Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

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

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

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

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Let me file that under fuck it.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

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Reader Interactions

84Comments

  5. 5.

    Chris

    I am, for the first time in a while, translating a fairly long document from one language to another. And running it through Google Translate, then going through and correcting Google Translate, makes me feel like Miss Wormwood correcting Calvin’s homework. “Where the hell is he pulling this from?”

    To Gene Roddenberry, who posited the plausibility of universal translators: you’re hilarious. But no.

    ETA: that actually always required more suspension of disbelief for me than the warp drive, transporters, and time travel. I ain’t no scientist, but I have lived in multilingual environments, and… no.

  8. 8.

    The Moar You Know

    My dog, of all things, LOVES Bubble Guppies. Think it’s the high-pitched kid voices. But he’ll watch it for hours.

  9. 9.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Chris:

    To Gene Roddenberry, who posited the plausibility of universal translators: you’re hilarious. But no.

    Hard to imagine how they manage to work even during the first meeting with a new species, and how they manage to make the aliens hear their own language when spoken to. Captain Kirk’s explanation of how they worked (in that episode where they met Zephren Cochran on that isolated planet) left a few holes here and there.

  10. 10.

    Chris

    @Jerzy Russian:

    I don’t think I’ve seen that episode, actually.

    Yeah, I mean, I don’t believe in them even in cases where you have languages that have been exposed to each other for centuries and had many many dictionaries written translating from one to the other. Upon first contact with an entirely different species? Hell no.

  14. 14.

    Emma

    @Chris: I keep updating it when I try to confirm a translation in Spanish or Portuguese — even French, which mine is minimal, but some of the things Google Translate provides are clearly, clearly wrong.

  15. 15.

    indycat32

    My cat likes to watch tennis. When the ball disappears at the bottom of the screen she looks down at the floor to look for it.

  16. 16.

    Butch

    We lost our Siamese sometime over night. He didn’t come down for breakfast and I finally found him under the bed. Not a good day.

  17. 17.

    Origuy

    Google Translate doesn’t use dictionaries much. What they did was compare many documents that had been hand-translated by professional translators to build a database of equivalent sentences. They started with Canadian Parliament proceedings, since those are all in English and French. It works best when they have lots of direct translations, like English to Spanish, but breaks down when they have to use English as an intermediate translation, like Mandarin to Urdu.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    @Chris:

    I once saw an open mic comedian act where they created a jeopardy game that ran the answers from English through about 20 different languages on google translate and finally back to English before giving them to an audience member to try and come up with the correct question. It was actually very funny.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    @Origuy:
    I’ve found Google Translate also has trouble with things like German separable verbs, and with idioms that are common in the source language but not well-known elsewhere.

  25. 25.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @Butch: Oh dear, I’m so sorry. We give these little creatures such big pieces of our hearts, and then they take them with them when they go. I hope you have lots of pictures and good memories.

  26. 26.

    Trentrunner

    Since “experts” speculated that today would be the ideal day for Hillary & Co. to drop the oppo bomb on Trump…

    …I guess we can conclude that that’s not happening?

  30. 30.

    Shana

    Someone with way too much time and/or money on their hands took a wonderful P.G. Wodehouse short story – The Great Sermon Handicap – and translated it into 57 different languages and then published the whole thing in 6 volumes. Languages include Latin, Catalan, Chaucerian middle English, Yiddish, Esperanto, Sanskrit, and Coptic.

    I don’t speak much of anything but English, but I’m kind of a completist about stuff I like so I’ve thought about buying them from time to time but never do.

    BTW,, we’re having the Wodehouse Society convention in DC next year, October 19-22. Should be fun.

  31. 31.

    Jeffro

    I see that Issa, Cornyn, and other soulless GOP hacks are trying to walk back the “we’ll impeach Clinton the day she takes the oath of office” crap…not because they’ve had a change of heart, of course, but because – as Jen Rubin notes – it’s just about the dumbest thing you could say before the election. They’re just going to fire up Dems and Independents.

    I’m sure the word went out from the RNC: “Tell ’em all to shut up until the 9th!”

  32. 32.

    Butch

    To all of you who responded to me, thank you so much. Cozumel liked to ride around on my shoulder; he was just a few months shy of 18 years. At least we didn’t have to make the decision that all pet owners dread. We still have his brother, TomTom.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    @Jerzy Russian: @Chris: Sacrilege, you heathens.

    The BBC radio show and podcast “In Our Time” references the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is referenced in one of the best ever Trek:Next Generation episodes ever, “Darmok.” The premise of the episode is that Picard and crew encounter an alien species whose language is highly metaphoric, and cannot be acceptably rendered by the Universal Translator.

    The Epic of Gilgamesh may be the oldest surviving great work of literature, and the closest thing to an intact version was lost for a time until tablets were discovered in 1853 near a place currently in the news, Mosul.

  36. 36.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Butch: so sorry for you and your family. Losing a loved furry family member in such an unexpected manner is horrible! The only saving grace about suddenly losing my moms dear kitty two weeks ago was that it was quick and not days or months of wasting away and pain.

  37. 37.

    CaseyL

    @Butch: That’s a very good age for a cat, particularly a boy cat. And I think you’re right – a quiet death at home has to be better for the kitty than being taken to the vet. Doesn’t make it hurt us less, though…. [[HUGS]]

  38. 38.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    @Trentrunner: It’s not oppo bombs, Sam Wang pointed out the press gets bored with the current story about every Friday and looks for a way to flip the narrative. Sort of explains why Trump can be accused of child rape and nothing happens, the MSM isn’t hyping a Trump story then.

  39. 39.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Brachiator:

    The BBC radio show and podcast “In Our Time” references the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is referenced in one of the best ever Trek:Next Generation episodes ever, “Darmok.” The premise of the episode is that Picard and crew encounter an alien species whose language is highly metaphoric, and cannot be acceptably rendered by the Universal Translator.

    I know it is supposed to be brain candy, but I had a lot of problems with that episode. For starters, if you speak in metaphors, you still need a language. If the only thing you do is refer to past events, how do you invent complex new things? And so on…

  43. 43.

    Gin & Tonic

    So The Economist, unsurprisingly to regular readers, endorses HRC. Although they lead by pointing out Trump’s manifest unsuitability, they go on to endorse her on her own merits. For example:

    Our vote, then, goes to Hillary Clinton. Those who reject her simply because she is a Clinton, and because they detest the Clinton machine, are not paying attention to the turpitude of the alternative. Although, by itself, that is not much of an endorsement, we go further. Mrs Clinton is a better candidate than she seems and better suited to cope with the awful, broken state of Washington politics than her critics will admit. She also deserves to prevail on her own merits.

    …

    In another way, she is well-suited to the task. Herding bills through Congress to the point of signing requires a tolerance for patient negotiating and a command of sleep-inducing detail. Though it has been hard to hear above the demand to “lock her up”, Mrs Clinton has campaigned for an open, optimistic country. She can take heart from the fact that, outside Washington, there is more bipartisanship and problem-solving than most Americans realise, and from the fact that popular pessimism has far overshot reality. Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.

  44. 44.

    Miss Bianca

    @Gin & Tonic: Wow, amazing to get a scold from The Economist on Trumpian voters’ “unAmerican pessimism”! Normally it irritates me when Brits or Europeans start opining on American national habits or characteristics, but this time (perhaps since it happens to agree with my own prejudices), I am finding it bracing.

  45. 45.

    Amir Khalid

    @Butch:
    Sorry to hear about your Siamese. But he had what must have been a long and happy life with you, and as peaceful a death as one could hope for.Maybe there is comfort to be found in that.

  46. 46.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Michael McDonald
    ‏@ElectProject
    States that are 100% or more of their total 2012 #earlyvote (expect to add more to this list): FL, LA, MD, MA, and TN

    First year for MA early voting, but this is good. Dems have built a nice firewall in Clark County NV with early voting too, according to Jon Ralston.

  50. 50.

    Sandia Blanca

    @Shana: That is the BEST Wodehouse story! Please provide details on that Wodehouse convention–would be fun to attend.

    To Butch, condolences on the loss of your kitty.

  51. 51.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Jeremy BirdVerified account
    ‏@jeremybird
    FL: Yesterday was largest turnout of black voters so far (55k);
    585K AA voters have cast votes so far, up 28% compared to same point in ’12

    Jeremy BirdVerified account
    ‏@jeremybird
    More NC EV: Over past 3 days, 110K African Americans have voted in-person. 10% more than equivalent period in ’12. #TurnNCBlue

  53. 53.

    FormerSwingVoter

    So, I’ve been obsessively poll-watching all week, and am now kind of in complete freak-out mode. Anyone got something that will make me feel better?

  56. 56.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @FormerSwingVoter:

    Polls this week are garbage. I’ve read so many criticisms of the crosstabs, the overweighting of whites (by a lot), the too small Latino size (by a lot), and other serious criticisms. Ignore.

  59. 59.

    Amir Khalid

    @trollhattan:
    Which puts Parliamentary Tories and Labourites in a real jam. They know Brexit is crazy, they know Nigel Farage and his ilk deceived the country into voting for it. But they’re also afraid of the political cost of voting against it in Parliament, especially if a majority of their constituents are for it.

  60. 60.

    Hal

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Did I not just read that AA voters were not turning out like they were in 2012? Maybe that was nationwide, but now I wonder if pollsters are thinking we aren’t going to support Hillary Clinton like Obama? I’m really starting to wonder if pollsters are over sampling older white men.

    EDIT: I realize that AA vote total is as of now. On Election day is when we’ll see if there is a difference, but I’m hopeful.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @Jerzy Russian:

    I know it is supposed to be brain candy, but I had a lot of problems with that episode. For starters, if you speak in metaphors, you still need a language. If the only thing you do is refer to past events, how do you invent complex new things? And so on…

    Shaka, when the walls fell.

  63. 63.

    Miss Bianca

    @Gin & Tonic: I thought you might, clever internationalist creature that you are! ; )

    @trollhattan: ooohh…cool!

    so funny, I have dear friends and acquaintances on both sides of the Brexit thing over on Blighty’s shores…I have to be careful with the Brexiters, kind of like trying to stay loving to my Trump-voting relatives!

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    @Amir Khalid:
    The rub may be while a slender majority voted for exit now that reality has hit the majority may perhaps now in the remain camp (“oopsie, do-overs?”). If the court ruling holds and the vote is held in Parliament, will former remain voters switch sides to protect their seats? Will such a vote trigger an election? This is more interesting than Donald Trump! Another possibility is the pound has taken such a…pounding that other influences will perhaps come into play.

  65. 65.

    Shana

    @Sandia Blanca: You can go to the Society’s web site: wodehouse.org and look for the info about the convention. I’m tasked with trying to find a politician who might be interested in giving a short talk. I’m waiting until after next week to try and track someone down as I’m sure they’re all pretty busy right now.

    It’s always a fun weekend, full of people with good senses of humor. There’s a costume contest at Saturday evening’s banquet although sadly we’ve had to discontinue the bread roll throwing after a woman got a glass of red wine knocked over onto her dress several years ago.

    ETA: Wodehouse is just about the perfect escape reading for those of us ODing on politics and looking for something to take our minds off it.

  66. 66.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Hal:

    Did I not just read that AA voters were not turning out like they were in 2012?

    I think I read that that was a misinterpretation: from what I saw (was it Dana Houle?), African American voters are turning out in _greater_ numbers, but early voting in all demographics is up enough that the composition of the mass of early voters is less African-American than last time around. So if you look at the percentage of the early vote that is black, you’ll see a lower number, but that’s not the same thing as lower turnout or evidence of lack of enthusiasm on their part. Political reporters get confused about this sort of thing A LOT.

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    A friend’s 13 Y.O. son has the gift of blarney; this is his Trumpian Halloween rant:

    “No one, and I mean no one on the planet, not a single person on the entire globe of Earth…no one knows Halloween like I do, okay? Not the little kids, not the parents, not the old people…not the candy givers or the candy takers…no one. Not even real ghosts and goblins…I know more than the spirits about this holiday. I also know more than the Mexicans about Day of the Dead…And I’m going to fix every single thing that is wrong with this holiday. Trust me. Kids with no costume who want candy are going to jail, for a very, very long, long time. And anyone confusing Day of the Dead with the great American Halloween holiday are going to be exported back to Mexico…forever. Hasta la vista time. There’s your treat…”

  68. 68.

    GrandJury

    @Hal: Pollsters have reputations to maintain. So it is in their best interest to try be accurate.

    Except for propaganda outfits like Rasmussen of course.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    @Hal:

    Did I not just read that AA voters were not turning out like they were in 2012? Maybe that was nationwide, but now I wonder if pollsters are thinking we aren’t going to support Hillary Clinton like Obama? I’m really starting to wonder if pollsters are over sampling older white men.

    It’s relatively easy to get an idea of the turnout in various communities, including absentee ballot vote totals..

  70. 70.

    Shell

    Did I not just read that AA voters were not turning out like they were in 2012?

    Turning on any of the news stations today , thats all you hear.
    And…how many different ways can you say “The race is tightening,”

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    @Enhanced Voting Techinques:

    I was going to say that there was a child rape bombshell on Wednesday and nothing. It was worse than nothing because the accuser was bullied out of giving her press conference. Child rape. Have we ever seen such a failure of institutions to vet a potential POTUS??

  72. 72.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Political reporters get confused about this sort of thing A LOT.

    That’s why Propane Jane is so valuable to read, especially this cycle. She’s front paging at Kos now. The black media and spanish language media is invisible to political reporters, and that media does NOT do both sidesing – shocking, I know.

  73. 73.

    Peale

    @Hal: If our voters answer the screener with items like “I don’t know. I guess I might show up if the lines aren’t too long.” While Republicans answer “He’ll yes. I’m definitely going to be there!” the composition looks like a lot of our voters are disappearing.

  77. 77.

    dexwood

    @Butch:
    Nope, not a good day. I’ll bet, though, Cozumel had countless good days with you. I’m sorry for your loss.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Shana:

    I’m tasked with trying to find a politician who might be interested in giving a short talk. I’m waiting until after next week to try and track someone down as I’m sure they’re all pretty busy right now.

    If it’s appropriate, you might also think about asking someone from the British Embassy. I’ll bet they’ve got lots of Wodehouseans on their staff.

  81. 81.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @NickM:

    When the contest is over, we conveniently forget how deliberately we were manipulated into believing things weren’t really as probable as they suddenly seem following the victory. We forget that the allure of the “horse race” is manufactured based on who is polled on any given day and why. In our current climate, this means winning, losing, liked, and disliked, are all contingent upon which group of voters, spectators, and fans are polled, and in what numbers. The age of Obama and the ascendance of the coalition that elected him has thrown the whole process for a loop, because traditional polling methods fail to capture our strength and magnitude before we take to the field on game day.

    Even Nate Silver acknowledges that our current polling is unpredictable and often inaccurate because of demographics, technology, and declining response rates. What this means is that a coalition of traditionally Democratic constituencies (youth, ethnic minorities, the poor) remains less likely to be polled on any day other than Election Day. It also means that the polls will repeatedly fail to capture the growing diversity of the American electorate, because we’re using models that haven’t yet caught up to the times. Until they do, remember that the season is long, and the big game is still the final word on all the commentary that hyped it.

    Propane Jane

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    @Hal:

    Did I not just read that AA voters were not turning out like they were in 2012?

    IIRC, that was specifically in North Carolina, where the laws have been changed specifically to make it harder for African Americans to vote early. So yes, in places where the number of early voting days has been slashed, the level of early voting has dropped. Quelle surprise.

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