Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

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

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I really should read my own blog.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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

No one could have predicted…

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

People are complicated. Love is not.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Views

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Views

by | 101 Comments

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From commentor greennotGreen‘s sister:

Some pictures of my sister’s views from her bed. Much of the art is her own creation.

And in a later message:

What a wonderful response from BJ on the dogs. Please extend our thanks to everyone, but we have found homes in a local rescue (well, 1 home and 1 foster home) for the remaining 2 dogs…

My sister has been an avid reader/participant in BJ for many years, and it’s nice to see how the BJ community has rallied around.

Reader Interactions

101Comments

  2. 2.

    aimai

    All the love to greennotgreen–I’m so glad she is surrounded by so much beauty, and has created so much beauty, at this time.

  3. 3.

    Immanentize

    What a calm space and view. I love the suns on the wall….
    And I am very happy to hear you found homes for the chihuahui (my Latin plural)

  7. 7.

    Aleta

    greennotGreen and your sister: Glad to hear about the pups! They’re beautiful and the photos showed how healthy and loved. I love the art, the little wood stove, the windows and all the green.

  8. 8.

    Emma

    It looks like such a peaceful, well-loved place. I am so glad the dog situation is sorted and she can be reassured her beloved friends are safe.

  9. 9.

    Currants

    Lovely windows, a peaceful space. And as aimai said, all the love to greennotGreen, and to her sister. It’s hard to lose a sister.

  10. 10.

    Immanentize

    On my household’s journey with the big C, Ms Imm has had her second round of IV chemo. In three weeks she gets a second PET scan to see if there is any progress. I am now referring to the Doctor meeting about the scan as her sentencing hearing. Hoping for a reprieve of sorts.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize: Ah, good luck.

    Chiming in: what a beautiful, peaceful abode for a beautiful person.

    And how happy to learn the pups are spoken for.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    And a doggio, with cow skulls. But a place for those little rescues to roam. And art. What a pretty house.

    If I may, do we know which state greennotGreen resides in?

  15. 15.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: thanks, E. My guess on greennotgreen’s state is New Mexico; but that is just from the art. It could be anywhere both lush and desert…

  16. 16.

    satby

    Echoing all the love sent to greennotGreen and her sister and family. Such a beautiful home and view of the art and yard. I’m happy to hear that the pups have found a place. Wishing comfort and peace to all sharing gnG’s journey.

  18. 18.

    Patricia Kayden

    That’s a beautiful and calming view for greennotGreen to meditate on. Love the artwork and plants and the large windows to bring in so much light.

  22. 22.

    Mary G

    Love and light to GnG, and thanks to her sister for the views in and outside her house. It is beautiful and I am so glad homes have been found for all the doggos.

  25. 25.

    tobie

    What a lovely oasis you’ve created, greennotGreen! May the sun shine bright on you and your sister and your family today.

  26. 26.

    aimai

    @Immanentize: I am really sad to hear that. We are not currently suffering any health threats in our own household but we are hanging on for dear life during the zombie apocalypse that has become my in laws existence and its hell.

  28. 28.

    JPL

    Good news about the dogs. Thank you so much for sharing green’s little paradise. Actually from the view from the windows, maybe not so little. Rest comfortable.

  30. 30.

    satby

    And I know I’m not the only one grateful to Green’s sister and family for reading our messages to her when she just isn’t up to it. I hope she feels the love.

  38. 38.

    Betty Cracker

    What a beautiful, light-filled room! Glad the doggos are sorted — that must be a relief. Strength and courage to green and sis.

  39. 39.

    greennotGreen

    @Immanentize: I so hope for a better outcome for her. I don’t remember; have you said what of cancer? They are such different diseases.

  40. 40.

    ArchTeryx

    There’s a lot of spiritual beauty in that room. A very peaceful sick-bed setting. I’m also very glad to hear the pooches got sorted out and rehomed; that’s always a big relief to know your animals will be taken care of.

  41. 41.

    raven

    I have three people in the latter stages of cancer right now, my former boss, my brother-in-law, and a old friend. They are scattered all over the country and the internet is vast least allowing me to stay in touch. greennotGreen’s posts are helping me understand what they are going through. thanks

  42. 42.

    Oldgold

    Yesterday’s hearing frustrated me.

    Too often no answer was given either because it would disclose information from an ongoing criminal investigation or was classified.

    As to the ongoing criminal investigation excuse – baloney. This was an act of war. It poses an existential threat to our nation. To treat what occurred as a crime is a fool’s game.

    As to the classified information excuse, the Rooskies know what they did. The American people need to know what the IC knows -sources and methods be damned. This is too important.

    We need answers now. The beneficiaries of this act of war are brazenly and aggessively stacking our courts, raiding our treasury, destroying our health care, fouling our environment and undermining our democratic norms.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    @greennotGreen: hi GnG! Whst a sweet set up you have —

    My wife was recently diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. Too involved to operate, so chemo is the only path.

    I am sending you my MPTs (Massive Peaceful Thoughts).

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    Oh greennotGreen and sis, thank you for sharing these photos with us. Such an idyllic setting. Sending love to you.

    @Immanentize:

    {{{{Immanetize}}} will be keeping you, Mrs. Imm, and spawn very close in my thoughts. Hoping for the best possible news for all of you.

  46. 46.

    GregB

    Wishing all who are or have family and friends with health issues the most positive outcome.

    Wonderful sunny artwork greennotgreen.

  47. 47.

    greennotGreen

    @Immanentize: As it was mentioned in the dog thread, I think, I live northwest of Nashville.

    I have been very fortunate in life. I was born into a white middle class home to smart, educated parents. Neither was perfect, but neither was alcoholic or mentally ill, my sister and I went to decent schools. We regularly attended a mainstream Protestant church and I paid attention which meant that years later when I rejected most of the stricter tenets I held onto

  49. 49.

    JeanneT

    A graceful space for difficult times. My best wishes to GnG and her family, for comfort in each other – and to Immanetize and his wife as they work through the treatment.

    On the night my husband John died (prostate cancer), he kept his sense of humor till the end. At one point, as I lay next to him in bed, my son came in to sit awhile with us. John looked up at him and quoted Monty Python: “I’m not dead yet!”. It was good to laugh and cry at that moment. Hope you all have laughter as well as tears, too!

  56. 56.

    Alain the site fixer

    @greennotGreen: courage and strength to you! I cannot thank you enough for sharing your journey. At first it ripped at my heart but your grace and calm have helped me to learn from your experience and for that I am forever grateful.

  57. 57.

    satby

    @greennotGreen: Yes, we’re here whenever you’re ready.

    And this is weird, checking traffic stats to my etsy store, someone was referred by the gateway pundit?!? I can’t even imagine how.
    Edit: and I really don’t want to go check.

  61. 61.

    laura

    GreennotGreen, thank you for checking in.
    I wish you and your family days of Grace and ease, in love and comfort.

  62. 62.

    geg6

    Such good news about the pups! All my most sunny and beautiful thoughts are heading to greennotGreen and her family. Such serene courage.

  64. 64.

    Jeffro

    Good long read today over at the NY Times: how the mortgage interest deduction subsidizes the rich and contributes to wealth inequality.

    Today as in years past, MID reform is generally considered a lost cause. There have been gestures at reform — Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, keeps reintroducing a bill that would replace the MID with a 15 percent tax credit on interest paid up to $500,000 — but they have gone nowhere. Five months ago, before being confirmed as Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin announced that the new administration hoped to “cap the mortgage interest.” But when Trump released his tax plan last month, the MID was untouched. Trump did propose to double the standard deduction (to $24,000 from $12,600 for married couples, for example) which would make the MID irrelevant for a vast majority of homeowners, whose mortgage interest would be less than the increased exemption, giving them almost no reason to itemize. But wealthy families living in expensive homes would still cash in. If anything, doubling the standard deduction simply exposes the MID for what it really is: a generous public-housing program for the rich. Diane Yentel, the president and chief executive of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, believes that in the long run this will make the MID “untenable to retain.”

    Yentel’s coalition supports the idea of lowering the size of deductible mortgage debt to $500,000 and reallocating the savings to housing assistance for low-income families. “The solution is so obvious,” Yentel says. “There are a number of programs that have proven success in ending homelessness and ending housing insecurity.” The problem is not in the policies’ prescriptions but in their dosage: We severely underfund programs that work. By one estimate, capping the MID at $500,000 would save $87 billion over 10 years, even though less than 6 percent of mortgages nationwide exceed half a million dollars. That savings would allow 1.2 million additional families to benefit from housing vouchers.

    Why, you can almost hear wealthy America squealing at the very thought, can’t you? Redistribute $87B from the very top of the country, to help make housing affordable for 1.2M families?!? What is this, communist China or something??

    Anyway, my RWNJ brother bought a condo a year or two ago and now gets the mortgage deduction, which actually pi$$es him off, thinking about all those years (as a renter) that he DIDN’T get it. El. Oh. El.

    In all seriousness, if we want to end this drain on the treasury with a minimum of blowback, I don’t think we should worry about the cap or anything else: just write a law that phases it out completely across 20 years. That makes it pretty painless for homeowners and realtors. (And yes, on this beautiful, sunny Tuesday I would like a unicorn that shoots rainbows out its butt, why do you ask?)

  65. 65.

    MomSense

    Has anyone “seen” Debit lately? I’ve been wondering how the new pup is adjusting.

  66. 66.

    A Ghost To Most

    The journey to the White Shores is one we all must take; wishing you peace and comfort, gnG. I love the artwork; I plan to do a sun like that in copper, soon.

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Jeffro: Years ago I was having a conversation with a friend from Canada and discovered that mortgage interest is not deductible there. And yet the housing market seems to function normally.

  69. 69.

    Miss Bianca

    Agh, trying to type with hands fat and puffy with multiple bee stings! (Rule #1 of Beginning Bee Keeping: Don’t start with homing 10 hives. Really. Stick to 1 or 2. Rule #2: Don’t listen to the pros who breezily assure you that you can do all this with bare hands (or even bare-headed), because the bees aren’t going to be that aggressive. OK, maybe only 6-8 stings out of 100,000 bees ain’t that much, but it’s enough for me!)

    But all the discomfort still seems like first-world problems compared to cancer. Best of luck and much love to gnG and Mrs. Imm.

  70. 70.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    These photos show a life of creativity, good energy, and love. May it continue, even unto the next step.

  72. 72.

    pamelabrown53

    @greennotGreen:
    Wishing you peace, love and serenity. You are in my thoughts and prayers. What a tranquil home you have created, surrounded by so much natural beauty.

  73. 73.

    The Lodger

    gnG, I’m struck by all the beauty you were able to create and glad you can spend this time surrounded by it. Best wishes and prayers to you and your sister.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I love everything about this thread. The beautiful photos, the beautiful artwork and the beautiful soul who crafted them, the compassionate commenters who share their support for gnG even while grappling with their own challenges {{{Immanentize and Mrs. Imm}}} {{{Miss Bianca, ouch}}}, and the love that infuses the entire thread. Sure, I enjoy the brawling and snark as much as anyone, but this is a really nice way to start the day. Thank you all.

  75. 75.

    greennotGreen

    @greennotGreen: (gnG’s sister typing)

    We regularly attended a mainstream Protestant church and I paid attention which meant that years later when I rejected most of the stricter tenets I held onto

    I retained that we should be kind to each other and take care of each other. And I hope that this community will remember that there are people who have not had the fortune to grow up in a comfortable home and to be, as I am, surrounded by family and friends. That BJ may be most, if not all, that they have, and that we should show them kindness and support.

  76. 76.

    SWMBO

    gnG: Rest and peace for all of you. You and your sister’s courage in such difficult times are inspiring.
    Mrs. Imm: the Best possible outcome for you and your family.
    Miss Bianca: I would be in the hospital with IV adrenalin. I have friends who keep bees and even if you don’t approach the hives, you can get stung. Good luck on your (cartoon) hands.

  77. 77.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Miss Bianca: @Miss Bianca: want me to put my friend in Florence in touch with you? He’s been doing bees for 20 years or so and has had to overcome lots of issues. He’s not a pro but he is often cited by locals as knowing as much as any instructor!

  79. 79.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Glad to see you here again today greennotGreen. You’re in my thoughts. Be in peace.

  80. 80.

    Jeffro

    @Gin & Tonic: shocking, isn’t it?

    Next, you’ll be telling me that they have universal healthcare with comparable outcomes at half the cost…

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for asking. It goes slowly and I am impatient. Yes, regular PT, down to a plastic splint/brace which is removable and (importantly) washable. Pins have been removed, but that was not the panacea I’d hoped for.

  83. 83.

    satby

    @Miss Bianca: Multiple stings put you at higher risk for an anaphylactic reaction next time, please talk to your doctor about getting an Epipen to have on hand.

  87. 87.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @greennotGreen: I’m so glad you are able to stop by and hear all the thoughts of love sent your way. Grateful your critters have all found homes, I understand completely how important that would be. I send you peace and love. Thank you for sharing what you can and being with us.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @greennotGreen:

    I retained that we should be kind to each other and take care of each other.

    This is really the heart of it. Thank you for stating it so purely.

    O/T, and please, gnG, respond to this only if you want to and have the energy, but I have always been mildly curious about your nym. My guess is that it is because you care deeply about the Earth and its environment (“green”) but don’t align with a lot of what’s promulgated by the Green Party (“not Green”). Equally, I could be guessing wildly wrong.

    Like so many of my fellow Juicers, I am cherishing these days with you. You have been, and remain, a transformative force. Thank you.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Patience is a virtue, so they tell me. I’ve rarely hung around long enough to find out.

    / God grant me patience, and be quick about it!

  91. 91.

    hovercraft

    @greennotGreen: What a beautiful and serene environment. Thank you for sharing this journey with all of us. Wishing you comfort and love, as you say not everyone is blessed with a loving family, you are cherished. Thanks to greennotGreen sister for keeping us in touch with your wonderfully talented sister.

  92. 92.

    martian

    @greennotGreen: Your green, peaceful surroundings perfectly reflect you. Thank you for sharing your journey and for the example of grace. I will endeavor not to waste your gift. You are often in my thoughts. I wish I had the words to explain how important what you’re doing is without sounding like some sort of revolting, positive affirmations kitsch – I suppose it would be a meme now instead of a tacky poster.

  93. 93.

    Gretchen

    That’s a beautiful room. I’m glad that green not green is spending her time there. I’m sending good thoughts your way.

  94. 94.

    martian

    @Immanentize: I wish you and your wife peace and comfort in the waiting. Waiting is so hard. Best wishes for good news at the end of it.

  95. 95.

    TEL

    What a lovely view and artwork! greenotGreen and family: I very much appreciate all the updates. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.
    Immanentize: Best wishes, both before and after sentencing.

  96. 96.

    Ohio Mom

    I took yesterday off from the internet — this thread is a lovely first read. It is good to be reminded of all the good in people. I don’t expect the rest of my travels through the blogosphere today to be so uplifting.

    Wishing greennotGreen a day of peace and love, and Immanentize and his wife strength.

    And hello to Yarrow, wherever you are. Wishing you a brighter day.

  97. 97.

    Lyrebird

    @zhena gogolia: Same from me. Sending good thoughts to gnG and fam, to my older stepbro awaiting a diagnosis (a which-kind/how bad diagnosis), and to Sir Ruckus.

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