I’m actually cloning the site today, as opposed to getting distracted yesterday. This means the site may be a bit sluggish as I’m creating some big archives and transferring them to the test setup. I chose now in hopes of getting it all done before the 5 pm magic hour.
So my apologies if the site isn’t as responsive as normal, but take heart – your long personal nightmare will be over soon! :)
Also, another plug for a guest post on Oceanography coming at 12:30 Eastern on Friday. It will be neat, you’ll learn stuff, and can even ask questions!
Open Thread!
ETA: Slowdown over, ahead of schedule. Be well.
Villago Delenda Est
I’ll trade some slow today for a speedup on Thursday!
Yutsano
@Villago Delenda Est: As long as things are working by the Quist election.
Loneoak
Check out The Onion’s new Trump Documents dump. Gotta admire their fearless commitment to journalism.
Alain the site fixer
Thursday may be optimistic, but one of many goals is to speed up the site and having a permanent test/dev setup will make that much less catastrophic should an incorrect option be chosen. A while back, I know some setting or other made the site seize up. It wasn’t tough to fix, but for about 2 minutes the site was down, much to the consternation of the community. I hope to avoid that again.
Villago Delenda Est
@Alain the site fixer: Your efforts (and your transparency!) are appreciated, Alain.
jacy
I’m used to unresponsive. I have children.
In all seriousness, thanks, Alain — you’re an incredibly valuable member of the Balloon Juice jackelpack and your ministrations, along with your comments and your pretty pictures in the morning, are more appreciated than we could ever express.
Roger Moore
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!
NotMax
Accompaniment: Scott Joplin, A Real Slow Drag.
jo6pac
Whatever works for you works for me.
Alain the site fixer
@jacy: jackal pack? Have you been sneaking a peek at the guest post on Friday? :)
rikyrah
Trump wastes little time breaking his key promises in a cruel budget
05/23/17 01:05 PM
By Steve Benen
When Donald Trump rode down a New York escalator and announced his presidential campaign two years ago in front of an audience featuring people paid to be there, the Republican made international headlines by arguing that Mexican immigrants are rapists.
But in the same speech, Trump was careful to break with GOP orthodoxy on some of the nation’s most popular social-insurance programs. He said, if elected, he would “save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security without cuts.” Trump added, “Have to do it.”
Those who actually believed his rhetoric fell for an unfortunate scam. Indeed, Trump has made many of his defenders look quite foolish with the unveiling of his first federal budget.
…………………………………………………..
Trump’s budget, in other words, targets benefits for the poor and the sick, while cutting taxes for the wealthy, boosting an enormous Pentagon budget, and setting aside billions for a border wall.
The plan also intends to eliminate the deficit within 10 years by relying on math that doesn’t make any sense.
It even cuts Social Security, despite Trump’s promise, by cutting Social Security Disability Insurance by billions. Asked how to reconcile the president’s pre-election assurances with his in-writing budget plan, Mick Mulvaney argued to reporters yesterday that Trump’s promise came with fine print: Trump was talking about retirees’ benefits, not benefits for the disabled.
Before anyone panics, it’s important to realize that there’s approximately zero chance Congress will approve Trump’s budget plan. Lawmakers in both parties have already announced their opposition to the White House’s blueprint, and some have even begun mocking it.
And for some, that effectively ends the conversation. If Trump’s budget will be ignored by lawmakers, the argument goes, than it doesn’t much matter what it says.
I disagree. There’s an old cliché that a budget is a moral document, and the adage endures for a reason: it’s true. This blueprint is a vehicle for Trump and his team to show what kind of country they want to build. The president is obsessed with making America “great,” and this budget explains – in black-and-while detail – what exactly the White House means when it uses the adjective.
This is, in other words, Trump’s vision for the nation’s future – and it’s more than a little terrifying.
Putting aside legislative prospects, it matters that the president, just four months in office, is already breaking the core promises of his campaign. It matters that he’s deliberately targeting some of the nation’s most vulnerable. It matters that many of those who’d be hit hardest by Trump’s plan are many of the same people who voted for him.
schrodingers_cat
WP is eating my comments when I try to post a video. I have no idea why.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore: I’m glad SOMEONE got the reference!
hovercraft
You better be done by 5:45, we need to be able to discuss today’s new clusterfluck with rapid fire witticisms!
Doug R
Just say the the website is Canadian.
? Martin
@rikyrah: If Trump supporters fall through the safety net, it their own fault for not taking out a small loan of a million dollars from their parents when they had the chance.
hovercraft
I wonder if FOX will tell Hannity to stop torturing poor Seth Rich’s family now.
I’m not holding my breath, oh and can someone tell that other worthless piece of shit Geraldo to shyt the fuck up!
I hope Roger is roasting on a spit!
ET for grammar and spelling, yes I know shyte
Villago Delenda Est
@hovercraft: He’s in Rome now. Surely we’ll have some new faux pas of his to discuss by then.
Alain the site fixer
@schrodingers_cat: try again. I’ll free it if it gets eated.
amygdala
Cloning? So you’re a biologist, as well as a computer guru.
Thank you for the morning photo threads, and everything else you do here. Your kind heart shows in all of it.
Alain the site fixer
@Villago Delenda Est: Melania no like holding his hand. You just know there’s some major pressure building there – that’s twice in public in as many days!
schrodingers_cat
Am the only one that has T fatigue. I am also out of snark.
geg6
@hovercraft:
Remember when that wrestler or whatever bitch slapped Geraldo back in his “investigative reporter” days? That was sweet. Think he’d like to take a few more shots at that fake reporter on behalf of that poor family?
Alain the site fixer
@amygdala: Kindness is really where it’s at, isn’t it? Sometimes it need to be reborn in us, but I swear, helping others simply, being aware and noticing those around us – like noticing a shorter person looking at an item on the top shelf, and just reaching up and getting it for them, saying “here you go!” with a smile – makes you feel really good, and helps them, to boot. And these days, we need all the kindness we can get/give.
hovercraft
@Villago Delenda Est: , I just needed to borrow your name. I loathe these fuckers.
ETA: WARNING POLITICO
Trump Is America’s Most Honest President
He just can’t help himself from blurting out the truth—even when it’s self-sabotage.
By Virginia Heffernan
May 23, 2017
Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alain the site fixer
@schrodingers_cat: do repost that video; I see you removed it from the auto-trashed post. So I can’t see what the possible trigger could be….
geg6
@Alain the site fixer:
I’m of the opinion that she was on the verge of dumping his flabby ass before the unthinkable happened and he won.
schrodingers_cat
@Alain the site fixer: Thanks! Will do. Its a part of a Sikh prayer from the 2006 Rang De Basanti ( Color of Sacrifice)
Basanti==Spring like ==yellow or saffron, color of sacrifice in both Hinduism and Sikhism
I am thinking of reviewing this movie for BJ Weekend Movie Club.
What do you guys think. I will do a post about it soon about where you can see it with subtitles and other info before I do the review.
schrodingers_cat
@Alain the site fixer: Got eated again.
amygdala
@Alain the site fixer: Indeed.
hovercraft
@schrodingers_cat:
Don’t worry Pete Souza has eight years worth of snark for us ; )
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
Unpossible. Snark is a never ending resource.
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: I’m going out for beers with a couple of old buddies at 5:30, so Alain can take as long as he likes, as far as I care.
Alain the site fixer
@schrodingers_cat: Not sure what was up; this was in Moderation, what I assume was the other attempt that you then deleted was in trash but not really gone-gone. So hmm.
TenguPhule
@Villago Delenda Est:
LARP of the Da Vinci code by Trump in the Vatican. With Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick holder.
Alain the site fixer
@TenguPhule: I found bunch of comments from you from last week also in the trash. Is that common for you? Let me know if your comments disappear; that usually means they were auto-trashed and most other frontpagers don’t check the trash much.
Mnemosyne
@hovercraft:
I may be detecting some snark in that that you are not. She doesn’t seem to be praising Trump for being honest, just marveling at the fact that he can’t even keep his own lies straight.
Alain the site fixer
@schrodingers_cat: hey, will you pop me an email using the form? I’d love to discuss you possibly doing a guest post or two for me.
hovercraft
@geg6:
As C&L’s pointed out, the stories about this “murder” escalated as the shit hit the fan over the last week, they needed something “big” to justify not covering the Shitgibbons current shitstorm. You can only have so many legal experts on to explain that the shit sandwich in front of you is actually not made from shit, but is actually a healthy organic material made 100 % by nature with no additives, it is also homemade on the premises each day!
schrodingers_cat
@Alain the site fixer: I have no idea either.
Roger Moore
@hovercraft:
I think they’re missing the big picture with trump. He isn’t being honest because he’s honest. He’s failing to keep the story straight because he can’t remember it for that long. I think that’s the basic explanation for why he’s constantly undercutting his messaging team; they come up with a story, but the boss forgets so soon he gives the whole game away. I think the presidential workload is exacerbating his incipient senile dementia, and the added stress from all the investigations is just making it worse. I wonder how long it’s going to be before he has a complete mental breakdown.
TenguPhule
@Alain the site fixer:
Depends. I notice that late night posts tend to get eaten by FYWP when I’m at home. No idea what’s triggering it since no links or video in the vanished posts nor as far as I know any banned words. Usually I just give it up as a lost cause and post something else because none of the admin are awake at the time.
hovercraft
@Gin & Tonic:
Boooo, unless you’re sharing with everyone, you cannot go! How’s the PT coming along?
hovercraft
@Mnemosyne:
I hope you’re right, but given the source I may have jumped to conclusions. If he’s losing GOPolitico, then he really is in trouble!
Keith P.
@schrodingers_cat: When he cloned the site, it got swapped out with the DeVito.
Alain the site fixer
@TenguPhule: let me know when it happens – using the form or if you’re awake, in the 5 am On the Road post. I’ll login and see what’s going on. If they work from one device and not from another, then it’s likely something about the email address you use (some folks use a different email address on mobile device vs home or work PC, for example)
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: It’s going slowly. I meet with the therapist every Wednesday, so I suspect my posts tomorrow evening will be foul-tempered. At this point we are still about flexibility, not strength. I’m allowed to use no more than a 2-pound dumbbell for shoulder raises. Still can’t get my hand flat in the palm-down position. There’s quite a ways to go.
dmsilev
@Loneoak: I love the email chain with Boeing’s CEO re: AF1. “Seatbelts should be marble”.
Alain the site fixer
Ok, slow work all done, way ahead of schedule and with no major issues. You may return to your normal kvetching activities!
TenguPhule
@Alain the site fixer:
I use the same email. Like I said, it appears to be completely random, so might just be my internet connection.
Patricia Kayden
These are all the programs and agencies which Trump’s budget will defund. It’s a long list, as you would expect and a lot of folks are going to be hurt.
TenguPhule
@Alain the site fixer:
When you gonna bring home a nice girl to meet your mama, eh?
/Don’t picture me in drag
Alain the site fixer
@TenguPhule: do let me know. I’ll investigate and it’s easier when it’s fresh! Shaky connection shouldn’t make a difference but perhaps….
Peale
@geg6: Nice memory, but it was actually John Stossel who got his ear clubbed in. Those 20/20 libertarians with the mustaches…chair upside the head for all of them.
Steeplejack
@schrodingers_cat:
Sometimes FYWP doesn’t like the particular combination of characters in a YouTube video link. If you run it through TinyURL or similar that usually fixes it.
Alain the site fixer
@Steeplejack: that’s a great tip!
Mnemosyne
I’ll ask again when there’s another open thread, but does anyone have experience with cats who have allergy or autoimmune issues? The vet says our cat Annie seems to have developed one of the two, but we have to go see an internist to puzzle it out. Poor kitty keeps getting crusty ears and crusty paw pads, but the ear mites that they thought caused those are long gone. She’s indoors-only, so she can’t have gotten into something outside. We’re stumped, though I’ve been saying for a while that corn allergies are common in cats and G has been resisting changing their food again.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
That was my take.
hovercraft
@Gin & Tonic:
And that’s different how from every other day? Or am I mixing you up with OO and CS?
Hang in there, it will be worth it in the end ; )
Yutsano
@Alain the site fixer:
Y u curse yourself like this?
hovercraft
@Alain the site fixer:
Thanks!
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Love it!
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: I try to hide my naturally sunny disposition.
Steve in the ATL
@Mnemosyne: haven’t had to do it with cats, but we’ve had dogs with allergies so we feed them grain-free, limited ingredient food where the protein is as obscure as possible. Think duck, alligator, misc. wild game, etc. The dog food section gets pretty exotic!
Of course, if G won’t change their food then this is moot.
Steeplejack
@Roger Moore:
He’s a bullshit artist. He doesn’t care about “keeping the story straight.” He says what he has to or wants to in the moment. End of story.
Mnemosyne
@Steve in the ATL:
It’s complicated, because the oldest cat has constipation issues, so he gets dry food to help with that, and that’s the food I suspect Annie is allergic to. Feeding them separately doesn’t work. G is afraid that if they all get hypoallergenic food, Keaton’s constipation will get bad again. Ugh.
Aleta
@Loneoak: Thanks ! They deserve a WH press pass, since ridiculous RW imaginary journalists** now clutter up the press seating and literally interfere with questioning.
** R- b l – Me *di -a ( of pizza // -ate); Am. -news New or-k;
Ga- -te . W. ..-Pun. it; Li *fe. Ze -tte (i.e. Ing … ham);
and T#w -n … h&ll (i.e. Her it age Fdn) all have correspondent passes
Steeplejack
@TenguPhule:
Too late.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Loneoak:
Oh my G-d. So much winning that I am finally beginning to be tired of all the winning.
I couldn’t find a response to Obama’s 44-to-45 letter. Is there one yet?
NoraLenderbee
@Mnemosyne: Not exactly the same thing, but my old cat tended to get yeast infections in her ears. We thought at first she had ear mites but treatment didn’t work until it was diagnosed correctly.
/cue obvious joke about cat + yeast infection
Steeplejack
@Alain the site fixer:
Bitter experience.
eclare
@Steeplejack: Obama said the same thing in a recent interview: he’s a bullshitter. He’s gotten away with it for 70 years, not gonna change.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
ETA: But for the first time in his life he has landed in a position where that strategy does not work. Oops!
Roger Moore
@Steeplejack:
Two points:
1) It should be obvious, but freestyle bullshitting doesn’t work as a coordinated media strategy. They’ve tried it both ways, with trump as leader and as follower. When he’s the first one to talk, his media team can sometimes come up with plausible excuses/explanations for the BS, but that gets blown out of the water the next time he opens his yap with a different line of BS. When they try to coordinate stories in advance, they get a better start only to be undercut when he doesn’t follow the plan.
2) Some of his big recent problems have come about because he hasn’t been bullshitting. The Comey firing is the most obvious example; he stuck to the prepared line of BS for a while, but then undercut it by admitting that he was going to fire Comey regardless and that it was about the Russia business. I sincerely think he’s starting to have a hard time keeping the BS going and is starting to blurt out the truth because he can’t remember the lies he’s supposed to tell. Maybe that’s because he can’t deal with a coordinated lying strategy, but I think there’s some general cognitive decline in there, too.
Aleta
@Mnemosyne: I read up some on food allergies for the dog, who had chronic d. when he came, which cleared up as soon as we switched to limited ingredient.
Two useful things were: 1-allergies can develop after too much exposure to an ingredient, so it can happen w pets after some years because almost of the food uses corn or soy or poultry meal. (Companies aim to get a good “minimum protein reading” as cheaply as possible.) So an alternative to the allergy testing can be to try a food w/o those (or eliminate one at a time, but takes longer.
2- For an animal whose digestive track is upset (inflammation for whatever reason, such as feline AIDs or allergies or temporary upset) the fewer ingredients there are, the easier it is for the digestion to process. (Like for people who are given just rice or oatmeal or plain chicken when sick.) Hence the different limited ingred. diets, which are pretty varied but just have 3 or so ingredients instead of that long list. This worked great for the dog. Avoided corn, soy and poultry and immediate change.
The L.I. foods also add probiotics, which help my cat a lot.
As a first trial, you could also try just the probiotics first.. cheapest is to open a few human capsules and sprinkle a little on the food.
Steve in the ATL
@Mnemosyne: if you can’t feed both cats the same food(s), there is no good answer!
geg6
@Peale:
I know somebody knocked Geraldo in the head on tape at some point.
sharl
@geg6: That rang a bell with me too. Sure enough: in 1988 he had Roy Innis and some white skinheads on his TV talk show. In this low-resolution YouTube video (2:38), chaos breaks out just beyond the one-minute mark. I don’t think the video is very interesting, but YMMV; in any event, here’s a written description (NYT) – Geraldo Rivera’s Nose Broken In Scuffle on His Talk Show:
Ahh, the civilized days of yore, before terms like “alt-right” and “keyboard nazis” even existed.
sharl
@sharl: Missed the edit window, so a minor correction to my last comment has to be a separate thing: the white racists in that 1988 Geraldo show all had full heads of hair; not a skinhead among them.
I regret the error…
Steeplejack
@Roger Moore:
1. I wasn’t suggesting that bullshitting is a good strategy for anything, media or otherwise.
2. “Some of his big recent problems have come about because he hasn’t been bullshitting.”
Just because he occasionally strays into the truth doesn’t mean he is not still bullshitting. I don’t think he has any kind of “strategy” on some continuum where he keeps track of “what I said before and what I might want to say later” and how all that relates to the “truth.” He is focused solely on the transactional moment right in front of him and how to handle it. When he contradicts himself it’s only because he does (or may) have some memory that “I said A when this situation came up before and that didn’t seem to work, so I’ll say B now and see if it works.” But actually they both work, because they get him out of the current transactional moment and on to the next one. All the chaos, confusion and “lies” are a concern only for us losers.
Villago Delenda Est
@hovercraft: Per Charlie Pierce, “Tiger Beat on the Potomac”. They should pray I never come to power; one of my first acts will be to make Broderism a capital offense.
Steeplejack
@Villago Delenda Est:
I think you’re misreading snark. You might want to consider getting malpractice insurance for your tumbrel concession.
J R in WV
@Villago Delenda Est:
I got it too, but I was on the road, at a doctor’s appointment, waiting with a little tablet. Now I have an actual keyboard, and can type on it. Today is Tuesday, is the only catch….