation rules, men and women are casting ballots at separate polling stations. Female candidates could also not directly address male voters, and had to either present their platforms from behind a partition, relying on projectors and microphones, or through male supporters and relatives presenting for them.

    Municipal councils are the only government body in which Saudi citizens can elect their representatives. It’s the third time in recent decades that Saudi men have been allowed to vote. The first local council election since the 1960s was held in 2005 and the second in 2011, with only men taking part.

    Both male and female candidates relied heavily on social media this year to reach voters, using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to announce campaign events and explain their platforms, which include ideas such as creating more youth centers, nurseries, parks and improving roads.

    The candidates are vying for around 2,100 council seats with an additional 1,050 seats appointed with approval from the king.

    While the municipal councils do not have legislative powers, they do oversee a range of community issues, such as budgets for maintaining and improving public facilities. All major decision-making powers rest solely in the hands of King Salman and the all-male Cabinet of ministers.

    The candidates will serve four-year terms that begin on Jan. 1.

    Karen Young, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington DC, says the success rate of women in the Saudi municipal elections “will be slim to zero.”

    “There is not a clear understanding of what the value of representation can be within the current political system, though there are many activists who are committed to continuing this opening and trying to expand it inch by inch,” she said.

  73. 73.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 10:41 am

    Robert Crumb takes on Trump in a 1989 cartoon

  74. 74.

    Roger Moore

    December 12, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Nach Trump uns.

    You just need to convince them to go with the more authentic “Nach Hitlery uns!“.

  75. 75.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @Mustang Bobby:
    I would take you up on that if we still lived in Cocoa Beach, but I probably wouldn’t be alive if we did. I have a work friend that has a 68 Challenger (small engine so really a labor of love not the big muscle kind that are so popular). He seems to have a good time showing off . . . the 6 months of the year you can do that around here!

    @Calouste:
    That seems like a reasonable, common sense regulation. Therefore it interferes with the poor dears freedums and must not be allowed to happen to us.

  76. 76.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 10:53 am

    Blue Shadows on the Trail

    1948, Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.

    One can find all sorts of deeper meaning in these lyrics. Depression lifting; blue shadows being replaced by the morning light of reason.

  77. 77.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 11:07 am

    @Face: Sacagawea and the $1 coin. There was absolutely no demand for the coin, but the vending machine lobby (really!) shit out $ to congresscritters to get it (thinking to save $ by no longer needing to install paper money readers; new coins & updated hoppers are still cheaper apparently .)

    Tubman & Sacagawea deserve better. Put them on existing bills, move/dump some DWM.

  78. 78.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @WereBear:

    can’t handle change.

    I see what you did.

  79. 79.

    Roger Moore

    December 12, 2015 at 11:13 am

    @p.a.:

    There was absolutely no demand for the coin, but the vending machine lobby (really!) shit out $ to congresscritters to get it (thinking to save $ by no longer needing to install paper money readers; new coins & updated hoppers are still cheaper apparently .)

    FWIW, the Treasury likes the idea of replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin, too. It costs more to mint a coin than to print a bill, but the coins are much more durable, so they would be cheaper over the long haul. The thing about vending machine companies liking dollar coins is just a bonus.

  80. 80.

    debbie

    December 12, 2015 at 11:15 am

    Impressive pictures of the most boring of Great Lakes:

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/lake-erie-beauty?bfsms=1#.oxKBlJOdXq

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    December 12, 2015 at 11:18 am

    @p.a.:

    I’d rather not dump the only Founding Father on our bills who was a strong abolitionist and never owned slaves. Dump Andrew Jackson instead.

  82. 82.

    PurpleGirl

    December 12, 2015 at 11:19 am

    @p.a.: Actually I like the $1 coins for cash fares on NYC buses. With the fare now at $2.75, that 11 quarters or 2 dollar coins and 3 quarters. Eleven quarters weigh a lot. I could buy Metrocards but I often find myself running out of fares on the card and needing to pay cash. Dollar coins are easier to carry. I must drive the bank crazy when I ask for them.

  83. 83.

    oldgold

    December 12, 2015 at 11:19 am

    Meh.

    I am not so sure that having your face on currency is all that much of an honor.

    Renaming a great University, a law school or something equivalent, would be much more of an honor.

  84. 84.

    Germy

    December 12, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Hansen On COP21
    Guardian UK: James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks ‘a fraud’ -The former Nasa scientist criticizes the talks, intended to reach a new global deal on cutting carbon emissions beyond 2020, as ‘no action, just promises’
    “It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.”

  85. 85.

    Fair Economist

    December 12, 2015 at 11:20 am

    I’m upset with putting a woman on the tenner because IMO half the point of the original “put a woman on the $20” campaign was getting Genocide Jackson **off** the $20. I’m all for recognition for women, but I’m also all for **not** admiring monsters.

  86. 86.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 11:20 am

    @Roger Moore: They were so unpopular sharpies were buying them by the thousands with credit cards, stacking up travel points, and paying off with the coins. Wash, rinse repeat. The Treasury had to put a limit on sales, and issued one of my favorite all-time lines: “it’s not illegal, but it is an abuse of the system.”

    I actually think it’s a handsome coin. Are there any actual images of Sacagawea?

  87. 87.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:25 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I thought football was our state religion.

  88. 88.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:28 am

    @dr. bloor:

    I’m actually surprised that “finance types” were aware that currency came in denominations as little as ten dollars.

    They read about it in WSJ.

  89. 89.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:29 am

    @gene108:

    I personally want Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins on currency.

    It would high light how important the 1930’s were to what became the creation of the post-WW2 middle class, with all the radical changes to labor laws from the implementation of the minimum wage, to child labor laws, to collective bargaining rights to a 40 hour work week.

    Secretary Perkins championed this as Secretary of Labor.

    This would be the biggest Main St fuck you to the Wall St finance guys referenced above ever, which is why it will never happen, since they finance both parties’ campaigns. (They don’t fully finance them, yet neither party–except Trump–feels they can afford to poke them in the eye.)

  90. 90.

    Scapegoat

    December 12, 2015 at 11:30 am

    Been riding and road racing motos for two decades.

    My racing friends think it’s crazy to ride on the street. My riding friends think it’s crazy to ride on a track.

    Cell phones are proving my racing friends increasingly correct.

  91. 91.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:32 am

    @Schlemazel: Bicycle and motorbike riders are used to speeding up fast. They forget that they’re not set up to brake fast. When you ride one of those things (I was a daily bike rider for years) you just want to move and you don’t think about driving like Granny.

    I’ve seen some ugly accidents. No more “wheeeeeeeeeee”-ing down the hill for me.

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 12, 2015 at 11:32 am

    @Baud: Friends on Google+. Mostly white lefty-techbro types.

  93. 93.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 11:34 am

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): No argument there. Are $2 bills in circ? Can’t remember last time I saw one.

  94. 94.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:35 am

    @Matt McIrvin: I gotta wonder at this point how many online “Bernie Sanders” supporters are Republican provocateurs.

    Their own slate of idiots is depressing; much more fun to demoralize Dems with shit like that.

    Kos needs to clean house soon or a bunch of us won’t be going back to organize for House seats this year. He needs to nuke anybody who says they won’t vote for the nominee.

  95. 95.

    scav

    December 12, 2015 at 11:35 am

    Timey-wimey! I clicked the right new post tab and somehow ended up in a June World Cup, Cameroon v China game. We’re now bigger on the inside. I so love odd behavior some days. To all those on the diamond face, fixing the beast: I think it’s one helll of a bird.

  96. 96.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @Schlemazel: Bump Rushmore. That’s just a giant stone fuck you to the Lakota, who consider it defacement. Just FYI.

  97. 97.

    Jon

    December 12, 2015 at 11:38 am

    I don’t like the idea of choosing any ONE person to replace any ONE person on the money. I think we should rotate things around and have all sorts of representation on our bills. We should have Harriet Tubman on some of the tens, put Mister Rogers on some fives, John Wayne on some twenties, and then rotate all sorts of people who were amazing in our nation’s art, science, history, exploration, sports, music, literature, politics, civil rights, and whatnot. I want to spend Buck Owens and Johnny Cash! Can Sitting Bull have a year on the twenty? How about Walt Disney? Why not Josephine Baker?

    We are a big damn country with a lot of fine Americans. It’s about time we started to show off a little.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    December 12, 2015 at 11:39 am

    @p.a.:

    There was someplace out here that used to give them in change. Universal Studios, maybe? No idea if they’re still being printed or circulated.

  99. 99.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 11:39 am

    I’ve got a cousin I haven’t seen in 13 years, her son who I haven’t seen in >30 years, and a couple of her friends coming to visit for a few hours.

    Fortunately, I won’t have to carry much conversation; leaving that to my sister.

    This better be good…we cleaned up the house and made ourselves presentable!

  100. 100.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:41 am

    @Schlemazel: Have you seen how those tiny scooters drive? No power, low to the ground, easy to fall off of. Easy not to be seen, easy to pull a dipshit maneuver, easy to get killed. Very easy.

    No, they won’t get killed in a single vehicle collision. They’re going to get beaned by a car or truck. You’re not supposed to drive on a road when the speed limit is 15 mph over your max speed, so why are you running that 27.5 mph scooter in a 45 mph zone? 15mph variance is the accident zone and plenty are going 50, 55 in a 45 zone.

    They’re good on campus, though, speed limit is 20 and they take up less parking space and use less fuel.

  101. 101.

    Just One More Canuck

    December 12, 2015 at 11:44 am

    @FortGeek: So you put on pants?

  102. 102.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    December 12, 2015 at 11:45 am

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Poetic justice would be replacing Jackson with Wilma Mankiller.

  103. 103.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:45 am

    @Schlemazel:

    that is unless you are a Republican in which case compromise is ‘date rape’

    Wait–date rape exists? I thought they knew what they were doing when they ran for office? A nice conservative knows politics is dirty.

  104. 104.

    Scapegoat

    December 12, 2015 at 11:46 am

    Motorcycles actually stop more quickly than cars. 66% of the distance at 40 km/hr and 48% of the distance at 200 km/hr.

    (It’s a Mass and Inertia thing)

    Can’t use link buttons from iOS, but Google “motorcycle vs car stopping distance”. Check images.

  105. 105.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 11:46 am

    @Mustang Bobby: I’d also recommend “diatomaceous earth” as a longer-term treatment. We had a German Cockroach infestation last year and sprinkled the stuff all over the kitchen where they were known to travel. Between that stuff and this other insecticide I can’t remember the name of, we wiped ’em out.

  106. 106.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 12, 2015 at 11:48 am

    @p.a.: I got one in change in a restaurant a couple of months ago.

  107. 107.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 11:50 am

    @Calouste:

    In Europe there are age and/or experience requirements to get a license for heavier motorcycles. In the UK for example, you can’t ride anything over 125 cc until you’re 19.

    In Germany you have to be 26, I believe, to drive a BMW M5. Younger drivers are allowed to drive lower powered vehicles, Golfs and suchlike. There are several age gradations. Probably restrictions on truck drivers as well although I didn’t look into it. (I personally feel like people vary so much in ability and maturity that you can lose some very good drivers by refusing to hire anyone commercial under 21. I used to work with a young lady who was very intelligent and had never driven a car before getting her CDL–no bad habits. She did eventually have an accident, over 21 by then, because she decided to *go to school *have a baby *work at her boyfriend/fiance’s business and *keep driving 40 hours a week. Superwoman fell asleep at the wheel.)

    Er, digression, sorry. Several sad tales can easily be found online of American youths killing themselves with M5’s, including one who was gushing about his new M5 on an M5 forum and did not heed the warnings of other posters before taking it to an offroad track. :(

  108. 108.

    gelfling545

    December 12, 2015 at 11:54 am

    It has been my understanding that Hamilton was of mixed ethnic ancestry although I hear now that there is some doubt. Still, if so, it would be a shame to play one minority figure against another (as is so often done.) Dump Jackson who was good for nothing.

  109. 109.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    @Just One More Canuck:

    So you put on pants?

    Dammit…

  110. 110.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @p.a.: Bullshit. The government wanted to replace the $1 bill with $1 coin because they lose money — OUR MONEY — on every $1 bill.

    THEY LOSE MONEY ON EVERY BILL.

    A MINT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LOSE MONEY.

    WE AS AMERICANS ARE SO NARCISSISTIC AND FOOLISH WE’D RATHER LOSE MONEY ON MINT OPERATIONS THAN MAKE A MINOR FUCKING CHANGE.

    It was the cash register assholes who resisted the end of the $1 bill, even though their argument was crap, as most registers DO have room for $1 coins.

    Pure bullshit all around. I’m an American, I hate change, I’m exceptional, you’re exceptional, let’s keep lighting money on fire for no reason.

  111. 111.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    I’d rather not dump the only Founding Father on our bills who was a strong abolitionist and never owned slaves. Dump Andrew Jackson instead.

    Seconded.

    Of course, the battle flag brigade would come out.

    I have seen so many Confederate flags of various ugly designs popping up like mushrooms in the last few months. Illifying.

  112. 112.

    gene108

    December 12, 2015 at 12:12 pm

    @p.a.:

    No argument there. Are $2 bills in circ? Can’t remember last time I saw one.

    I saw one about a year ago. I had to explain to the person that it is legal currency and not a forgery. He had never heard of a $2 dollar bill before.

  113. 113.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @p.a.: They must be still used in racing because I got one in change a few months ago at some fancy pants steakhouse my wife’s principal investigator insisted we go to. Nice new one.

  114. 114.

    Just One More Canuck

    December 12, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @FortGeek: probably a good way of getting rid of them

  115. 115.

    MattF

    December 12, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    @Jon: Yes! Josephine Baker on the $20. I have this (apparently very copyrighted) image framed in my living room.

  116. 116.

    benw

    December 12, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    Replace Jackson and Grant and current rap lyrics would become totally confounding to the next generation.

  117. 117.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 12, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: I got my driver’s license at 16, but I was never fond of driving and avoided doing it very much until my thirties, when my job commute finally made it unavoidable. And then I went through a period when I had several car accidents, while I gained the road experience necessary to drive reliably in Boston-area traffic. Age had nothing to do with it; experience did.

  118. 118.

    sukabi

    December 12, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    @Satby: probably not aware of that, but the thought of a woman on any currency, and to replace a man, ughhhh {{{shutters}}}} …more than likely the insPiration for their pushback.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    December 12, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    Vox

    There’s something odd about Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign: He hasn’t been doing all that much, er, campaigning in the early states.

    Unlike most recent presidential nomination winners, who have invested serious time and effort into campaigning and building organizations in at least one of either Iowa or New Hampshire, Rubio has taken a positively relaxed approach to both. He doesn’t show up very often, doesn’t do much campaigning when he is around, and doesn’t seem to be building very impressive field operations.

  120. 120.

    Poopyman

    December 12, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    @FortGeek: Well, I guess that was a “no”.

  121. 121.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:

    let’s keep lighting money on fire for no reason.

    It’s the American Way!*

    *as long as the wasted $ is on armaments freedum not benefits.

  122. 122.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    @Scapegoat: The problem is that on two wheels the restraints and also the ability of the vehicle to actually brake evenly and not flip over are not the same as four wheels. Stopping really fast is actually the problem.

    Racing bikes have shoes that snap into the pedals so that the rider will not be thrown so easily. BMX riders capitalize on this problem to do tricks, deliberately flipping their bikes.

    Even if you put better brakes on a two wheel vehicle you would both have to restrain the rider and still address the problem where the rear axle comes up off the ground.

    There are motorcycles that are really, really heavy, but that comes with another set of problems.

  123. 123.

    MD Rackham

    December 12, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    @Schlemazel: It’s all about security.

    The human brain is wired to detect anything unusual about a face, so even a minor mistake in the portrait when counterfeiting a bill will “jump out” when just glanced at it. A minor mistake in an artist’s rendition of the Statue of Liberty, not so much.

    Security is the same reason they don’t change the design very often (or rotate portraits): humans get used to identifying the authenticity and value of the bill via recognition of the portrait. Change it too often and all anyone will look at is the number in the corner, which is pretty easy to change compared to the portrait.

  124. 124.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    @FortGeek: That shit is the bomb (diatoms!) but deadly to cats and babies, so just be careful with it.

  125. 125.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    @Just One More Canuck:

    probably a good way of getting rid of them

    Tempting…be a shame to waste all the cleanup, though. Many wonders have sprouted: table cloths, placemats, all the dining-room chairs in the same room. This old house cleaned up good.

  126. 126.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    Why just 1? Grant and Sherman together on a bill would be AWESOME. Distribution from the Atlanta Fed of course.
    Tubman and Douglass!
    MLK

  127. 127.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    @gelfling545: At one time it was almost as much of a slur to call someone as a creole, by which they meant born in the colonies, as to claim they had Black ancestry. Of course, after the American Revolution they told Hamilton he wasn’t good enough for not having been born in the US.

    I gather that “creoles” were generally of low social rank, the children of indentured servants and so on, and the plantation owners rarely brought their official wives and families over and in fact often were fain to spend their whole life at the plantation, leaving managers in charge.

  128. 128.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    @gene108: Lots of videos of this. Somebody decided to troll a Starbucks once and bring in a whole uncut sheet of $2 bills. I’ve heard of clerks calling the police over $2 bills.

    I had a rich uncle who gave me one once and a lot of other nerdy relatives who gave me 50 cent coins and so on so I never was flustered by that kind of stuff as a cashier. I knew about Canadian coins but most New Englanders are familiar. At one time the loonie was weak and I got annoyed when the previous cashier left one in my register. “What idiot would accept that Canadian quarter–don’t they know it’s only worth 16 cents!?”

  129. 129.

    p.a.

    December 12, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Dated a Boston girl back in the days of No-Fault insurance. Minor fender benders: WTF are you stopping for? Just keep going, call insurance later. Eye-opener!

  130. 130.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Traffic engineers are a little rusty on concepts like “correlation is not causation”.

    “Look at this–it says middle aged drivers are the least likely to have accidents!”

    You outlier you.

  131. 131.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 12:40 pm

    @Poopyman:

    Well, I guess that was a “no”.

    Oh, I’ll be nice and not try to scare ’em away. [evil grin]

    I’m hoping my cousin will have some family stuff I can add to my genealogy notes.

  132. 132.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @MD Rackham: Are you sure? When they came out with the “new” bills, oh, 15 years ago, they were watermarked. I used to hold them up, especially the large bills where the stakes were higher. Watermark, strip (I think strip is to prevent a valid lower bill from being turned into a higher bill, since it would be easy to fake). We also had those pens to detect the wrong paper. I never caught a fake that way although I know someone who did. (Person ran before the police could get there.)

    I just don’t know that I would detect a problem in the face unless the engraving was of the wrong texture or something, or if I had a stack of bills and one didn’t seem right.

  133. 133.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    @p.a.: Yankees are thrifty, and they waste time as grudgingly as money.

    For these purposes a Yankee is any New Englander, not necessary a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant whose ancestors were married by Miles Standish fresh off the boat.

  134. 134.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    I think the dreaded Imitrex actually worked this time. Feeling a little slow today, though. Want to sit down a lot.

    Can anybody advise who’s taken it: does Imitrex make you drowsy? Any other side effects?

  135. 135.

    gene108

    December 12, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:

    I knew about Canadian coins but most New Englanders are familiar. At one time the loonie was weak and I got annoyed when the previous cashier left one in my register. “What idiot would accept that Canadian quarter–don’t they know it’s only worth 16 cents!?”

    I lived in Ann Arbor, MI as a kid. There was always Canadian coins floating around.

    Went to Niagara falls years ago. Somewhere in upstate New York, we had picked up Canadian coins and did not notice. Tried paying for our pizza with some of those coins and the cashier told us they don’t accept Canadian coins. So much for making exact change…

    Border areas are very aware of people trying to pay with Canadian coins.

    Other parts of the country do not seem to notice.

  136. 136.

    FortGeek

    December 12, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:

    That shit is the bomb (diatoms!) but deadly to cats and babies, so just be careful with it.

    I didn’t know about that, but it makes sense. The stuff’s so fine it’d be easy to breathe in and wreak havoc.

  137. 137.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 12, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    I could go either way, but I’m more of a Tubman fan. She’s the real-life American James Bond, but without the drinking and womanizing.

    @gelfling545:

    Ron Chernow addresses that in his biography — apparently at the time, “Creole” was more a slur against anyone from the West Indies, not a specific racial slur. The mixed race rumor got started when WEB du Bois visited St. Croix in the 1920s-ish and was assured that the only children born out of wedlock there were mixed race, so Hamilton must have been mixed race. However, du Bois made his visit over 100 years after Hamilton’s birth, so Chernow thinks he was given inaccurate information. Sometimes people don’t realize how common it was in Europe for non-aristocrats to not be legally married, and it seems to have been the same in the European-colonized West Indies.

    However, there is a note at the very end of the book that there’s an ongoing survey of the Hamilton family’s DNA that Chernow donated a little money towards to see if the question can be settled once and for all.

  138. 138.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    December 12, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    Well, glad I didn’t sign off on anything. In daylight one can see the camber of the RF wheel is off, as in “don’t go too far on this thing, too fast” abnormal. T will be inspected tomorrow.

  139. 139.

    J R in WV

    December 12, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    No offense, but how is Mt Rushmore on the $100 bill, with giant sculptures of four (count ’em) presidents on the mountain, getting away from presidents on money.

    Frankly, I very much like the modern $100 bill, as B. Franklin is one of my favorite founding fathers. A scientist and business man, revolutionary and diplomat at the French court, a bon vivant in Paris at the age of 70.

    What a guy, what a lucky guy, what a lucky country to have him there when he was needed.

    Also, not a president on the money – the only bill with no president, just a hero.

    ETA:

    Jackson is the one we need to get rid of – worst American president since Jefferson Davis. /snark – I know what Jeff Davis was president of, still worst or second worst president, between him and Jackson the genocide.

  140. 140.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: It kills me. I stopped after 2 nights.

  141. 141.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @ThresherK (GPad): Good thing you caught it.

    I had my first flat tire two months ago. Something was riding odd (rhythmic sound, you know) and when I pulled over and did my inspection I noticed that I could get my finger between the tire and the rim. I told my dispatcher, old truck driver, and he pounded the alarm. So glad it wasn’t blow out flat by the time I caught it.

    I actually didn’t want to call in but I remembered the night that I was a dispatcher and someone had called about some shaking and shimmying but all but refused to pull the fuck over. By the time we got it the wheel was nearly off.

  142. 142.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Like Benadryl kills you or just overall horrible reaction?

  143. 143.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    @J R in WV: Hamilton was not a Pres either (I know- DOH!)

  144. 144.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Large doses of sumatriptan can cause sulfhemoglobinemia, a rare condition in which the blood changes from red to greenish-black, due to the integration of sulfur into the hemoglobin molecule.[3] If sumatriptan is discontinued, the condition reverses within a few weeks.

    Hey, cool!!!! I want green blood! Like poisonous lizards or funky sea creatures (tube worms, I think). Shoot me up right before Dragon*Con for the kewlest cosplay ever!

    (wait … cosplay is a word now (go go Nihongo) but kewl isn’t?)

  145. 145.

    Mike in NC

    December 12, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Many businesses in New England will accept the lower denomination Canadian coins (pennies and nickels mostly). Quarters are often refused, however, and usually they won’t work in vending machines.

    Never saw a US $2 bill until we visited Monticello. Everyone in the Charlottesville area uses them.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    December 12, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    In the navy, several lifetimes ago, a shipyard worker told a story with a similar ending but the telling was the best part. Tiny, so OK you know he was 6’3″ 300 lbs, wore his colors to work, said he went to a party one night and had to ride home. He holds up his arms like riding a chopper, purses his lips and makes little kid motor noises. Comes up to a stoplight and being a wee bit over relaxed forgets to put his feet down. Falls over, feet still on the pegs, revving the engine while the couple in the VW next to him are laughing so hard they can’t get out of the car to help pick him up.

    Did I forget to mention the Laugh In tricycle guy, which was current then?

  147. 147.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    Okay, looks like the _________ decision maker who decided that I need doctor’s permission slip to come to work after using this stuff is a moron. Fatigue is a 1% symptom, that’s less than most placebo symptom reports. Christ.

    There are opioid migraine medications, yes, but Imitrex is a triptan.

    The only problem is that I’ve noticed, and confirmed by the wiki entry, that sumatriptan only hits the headache and fails to take care of any other symptom, but those other symptoms for me are highly distracting or even alter my perception and may keep me from working.

    God damn I hate liars and I hate bullshitters too.

  148. 148.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 12, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Like Benadryl kills me. My son takes Benadryl all the time and is fine with it. Same with my wife and Imitrex. But I am loath to take any drug unless absolutely necessary. I just could not function on the imitrex.

  149. 149.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    @Mike in NC: They’ll take them if the loonie is strong.

    Everybody in Eastern Mass tends to know the exchange rate, specifically the quarter exchange rate, because people like to play arbitrage at the 25 cent tolls. Hmm, maybe this has changed. Anyway, we all used to know the exchange rate.

    There was one infamous example of somebody who brought 20 centime coins into the country, a former French unit of currency that was worth less than a nickel, and used them at the tolls. MassHighway was not amused.

  150. 150.

    Joel

    December 12, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    If it weren’t for Hamilton, we wouldn’t have a country at all. For what it’s worth.

  151. 151.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 1:27 pm

    @J R in WV:
    Its getting rid of a President & replacing it with a monument to several. Imagine a bill with that image across the entire front! I like a lot of things about Benny but I don’t really see any of the faces on the money as sacred. I’d rather use them as art (Have you seen Dutch bills? Those guys do some interesting stuff) particularly as they want to add more colors to make counterfeiting more difficult.

  152. 152.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: I guess you are part of that 1%.

    I seem to often get migraines when I have been working too hard, too long, too many days, not enough sleep.

    If Imitrex wiped me out that might actually be a good thing.

    I’ve got random wacky migraine symptoms again this morning. Woke up at normal time. I think I might take Zyrtec tonight. It is guaranteed to make me oversleep and I need to.

  153. 153.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 1:30 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:
    “bipartisanship is like date rape” former House majority leader Richard (the foul-mouthed Dick) Armey (R-Tex.)

  154. 154.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:30 pm

    @Schlemazel: The Euro has national monuments and historical figures of all sorts, often specific to a certain country. A history/art lesson in your pocket.

  155. 155.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:
    Given that they are used on campus seeing them is no problem. They really are not that tiny either, most have the rider sitting upright and plenty tall enough to be seen.

  156. 156.

    tsquared2001

    December 12, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    (as us women always do)

    De-lurking for this alone. I do love me some Anne Laurie

  157. 157.

    Schlemazel

    December 12, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:
    Exactly.

    I have heard the thing about faces being better for detection but I’m unconvinced. Mostly people don’t look that closely that they would notice anything but a very bad copy.

    Have you seen the yellow pens some stores use to ID phonies? Its iodine. Iodine turns black when starch is present and US currency paper contains no starch. The problem is it can be contaminated & the pen fails badly. SOme jokers have taken new $100 out at the bank, sprayed them with spry starch & then taken them back to the bank. These pens would say they are fake.

  158. 158.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    @Schlemazel: Different states have different laws on scooters, so they aren’t universal across the US.

    I see scooters because it’s my job to see them but they do a lot of hella stupid shit and they can vanish (with horrible consequences*). We have some small ass ones here in Florida (due to Florida laws). So small if two college athletes are on one scooter (typical scene), the tires bulge and it hangs down to the flo’, which is not short for florida.

    *-someone whose job it was to see them backed up onto one. the girl wasn’t wearing a helmet.

  159. 159.

    Another Holocene Human

    December 12, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    @Schlemazel: See above, I’ve been issued those pens in the past, but think they’re crap. Once was in the pizza restaurant. Everything got coated in corn meal and flour, even up front. That’s why I looked for watermark, strip.

    Now at a different gig, one with no food, a coworker did catch a counterfeit that way. Apparently the counterfeit was visually poor as well.

  160. 160.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 12, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Imitrex nasal spray or pill?

    I get the chest and throat tightening for about the first hour after taking the pill, but no side effects at all from the spray. Needless to say, I try to keep a stash of the spray on hand. (Not easy to do right now, so I’m trying to suffer through the migraines with a little help from Excedrin.)

    It clears up my nausea and sensory sensitivity as well as the headache.

  161. 161.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    December 12, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Also, too, to push back a little against the initial premise: Alexander Hamilton isn’t having “a moment” right now because he’s just such a fascinating guy. He’s having “a moment” because a very talented artist created a great artwork around Hamilton’s life and populated that work with equally talented performers who are bringing it to life 8 times a week.

    If you want Harriet Tubman to have the same kind of “moment,” then you have a writing assignment, because no one else is going to have the same vision you do. So get crackin’.

  162. 162.

    J R in WV

    December 12, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @Germy:

    This is why Saudi Arabs shouldn’t be allowed out in public. The interview with the inevitable opposed to change man concludes with “If we allow her out of the house to do such business, who is going to take care of my sons?”

    Yes, “WHO IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF MY SONS?” !!!

    How many ways is this just stupid? First and biggest, “my sons” as if the nation doesn’t need any women. With no daughters, his sons will have to marry each other, and that won’t help the nation survive without children. Especially since wealthy men can marry up to 4 women, if he can find fathers willing to sell him another one.

    This is a problem in India and China, where couples selecting to have only sons have created a population without enough women for the men to marry. I have no doubt that countries with a population imbalance like this will have great unrest, socially and politically, as young men with no women are liable to contribute to unrest. This may already be part of the reason for terrorism in areas where the male-female population doesn’t work out.

    Second, it they are “his sons” as opposed to “our” sons, then from where I sit, they’re “his responsibility” to care for, not hers.

  163. 163.

    Bill Murray

    December 12, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:

    The government wanted to replace the $1 bill with $1 coin because they lose money — OUR MONEY — on every $1 bill.

    THEY LOSE MONEY ON EVERY BILL.

    Regardless of how much you shout, they don’t.

    It costs ~4.9 cents to make a dollar bill ($48.62 per 1000 notes estimated for 2015, $54.02 for 2014). the costliest bills is the $100 at 12.3 cents per bill.

    The mint has lost money on the penny and nickel, as the cost of the metals have been greater than their values for several years. The penny cost a little over 2 cents and the nickel more than 10 cents in 2012. I get the nickel costing like 7 cents and the penny about 1.8 cents, with the rough level of drop of the constituent metal prices from 2012 to today.

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