Trump, inaugurated on Friday at noon, tells the Times of London he's going to take the rest of that day and the weekend off. pic.twitter.com/Qae6rW1IMS
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) January 16, 2017
But I thought his transition team said his inauguration is going to be so short because he wants to "get right to work?" https://t.co/yHqZUUahQ2
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 17, 2017
Shhh…
Trump not "working" is probably good news https://t.co/quqwx2wrdo
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 17, 2017
Everybody relies on their routines, to some degree. But when a 74 70-year-old isolates himself in his home, refuses to deal with anyone outside of a small circle of intimates, uses gimmicks to screen himself from contact with input he can’t control… From the Washington Post, “Donald Trump waits in his tower — accessible yet isolated“:
Exactly one week after becoming president-elect, Donald Trump stepped outside his namesake fortress here for the first time. He ventured just five blocks, to dinner at the 21 Club — a dark-mahogany-and-red-leather-banquette throwback, where model airplanes and sports memorabilia hang from the ceiling and jackets are de rigueur for men.
The vintage haunt, where Trump dined with family members, feels like home. The waiters know his preferred table (No. 14, which Frank Sinatra and Richard M. Nixon also used) and his regular order (the $36 burger, well done, with fries).
So it has been for the president-elect, who has retreated to one comfortable, familiar refuge after another — his soaring Manhattan tower, his white leather-upholstered Boeing jet, his lush golf courses, his opulent beachside castle.
Trump is a man isolated, increasingly cocooned away from the voters who lifted him to his seemingly improbable victory. He favors his own people and his own places, creating the veneer of accessibility — his tweets reach millions and he still answers his cellphone — while placing himself in almost entirely habitual settings.
He spends most of his days in Trump Tower, with few close friends and few meaningful one-on-one interactions beyond the family members, advisers and loyalists who are whisked by gold-colored elevator to his 26th-floor office for private audiences. Trump rarely leaves, not even for a breath of fresh air; nor does he encounter many people he does not already know or who do not work for him…
In many ways, Trump seems most comfortable communicating at a slight remove, with a stage or a screen — television, Twitter, phone — serving as the intermediary between him and the public. Such tools are both his megaphone and his shield, allowing him to blast out a message undiluted with little risk…
At least when Reagan was first inaugurated, he was a skilled enough performer that he didn’t overtly present as an Alzheimer’s victim. Or maybe we just didn’t recognize the symptoms as quickly, back in those innocent days.
dr. bloor
He’s Howard Hughes with none of the money, genius, or charm.
Yarrow
He’s 70, not 74. Not that it makes any difference really.
Chat Noir
And as for intelligence briefings, Dump prefers as little information as possible.
Janelle
Trump is 70, not 74. But aside from that, your post was spot-on.
Thoroughly Pizzled
I still find it hard to believe that this clown, this carbuncle, this carnival barker, a man I wouldn’t trust to wipe my ass, let alone clean my toilets, got elected. I suppose that means my faith in the human race hasn’t been destroyed.
Major Major Major Major
I’m willing to bet that a $36 burger is terrible.
Yarrow
In case anyone missed it in the previous thread.
dedc79
@dr. bloor:
Even with the “money, genius, charm” distinctions, this still feels unfair to Hughes.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: And we don’t even got e coli working for us. Well done.
@dedc79: Agreed. Howard Hughes was brilliant. With a few quirks. That turned into a lot of quirks. But he was literally amazing and his early career is almost unbelievable.
Ian G.
I’ve been acting under the somewhat optimistic theory that someone as lazy and easily distracted as Trump would fail spectacularly as an authoritarian strongman because it’s hard fucking work. No way did Pinochet take the fucking weekend off after the coup.
There’s no doubt we’ll be looking at 4 years or so of looting the US Treasury for the benefit of the Trumps and Kushners, but maybe that’s it. Maybe no far right ideological crusades get implemented, lest it take time away from appearing at the Miss Universe pageant.
PaulW
this explains why Trump is talking about not even moving into the White House. He won’t have control of the setting, he’ll be out of his comfortable surroundings.
MomSense
He orders a $36 burger well done?
Of course he does.
PaulW
@Yarrow:
if they can find actual money exchanging hands, the whole campaign should get arrested.
PaulW
@MomSense:
It’s Burger 21. One of the most expensive burger joints I’ve ever been to. I can get a decent Quarter Pounder for a THIRD of the cost of one of Burger 21’s cheaper meals.
trollhattan
Fucking burger (burnt to crisp) and fucking fries at the fucking 21 Club? That’s how this fucker lives it up?!? Fuck me.
Pivoting from large comet to praying for a tactical major coronary. Make it so.
PaulW
@Ian G.:
Trump may be too lazy, but his kids won’t be.
trollhattan
@dedc79:
H Hughes: saves pee in jar.
D Trump: saves pee in Posturepedic.
H.E.Wolf
@Yarrow:
That’s correct; the Creepster is 70. The Sen from VT is 74. (ETA: 75. My apologies to the Senator.)
I think we might start a project of listing the ages and full names for some of the would-be major players in this farce. Nicknames are too nice.
Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr.: 74; will be 75 in February.
Newton Leroy McPherson Gingrich: 73.
James Richard Perry: 66; will be 67 in March.
Benjamin Solomon Carson: 65.
Elizabeth Prince DeVos: 58.
Anybody else want to contribute to the list?
Yarrow
Somehow this first sentence sums up so much that defines these two men.
I don’t think Trump is going to move into the White House. What are they even moving in there?
Lizzy L
@PaulW: Bet they will be. They’ve never had to work hard for anything in their lives.
bystander
21 is for tourists and the hacks they love. I was forced to attend a dinner there one time. I could barely get by the sandy mushrooms on toast to the rubber chicken.
I’m all for the burnt hamburger/fries diet for Trumputin and I will defend his right to eat like an eight year old left home alone for the good of the nation.
Spanky
Hmmmm. Not venturing beyond his very familiar territory, and staying within his very tight habits. That’s a characteristic of Alzheimer’s onset.
dr. bloor
@Lizzy L: I dunno, I’ll bet covering the old man’s Ponzi schemes and fuckups keeps them pretty busy.
schrodingers_cat
@Elizabelle: He has also bequeathed much of his wealth towards scientific research. I only know what I saw in MS’s movie but AFAIK he didn’t have to import women from behind the iron curtain.
Ian G.
@PaulW:
Right. They’ll be looting the Treasury. Lolita, Rasputin, Uday, and Qusay don’t give half a flying fuck about the priorities of the GOP base or Paul Ryan.
trollhattan
@bystander:
I want him to discover he REALLY loves poutine, to the point of having it 3x/day. Extra gravy.
p.a.
tRump, concerned about the physical demands of the Presidency combined with his age and sedentary habits, begines a regimen of fetal blood transfusions.
Speculation? It would be irresponsible not to speculate…
“These are primo fetuses- the best! Direct sourced from our American Olympic athletes. Way better than Thiel’s sources. BIG WIN!”
trollhattan
@p.a.: Can a Cheney hook a brother up?
cosima
As this is an open thread —- I’m looking for suggestions for a desktop publishing program that won’t break the bank. Preferences, anyone? I edit a magazine for a non-profit sporting entity, a quarterly, and am thinking of extending that to the layout/publishing if I can find a good but not-too-complex program. Non-profit means A) we’ve got precious little to spend on our current digital media guy, no matter how little he is charging us, and B) that whatever the cost of the desktop program I will have to pony it up myself, so it can’t be much. It would still be volunteer work for me, but as we’re part of the sporting entity (keen members) so ideally it won’t be something that will add 100 hours of editing to my quarterly work load, just saving money for the organisation.
retiredeng
@H.E.Wolf: Trump’s mental age is about 10.
rikyrah
this is so pitiful on so many levels.
Jeffro
Ah, so his office is on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, while his residence is the penthouse of Trump Tower. 26th floor and penthouse. Those must be great views, from the 26th floor and penthouse.
Brachiator
Dear World Leaders (and especially you, Mr North Korean Dictator):
Our newly elected president keeps regular office hours. So please do not instigate any action which might require the attention of the United States until sometime after business hours on Monday. Say, sometime after 10 am.
If absolutely necessary, you might be able to catch the newly elected leader of the free world on the golf course at his Florida residence sometime Saturday afternoon. But keep all calls short. And deferential.
Also, please note that the new president does not accept 3 am phone calls over the weekend. That time is reserved for Twitter reviews of the latest episode of Saturday Night Live.
Sincerely,
A Scared Shitless Nation
trollhattan
@cosima:
Only current program I’m familiar with is Adobe InDesign, which is great but under Adobe’s current bidnez model is a costly monthly fee, not a program one can shop for deals on.
MS still includes Publisher with several Office versions and there are good deals to be had on Office for students, non-profits and the like. It’s a solid platform with lots of documentation.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
He’s a well-known germophobe, so it’s no surprise he wants his meat well-done. IIRC, the USDA recommends all ground meat be cooked at least medium well.
Jeffro
@Yarrow: As I mentioned in that thread, the IC’s got his number. Trying to shut these investigations down will just make it worse for him. Not that he won’t try it, but it won’t work…there’s too much out there.
It’ll never happen, but I keep picturing him sitting in the classic cop station interrogation room with the single-bulb lamp hanging over his head, face in his hands, leaning on a beat up gray table. And an FBI agent is asking him, “Mr. Trump, when did Paul Manafort first tell you that the Russians could help you ‘win this thing’, if you’d just do them a few favors?”
Yoda Dog Democrat
@MomSense: lol… of course he does… Good lord, born into obscene wealth and opulence and after 70 years he’s developed all the taste and class of a baby salamander. It’s taken 2 months but I can finally start to sometimes laugh at the constant absurdity on display.
Brachiator
@Yarrow:
Ivanka?
retiredeng
@cosima: Being naive about publishing software, I’d suggest LibreOffice which is free document creation and editing a la Microsoft Office. There are some that consider it actually a desktop publisher application.
trollhattan
@Yoda Dog Democrat:
Video of his state dinners will be cringe-inducing to unfathomable degrees. Bet he has Melania cut his meat and feed him.
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
True enough, but Hughes was strange enough in his own special ways. The podcast and Website You Must Remember This devoted a number of very interesting episodes to Hughes. Some background:
Trump could definitely give Hughes a run for his money in the “quirkiness” department.
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
Several Roombas in little Nazi uniforms.
gvg
Sort of off topic, but I do think its true we didn’t used to recognize Alzheimer’s quickly or at all. finding out Reagan had it probably did help bring it to more attention.
the thing is, this guy is so amazingly ignorant before any possible deterioration happens AND a significant portion of our citizenry didn’t know enough to gasp and laugh him off the stage before the primary was over when he got basic civics wrong, let alone economics, history, law and all the other issues. Not just the lies, he and they don’t know fairly basic information. DeVos screwing up our educational system even more than it already is is cause for real fear.
David Hunt
Charles Pierce (99% sure it was him) has written about watching Reagan testify at the Iran-Contra hearings and being struck by how much Reagan evoked a relative of his (ironically, I can’t remember which one) that suffered from the disease. That’s when he knew.
As to Reagan himself, I’m told it’s a sneaky disease. With a goodly helping of denial, close intimates working to hide the problem, and no diagnosis from a doctor, I expect that he could have gotten through his days without realizing his problem.
cosima
@Brachiator: Dear World Leaders: Please ignore everything that comes out of the White House, Trump Tower &/or the Capitol Building for the next four years (or until we’ve somehow managed to get rid of T/P). Thank you, a grateful scared shitless nation.
Today I was seriously stressing over the question of what we will do if he ruins the US relationship with the UK (and everyone else, of course, but mostly the UK). We are now just months away from being able to apply for leave to remain, and I will be devastated if he somehow manages to much things up to the extent that all US citizens have to return to the US (having heaved all UK citizens out of the US himself in a fit of pique &/or orders from Putin). On the positive side, the UK banks are laundering so much Russian money that it’s unlikely that Putin will want to compromise that. However, I was still wondering if we should approach our immigration attorney and ask about political asylum. Seriously never thought that I, as a US citizen, would have that thought going through my head.
Our youngest (12) was born here. Our oldest was raised here for a good bit of her pre-adult life. We own a home here. We pay taxes here and in the US. And I was thinking political asylum. It’s crazy times.
Elizabelle
@trollhattan:
From New York?
Yarrow
@Jeffro: LOL. That’s a great image. Perhaps they Good Cop has offered him Doritos?
@Brachiator: Maybe. But Ivanka’s buying a house in Washington. Could be that’s just for show, but her moving into the WH quarters while Dad, the actual president, is locked up in his golden tower is just so….Grimm’s fairy tale-ish. The original versions, I mean.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
A hole bunch of gilt furnishings to help him feel at home. he’ll want to sit at the resolute desk because everyone else sat there, even if only to have his picture taken. Then it’ll be whisked out and replaced with one that is gaudy as all hell.
? Martin
So, Trump may have written his inauguration speech himself.
Please be true.
rikyrah
For Federal Civil Servants: A Hostile Invasion
by Nancy LeTourneau
December 9, 2016 11:18 AM
Marin Cogan has written a story I was hoping someone would cover about the dilemma faced by federal civil servants with the election of Donald Trump. Here is how Cogan introduces the subject:
It is important to keep in mind that there are two types of federal employees: political appointments and civil servants. Traditionally, the latter serve through changes that result from presidential elections.
Cogan talked to civil servants about this transition and their concerns varied from the very personal to larger questions of morals and values. For example:
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro:
I’d like to have Inspector Lynley do the interrogation. His accent is so sexy. (Just watched one last night for the 10th time.)
bystander
@trollhattan: Poutine? Or is that an autocorrect for Putin?
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I guess his hands must be bigger than we thought if holding one up long enough to swear an oath wears him out so badly that he needs to take the next two days and a half off…
? Martin
@cosima: If you have a Mac, Pages is pretty decent on that front.
Yoda Dog Democrat
@trollhattan: Perhaps he could look into getting Hooters to cater hotwings for the event. We’re so fucking classy now, its gonna be GREAT.
zhena gogolia
@trollhattan:
Melania isn’t going to attend. It will be Ivanka cutting his meat.
Check out the Vanity Fair profile of her, a creepy picture I hadn’t seen yet. She’s 14, wearing short shorts, and bopping to a Beach Boys concert in Palm Beach — while sitting on her father’s lap. Sorry, other Vladimir Vladimirovich (Nabokov), you had nothing on this crowd.
hovercraft
@David Hunt:
I can attest to this, the symptoms creep in slowly, at first you think they are just cranky and forgetful. It’s only when their personality really starts to change that yo are sure somethings wrong. They at some level realize something is wrong, and they do everything in their power to conceal it. It is a horrible terrible disease.
Mike in NC
@Yarrow: White House to be remodeled as one of his overpriced hotels and tacky gambling venues, complete with neon signs and a new parking garage. Classy!
Luc
@cosima: Serif Page plus is very capable and affordable. They also have free older versions.
daryljfontaine
Has anyone seen this particular exemplar of chutzpah?
The responses are, shall we say, not with her.
D
hovercraft
@Elizabelle:
That’s why Lucretia is uprooting her three young kids and moving to DC, she is the designated baby sitter and pacifier. it is helpful that he also finds her attractive, that will help distract him.
Mary G
@bystander: Heart attack on a plate from Canada – gravy, fries and cheese curds.
ETA: the recipe I just looked at shows 2,170 calories per serving.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
He’s dragging Arm Candy #1 to state dinners, believe me. Has to show off and all. “Hey François, get a load of these!”
Mike in NC
Had lunch at an overpriced joint in Manhattan about 30 years ago. Food wasn’t particularly good considering what we paid, and the nearby parking garage charged about $25 an hour.
Jeffro
@? Martin: I know, right? I’m sure Mr. 3rd-grade Vocabulary thinks he can do better than PBO, heck he probably cranked that sucker out in 20 minutes! How hard could it be to soar and inspire like O-bomma, right?
He’s going to have a tough time: no yahoos cheering or responding to his “best” lines, sparse crowds, empty Reps’ chairs plainly visible, even his GOP allies already giving away their contempt with their facial expressions and body language.
trollhattan
@zhena gogolia:
Is that the pic where they’re sitting next to concrete humping parrots? I can feel the love.
I guess it’s possible Ivanka simply takes Melania’s slot. One can’t underestimate these folks sufficiently, not and stay sane.
Yarrow
@cosima: Are you both from the US and living in the UK? That probably puts you at more risk than if one of you us a UK citizen.
Given how much Theresa May is sucking up to Trump, I don’t think she would want to do anything to upset that relationship. Isn’t she counting on a big trade deal with the US since Europe is telling the UK it’s going to be ugly?
sam
@Major Major Major Major: The burger at 21 isn’t bad (I used to work down the street, so that was a not-unusual place to end up going for business lunches/dinners back in my fancy law firm days). But NOTHING is good when cooked to the consistency of a charcoal briquette.
zhena gogolia
@trollhattan:
No, this is a different one. It’s even worse.
Mary G
@Jeffro: I’m betting he tries to ramp up a “lock her up” cheer.
zhena gogolia
@trollhattan:
It’s here, if you scroll down. The one where she’s about 10 and dressed like a Moscow hooker is also good.
trollhattan
@zhena gogolia:
Okay, I wish to hell I could unsee that.
ThresherK
Plymouth Argyle, a team I follow some, was actually on US TV!
“Quality” 0-1 loss to Liverpool in the FA Cup.
Immanentize
The legislature in Texas only meets every other year — Hooray! we used to cheer, less time to screw the people. Same concept with Trump. Let him work on slow time as much as he likes. The President needs to have a more human-friendly schedule than the one set by crazy workaholic Obama, no?
Bobby D
@Major Major Major Major: Ordering a well-done burger, in a high-end steakhouse? Low class Queens grifters, smh. Nuveau riche trailer trash, the lot of em,
@Mary G: Is that the same thing as “poutain”? (sp?)
Hey Anders?
Eh budday?
How aboot Timmy Horton’s fer lunch?
Take off eh, I don’t want a donut, I want poutain.
zhena gogolia
@trollhattan:
Sorry!
Brachiator
@Yarrow:
There’s the stuff about Trump wanting to set up an Office of the First Family, and the hints that Ivanka will have an East Wing office.
So now, given the degree to which Trump is such a rigid creature of habit, it would be strange, but the new normal, that Ivanka (and Jared) might spend more time working out of the White House than Trump himself.
laura
@David Hunt: Charlie Pierce’s dad died of alzheimers and I believe his wife was a caregiver that his pop felt comfortable around.
Charlie wrote Hard to Forget.
Memory loss is as cruel a condition as there is, with pain and suffering for all.
It took my mother in August.
Watching Trump’s family make sure he’s never alone EVER suggests that dad ain’t right in the head. If true that he’s symptomatic, then Uday, Kusay and Lolita ought to suffer every consequence that a just universe can inflict.
Bobby D
@ThresherK: Congrats on the draw at Anfield last week, great performance by your boys in green. Was really rooting for ya’ll to pull out a win at home in the replay. (Tottenham fan here, anyone that gives the Poo, Mancs, Chelski, or West Ham problems, I’ll cheer them everytime.) That’s the kind of thing that makes the FA cup special, league cup otoh, strikes me as a total waste of time.
Bobby D
@PaulW:
Whole campaign that had knowledge should swing by the neck in the public square, after 5 days in the stocks where everyone gets a chance to walk by and slap the [email protected]#^$ out of them before they hang.
cosima
@Yarrow: We are both US citizens living in the UK, yes. I’m not sure how things will shake out between May & shitgibbon, tbh. There is a profound loathing here for all things shitgibbon, and a lot of reservations & revulsion toward Russia. Socialism & peace are highly valued here, and shitgibbon is antithetical to both, so I don’t see how May could expect to replace Brexit trade & investment losses with US trade &/or investment. I’m hoping that there will be a huge outcry if she attempts to align herself with US/Russia — it would be a complete 180. The many layers of government here are still quite opaque to me, but the national feeling/direction, I do consider myself to have a good read on that (the people, not the government). I honestly don’t know how much May could get away with. UK citizens still have a huge amount of ill-will toward Tony Blair, and his having gone along with Bush re: Iraq. I just don’t see them allowing that to happen again.
Mike in NC
@sam: Obviously just a coincidence, but our Trump-loving next door neighbors also like their burgers and hot dogs burned to a crisp when we have the annual summertime block party.
catclub
@PaulW:
I would bet that NONE of the campaign finance and other regulations ever say: “the punishment for this violation is that the election result is cancelled.”
I can barely see the point of the investigation
The Moar You Know
I was only 14 when Reagan came into office the first go-round. Voted for Mondale in my first voting outing, the results of which somehow didn’t put me off of voting for life. But dipshit youngster that I was, it was very obvious even to dumb me that something had gone VERY wrong with the man within the first year of him being in office. And then by his second year in office he’d stopped appearing in public more or less entirely, and the few times he did, he didn’t say much of anything.
FWIW, Trump is not striking me as Alzheimer’s, although it presents with a thousand faces, as I came to experience personally with some relatives. I just think he’s a fucking narcissistic, utterly incurious asshole.
The Moar You Know
@catclub: Oddly enough, there does not seem to be ANY legal mechanism for declaring a national election invalid, nor one for a “do over”. If Dems ever get back into the driver’s seat, we might really want to make that a high-priority piece of legislation.
Calouste
@Bobby D: When Worthington’s was sponsoring the League Cup, it was officially known as the Worthington’s Cup, and referred to by fans as the Worthnothing Cup.
p.a.
Has tRump appointed a food taster yet? Is the position up for bid?
Captain C
@zhena gogolia: Damn, it looks like she’s grinding on him.
ETA: And the guy in yellow on the far right appears to have noticed this and looks a little grossed out.
ThresherK
@Bobby D: It was a bit touch-and-go when they were put into receivership some years ago, but there’s a bit of breathing room now.
There are so many teams in English football that I root for a few, and one is West Ham. Also Burton Albion Brewers, who have a mascot that makes the Milwaukee Brewers’ mascot look like a teetotaler.
Yarrow
Don’t know why it wouldn’t let me post this. FYWP. It’s a tweet from NBC News. Companies are so brave. So brave.
And it’s standard authoritarian economy stuff. Lie about everything and make Dear Leader look good.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
As I said before, the impeachment will simply be because the goverment simply can’t work with a shut in president.
Gods, if Trump has Alzhimers, the MSM will take it as a sign from the Heavens Trump is the second coming of Reagen.
Yarrow
@cosima: Am I remembering correctly that you’re in Scotland? The Scots certainly detest Trump. And want to stay in Europe. Aren’t they now demanding a second referendum on independence after May’s speech yesterday?
I don’t know that there will be a lot of great options for May and the UK after a hard Brexit. HSBC and UBS announced they’re moving 1,000 jobs each out of London. So the economy will take a hit and who knows where that will leave the UK. They’ll need some good trade deals and if that means having to deal with Trump and the US, well….
cosima
@Yarrow: We are in Scotland, yes. And yes, Scots detest him, the rest of the UK as well. Our English friends (as numerous as our Scots friends, so the indy referendum is a complicated thing for another time) do as well. It’s pretty much universal here in the UK.
The jobs move, well, that can be said of all industries. My husband works for a French company, and there is a lot of talk about ‘who will have to move, who won’t, etc’ — bottom line is that nobody knows what the outcome will be in terms of Europeans who currently live in the UK. Brexit is going to be a kick in the teeth and a hard sharp learning curve — much like the T/P administration will be for the US. It’s also a HUGE issue with lots of moving parts, and I suspect that some of those moving parts are still works in progress. Merkel may like to give the UK its marching orders on day one out of anger/spite (a la shitgibbon), but then there’s the reality of the situation, and I’ve not seen any concrete plans laid out for EU citizens in the UK — and I haven’t talked to anyone who has.
I just cannot see the UK embracing T/P & Putin. Brexit has very little support here, it’s just that once set in motion it had to be followed through on, no matter how painful, for form’s sake (that was the deal made by Cameron when he put it to vote by citizens). It is, however, a hugely different barrel of fish than embracing an autocratic & illegitimate administration (or two of them) — that would be compounding the error and pain. If that comes to pass we will probably move to Norway from here if possible (my husband’s job is over ops in UK, Norway & the Netherlands). Anywhere but the US if we can manage it. It would be painful in many ways — this is our home, and it is our daughters’ home, and that’s just a small part of it.
Basically it’s all a total shitshow, even on this side of the pond. We have our own crises related to it on this side of the pond, and I have my concerns about our daughter living in the US as well. And of course our entire extended families on both sides are there in the US, many of them covered through the evil ACA. Retirement funds. Etc etc. Daily 24/7 nightmare.
sam
@Mike in NC: when I was a kid, I thought that BBQ’d steaks and burgers were all gross.
Then I grew up and learned that it’s just that my dad really CAN’T BBQ. He would “cook” everything until it resembled carbon.
My dad and stepmom have a fabulous Primo grill up at their house, and we will literally physically restrain him to keep him away from the thing. Sometimes he is allowed to turn things, but only under the constant, watchful supervision of another adult who actually knows what they’re doing.
Yarrow
@cosima: It really is a mess. I thought there was still the last court case to get through before it’s a done deal and Article 50 ca be triggered. Not sure how that will work out. Cameron is an idiot and will go down in infamy.
J R in WV
@H.E.Wolf:
Wow, that girl has been rode hard and put away wet! She looks closer to 70 than under 60. In spite of all the wealth and health care and cosmetologists. Amway, do they do make up? That could explain some of it…
But the stupid, where did that come from?
Sloane Ranger
@cosima: I agree. May is trying to use Trump’s support of an early US/UK trade deal as leverage in Brexit negotiations so doesn’t want to openly piss him off but there are lots of Tory MP’s who are very suspicious of Russian intentions. They are in a position to put pressure on her not to go along with anything that increases Russian influence and stage a backbench rebellion if necessary.
I also wonder if Trump sees Brexit and, by extention, the UK as some sort of talisman. Not only did Brexit happen against all the pundit predictions he cited it during the campaign and also won. Add that we in the UK speak American and have names that you also find in the US and it’s arguable that he doesn’t actually think of us as being real foreigners.
Billcoop4
@Roger Moore
The hell with the USDA on that one
WMC
J R in WV
@Jeffro:
I never got to that point, my dreams are all about them taking him into custody on a stormy night at 2 am, putting the handcuffs on him, putting their hand on his head as they “help” him into the back of a black federal vehicle, and driving him away into that storm. Que the lightning strikes and thunder !!!
But I do like the idea of him sitting there in a seedy interrogation room, trying to follow the questions well enough to, well, kind of answer something that’s close to the questions hey ask him. Bravo! You should be working on a Clancy-style novel about the first president to live in Leavenworth Barracks, perhaps he could get Ms Manning’s former cell?
Wheee, imagination is so fun!
Larkspur
@J R in WV: She’s prettier than I am. She is certainly richer than I am. But I’m not dumber than she is. That horrifies and comforts me.
Roger Moore
@cosima:
You could always take a look at Scribus, which is an Open Source/Free Software desktop publishing solution.
sukabi
@cosima: try looking on eBay for an out of date program like Adobe InDesign… By out of date I mean a version that is a couple of years old… The price will be much lower than the current versions. Just be sure to make sure it’s compatible with your computer os and hardware.
There are sometimes new copies of older software packages…
I’ve gotten a lot of my adobe software by buying new copies of the older program versions.
J R in WV
@Larkspur:
She’s richer by virtue of marrying up, and dumb as a rock by virtue of never thinking.
I very much doubt she’s prettier than you, pretty is as does, and that makes her a monster! Seriously… look at her eyes, and listen to her respond to the questions.
cynthia ackerman
@trollhattan:
Wish you had not used the word “slot”.
jonas
@Yarrow: Aaron Shikler’s iconic portrait of JFK replaced with a garish painting of a grinning Trump giving the “two in the pink, one in the stink” salute.
cokane
trump not working will seem like good news but not if theres some kind of 9/11 or katrina level event
Neldob
Dianne Feinstein (senator from CA) is 83.
cosima
@Sloane Ranger: He (shitgibbon0 vastly overestimates the Brexit ‘enthusiasm’ here in the UK. It was a one-shot deal, supported by haters and people wanting to ‘make a point.’ My husband works with a Pole who voted for it ‘to make a point’ — and now bitterly regrets it. Much like the shitgibbon experiment in the US. But there is no equivalent ‘executive branch’ in the gov here (at least as far as I can see), and my limited understanding is that the multi-party system that makes the working parts so much more complicated is beneficial in that it prevents power from devolving onto a singularly corrupt party, as has now happened in the US.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the UK’s position — the UK cannot afford to align itself with Russia/US. We must step very carefully, but I do have hope that we will fall on the side of the angels here in the UK. Most people in the US cannot understand what it is to send a huge percentage of your men off to die in a war, in living memory, and how ingrained that is in the UK psyche/story — I think they will do all that can be done to fight for peace. WWI/WWII are much discussed & studied from a young age here, the value of preserving world peace is instilled from a young age. I was at a friend’s the other day, she’s English, her daughter was there and she said ‘I used to like America until it voted for T.’ The UK knows, and its citizens know, the US is no longer a friend or ally.
cosima
Many thanks to everyone for suggestions re: desktop publishing options — I’ll be spending a bit of time later looking through the various options. I knew BJ commenters would come through with great suggestions. Cheers (thanks in a laddish way, which is how it’s used in this part of Scotland)!
mozzerb
@cosima: The majority party in Parliament is the executive branch here in the UK, and as long as it retains said majority it can basically do what it likes. Or as Lord Hailsham once put it, it’s an “elective dictatorship”. So the multi-party system absolutely does not prevent power from devolving onto a singularly corrupt party — indeed, with the first-past-the-post (plurality) system being in place, it arguably makes it easier.
I’m also a lot less optimistic than you about the lack of Brexit enthusiasm. It’s at least as high as Trumpist enthusiasm (in the US that is – people here, to the extent they pay attention, generally think he’s an asshole), down here in England at any rate, and comes from much the same types as support Trump. And likewise, the political currents make it very hard to actually do anything about it now the votes have been counted.