Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Republicans in disarray!

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

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

This blog will pay for itself.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Come on, man.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Optimism opens the door to great things.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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Reader Interactions

206Comments

  16. 16.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    Hello, BJ. Dipping my toe back into reading political blogs for the first time since… since… something I can’t quite remember. I tried a few times but always found that I just couldn’t read anything about the current state of the political world. I’ve been getting my Snidely Whiplash-for-Secretary-of-Tying-Women-To-Railroad-Tracks news second and third hand.

    I’m still stuck somewhere in denial. I know we have to get fighting mad and then actually fight. I’ll get there. But I’m not there yet.

    I did hear one interview with Elizabeth Warren on Rachel Maddow’s show shortly after the election. That interview has been what’s kind of kept me going the last month. That lady didn’t take any time to wallow, she’s right in the thick of it. Has to talk to and deal with these people face to face.

    Anyway, glad to see you are all still here and still have your senses of humor. I’m sure mine will come back soon.

    Actually, it better come back pretty damn soon because on some bizarre impulse I signed up for a comedy-writing class that begins in a couple of weeks (given by a local improv theater, and I’ve taken a few improv courses as well).

  17. 17.

    BGinCHI

    Cole, you’ll be yelling NOOOOO because of racism, but you’ll also be yelling it because your roof is leaking and your dogs set your new kitchen on fire.

  18. 18.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    I seem to be on the automatic moderation list again, dammit. Is it because I’ve been absent over a month so the system doesn’t recognize me? Or am I going to have to change nyms again?

  19. 19.

    Jordan Rules

    Funny…that’s how I imagined you over the next few years.
    Righteous turrist fist bump to you JGC.

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @BGinCHI:

    Speaking of which, I bought my mother-in-law and her sister a fire extinguisher for Christmas after their 40+-year-old stove caught on fire and they had to buy a new one.

    Our poor niece (10 years old) was using it at the time and was a little traumatized, but the firefighters were able to confirm that it was the stove itself that caused the fire, not any of the food she was cooking. Still, best to have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case.

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    House Hunters in Holiday, FL…never heard of that city

    Am I the ONLY person who could live w/o “soaker tub”…personally..I’d be fine with just a BIG shower…don’t like bath water

    I’d be a horrible home buyer. too simple. give me cable, internet, parking & big ole fancy kitchen…the rest I don’t care!

  22. 22.

    Central Planning

    Speaking of kitchen fires, the host at a holiday party this past weekend had a Feuerzangenbowle. He successfully avoided the kitchen fire.

    The mulled wine was DELICIOUS and it was fun to watch. So much so, I bought one today. I can’t wait to try it out for one of the family parties we will be having :D

  24. 24.

    lamh36

    @lamh36:
    Also too…I’m NOT fan of a two story…I used to like two story townhouses, but not anymore

    Also think I don’t know about a kitchen open to living room…I mean…have you ever fried chicken or fish…smells stick to everything.

    #HouseHunters

  26. 26.

    donnah

    I love the “No!” guy soooo much! I know I’m gonna feel like doing the same thing for a long time.

  32. 32.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    OK, let’s try it without the apostrophe…

    Nope, that’s not it. Still thrown into moderation.

  36. 36.

    StringOnAStick

    I’m going to a protest at the rethug Senator’s local office tomorrow, organized by MoveOn in support of Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA. He’s not up for election until 2020 but I want him getting nervous about it starting NOW.

  42. 42.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:Good review. I had almost forgot how clear eyed Hawks is about the corruption of the political establishment, and this is equalled by the corruption and cynicism of the press. If any good, let alone justice comes out of this mess, it is in part because the reporters are competent, not lazy hacks. But still it’s about getting the story and selling papers.

    But on the romantic comedy side, it is still refreshingly brave that Hildy clearly demonstrates disdain for a traditional domestic role. I still feel sorry for Ralph Bellamy, who’s a nice guy, but just the wrong guy.

  44. 44.

    hovercraft

    @lamh36:
    I didn’t like that overly shiny black marble or granite floor in the house they bought. I like the open kitchen to the family room, it allows you be part of what’s going on with the kids. Yes it allows cooking odors to travel further, but that’s a trade off.

  46. 46.

    Mj_Oregon

    I think someone needs to develop a hand-held, battery powered thingy that belted out NO! in different random voices as loud as you could make such a device whenever you pressed the sacred button. Or, maybe NO! in a dozen different random languages, but still as loud as possible. Nothing fancy, just a cylinder with a button and a speaker on one end. Anyone have an inventor streak? I think it would be wonderful to take to protests.

  54. 54.

    hovercraft

    @lamh36:
    If there is an attack in America, then the President can put away his clubs, until then what the fuck do these morons want him to do? I’m sure he’s spoken to the relevant heads of state, and is getting his PDB, and since America now thinks sweating the details is passe, why the should he do anything different. The shitgibbon is destroying all norms, and yet the public seems to be becoming more comfortable with the thought of it taking office everyday. There is nothing Obama can do to stop the this, regardless of how the green lantern fans believe he can, so why not enjoy his vacation. Till January 20, he has to endure people bitching about what he’s doing with his time, but he ignore them safe in the knowledge that he did his best, and America chose not to listen.

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Because white people got themselves in a fix and now Obama has to rescue us?

    Listen, morons: Obama spent eight years trying to save us from ourselves, and we spit in his eye. Why is he supposed to keep trying?

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @hovercraft:

    If there is an attack in America, then the President can put away his clubs, until then what the fuck do these morons want him to do? I’m sure he’s spoken to the relevant heads of state, and is getting his PDB, and since America now thinks sweating the details is passe, why the should he do anything different. The shitgibbon is destroying all norms, and yet the public seems to becoming more comfortable with the thought of it taking office everyday. There is nothing Obama can do to stop the this, regardless of how the green lantern fans believe he can, so why not enjoy his vacation. Till January 20, he has to endure people bitching about what he’s doing with his time, but he ignore them safe in the knowledge that he did his best, and America chose not to listen.

    This is what I meant when I wrote “Fuck me to tears.”

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    @hovercraft: The tweet was actually in response to his press conference on Friday and not doing something either more forcefully in regard to the Russian cyberwarfare or to somehow do something in regard to the President-elect. His going on a regularly scheduled vacation was just too much for her.

  59. 59.

    Mj_Oregon

    @Another Scott:

    Close, but not quite. Having to use your cell screen for each NO! wouldn’t have quite as much power as holding something similar to a small flashlight over your head and pressing the button over and over to get the NO!’s really going. Get a bunch of them together and you might drown out the offender completely and possibly get onlookers laughing. You might want to add a particularly loud and sharp NYET! to the mix, given the situation we find ourselves in.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    @efgoldman: Around here (NoVA) we’re told (by the county sanitation people) to throw old smoke detectors in the trash. The idea of throwing radioactive stuff in the trash gives me the creeps, but there you are. (I did try taking them to the dump once to recycle them (or something) – they wouldn’t take them.)

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: Whoops. I now see you were talking about fire extinguishers, not smoke detectors. That’s what I get for reading the thread backwards…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    @celticdragonchick: That’s a classic. I posted that when it was first making its rounds. I’ve actually been in the flat where that video was taken from. Back when I lived in St. Andrews when I was a student there.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    I saw Rogue One today. The first two-thirds was very good. Then it lost its focus and tried to become a very different movie on the fly, and it didn’t work.

    Odd. I think the movie found its focus in the final third. But I see your point. Some critics and ordinary viewers are trying to figure out how Disney insistence on major rewrites and reshoots affected the final result.

  67. 67.

    celticdragonchick

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Nothing like Highland pipes to make conversation impossible…

    A few years ago at the Loch Norman Games, I had to ask a piper to please go somewhere else. We were having the Scottish harp competition…and harps DO NOT compete with pipes.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    This political cartoon is over 100 years old, and yet still true to this day.

    Great cartoon. Do you have any info on what publication it’s from and when it appeared?

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    So, Mr. Cole, is the furnace in the new house doing its thing okay? Don’t recall any mention of how that’s going. Gas or oil?

    /inquiring minds

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman: Wow. This link contains some major spoilers, for the sake of anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet.

    I think the studio decision, if this is true, made for a better movie.

    Have you seen it yet?

  74. 74.

    celticdragonchick

    @Brachiator: I really liked the movie. Better than The Force Awakens IMHO.

    The director did his first movie a few years ago…little ultra low budget sci fi flick called Monsters. Part Italian neo-realism, part road movie, part war movie…and monsters. I thought it was going to be another “Sharknado” or some such. Damn was I wrong. Parts of it reminded me of Apocalypse Now...gliding up a river with an orange sunrise playing on the waters and existential dread as the constant companion.

    Utterly brilliant masterclass in guerilla film making. He would show up without permits or anything and ask locals to just play along and improv dialogue. It worked.

  75. 75.

    Ajabu

    @lamh36:
    My wife loves a tub. I NEVER, EVER use one. Shower only.
    As far as a house, I bought her an appropriate plaque:
    “The only reason I have a kitchen is that it came with the house”.

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    @celticdragonchick: How droll…

    So funny story. As our deployment to Iraq approached, the brigade scheduled long weekends. Which, as you know, are so that the Soldiers deploying can spend more time with their families. One of those weekend I and one of my teammates flew over to Scotland from Germany, stayed with a friend from when I lived there, and spent four days with me and her showing him the sights. In St. Andrews we went into one of the kilt makers, specifically the one where I used to rent my formal highland wear for formal balls when I was a student there. We went upstairs in the shop, the same little old lady was still working there. As we walked in, she glanced up, saw us, saw me, and said: ‘just give me a moment, dearie and I’ll get ye’r card”. The card was the index card with the details from my last kilt rental. That was 13 years prior. I had not set foot in the shop, because I’d not been back to Scotland, for 13 years. She had a great memory.

  78. 78.

    celticdragonchick

    @efgoldman: I love bagpipes. However, Highland pipes do not play well with others. As a harper, I do have to arrange some degree of separation.

  79. 79.

    hovercraft

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Peoples reaction to that still bothers me. As I said he warned us, they didn’t listen, and now we want him to what, voice our outrage? That’s not him and never has been, he has always had a way more optimistic view of our country than I have, but that’s him. Yes he could have gotten up and given America a stern lecture about how badly ‘we’ screwed up, but we already know that. He put the best spin he could on our current decent into hell.
    @Mnemosyne:
    I love that, I’d never seen it before. Unfortunately it could have been written for the Obama reign of terror.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    @lamh36:
    I would much rather have a shower with all the bells and whistles .
    I want a laundry room on the same floor as my bedroom, and I want a banquette in the kitchen.
    I want a ranch with a finished basement

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    @celticdragonchick: I keep hearing good things about “Monsters.” I’m going to have to track it down.

    I think that the director, Gareth Edwards, brought a superior visual imagination to the project, which helped overcome some script problems.

    I don’t know that I liked this better than The Force Awakens. Don’t make me choose! I think I liked the main protagonists in Force a bit more. But there are parts of Rogue that were absolutely delightful, even some of the more intense scenes. And I noted earlier that Rogue One makes The Phantom Menace and the other prequels feel flabby and unnecessary.

  96. 96.

    lamh36

    @rikyrah: I guess I like a ranch style…to be honest…I just don’t really know the styles of houses…I mean I’m from NOLA, so of course I know a shotgun house from any other (newsflash I don’t like shotgun houses), but otherwise, I only have a vague idea of house styles but nothing to make a difference in my choices.

    Also being from NOLA, below sea level, we don’t do basements…lol

  97. 97.

    The Pale Scot

    @BGinCHI:

    because your roof is leaking and your dogs set your new kitchen on fire.

    Wow; memory flare, long time ago I wuz driving and listening to a college radio folk/country type of show and heard a great song that went;

    Well my chimney has crumbled and my roof has caved in
    Letting in the sunshine and the rain
    And the only friend I got left is that good ol’ dog of mine
    and a broken down log cabin in Julaine.

    And have never been able to track down the tune,
    The guy sounds familiar though
    Anyone know the song?

  98. 98.

    celticdragonchick

    @Adam L Silverman: Just about.

    She also wants a set of uilleann pipes…which are crazy expensive. My bargain on that was she gets those when I can get a new 36 string Celtic harp.

  100. 100.

    newdealfarmgrrrlll

    @hitchhiker: our blog father is a mensch. He asked this morning if he should bump it to the top again, and I said no, it’s close enough. My manager and coworkers are figuring out how to carpool me to work until I get new eyewear for driving, so I won’t have as much income loss as I initially feared. Which means, enough funds for the dreaded Trip To The Vet! I better dig out the cat carriers now so they can get used to them sitting innocently by the door.

    I’m still overwhelmed by the generosity and kind messages showered upon me by commenters. Knowing all my old medical bills will be paid off by the end of the year will make this one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had.

    And! After cataract surgery, which I went ahead and scheduled for February 13, I’ll be able to see well enough to take some decent pet pics, which I can send along with an update. Of course, the surgery doesn’t mean that my lack of photography skills is gonna improve …

    I’m still overwhelmed

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    Sorry, my Google-fu is failing me. I saw it years ago and it made enough of an impression that I was able to find it in an image search, but Getty Images is not good about provenance information for stuff that’s out of copyright.

  102. 102.

    gene108

    @lamh36:

    Am I the ONLY person who could live w/o “soaker tub”…personally..I’d be fine with just a BIG shower…don’t like bath water

    I’d be a horrible home buyer. too simple. give me cable, internet, parking & big ole fancy kitchen…the rest I don’t care!

    I think the soaker tub could be optional. But a couple cannot live without an open concept main floor, and double sinks in the master bath. Plus no carpet, hardwood throughout or go home.

    /watch HGTV too ???

    //sarcasm

  104. 104.

    celticdragonchick

    @efgoldman: I did not know that, in truth

    However….

    The sheer power of a pipe band standing 5 feet away from you while playing Scotland the Brave is almost overwhelming. Exhilarating, really. Makes me want to grab my Claidheamh Mòr sword and find the English…

  107. 107.

    Gin & Tonic

    @efgoldman: Pretty limited service areas for natural gas, too ,and LPG comes out too expensive in comparison for heating (although I have it for the kitchen.)

    I burn probably 200 gal/mo of fuel oil in the coldest months.

  112. 112.

    Adam L Silverman

    @celticdragonchick: I’m well aware on the uillean pipes. They’re expensive and not easy to fine. Got schlepped all over Dublin with the same teammate who went to Scotland with me trying to find a set for his son.

  115. 115.

    seaboogie

    @lamh36: We would be unlikely roomies – you and me….

    I LOVE my 300 sq.ft. in-law apartment precisely because it has a tub (and a super-sweet and functional design – helloooo vaulted ceiling!). Baths get me closer to normal, especially with a good dosing of dead sea salts. Since everything is in proximity to everything else, cooking smells to be what they be. Onions are the clingiest scent….guess I’m just going to have to smell delicious. Haven’t cooked fish yet for the very reason you mention. Maybe a grill for the patio in the summer….

  117. 117.

    Suzanne

    @gene108: I am very anti-open concept. First of all, it’s essentially the default in cheap production houses over the last 25 years, and they enclose a lot of square footage without really making well-proportioned, useful interior space. And they are noisy. Kitchen noise while I am trying to listen to music in the other “room “makes me crazy. I know that the open concept became more popular as formal living and entertaining waned as a lifestyle, and I understand that it is helpful for families to have clear sight lines with young kids, but give me rooms with doors or Shoji screens any day of the week.

  120. 120.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Loving the S2. Had occasion to do some stuff on the old Nexus 7 yesterday, and I was amazed at how slow it was. You get used to the new and better so quickly. Only thing I don’t like is that the speech to text is markedly worse than on my cell phone, and the autocorrect choices are sparse and really stupid. But those are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things.

    Still need to find a good case/​cover.

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, there are Jewish Irish. Just as there are in Scotland. Fun fact: Scotland was one of the few places that never expelled its Jews unlike England. What I never came across is whether there’s a Judaeo-Gaelic.

  123. 123.

    Suzanne

    @rikyrah: In areas that flood, like New Orleans, basements would be a flood hazard. In places like Arizona where the ground is kaliche close to the surface, basements wouldn’t be more stable than slabs on grade, and adds a lot of cost.

    I miss having a basement.

  125. 125.

    lamh36

    @seaboogie: lol…it’s funny really, cause I have been seriously thinking about moving into a studio apartment once I decide when I’m moving…mostly to save a bit of money, but also too, I’m single…just now figuring out that aside from needing to have a Queen size bed and a “decent” kitchen, I don’t really need the “room” of a 1 bedroom…I mean…I watched tv in my bedroom more than I did in my living room when I had an apt.

  126. 126.

    RealityBites

    @Omnes Omnibus: Lots of rural areas with no gas lines. Oil heat is still very common. I have a 550 tank. Other rural options are propane and wood/wood pellets. I get a 5 cent per gallon discount if the bill is paid by cash or check within 2 weeks of delivery. I expect oil to be going waaaay up in price soon. Good for the Russian economy and the paychecks of the oil executives. Not looking forward to setting the thermostat on 55 and wearing lots of sweaters.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: Well, the guy who expelled the Jews from England was known as the “Hammer of the Scots.” Also, Cromwell, who gets a lot of shit for intolerance here, allowed the Jews to return.

  129. 129.

    lamh36

    @Suzanne: right…NOLA is below sea level…basically, the further down you dig, you are likely to hit water, than more dirt…so 6 feet under in NOLA..doesn’t always mean hard earth.

    It’s why we have those historical above ground cemeteries.

    So I’ve NEVER had a basement…and don’t even talk about a basement apartment…

  132. 132.

    NotMax

    @lamh36

    Remind me, please, after I win the big lottery and want to build a community for BJers not to employ the French for scouting settlement sites.

  135. 135.

    Suzanne

    @efgoldman: Windows are, in most houses, where energy is disproportionately lost. Either they leak or they absorb UV light or they aren’t insulated. Also, in commercial buildings, in most of the country, you’re required to have continuous insulation systems and to eliminate most thermal bridges to meet the requirements of the IECC. Homes lag behind commercial buildings in this regard.

  141. 141.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus: Dublin used to have a very large Jewish population & a Jewish mayor at a time when the English still ruled. I know this because Tommy Machem & the Clancy Brothers had a song about a cop who arrested a Jewish shopkeeper when he mistook the Hebrew writing on the windows for Gaelic (which was outlawed by the English) and then had to face the wrath of the mayor.

  144. 144.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Eh, it’s endemic. I feel like I spent half my programming career debugging edge/​boundary conditions in code written by colleagues who were cutting corners or not thinking things through. Add in amateurs and hobbyists hacking away at an open-source platform, and . . . shudder.

  145. 145.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Schlemazel: My very poor joke about whether Yiddish was recognized in Ireland has backfired. I am not remotely surprised that Jews exist/ed in Ireland. Or in any other European country. Or any other place.

  146. 146.

    RealityBites

    Will retire in about a year and a half, if Social Security and Medicare are still around. Going to clean all the accumulated stuff out of my current house and move much closer to town and all of civilization’s amenities. After spending most of my life helping elderly and disabled relatives (and occasionally friends), I am going to have a house with NO STAIRS. It will have an open floor plan, and I will modify it to keep me independent for as long as possible. I’ve been pretty lucky with my health so far, but I’ve seen too much about how even minor problems can really affect quality of life if you’re not prepared. Wide doorways, big bathroom, step in shower, handrails, wheelchair accessibility. No kids or close relatives to count on, so I want a place I where can take care of myself as long as possible. Easy care house, not too much lawn or stuff to worry about. Just need to make sure I outlive the cats or have good arrangements made for them.

  147. 147.

    The Pale Scot

    @Another Scott: Damn, You’d the Entity and shit

    “the lane, Juliane; It never occurred to me.

    Looks like it’s a going to be hard to find

    Much ‘blodged ..

    Tips Hat

  148. 148.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    I am often surprised at the places they survived given the regular efforts to eradicate them. Given the strong Catholic foundation there I was very surprised when I learned about the mayor thing. Sorry I didn’t get your joke, went right over my head.

  149. 149.

    Mart

    @donnah: I love the “No!” guy soooo much! I know I’m gonna feel like doing the same thing for a long time. I dream like a concealed carry guy of stopping the bad guy; except for me it is protecting one of the Muslim woman in our community who are regularly harassed. My wife teaches a lot of Muslim early learners, and several of her mothers have come to school crying after being threatened by tough guys hollering at them – with their kids in the car. Since they have brown skin, a scarf, and three babies in the car; they must be terrorists.

  157. 157.

    opiejeanne

    @gene108: “I can’t cook in this kitchen! The counters aren’t granite and the appliances aren’t stainless steel!!! AAAIIIIEEEEE!

    After hearing that a few times I stopped watching the standard House hunters. mr opiejeanne likes the International version but we are both sick of people who want a 2-bedroom apartment in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and their budget is $250 a month.

  158. 158.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Yep.

    @efgoldman: And before the Shoah? German Jews were more integrated and accepted, in the “my friend, Reuben, is Jewish. Oh, then he doesn’t do Christmas like we do” accepted. And then shit went off the charts. I worry.

  162. 162.

    The Pale Scot

    @Schlemazel: You know I was thinking that it was the Bill Monroe version. But the 78rpm version is obviously ancient, maybe it’s someone else. Ya, lots of versions to go thru. Weekend maybe

  166. 166.

    rikyrah

    @Suzanne:
    I understand about New Orleans, and I first visited it, I was freaked out, as a child, taking a tour of the graveyard, and Everyone buried above ground. That was after the drive to the city over Lake Ponchetrain..One of the scariest drives for a kid.

  170. 170.

    Mayim

    @Adam L Silverman:
    No Judeo-Gaelic that I know of ~ the Jews in Scotland were on areas that spoke {Lowland} Scots/Lallans [a Germanic dialect, rather than the Celtic Gaelic] in the relevant time frames ~ and Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen likely never had a majority of Gaelic speakers. The Jewish community also never reached a reasonable critical population mass for developing a distinct language/dialect.
    Also ~ the lack of any expulsion may well be explained by lack of Jews to expell, as much as religious tolerance. There’s no real historical records of any significant numbers Jews in Scotland before the late 17th century, if my memory hasn’t failed me completely;-)
    But, yes, overall, Scotland would have been one of the least bad places to be a Jew in Europe for most of the last thousand years.

  180. 180.

    seaboogie

    @lamh36: Well…I lucked into a super-great studio, simply by putting out into the universe exactly what I wanted: Gas stove, hardwood floors (laminate, but I’m not about to quibble), tub, and a vaulted ceiling. Got all that plus a dishwasher and my own W/D on the covered patio. A wee closet and a walk-in general storage closet too. I could not possibly be happier.

    I’m newly realizing that having everything prettty proximal is quite ideal for me – makes me happy to see the kitchen space from my bed. And when the bathroom door is open, I look over yonder and realize – that is one fine toilet! Seriously – it’s a really nice toilet.

    If you do decide to downsize, put everything you want out into the universe with great intention – it can be quite a surprise when what you want becomes available. I say this realizing that not every place is as organic and fluid and quirky as the Sonoma environs, but you never know until you try for it.

  184. 184.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @efgoldman:

    I had a cube neighbor in the ’80s who ran (and endlessly tweaked) his NFL betting program in COBOL. Having an obsessive hobby is a great way to learn a programming language.

  185. 185.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Yarrow: Somehow the Brits manage to do elections with paper ballots. We really, REALLY need to rethink how we tabulate votes, and process them. Touch screen Diebold-type shit (Diebold got out of the election biz after 2004 because the flakiness there was rubbing off on their REAL business, ATMs, which must be flawless, because money, ya know) just doesn’t cut it. Too many transparency issues.

  188. 188.

    Yarrow

    @Major Major Major Major: @Villago Delenda Est: Paper ballots. And X number of districts, chosen randomly by something like one of those lottery ping pong ball machines, will be audited every election. if a district hasn’t been audited in Y years/elections, it automatically gets audited. But they’re still up for random auditing every time.

  190. 190.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @efgoldman:

    Ah, I see, “enormous” is your problem. This was the early ’80s, microcomputers, very wild and woolly. CP/M mostly on Altos computers. If you could spell CP/M and COBOL and get at least one right you were almost guaranteed a job. Most of our stuff was in Microsoft BASIC, but we did have the one COBOL product, for which this guy was the product manager and sole guru.

  199. 199.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Another Scott: but if you throw away too much radioactive material at once, the radiation detectors at the landfill/incinerator will pick up on that and set off all kinds of alarms

  201. 201.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Villago Delenda Est: We use paper ballots and make an X in a box with a pencil. Instant paper trail.

    BUT…

    We vote for one thing at a time. Literally. During a federal election you are answering exactly one question: Pick the candidate you want for your local MP.

    I’m not sure that pencil and little box technology would scale when you are simultaneously selecting President, Senator, Representative, Judge, Sheriff, DA, and on and on down to Sewer Commissioner Second Class.

  203. 203.

    Gavin

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    That lady didn’t take any time to wallow, she’s right in the thick of it.

    Not really. Warren only bothered to make a statement about DAPL after everything had already been done.. let alone actually visit the location while the issue was still in the air. And what, she’s only now even mentioning predatory evictions by Mnuchin’s OneWest? Why do you think this wasn’t worthy of a Democratic response while it was actually happening?

    Rachel Maddow gets paid $7M/yr. What do you actually think her motivations are? She’s just as much a tool of the establishment as anyone else who’s more blatant/dumb.. to keep the money train flowing. Is she better than most? Yes. But is she actually a progressive? Nope.

    Jimmy Dore and TYT and naked capitalism are far better for actual news.. I can’t stand MSNBC’s mouthpiecing of the Republican / Republican-Lite establishment.

    Actual news has to come out of England – who’s shocked that once again the CIA is lying? Or, of course, the silly assertion that the CIA knows who did it – but isn’t arresting them. After all, the CIA, the same group that boasted they scared Russia into re-electing Yeltsin is now crying “Mommy, Vlad is playing with my hacking toys!”

    I’ll watch MSNBC once I see them report that the reason the US is in Syria is… in support of a pipeline for a corporation.

  204. 204.

    Brachiator

    @Gavin:

    Rachel Maddow gets paid $7M/yr. What do you actually think her motivations are?

    I don’t know and neither do you. Nor can you simplistically make some judgement based on her salary.

    But is she actually a progressive?

    Being a progressive in and of itself means nothing..

    Jimmy Dore and TYT and naked capitalism are far better for actual news..

    Actually no. And they do more commentary than news.

  206. 206.

    J R in WV

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    The last time I smelled coal burning around a residential neighborhood was in Pennsylvania, when we went up there to tour Falling Water (The Kaufman’s Frank Lloyd Wright house) and Kentuck Knob (another FLW house very near Falling Water).

    Almost as soon as we crossed into PA there was that bitter smell, which I grew up around – my grandma got free coal for years, grandpa worked in the mine til he died of lung disease, ans it was the best part of her “pension”!

    They heated my grade school with it, too.

    But no more, I never smell coal around here anymore. Just wood smoke.

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