Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

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

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

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Everybody saw this coming.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

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

I was promised a recession.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Good lord, these people are nuts.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

Sunday Afternoon Open Thread

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big rooster

The mister and I are home from our camping / relative-visiting trip to the northern part of state, and we’re tired and crabby from too little sleep and too much adventure. The gas station poultry ornament above was the most impressive piece of public art we saw. The spring below was one of several awe-inspiring natural scenes we enjoyed yesterday:

suwannee spring

We visited several springs along the Suwannee River. The Suwannee itself is a dark water river, and I almost never swim in it because of the gators. But the springs that feed into it are crystal clear and gorgeous — and if there be gators or snakes, you can see them! Each spring is a shady little oasis:

suwannee spring 2

It was a punishingly hot and humid day, but the spring water is breathtakingly cold. We spent hours just standing around in the cold water, talking, laughing and watching the antics of children and pets. As long as you’re in the water, you’re perfectly cool, even if it’s 100 degrees.

Anyway, good times. Also good to be home, where there is reliable air conditioning and normal toilets. Open thread!

Reader Interactions

230Comments

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    Ok, guys. This is where the foolishness ends. Hellman’s Mayo grilled cheese sandwich is not a thing that will ever be happening.
    Disgusting.

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    @Corner Stone: I am utterly devoted to mayo, but I have to agree; it has no place on a grilled cheese sandwich. Unless you count a grilled pimento cheese sandwich — which is awesome.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud:

    The gas station poultry ornament above was the most impressive piece of public art we saw.

    Betty does seem to be a mite impressed…

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    @Betty Cracker: Not sure if you’ve seen the commercial, but they suggest slathering Hellman’s on the *outside* of the bread in place of butter and then FUCKING GRILLING IT!

  8. 8.

    Corner Stone

    The Suwannee itself is a dark water river, and I almost never swim in it because of the gators. But the springs that feed into it are crystal clear and gorgeous — and if there be gators or snakes, you can see them!

    So all that equals to bodies of water I will never enter.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    @Corner Stone: FFS! I have not seen the ad, but obviously that technique is wrong on so many levels. Are the shameless liars pretending that mayo can crisp up the bread to golden brown crunchy goodness like butter?

  11. 11.

    Elmo

    @Corner Stone: That’s how I was taught to make them. Never knew any better until I became an adult and thought, Lets try some of this “butter” stuff I’ve heard so much about!

    Lots of people make them that way because they keep their butter in the fridge and can’t be arsed to soften it for spreading.

  13. 13.

    Oldgold

    My midwestern mother considered serving any sandwich without a liberal slathering of Mayo to be unthinkable. And, decades later, I have the arteries to prove it.

  15. 15.

    Germy


    Trump’s Rumored VP Pick Reveals Himself As A Pro-Choice Democrat –
    Is the Republican Party is ready for him?

    Rumors swirled on Saturday that the top Trump pick was General Michael Flynn, friend to Vladimir Putin and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Flynn is a fierce Islamophobe, which would fit well with Trump’s leading philosophy.

    However, there are problems, such as the fact that on This Week, Flynn revealed himself as pro-choice. It also turns out he’s a registered Democrat, though I think he actually fits better over in the Republican Party overall.

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    @satby:

    one of the exchange girls tried it. Made it seem like the typical fried in grease greasy spoon sandwich. Ick.

    Oh my!
    /Takei

  18. 18.

    MattF

    @Germy: And, according to tweets, Flynn being a Democrat means he can’t run on the VP slot in Florida as a Republican. Weird, but… Florida.

  20. 20.

    FlyingToaster

    I’m about to take WarriorGirl to one of her classmates’ birthday party. City streets to Jamaica Plain and then searching for on-street parking. And it’s the cold (65°) before the heat wave coming next.

    At least it’s a nice kid with nice parents and traditionally a fun party. I’m bringing a book so that I can choose to ignore thoseparents over there.

    It rained enough last night that I can wait till tomorrow to water; we’ve gone to morning garden and pots watering, and then checking the foliage just before sundown. We’ll go out Monday after swim class and harvest the next batch of fence berries (I planted berry bushes along the ornamental fence when WarriorGirl was in diapers; blueberry, raspberry, blackberry).

  22. 22.

    Emerald

    So, a question: which series should I binge watch next?

    I’ve done GoT, Mad Men, Breaking Bad (of course), House of Cards. All of the modern Doctor Who. All of Turn, so far. Tried a couple of seasons of Deadwood but it just got a bit too dark. Took Marco Polo off my Netflix list because of the sparrow immolation in the second season opener. I like animals more than people. Don’t want that kind of stuff (yes, I know they are barbarians).

    Just finished the fourth season of The Americans (gad, I wish they would just run. I want to see Paiges’s tantrum and laugh when she realizes she’s going to spend the rest of her life in Russia. Can’t do that and still have a season 5 and 6, though).

    Have not yet tried Orange is the New Black or any real oldies like The Wire.

    So, any suggestions?

  24. 24.

    ? Martin

    @Elmo: The problem with mayo is that it’ll leave residue on your pan as compared to butter. If you want more protein on the outside of your sandwich, just jump ahead to a monte christo/croque-monsieur and do it properly.

  25. 25.

    Mike in NC

    @Germy: Still thinking Trump will pick either Gingrich or Christie as a running mate: white guys that he can stand next to and appear almost slender.

  27. 27.

    raven

    A possible vice presidential running mate for Donald Trump said on Sunday that women should have the right to abortion.

    Retired Gen. Michael Flynn seemed a struggle for an answer when ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked for his position on abortion. But he made his position clear.

    “I think for women ― these are difficult issues ― I think women have to be able to choose what they ― sort of the right of choice,” Flynn told her on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

    “I think that’s a difficult legal decision and I think that women are so important in that decision-making process,” he continued. “They are the ones that have to make the decision because they’re the ones that are gonna decide to bring up that child or not.”

  30. 30.

    Barbara

    Juniper Springs is one of those beautiful clear rivers. We camped and canoed there a few tears ago in the winter and took the auto train back.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    @Emerald:

    What about Peaky Blinders? The humans can be terrible to each other but they love animals, particularly horses.

  33. 33.

    Ejoiner

    Down in Texas (right outside of Houston) to visit with my mom (who just turned 81) and it’s…hot. Like really really really really hot. Took in the sights at NASA yesterday and a few hours at the Galveston pier and it about killed everyone in the group and all we did was walk around for a few minutes outside. And it’s just crippling if you are elderly.

    Side note – it’s funny going to NASA and touring all the visitor center stuff (which is fine).Back in middle school we had yearly field trips there and the “tour” was, literally, the buses dropping us off in front of the NASA buildings and our guides walking us down hallways and offices where the staff were all at work. We always concluded with lunch crammed in around the NASA personnel trying to eat theirs with all these kids piled on top of them. Nowdays you just peer at those facilities from the safe distance of a quick tram ride around the campus!

  34. 34.

    Germy

    @Emerald: Maria Bamford’s new show? She’s a national treasure and it’s getting rave reviews.

    Also, we binge watched a ton of Boondocks episodes. Hilarious and outrageous.

  35. 35.

    Mike in NC

    @Emerald: ‘Bloodlines’ on Netflix.

    Netflix also now has Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Penny Dreadful’. Saw a couple of episodes while flying to Europe in December and liked it, though they cancelled the series after Season 3. It’s a Victorian horror anthology set in London.

  40. 40.

    Randy P

    Still vacationing in Dublin. Tomorrow heading over to Galway. We have a way of stumbling unplanned into major celebrations in other countries. In Dublin it’s the centennial of the 1916 Easter Uprising; in Galway apparently some big arts fest we hear.

    Dallas made the front pages here, but otherwise I don’t see a lot of US politics in the papers. We did have one cabby ask us hesitantly what we thought of Trump, and he was kind of relieved at the incoherent angry sputtering in our response. He said that Americans have been telling him Dallas is making them decide to vote Trump.

    And from what he said about Boris Johnson I guess other countries have their share of xenophobic idiots.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    @Ejoiner: What does “right outside” mean? In the Greater Houston Metro Area that could mean just about anything. An hour or less from Dallas, Austin, Corpus or on the beach in Bolivar.

  42. 42.

    Germy

    @MattF: I was thinking more of this election cycle. Pokemon has always been weird. My sons, now in their twenties, were devotees when they were in elementary school. I remember Primeape for some reason…

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    @Randy P:

    In Dublin it’s the centennial of the 1916 Easter Uprising

    “A hundred men entered and 10,000 walked out!”

  44. 44.

    Germy

    @Capt Seaweed: I was going to suggest Boardwalk Empire also, but the complaint was that Deadwood was too dark… so I thought maybe lighter fare would be in order.

  45. 45.

    Corner Stone

    @Germy:

    But if Joni hadn’t backed out I think he might have gone with her.

    I would have loved the death of any future political future Huh Huh Ernst may have.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    @Emerald: “Orange” is good, IMO. I’m not as impressed with “The Wire” as most people are, but it’s definitely worth checking out too. “West Wing” is an oldie that is a great series if you didn’t catch it during its original run. Ditto “The Sopranos.” We enjoyed “Six Feet Under,” though it had some shaky seasons. Ultimately worth sticking with it, IMO.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    Betty Cracker:

    The Suwannee itself is a dark water river, and I almost never swim in it because of the gators.

    ALMOST NEVER????

  57. 57.

    MattF

    @Germy: It’s weird compared to recent American politics, but is now a lot closer to current European politics, IMO. Democracy has never been thought of as an unqualified good thing in Europe, and I think we’re headed in that direction. Where, exactly, will that lead? Um, somewhere unfamiliar, and YMMV.

  58. 58.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @raven: This is the only logical choice possible. It’s fully up to the woman.

    Which is why the forced birther people have such a problem with it. It gives women agency, and doesn’t punish them for the agency they exercised when they had sex in the first place, the sluts.

  59. 59.

    Emerald

    I will check this stuff out! Normally I don’t mind dark fare but somehow Deadwood just hit me wrong (loved Calamity Jane though).

    Thanks!

    Gotta say, we are really in a golden age of television.

  60. 60.

    Betsy

    Oh the delightful springs of North Florida. And the cooling is so lasting — after a couple of hours splashing about and loafing in the spring, your core temperature is low and you can hike in the oak hammock forest, or play football in the 100 degree sun and not break a sweat for a while.

  63. 63.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Corner Stone: It could be worse.

    Could be telling us to slather the outside with that sugared drywall sealer called “Miracle Whip” (=8^O) & then grill it. (Then again, it’s not like MW could possibly taste worse grilled…)

  65. 65.

    gogol's wife

    This Trump-Putin connection is making me hella nervous. And I imagine Saint Ronnie is spinning rapidly in his grave.

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    @Emerald:

    So, any suggestions?

    Death Comes to Pemberly
    Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
    Bitten
    The Borgias
    Broadchurch
    The Fall
    IZombie
    Did you do Original House of Cards?

    And Spanish Telenovelas
    Velvet
    The Time In Between
    La Reina Del Sur

  67. 67.

    Germy

    @Emerald:

    Gotta say, we are really in a golden age of television.

    What a reversal! I remember years ago when the term “Made for TV movie” meant low-budget garbage. Film actors were ashamed if their careers had fallen to TV appearances.

    And now the creative stuff is happening in long-form TV. Meanwhile, directors can’t get funding for interesting theatrical-release films because the moneymen all want superhero sequels.

  70. 70.

    Feathers

    Whenever I see Pokemon, I remember back when I was working at the laser disc store and one of our reps came in all a-fluster. His company (Pioneer?) was bring this new kids show and games to the US and he had more swag than he knew what to do with. Could any of us help? Called all my girlfriends with kids – none of them wanted it. Of course – it was Pokemon. I often wonder what some of that unwanted promo materials would be worth now.

  74. 74.

    Major Major Major Major

    @raven: From that transcript, what he said reminded me of a Palin interview. Not the way he said it, but what. She was talking about how in difficult situations, like having a child with Down’s, she considered having an abortion but chose to keep it. Elsewhere she said that they were all very proud of Bristol for ‘deciding to’ have an abortion.

    But she’s pro-life, dontcha know. These people don’t seem to realize that the status quo is (more or less, post-Roe) ‘pro-choice’ and that being ‘pro-life’ means wanting to get rid of that. It’s like they don’t even hear the word ‘choice’, just ‘chopping up still-living babies on the operating table’.

  75. 75.

    Barbara

    @Ben Cisco: I am so sorry. That is too young and too much life to miss. I hope there is solace knowing that she loved and was loved.

  78. 78.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @raven: Oh, and…

    “They are the ones that have to make the decision because they’re the ones that are gonna decide to bring up that child or not.”

    Not to mention carrying the child to term and going through that entire birthing babies stuff.

    head—> desk

  81. 81.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ejoiner: In early July 1970 I went to NYC as one of 30 just-finished-junior-year college kids in NASA’s Summer Institute in Space Physics. They put us outoftowners up in the Columbia dorms, taught us a 6-credit course in the subject (5 weeks x 4 days/wk x 6 hr/day) at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies two blocks south, & then in August took us on a week-long junket to various NASA sites (Pasadena/JPL=>Houston/Manned Spaceflight Center=>Cape Canaveral=>Goddard Spaceflight Center).

    We ran a line of thunderheads on the flight from LA to Houston, landing ~10:30 PM in torrential rain with air temperature 86 Fahrenheit & were bused for about an hour through the downpour to a motel across the road from the MSFC. Next morning when we emerged ~8 AM with our bags (we were scheduled to go straight from the tour to the airport for the flight to FL) it was already over 90. They piled us onto the airconditioned bus & drove us across the highway–& that bus waited to take us between every pair of buildings we visited. I think they were afraid our minders (& other NASA hangers-on taking advantage of a free week out of the office at gummint expense) would suffer heatstroke if they had to walk.

    In subsequent years when someone mentions Houston I have always replied, I spent a month in Houston one night. Good times…

  84. 84.

    Roger Moore

    @RSA:

    Even the liberal New York Times has succumbed to this madness: Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

    Of course the New York Times food section is also the one that suggested adding peas to guacamole, so they aren’t exactly a trustworthy source.

  86. 86.

    Germy

    @WaterGirl: I really like comedy, so I lean towards Maria Bamford and also the Boondocks. I watched the first season of Black Jesus, but I’m not sure if it’s coming back.

  91. 91.

    Shell

    Tried a couple of seasons of Deadwood

    Thats all you need. The third season just kind of meandered, looking for an arc.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @Ben Cisco: I got the most beautiful card from my niece when I lost someone very important to me. It helped me so much that I framed it and put it in a place where I would see it every day.

    Peace to soothe you, grace to hold you, love to comfort you.

  97. 97.

    Dog Dawg Damn

    Flynn would be a slap in the face to the anti-Trump base. If he were attempting to reinvigorate the Dump Trump movement, he could hardly make a better choice.

    The convention is going to be great fun.

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    @Germy:

    And now the creative stuff is happening in long-form TV.

    Which is because long-form TV is a thing now, which it wasn’t 15 or 20 years ago. I think the big change is ultimately a result of DVD box sets replacing syndication as the major profit center after a show’s first run, but the most important point is that TV shows are now allowed and even expected to have long-range continuity. Obviously, the ability of cable to do things that network censors wouldn’t allow helps, too, but even network shows are trying to have long-range plots.

  102. 102.

    Germy

    @Roger Moore: Agreed. But (aside from a few exceptions) cable seems to do it better.

    I got hooked on the Eric Andre show on AdultSwim. I don’t know why. But it was fascinating to see how far he’d push. It was the anti-talkshow, which I appreciated.

  106. 106.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Ben Cisco: Damn, I’m so sorry. She’s truly too soon gone. Take care of Ben Cisco the best you can on this difficult day.

  107. 107.

    Humdog

    Ben, I am so sorry for your terrible loss. But I am also very happy that you had the time you did have with her and that you know what it is like to have been blessed with such love. Hold on to the better person she made you to honor her touch on this world.

  112. 112.

    Betty Cracker

    @Shell: Camper toilets — weird little round, low-set crappers that don’t have water in the bowl and require you to lean over way too close to your own waste to flush with a lever. ETA: Still beats bear style.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    Meredith Clark, PhD @meredithclark
    As a journalist/journalism professor, I am VERY concerned about how narratives around the Dallas shootings are being framed.
    10:56 AM – 10 Jul 2016

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    To our knowledge, a single person exploited a peaceful protest for the purpose of exacting his own “revenge.”

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    How many THOUSANDS of people have marched/protest/lobbied peacefully under the banner of #BlackLivesMatter since 2014?

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    Mass media has the ability to cast all Black people as a faceless, violent mass. The actions of a single man, amplified by media +

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    give credence to this false narrative that #BlackLivesMatter is a “terrorist” organization.

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    Micah X. Johnson may have been a terrorist, but #BlackLivesMatter is two things: a movement calling America into accountability and +

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    An organization committed to the liberation of Black people. It is not a terrorist group.

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    ISIS is a terrorist group. Boko Haram is a terrorist group. Al Shabab is a terrorist group. The KKK is a terrorist group.

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    That protest & disruption of daily activities is now called “terrorism” in the U.S. shows exactly how privilege creates dissonance.

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    We do not have to accept these false narratives. We can be sources. We can be critics. There are many levels to this fight.

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    That’s my challenge to anyone who sees these tweets today. When you see bias in the news this week, call it out.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @Emerald

    Without repeating suggestions above –

    In English:

    White Collar
    Happy Valley
    Archer

    Non-English:

    Occupied
    Rita
    Grand Hotel
    The Returned
    Heavy Water Wars

    May or may not grab you, but worth a peek to see if they do:

    Coffee Prince
    The Moon Embracing the Sun
    Atelier

  120. 120.

    Randy P

    @Germy:

    I remember years ago when the term “Made for TV movie” meant low-budget garbage.

    Every once in a while one would surprise you though. I remember being really struck by one called “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver and an 18-wheeler whose driver you never saw. It was directed by a guy named Spielberg who I understand achieved some modest success in Hollywood and made somewhat of a specialty of non-human objects /creatures as characters.

  121. 121.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    @Humdog: @Aimai: @satby: Thanks all.

    Trying very hard to stay focused on the positive. I’m a bit of a grump (in both my current and previous lines of work, not exactly a surprise), but she sanded those edges down, and wasted no time in telling me to stick a cork in it when warranted. Right now I just feel rudderless…

  130. 130.

    Humdog

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): sometimes aiming for positive is just too damn tough. As a fellow grump, I sometimes am lightened by reaching out to those who have it worse than I do. It reminds me that for all that sucks for me, it really could be worse. But then, I have never suffered such a loss as you. Hang in there, and if it helps, we here are happy to tell you to put a cork in it. ?

  131. 131.

    Randy P

    @burnspbesq: I knew some BJer would have suggestions. Thanks for the tip. Traditional music is a big part of why we want to spend time on the west coast (of Ireland). Everybody says that’s the place to go.

  138. 138.

    Roger Moore

    @Doug R:
    I think Trump has done a perfectly good job of showing that the Apocalypse vote and the racist vote have enough overlap that there’s no need to court them separately.

  139. 139.

    WaterGirl

    @Randy P: Yikes. Duel scared the shit out of me. It was decades ago, but it is not possible for me to forget. I didn’t realize that was Spielberg, though.

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ben Cisco:

    I’m so sorry. In some ways, the hardest thing about losing someone is that there are always new things you want to tell them. I would have loved to see my lifelong Republican dad’s reaction to Donald Trump, but it’s three years too late now. It gets easier, eventually, but the significant anniversaries will still hit you.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I hereby volunteer to tell you to stick a cork in it, on a periodic basis if you would like. It will have to be at random times, though, because I think a lot more of her stuck than you seem to think – because all I have seen is you handling this terrible loss in a very positive way.

  144. 144.

    Juju

    @NCSteve: @NCSteve: I didn’t know there was anything but Miracle Whip when I was growing up. My mother always bought that and called it mayonnaise. When I finally had real mayonnaise it was quite the revelation. I haven’t had MW for quite some time, and even my mother won’t use it any longer. I must say, I like Duke’s light or regular. Had never heard of it until I moved to NC.

  145. 145.

    CarolDuhart2

    What’s interesting about the Trump search for a VP is that we are speculating about what he will have to settle for, not what will enhance him or the country. As I predicted, Trump is going to have to settle for somebody who’s
    1) got nothing to lose
    2) and less than adequate
    3) subservient so that he isn’t being overshadowed by his running.

    That’s the problem I see with the two generals being mentioned:
    Even the worst General is more disciplined and has more pride-and more qualified to be President. Is there a top-level military man who could pull off the third attribute very well? No.

    So until further notice, it may still be Uncle Ben Carson.

    Also, isn’t this usually the time we hear an announcement of a VP? It’s a week until the convention. Maybe the problem is that nobody wants to be his VP, and he’s running out of options. Remember being a running mate is like being in an engagement that’s nearly impossible to break. If you lose, that’s one thing. If you win, then that’s 4 and possibly 8 years you have to work with this person. I imagine on top of everything else that’s bad for your career, the prospect of spending it with Trump is scary. Mood swings, erratic behavior, and the lot up close is terrifying to contemplate.

  147. 147.

    Misterpuff

    @Emerald: Person Of Interest. Starts out as procedural and transforms into something unique and thought provoking with plenty of action.

  148. 148.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    I’m glad someone else is calling out the thing that’s been driving me bonkers. DPD specifically said that Johnson told them that he hated BLM because he thought they weren’t doing enough, and yet they’re responsible for his actions? WTF?

  151. 151.

    dww44

    @Elmo: The mayo doesn’t burn as quickly as butter, which might explain how it came to be a substitute for it in the first place.

  154. 154.

    Betty Cracker

    @Juju: My sister went to grad school in NC and came home a Duke’s convert. I’ll use it in a pinch but remain a Hellmann’s gal if I’m making something using commercial mayo. Duke’s is a tad more vinegary or something. It doesn’t taste quite right to me, but people do swear by it.

  155. 155.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Ben Cisco: Damned Borg.

    /shakefist

    You did have time together. And while you may be diminished now, you are greater than you were before her.

  156. 156.

    Misterpuff

    FRINGE is also good. Like POI, it gets better about half way through Season 1.

  158. 158.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @CarolDuhart2: Bill Clinton announced his selection of Al Gore the week prior to the convention in 1992, so there is that precedent. Ronald Reagan did this in 1976, too, with Richard Schweiker, but he did it in an attempt to get the nomination by attracting centrists and “liberal” Rethugs, but it backfired on him. Troglodyte scum like Jesse Helms were incensed.

  159. 159.

    Elizabelle

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Mrs. BC was worth missing. She would be touched that you are still grieving, and she would wish you happiness going forward.

    But only 50 years. That is robbed. Still, you found each other and achieved happiness. That’s the world.

  160. 160.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mnemosyne: Where did you hear / read that the shooter said he hated BLM? Just curious as I have not heard that angle. Of course, even if the shooter had said he loved BLM, the psycho’s rampage wouldn’t be BLM’s fault, any more than it’s our fault that Dylann Roof murdered a bunch of innocent people to start a race war.

  161. 161.

    Juju

    @Betty Cracker: Duke’s seems a bit vinegary to me as well, but that’s why I like it. It cuts the richness of the mayo just a tad. Hellmons, while nice and works in a pinch, was always a bit too rich for me, but then I was raised with MW. My dough has risen. On to the sausage bread.

  162. 162.

    JPL

    @Betty Cracker: The chief of Police spoke openly about the killer’s rant, and he said it didn’t make sense. People will take what they can to justify their hate, rather than look at the entire picture.

  164. 164.

    Hungry Joe

    @The Thin Black Duke: Plenty of love HERE for “Orphan Black.” Tatiana Maslany. Just … Tatiana Maslany. Sheer genius: scary, scared, mean, kind, brilliant, hilarious. She does it all, and then some, and then some more.

    @Randy P: Spielberg pretty much peaked with “Duel.”

  165. 165.

    dmsilev

    @CarolDuhart2: I looked up the timing the other day. In 2008, both Obama and McCain announced their running mates the Friday before their respective conventions. In 2012, Romney announced his pick about two weeks prior.

  169. 169.

    JPL

    @Betty Cracker: Did you know he was sent home from Afghanistan because of a sexual harassment charge. The military didn’t want to give him a honorable discharge, but did so when he attained a lawyer. He apparently was a ticking time bomb, and if white, I think he’d be considered angry and deranged.

  171. 171.

    dww44

    @rikyrah: Along these lines:

    Meredith Clark, PhD ‏@meredithclark 3h3 hours ago
    That’s my challenge to anyone who sees these tweets today. When you see bias in the news this week, call it out.

    Heard a bit of the below yesterday afternoon on the weekend edition of NPR’s All Things Considered. I think that NPR is guilty of an egregious bit of journalistic malpractice when they had this ex Policeman from California on blaming everything on the BLM movement. He was allowed to get away with telling listeners that they were a far left revolutionary movement with ties to communism. The host, who was black was apparently taken aback by some of what he said and though she tried to push back a bit, it wasn’t very effective.

    http://www.npr.org/2016/07/09/485388423/former-detective-claims-black-lives-matter-founded-on-pack-of-lies

    Take a listen or read the transcript and weigh-in with NPR. I have

  173. 173.

    Betty Cracker

    @JPL: I did read that somewhere — possibly the NYT. Sounds like he was definitely angry and deranged.

  174. 174.

    grandpa john

    @Juju: here in the South, Dukes is the only mayo. Old southern tradition
    Facebook friend I use to talk to had moved to Alaska, she had family/friends ship Dukes to her

  175. 175.

    AnneW

    @Mnemosyne: Yes! My dad, who was a staunch Republican, died in June of 2012. I really wanted to twit him about Romney. Can’t imagine what he’d think about Trump.

  177. 177.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Misterpuff: I’m still pissed off at Fringe, which was good until it was time to wrap everything up in the final season. Abrams reminds me of a truly incompetent math prof I struggled under, who in the middle of a proof once said to the class, I haven’t been very careful with my assumptions so far, there’s no sense in starting now. He did to Fringe what he reportedly (I never watched it) did to Lost: cobbled together a cockamamie conclusion that left more holes in the plot than your average Swiss cheese & then foisted it on the viewers. IIRC the fan site had at least half a dozen theories of what was afoot circulating, complete with proposed denouements, that made significantly more sense. Bastard.

    (NB I see SteveNC beat me to the inevitable Miracle-Whip quip. Kudos.)

  180. 180.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Juju:

    but then I was raised with MW

    =8^O What kind of monsters were your parents?? And why didn’t Child Protective Services step in???

  182. 182.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Germy:
    I could see this. Trump will pick his VP based on what he feels like rather than anything we would recognize as cold calculation, but he’s made it plain he’s dumb enough to think he can steal Democratic Party voters. That’s the kind of egotistical whim that could move him, thinking he’s being totally genius and cutting Hillary off at the knees.

  184. 184.

    Elie

    The killer was clearly mentally disturbed. Mentally disturbed and paranoid people are very much influenced by every day and current events and these can affect how they build a story around what they want to do. It is very important and therefore not irrelevant that our aggressive, angry and violent language shapes and influences these folks. Instead, much to my disappointment (but not surprise), the media and even the Dallas Chief of Police seemed to be blaming BLM! I also am not hearing ANY sense from the police of their being ANY problems with how they treat way too many black folks… its as though by hating on BLM they can somehow absolve themselves of any part in these sort of outcomes. Yes, violence and injustice and unfairness breeds same for everyone…
    In a slight side note, I have been surprised that Trump didn’t inflame this more with his usual hate rhetoric. Can he maintain this relatively appropriate speech? I have mixed feelings about him suddenly doing the right thing… Don’t want to give scared white people more reason to think he is an ok option for President….

  186. 186.

    debbie

    @Juju:

    Sometimes I whisk a little Greek yogurt into Hellmans. It cuts the richness but you can still taste the Hellmans.

  187. 187.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Damn, Ben. Damn.

    Never having been in your shoes–either the length of love or the loss lengthening into whenever. I wish I knew what to say.

    To whatever extent it might speak to you, or for you, here is a poem by my Perfect Master & Hero of the Zeitgeist, W. S. Merwin:

    SEPARATION

    Your absence has gone through me
    Like thread through a needle.
    Everything I do is stitched with its color.

    :^(

  192. 192.

    debbie

    @Ben Cisco:

    I’m sorry for your continued sadness, but from what I’ve read here and in past threads, she’s worthy of it. A time will come when the happy occasions, that now seem so sad, are remembered with fondness. You’ll get there.

  194. 194.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Frankensteinbeck: The dumbfuck thinks he’s going to be competitive in California.

    This alone is reason to question his sanity, let alone all the psychotic nonsense he spews.

  197. 197.

    cckids

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): I’m so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine. We lost our 32-year old son last Nov., and while it wasn’t entirely unexpected (he had multiple health problems), it was & is still such a shock to the system; all our regularities of life are changed. Will be thinking of you today & tonight.

    Peace and love to you.

  201. 201.

    Juju

    @Uncle Cosmo: I’m one of five children. Miracle whip was cheaper. My mom also used powdered skimmed milk to stretch the regular skimmed milk she bought, and not Carnation, usually store brand. I didn’t taste non store brand peanut butter until I was 21. Don’t get me started on the not even Cool Whip, and if you think Cool Whip is disgusting, imagine what store brand is like. Also Dream Whip was no dream and didn’t taste very good made with powdered skim and regular skimmed milk.

  203. 203.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @cckids: When I lost my brother nearly 30 years ago, it was much rougher on my parents than on my sister and I. You expect to bury your parents, not your children.

    Peace be with you.

  204. 204.

    cckids

    @Juju: Boy, does your childhood sound like mine; I was one of 7 kids. It still sticks in my craw because I found out (as a teen), that my mom was doing it out of cheapness, not necessity. Not something I can understand.

  205. 205.

    Elie

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    That is so beautiful and so true…

    My Mom has been gone two years and that loss and what she meant to me is stitched through my life. I try to think how its made something good in my life but I just miss her so much!

  208. 208.

    Juju

    To cckids: My mom did it because that’s what my parents could afford. After putting five children through college and finding a good university postition, things were not done cheaply, and we all really appreciate what we have now instead of taking it for granted. But as dog is my witness I’ll never have Miracle Whip in the refrigerator again.

  209. 209.

    Emma

    @Ben Cisco: Lord, I am so sorry! I lost my mother in March. Watching my father try to come to grips with the loss of his partner of 62 years has been devastating. Believe me when I tell you I understand your grief.

  210. 210.

    Emma

    @cckids: Losing a child must be the worst thing ever. All I can say is that you and your family are in my prayers tonight.

  211. 211.

    Betty Cracker

    @Elie: I lost my mom two years ago too. I’ll never stop missing her, but the horrible shock of it is gone — the sense of being bowled over by it afresh every morning — and that makes it easier to bear. I don’t think you ever really get over losing someone who was essential to you, but if you’re lucky, the loss gets integrated into your life in a way that allows you to carry on.

  212. 212.

    Barb2

    @Elie:

    The military is partly to blame for the Dallas killing spree.

    He was sent home from Afghanistan by the military with a recommendation of less than honorable discharge. His behavior was not at all normal. The woman he was harassing said he needed counseling. Did the military do any post discharge counseling?

    There is a pattern here – Timothy McVeigh – Veteran who used another fuck up (Waco) by the government as his reason for blowing up a Federal building in Oklahoma.

    When my dad retired from the Navy there was no post discharge counseling. I was in college and old enough to know the military owed him some counseling. He was depressed. He was going to funerals for fellow recent retirees. He was able to pull himself together and find a good paying job based on skills he learned in the Navy. The military treats Vets like military surplus.

    Most Vets manage to muddle through – but the tiny minority who don’t make the adjustment to civilian life can become self harming – or worse. The latest example Xavier Johnson.

    So I’m laying the blame on the military. They create killers and didn’t evaluate these guys for psychological problems when they leave the military. Yet we have the dumb idiot conservatives blaming BLM, Obama, Hillary – anyone except the military.

  215. 215.

    Juju

    @Betty Cracker: That is very nicely put. It just takes time. One of the things that drives me nuts is when I hear about closure. There is no such thing as closure. That loss will always be there, it’s just the way you deal with it changes over time. My father died in a terrible accident in1992 and I still miss him and think of him everyday, but now it usually makes me smile, not tear up. The biggest thing I miss is his advice. He was a very smart man.

  216. 216.

    satby

    @cckids: My heart breaks a little for you every time you mention your son. I can’t imagine the grief. Peace and healing to you and yours too.

  217. 217.

    cckids

    @aimai: @Betty Cracker: @satby: Thank you. No matter how prepared you think you are, you’re never ready for loss. I’m leaking today while surfing TV channels; it hit me that for the first time in 30+ years, I have no idea what’s on Disney, nor do I have plans to see any kids’ movies this summer. Weird, but still painful.

  223. 223.

    Elie

    @cckids:

    Sorry that I neglected to share my condolences with you (incomplete reading). A big hug for you.. Even when someone is ill, or expected to die — it remains a terrible shock that leaves a mark. We move on but we are marked..

  224. 224.

    Elie

    @Barb2:

    While I hear you and agree that the military shares responsibility, our pretty free liberal culture makes it very hard to “do something” definitive for the seriously mentally ill — until they really do something really bad (abusing girl friend is usually not big enough). You don’t have to go far to understand that the same thing happens outside the military with lots of civilians and their families suffering through their mental illness — even with the family being afraid of a member and calling the police from time to time — to know that mostly nothing happens or can happen until the worst happens. Even if you have serious mental illness, you will not be admitted even if you are considered to be a harm to yourself or others, for more than a couple of days or so. Then you are discharged on some meds that work for as long as you take them. Many severely schizophrenic or other do not stay medicated — even in the best of circumstances — leaving the society just as vulnerable. Given our level of expertise and knowledge about mental illness, none of the alternatives are much better. Do you lock up everyone with any mental illness forever, before they do anything to anybody? Most are not and will never become violent. Do you coerce medication adherence (as if you could)? Our jails are already teaming with the mentally ill and drug dependent and we all know that the best way to be killed by a cop if you are black or white is to be mentally ill also. I am afraid that until we get out of the mental illness dark ages, our alternatives will continue to suck. What makes our situation so lethal in this country in my opinion, is that we have all the damned guns. Other countries have the same issues with mental illness but they have less access to guns…

  225. 225.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): @Betty Cracker: @Elie: Let me share one more Merwin poem about loss with you, although I’m not all that sure it’s all that applicable. When I first met Merwin after a reading in 1981 I said, Your poetry got me through a really tough time back in 1973. (He was visibly moved. Poifick Maestro, indeed.) This is the poem I stumbled upon that touched that off–when I read the last line, with its matter-of-fact acceptance of all the anguish that went before, I sensed I’d touched bottom & was on my way back toward light & air:

    The Ships Are Made Ready In Silence

    Moored to the same ring:
    The hour, the darkness and I,
    Our compasses hooded like falcons.

    Now the memory of you comes aching in
    With a wash of broken bits which never left port
    In which once we planned voyages,
    They come knocking like hearts asking:
    What departures on this tide?

    Breath of land, warm breath,
    You tighten the cold around the navel,
    Though all shores but the first have been foreign,
    And the first was not home until left behind.

    Our choice is ours but we have not made it,
    Containing as it does, our destination
    Circled with loss as with coral, and
    A destination only until attained.

    I have left you my hope to remember me by,
    Though now there is little resemblance.
    At this moment I could believe in no change,
    The mast perpetually
    Vacillating between the same constellations,
    The night never withdrawing its dark virtue
    From the harbor shaped as a heart,
    The sea pulsing as a heart,
    The sky vaulted as a heart,
    Where I know the light will shatter like a cry
    Above a discovery:
    “Emptiness.
    Emptiness! Look!”
    Look. This is the morning.

    (FTR I think the title is from Book 4 of The Aeneid where Aeneas is preparing to sneak out on Dido. Obviously not a similar situation but IMO the anguish & particularly the last dozen lines seem to apply….)

  226. 226.

    CaseyL

    @Ben Cisco: I look for your comments and am always glad to see you here. It sounds like Mrs. Cisco was a treasure. I hope the memories of her will soon give you more joy than they do pain.

  228. 228.

    Elie

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yes, Betty, I remember your posts about your Mom around the same time my Mom passed. It is not as raw as it was but there are times — sigh — times when I just want to hold her and to hear her voice. Still. I sometimes get the impulse ” I have to call Mom” — and then I remember… I miss her thoughts and just the many laughs from her wicked sense of humor. My sister and I laugh (and cry) about that… But life DOES go on and I just spent a couple of hours walking along the shore with my hubby and I life is good. That it is good is in part because of her and how her love still reaches through to me…

  229. 229.

    Betty Cracker

    @Elie: Glad you have a sister to laugh and cry with — don’t know what I’d do without mine. You’re right; a beloved mom’s love can still reach through. So well said.

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