Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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

I was promised a recession.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

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

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Let there be snark.

The revolution will be supervised.

No one could have predicted…

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Primary Rancor-Free Open Thread

Primary Rancor-Free Open Thread

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Instead of rehashing the 2016 Democratic Party primary for the millionth goddamned time or arguing counterfactuals based on an election outcome in another country, how about looking at this lovely giant swallowtail butterfly that briefly graced a bamboo tree in my yard?

Open thread, except for the aforementioned topics, which can be engaged downstairs. C’mon, man. There’s plenty of other stuff to talk about. Weekend plans? Cooking? Pets? Irritating bosses? Read any good books lately? Anything except you-know-what. Don’t make me come down there!

Reader Interactions

186Comments

  2. 2.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    I’m making a chicken pot pie to go with the Warriors game tonight.

    Actually, because I have a horrible case of the don’ wannas, I’m sitting in front of a tennis match thinking about chicken pot pie.

  4. 4.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Um, I just watered my plants and my pollinator garden is coming along nicely. Some tomato plants are thriving and others are failing for reasons unknown. I’m avoiding unpacking and putting my shit away.

    I’m also avoiding the Forbidden Topics.

    That wasn’t so hard. :)

  5. 5.

    JCJ

    Just checking b-j to see what is going on. Is there a shit-show in a thread I should avoid?

  8. 8.

    Mike in DC

    Jordan Peele is producing a tv series set in the 1930s, with people of color as protagonists. “Lovecraft Country” is just that, set in the world of Boston brahmins and unspeakable (and unpronounceable) horrors…plus the standard horrors of the time for brown folks. Sounds like an awesome show idea.

  9. 9.

    donnah

    Lovely butterfly! We seldom see the large butterflies now that I remember from my childhood. We used to see many more of them; luna moths, monarchs, tiger swallowtails…but not so much anymore. I can also remember big army-green grasshoppers that were as big as an adult’s thumb, and I never see those anymore.

    Anyhoo, thanks for a bright spot in the day! I will be sweltering in my kitchen this weekend, dyeing wool for rug hooking. It’s a back-breaking, sweaty job, but it has to be done!

    I hope everyone has a good weekend!

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    Did Rubio trade the integrity of U.S. for a Cuba-policy shift from Trump?
    BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO

    It may be hard to fathom outside of Miami, but the faraway island of Cuba and Cuban-American politics could have played a role in Thursday’s historic hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

    Did the influential Republican senator from Miami on the committee, Marco Rubio, trade the integrity of this country for the pledge of a U.S. policy shift on Cuba from President Donald Trump? The optics — and the timing of a yet unscheduled visit by Trump to Miami to announce a rollback advocated by Rubio of President Barack Obama’s engagement policy — certainly make it seem that way.

    Before Rubio’s intervention, the testimony by former FBI director James Comey had grown impressively damning to President Trump in the same manner a steady, thoughtful, and detail-oriented prosecutor builds a case.

    Comey testified that, in a series of uncomfortable conversations before Trump fired him, the president had given him high praise and demanded loyalty. Trump made it known to him that he wanted the criminal investigation into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn dropped and the “cloud” of the investigation into Trump’s campaign ties to Russian interference “lifted,” Comey said.

    There’s no understating the moment — it was grave.

    Obstruction of justice easily came to mind — but then, it was Rubio’s turn to ask Comey questions.

    Or, more like it, to turn Comey’s testimony around and ask rhetorical questions that inserted doubt into Comey’s candid revelations. Rubio shifted the attention from Trump to leaks to the media. As for information, Rubio seemed most interested in getting Comey to publicly admit that President Trump “was not personally under investigation” than in obtaining any new evidence for the Senate investigation.

    It was as if Rubio — who has become a fixture at the White House and has voted to confirm all of Trump’s controversial appointments — was acting as Trump’s defense attorney instead of as member of a bipartisan committee investigating crucial national security issues.

  12. 12.

    currants

    Here’s a travel question: I just got a phone that’s calls and texts only (no data nowhere nohow) for travel. It’s an unlocked GSM Dual SIM Blu Tank II. Here’s my dumb question: I can’t figure out how to get it open to put the battery in (much less the SIM card). Any tips–is there a particular (VERY THIN) tool I need?

  13. 13.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @O. Felix Culpa: All of my tomato plants are going crazy, and some have set fruit. I’ve never seen such lush tomato growth here in San Francisco. On the other hand, my hops, cornflowers, ranunculus, and sweet peas all came up, started to grow nicely, and then withered and shriveled away – without any blooms for the latter two. They’re all in different containers/beds. I’m flummoxed (and disappointed). What could be wrong? I’ve grown all successfully for years.

  14. 14.

    cope

    Plans for the weekend? Play with my new camera targeting tonight’s Strawberry Moon, bake a strawberry/rhubarb pie for my niece, make smashburgers for dinner, run a carload of trash to the county transfer station, try out my new Bevfridge beer bottle cooler in the pool, watch some more of “Long Strange Trip” on Amazon Prime, clean the side of our house visible from the street (nasty letter from the HOA), try to stay away from any sources of “news” likely to raise my BP and just in general slide into my new-found vocation of being retired. Oh yeah, still reading Sean Carroll’s new book “The Big Picture” and a book called “How the Irish Saved CIvilization” not to mention the men’s national world cup qualifier against El Tri on Sunday.

    I’m sure I’m missing some stuff but that’s a pretty full plate as it is.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    but but but…it was gonna be CRIMINALS…remember?

    The Trump administration has moved to reopen hundreds of deportation cases closed under Obama
    Reuters
    Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson, Reuters

    (Reuters) – In September 2014, Gilberto Velasquez, a 38-year-old house painter from El Salvador, received life-changing news: The US government had decided to shelve its deportation action against him.

    The move was part of a policy change initiated by then-President Barack Obama in 2011 to pull back from deporting immigrants who had formed deep ties in the United States and whom the government considered no threat to public safety. Instead, the administration would prioritize undocumented immigrants who had committed serious crimes.

    Last month, things changed again for the painter, who has lived in the United States illegally since 2005 and has a US-born child. He received news that the government wanted to put his deportation case back on the court calendar, citing another shift in priorities, this time by President Donald Trump.

    The Trump administration has moved to reopen the cases of hundreds of undocumented immigrants who, like Velasquez, had been given a reprieve from deportation, according to government data and court documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with immigration lawyers.

    Trump signaled in January that he planned to dramatically widen the net of undocumented immigrants targeted for deportation, but his administration has not publicized its efforts to reopen immigration cases.

  16. 16.

    maurinsky

    I’m getting a pedicure with my daughter tonight; tomorrow I’m going to roadie for a benefit concert for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, and Sunday I send my kiddo off to Michigan for her summer job. Then it will be just me and my husband, alone in the house. Finally, we can walk around naked again.

  17. 17.

    LAO

    Any Drag Race fans, here? Any guesses on the final 3 tonight? I’m going with Sasha, Shea and Peppermint. I think Shea is going to win, but I like how weird Sasha is.

  18. 18.

    maurinsky

    I also have to move some leeks around in my garden and start piling dirt around them.

  19. 19.

    Bess

    “come down there” ????

    You’re the one at the ass-end of the country.

    There’s nothing more below you but a little bit of Texas.

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    If you haven’t seen it yet, this would be a good weekend to see “Wonder Woman,” a fun movie. Theaters won’t be as crowded as during the opening weekend, and a good turnout just might push domestic gross to $200 million.

    I’m having some fun with Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari, a look at what we’ve been up to over the past 70,000 years or so.

    A fair description from an Amazon reviewer:

    Harari focusses on the three great revolutions of human history: Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific. He asks how “An Animal of No Significance” managed to become the dominant life form, and whether that animal’s learning to produce his own food and then to further harness the natural world to his will through science were boons or setbacks, both for that animal and for the rest of the biosphere.

    And if you missed it, the science stories of the recent discoveries that may push the emergence of homo sapiens back another 100,000 years are really fascinating.

    The remains of five early Homo sapiens have been unearthed at a site in northwest Africa. At around 300,000 years old, the fossils are a whopping 100,000 years older than the previous record, pushing back the origin of our species by a significant margin. And because the fossils were uncovered in Morocco—far from the supposed origin point of our species—the discovery is also resetting our notions of where and how modern humans evolved.

    As always, don’t tell the creationists about any of this, because they get upset over anything that disputes the idea that the Earth is more than 6,000 years old.

  21. 21.

    LAO

    Another question, this time general — how stupid would it be for me to buy a new couch (puppy is currently 14 months old)? How long must I wait, she’s very destructive but not to furniture (yet?)?

  23. 23.

    jl

    Other than stewing about how Hillary is a corporate stooge and the devil and Bernie is a Russian spy and the devil, I am happy and the weather is beautiful here on the Left Coast.

  26. 26.

    Waratah

    My beautiful tomatoes and vegetable garden was shredded last night by hail. Will the tomatoes put out again?

  27. 27.

    Chris

    @rikyrah:

    but but but…it was gonna be CRIMINALS…remember?

    You gotta love it; Trump was saying that we should be very very scared about the tons of rapists and drug dealers coming over the border and someone should really do something about it, which is exactly what Obama was doing in the first place. He comes in, and his first action is to change priorities so that we’re no longer focusing on rapists and drug dealers, just anyone who crossed.

    This is what passes for “keeping us safe” on the right.

    (Of course, the previous “he kept us safe!” president was the guy on whose watch the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s history got through, so no surprise there).

  29. 29.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: I’m equally flummoxed. I have container plants that I’ve grown successfully for years, that are planted under the same conditions, and some are thriving while others just up and croaked. I don’t see any obvious signs of infestation or disease, so I don’t know what’s going on either.

  30. 30.

    Johannes

    I’m reading the new translation of The Red Sphinx, Alexandre Dumas’s late novel, which follows the action of The Three Musketeers by weeks, but has as its hero Cardinal Richelieu.

    Even late Dumas is good Dumas. The comedy is great, a character could have been written for 1970s Oliver Reed, and Richelieu is a boss.

  31. 31.

    dexwood

    My pets can sometimes be irritating bosses. What, I have to feed you again? What do you mean I must open the door for you?

    Dinner with friends this evening. Special screening of The Big Lebowski tomorrow evening with Jeff Bridges and T Bone Burnett present to speak and answer questions. These tickets are a really hot item I scored two months ago.

  32. 32.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes

    You get to a dinner party where there are two tables for five, one empty chair at each.

    The first table has Bernie, Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader and Bill Clinton already seated. Table two is occupied by Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump and Mark Halperin.

    Which table do you sit at?

  34. 34.

    gratuitous

    I’m reading Vincent LoBrutto’s biography of Stanley Kubrick. If you’re a photography buff sort of person, and particularly if you remember a time when cameras contained this substance called “film,” I recommend it to your attention. It’s also a good book for folks who enjoy Kubrick’s movies, though it was published in 1997, before Kubrick’s death and before he made the baffling “Eyes Wide Shut,” which I’m still trying to get to like.

    Humorous anecdote: After Kubrick had moved to England (where he had to brook less studio interference), he developed a troublesome tooth. He didn’t trust English dentists, and his assistant arranged to have his New York dentist flown over to Old Blighty. They had to set up a dentist office in the American embassy for the dentist to legally treat Kubrick on what would technically be American soil.

  36. 36.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes

    @LAO:

    Mind bogglingly stupid until the pup is at least 4.

  38. 38.

    raven

    The guy across the street is being evicted right now. I feel so bad for his little girl.

  40. 40.

    germy

    On 5 October 1888 Sir Arthur Sullivan attended a “Phonographic Dinner” given by George Gouraud at his London home, after which the guests were invited to record messages for Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph, furthering Edison’s idea that his new machine would become a replacement for written mail.

    Sir Arthur Sullivan’s message begins at 0:13, after an introduction by Edmund Yates. This is what he said:

    Dear Mr. Edison,

    If my friend Edmund Yates has been a little incoherent, it is in consequence of the excellent dinner, and good wine which he has drunk. Therefore, I beg you would excuse him. He has his lucid intervals. For myself, I can only say that I am astonished and somewhat terrified at the results of this evening’s experiment – astonished at the wonderful power you have developed, and terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music may be put on record forever. But all the same, I think it is the most wonderful thing that I have ever experienced, and I congratulate you with all my heart on this wonderful discovery.

    Arthur Sullivan

  41. 41.

    HeleninEire

    Books I’m reading? Just finished David Sedaris’ “Theft by Finding” Very good. Just started a Stephen King short story collection. Can’t remember the name of the book (he has a number of short story collections). But the first story was titled “Autopsy Room Four” Scared the shit out of me. Which I guess was King’s point.

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    @raven: So sorry, Raven. It must be hard to have tried but not succeeded over there. Good luck to the sweet little urchin.

  45. 45.

    LAO

    @amk: Don’t make me to choose. Both?

    ETA: to add a word that I left out since without it, my answer made less sense than I usually do.

  56. 56.

    delk

    What a difference a day makes!
    Yesterday I met with a whole slew of doctors and completely changed up my drug regimen. With just one day I feel remarkably better. Hopefully with a little bit of fine tuning I’ll feel human again. The last couple of months I have felt like I have been hit by a bus.

  57. 57.

    efgoldman

    BOSTON AREA JUICERS! COME DOWN TO FANEUIL HALL TOMORROW and join me for the Boston Festival of Bands.

    Going to the Pride March? Come down to Faneuil Hall afterwards. We’ll be there all day with a new concert band every hour from 1100am to 500pm (event ends at 600pm)

    The hall is upstairs above the shops. Stairway in the entrance directly across from Quincy Market. Elevator entrance on the left side of the building.

    Come listen and say hello.

  58. 58.

    Keith P.

    Ooh, President Trump will be taking TWO American questions at a press conference. Does Trump have the balls to have them come from Jeff Gannon and Jeff Guckert? I bet the questions suck.

  60. 60.

    germy

    Glenne Headly, star of films like Dick Tracy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Mr. Holland’s Opus, died Thursday night at the age of 63.

    R.I.P.

  61. 61.

    hovercraft

    Office Of Special Counsel: Trump’s Social Media Director Violated Hatch Act

    President Donald Trump’s official social media director was found to have violated the Hatch Act on Friday, for invoking his White House position while engaging in a political attack, the Office of Special Counsel wrote Friday.

    In a tweet on April 1, White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino urged the constituents of Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) to vote him out of office.

    Dan Scavino Jr.
    ✔
    @DanScavino

    [email protected] is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability.#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.
    12:33 PM – 1 Apr 2017

    1,581 1,581 Retweets
    3,257

    …………..The Office of Special Counsel agreed: Scavino, it said, “violated the Hatch Act.”

    “Specifically, you alleged on April 1, 2017, Mr. Scavino, while invoking his official position at the White House posted a tweet calling for the defeat of Representative Justin Amash in a primary election,” chief of the Hatch Act Unit, Ana Galindo-Marrone, wrote to CREW.

    Galindo-Marrone added that Scavino had been warned, and that her office would consider such activity in the future “willful and knowing violation of the law.”

    Can someone please explain to these assholes that the Federal Government is not their personal vengeance/ATM machine.

  64. 64.

    Immanentize

    @efgoldman: I think I will come! I thought after last year you vowed never to do this again? I am glad I either miss-remembered or you changed your mind.

  65. 65.

    Miss Bianca

    @Johannes: Ooh! Never heard of “The Red Sphinx”, and I’m saying this as a Dumas fan for whom “The Three Musketeers” is a desert-island read! Which new translation is this?

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    @LAO: Depends partly on breed and the individual dog but I’d say two years is the minimum and can go up from there. An active but housebound dog, maybe never.

    p.s. We have a 13 MO pup and it’s definitely not time for furniture shopping.

  68. 68.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @germy: Oh no. I remember seeing her, John Malkovich, and Gary Sinise at the Steppenwolf Theater, back when the world was young. A lot of talent in that troupe.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @LAO: @Miss Bianca:
    Depends on what direction she is destructive? Sometimes pets just pick a particular object of attack and leave other stuff alone. My cat is all about the rugs, but leaves every bit of furniture alone. But my friend’s dog. Pluto, chews wood even if it is a chair leg or kitchen island. But the couches are fine.

  71. 71.

    ruemara

    @rikyrah: Mike Gruenwald did a series of tweets of people he met and talked to during the primaries about who they would vote for and I recall two laughing latino guys in their 20’s saying both side were the same so they were voting for Trump for lulz since it didn’t matter and he was funnier.

    I sincerely hope they lose friends and family, like all the people they’ve put in danger.

  72. 72.

    grrljock

    We went to see “Wonder Woman” on Wednesday, as I consider it my semi-radical lesbian duty to contribute to its box office receipts. Went with summer superhero expectations, came a way liking it, but wishing we could just stay on Themyscira and sign up to General Antiope’s training program. Grateful for Patty Jenkins’ female gaze direction, Gal Gadot’s charm, and Chris Pine’s ease at being the sidekick (this particular Chris must be doing something right with his part in this movie and Ava DuVernay’s “Wrinkle in Time”), Go see it y’all!

  74. 74.

    Immanentize

    @raven: That is really sad. And evictions in Georgia are notoriously “thorough.” Is there any way to stay in tune with the kid? Not necessarily in touch — just tracking?

  76. 76.

    LAO

    @Immanentize: How’s your wife feeling? How are you doing? I hope all is progressing well with her chemo.

    In professional news that you’d appreciate, my law partner convinced the 2d Circuit to reverse and remand a drug and murder conviction because the district court improperly admitted hearsay evidence. (To suggest he wasn’t stunned, would be an understatement).

    To all those who maybe concerned — I’m quite confident that the defendant will be convicted again at re-trial, only this time maybe the government won’t cheat.

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    @raven: What an awful situation for that little kid. Can you maintain any kind of relationship with her, or steer her to a good mentor.

    It’s awful to see little kids with promise and have the adults in their life squander it.

    What does mrs. raven think?

  78. 78.

    Chris

    @ruemara:

    The one time I got cussed out while canvassing for the Dems, it was by an immigrant who, based on appearance and thick accent, is most definitely on Trump’s watch list by now. (Being cussed out for being a public nuisance would be one thing, but it was specifically because, as he proudly said, “we are Republicans!”) I kind of feel the same way about him.

  79. 79.

    hovercraft

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes:

    Table two is occupied by Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump and Mark Halperin.

    Which table do you sit at?

    Table two, girls need to stick together, and I spent many a miserable dinner being politely obnoxious when my Dada was an ambassador and they forced me to attend the snooze fests. Hillary and I could take turns skewering Twitler and he’d never even know that he was being insulted. I’d need shots before hand of course. Rush is like Twitler, a coward and he starts stuttering when engaged by someone he can’t hang up on, Halpern would be my biggest challenge, not stabbing him with my fork would require all my self control.

  83. 83.

    HeleninEire

    @germy: When I need a really good cry I open up a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and fire up Mr. Holland’s Opus.

    Stop judging me, y’all.

  84. 84.

    jl

    @Keith P.:
    ” President Trump will be taking TWO American questions at a press conference. ”

    Please tell us how total your vindication was yesterday when former FBI director Comey swore that you were, are, and will be, innocent of everything forever. Thank you in advance.

    Please tell how the unconstitutional schmuck Comey is a total liar and scummy fink for ratting you out by revealing classified confidential secret society Trump conversations (c) and he is now illegal, your Excellency and my beloved Commander in Chief.of all real Americans.

  85. 85.

    hovercraft

    @amk:
    Twitler, because he’s the moron paying the other moron fifteen hundred dollars an hour.

  86. 86.

    Major Major Major Major

    Weekend plans? Cooking? Pets? Irritating bosses? Read any good books lately?

    This weekend I’m going to work on my book and my comic, and try out some new Chinese recipes from the book we got. Don’t know which yet, something with meat and nuts, fish if we’re ambitious.

    The character whose passage I’m working on right now in my book is just feeing the liberation of not having an irritating boss for the first time in his young life, his sushi apprenticeship having just ended. The main character in my comic will be getting an irritating boss soon.

    And of course my cat is fuzzy.

    Man, you really accidentally listed all my weekend plans.

  88. 88.

    LAO

    Thanks for all the couch advice — I’m going to wait. She part beagle, part pit bull and although she is not destructive of furniture, she is a natural born destroyer of everything else. (her toys, shoes, dog beds, blankets, pillows, all things paper and hard plastic)

  91. 91.

    Miss Bianca

    @Immanentize: Luna the Wonder Husky was a terror about almost anything that caught her fancy if she was left alone in the house and bored (and don’t speak to me about crates – she managed to *escape* her crate and run riot, shredding her blankie-pillow and chewing the couch, the one time I was injudicious enough to leave her crated alone in the house – now the crate is a purely ceremonial hidey-hole and never shut on her), but with particular emphasis on…my shoes. I don’t have one pair of unchewed sandals left, and the dress-blacks I got from the army surplus store for my step-dancing shoes are…altered in interesting ways. She’s five now. :)

  94. 94.

    Immanentize

    @LAO:

    (To suggest he wasn’t stunned, would be an understatement).

    I read that and I’m stunned — for an 803 violation? It must have been one critical piece of hearsay! I tell my evidence students that hearsay objection have to be fought out and won at trial because they almost never win on appeal. Here is the exception that proves the rule. Congrats to your partner.

    On the other front — thanks for asking. She is in the middle of her cycle, so she is exhausted but not debilitated — still working mostly from home. Two more three week cycles (starting next Friday) and then another PET scan. The chemo is so brutal, but maybe working some. Oof.

  95. 95.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @jl: Question one: “Your presidency has the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?”

    Question two: “I love you.”

  96. 96.

    LAO

    @Miss Bianca:

    now the crate is a purely ceremonial hidey-hole and never shut on her

    LOL — in my home, the crate (which Maggie never voluntarily entered) is the place where I put things I don’t want her to chew. Nothing, but nothing, will voluntarily get her into her crate.

  97. 97.

    hovercraft

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    He’s his long term lawyer, apparently he actually pays him and Steve “Says Who” Cohen, the rest not so much.
    The other night Rachel told the story of him hiring a lawyer to defend him against some contractors who sued him for non payment, who then had to turn around and sue him for not paying them, based on the case, you’d think they would’ve demanded payment up front.

  98. 98.

    Immanentize

    @Miss Bianca: I love Huskies — especially Wonder Huskies! I went to Northeastern U. (Montessori Law School) so I am a version of a Husky myself. Shoes are just another leather chew toy to some….

  99. 99.

    jacy

    I’ve had this odd and very unsettling feeling for the last week, and finally figured out what it is — I think it’s contentment. It’s lovely here — not too hot yet, and not raining. Threw out some old junk and put together a list of projects to do to improve the homestead. One kid is off on his first big adventure in Chicago, and the youngest is finishing up a week at cooking camp in New Orleans where he had a blast, and now promises to make me chocolate mousse next week. And my daughter has an interview for a teaching job at a school she’s been waiting to get into, which would make a huge difference in her life, so if anybody has any good thoughts to spare, toss them her way!

  102. 102.

    Starfish

    @currants: It’s usually something that looks like a guitar pick but maybe slightly more sturdy. You can usually find “how to” videos on youtube for your phone and how to tear it apart.

  103. 103.

    LAO

    @Immanentize: My fingers remained crossed — hopefully these next few weeks won’t be so terrible for her.

    The decision was published on the 6th on the Circuit’s website — it’s basically a 41 page decision on what is and what isn’t harmless error; because even though the evidence against the defendant was overwhelming — the hearsay was too toxic for the Court to ignore.

  104. 104.

    efgoldman

    @Immanentize:

    I thought after last year you vowed never to do this again?

    Someday we plan to move to the DC area to be near our kids. At that point I will give it up. OTOH, we’ve been associated with MetWinds (the sponsoring band) for ~40 years, so we’ll see. (in the days before they could afford fancy printed programs, I did live announcing for every concert).

  105. 105.

    Johannes

    @Miss Bianca: It’s a 2016 translation by Lawrence Ellsworth that takes a little known late novel, and adds the novella that wraps its story up. More here.

    I’m a fan of all of Dumas (OK, except Cinq-Mars, which I haven’t read) but especially of the Musketeer Cycle or D’Artagnan Romances as they’re sometimes called. This is a fun from-the-other-side look at the semi-baddies of the earlier novel (Richelieu, Louis XIII).

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    As always, don’t tell the creationists about any of this, because they get upset over anything that disputes the idea that the Earth is more than 6,000 years old.

    That sounds like a very, very good reason to tell them.

  107. 107.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @currants: Looks like the link at #39 answers the call (so to speak)…but I’m curious as to why you’d want what is essentially a dumb phone with a second SIM slot. No use for a GPS or translation software or chapter-by-chapter on-demand downloads of travel guides or e-mail or browsing or games or anything else?

    (FWIW I hope you have better luck with the Tank II than I’ve had with my “smart” BLU Studio X Plus, which I obtained because it had 2 SIM slots but has been a fustercluck of ipecac proportions.)

  108. 108.

    Miss Bianca

    @LAO: Oh, that is funny! Luna will crate herself when she is feeling threatened – like when I want to give her blowy-outy coat a good brushing, for example! – but her latest spots for crashing are in front of the upstairs couch (the DVD-watching spot), and lately, curled up by the toilet in the upstairs bathroom. That’s her new sleeping spot – she’ll start in the crate, but now invariably by the time I get up for my first nightly pee, there’s a Husky Bagel in the bathroom.

    @Immanentize: Huskies are the best. Thanks for the update on Mrs. Immanetize.

  109. 109.

    raven

    @Immanentize: I can’t imagine they are going to be able to find somewhere to lie in our school district. He’s become a pariah with many of the teachers and parents because of his actions. Lots of people have tried to help but, in the end, bailed out. It’s unhappy all around.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @Johannes:
    Welcome to climate change? Even subtle changes can effect some plants, weather patterns, over all temperature changes of small amounts, pollution changes from climate change……….

  111. 111.

    JeanneT

    LOL — in my home, the crate (which Maggie never voluntarily entered) is the place where I put things I don’t want her to chew. Nothing, but nothing, will voluntarily get her into her crate.

    If you ever want to change that, check out the video Crate Games by Susan Garrett (I bought mine from Dogwise.com). I used her basic techniques with some of my private dog training students and it was AMAZING how fast most dogs decided that their crates were fabulous places.

  116. 116.

    LAO

    @JeanneT: A serious response — I was working with a trainer, it was her opinion that something very traumatic had happened to Maggie prior to her rescue and adoption because her reaction to the crate was very over the top. We did get her settle there, and I used it for 6 months when I wasn’t home. But once I grew more confident in her and was able to gate an appropriate space, I started leaving her out of the crate. She has been much better behaved (TILL YESTERDAY) and she has always preferred under the couch as her safe space.

  118. 118.

    AliceBlue

    I’ve read a number of good books so far this year, but if I had to recommend just one, it would be “The Blood of Emmett Till” by Timothy Tyson.

    HeleninEire–the collection you’re reading is “Everything’s Eventual” and you’re in for some treats, especially “The Road Virus Heads North” and “Riding the Bullet” (my favorite).

  120. 120.

    Ruckus

    @delk:
    I’ve had that. The medicine may help something but the side effects can be so annoying that you’d rather have the original issue back. I had one that on the second day after stopping it, it was like someone turned the lights back on. It brightened up noticeably, everything wasn’t some shade of gray. Yeah the pain is back but life is still better.

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo fka Edmund Dantes:

    You get to a dinner party where there are two tables for five, one empty chair at each.

    The first table has Bernie, Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader and Bill Clinton already seated. Table two is occupied by Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump and Mark Halperin.

    Which table do you sit at?

    Is this a trick question? First table. It would be far more fun. The only person worth talking to at the second table would be HRC.

  122. 122.

    Bruce K

    @currants: I checked for the manual for that phone on Teh Intarweebs (copyright John Scalzi) and it says the cover’s just supposed to slide off. You may have to push down to undo a catch or two; I don’t know.

    (My search terms were “Blu Tank II manual”; I’d post the link, but I’m afraid of the auto-moderator.)

  123. 123.

    bemused

    We bought new garden hoses and I was appalled when I hosed water into a pail. The water was sudzing and smelled odd, like rubber. Even running water for a long time, it still didn’t look or smell “right”.
    So I learned there are hoses made that are “drinking water safe”. I’ve just started asking friends if they are aware of this because we weren’t. We went back to our old hoses because we fill our dogs water pail with hose and grow vegetables. I don’t even want to water my flowers and shrubs with the new hoses. I have no idea what brand of hoses we should look into for safe water yet but the new hoses just freaked me out.

  124. 124.

    Ruckus

    @hovercraft:
    That lawyer is a moron. Working for drumpf for only $1500/hr? That hardly sounds like enough. Four or five times that, with a no return retainer of $250,000. To take the first call. Maybe And that’s pushing the lower limit. Hard.

  125. 125.

    Miss Bianca

    Speaking of reading…I am in the middle of William Shatner’s new collection, “Spirit of the Horse”, which is essentially a bunch of fact and fiction pieces about horses thru’ the ages, interspersed with his own tales about horses he’s known and loved. Since my attention span for reading appears to have become distressingly limited all of a sudden (not sure whether this is a function of age or general bizzyness or both), a book full of short pieces is right up my alley right now.

    Anyway, as someone obsessed with both horses and politics, I thought this observation of Shatner’s was interesting, upon the relation between horsemanship and leadership, and how the decline of the former, in his opinion, has led to a decline in the quality of the latter:

    What we see today are a lot of leaders who incite survival instincts rather than cooperation, with the result that people are becoming more aggressive and flighty rather than building or relying on the strength of the herd. We’re losing that capacity of the individual to lead. We’re losing that because people are not trained to ride anymore. We have people who have not served an apprenticeship commanding in the field, who have only sat at a desk their whole lives, and as a result we’re devolving. We’re actually becoming more frightened and more aggressive, and inciting more fear and aggression in others, rather than overriding our basic survival instincts – which is the entire purpose of a “civilization”, just as a herd: to provide mutual protection and empathy, to become elevated to a higher level of awareness and wisdom and what I would call evolution.

  127. 127.

    trollhattan

    @bemused:
    Learned of this when we got a camper van and needed a hose to fill the water tank. RV places sell such hoses, which have non-reactive and I suppose food-grade linings.

  131. 131.

    cope

    @bemused: I bought a “drinking safe” water hose from the auto supply department in (shudders) Walmart for the athletic training room at the high school where I used to teach and coach.

  132. 132.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Two festivals here in Bawlmer this weekend: the Honfest (think Hairspray) on the Avenue in Hampden, & St. Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church festival in the southeastern corner of the city. The former for ambiance, the latter for vittles & dancing.

  133. 133.

    Mike in NC

    Last night we watched “War Machine” on Netflix. Good black comedy about our endless nation-building effort in Afghanistan, starring Bad Pitt as a narcissistic four star general.

  134. 134.

    Ruckus

    @Miss Bianca:
    That’s a great thing he wrote.
    As a culture we are trying to learn to blend in in all the wrong ways. Rather than open up the concept of belonging, we are closing down the width of acceptance.

  136. 136.

    MomSense

    @LAO:

    Do you supervise puppy every minute and crate puppy when you are not there? If yes and yes then yes.

    If no and no then definitely no.

    I speak from experience.

  137. 137.

    Karen

    Yesterday, I finally potted up all my tomato seedlings and set them out in yard; we had frost the other morning and am hoping that was the end of it. I lost the first batch to freeze, am not sure if some of berry bushes will come back or if they have been killed. Renting so doing garden in pots, the only two things doing good are bearded iris and wild strawberries.

  140. 140.

    SgrAstar

    I just finished the Liu Cixin’s riveting trilogy about alien contact, The Three Body Problem. Thought provoking and unnerving. Also too, Hugo Award winner. Dark Forest hypothesis…brrrrrr.

  144. 144.

    Karen

    @Brachiator: I still like the theory that this is/was a prison planet that undesirables were banished to; since every that supports humans appears to be about same age.
    someone suggested that “Seven Daughters of Eve” actually supports that theory; I don’t remember where I heard or read that, have continued to learn since college back in early 70’s and my first hard drive, filing cabinets are all in storage shed the one in back of mind

  145. 145.

    efgoldman

    @hovercraft:

    He’s his long term lawyer, apparently he actually pays him and Steve “Says Who” Cohen, the rest not so much.

    He’s strictly civil litigation the Hair Furor way, right? He might find criminal defense against the federal government another thing altogether.

  146. 146.

    Quinerly

    Still pissed with Poco. Still repairing basement damage. Now that has evolved in cleaning out the basement. Took a break from the dust to spray black wrought iron chairs. Listening to Mark Knopfler (very wise man!❤) and trying to stay away from all things politics. Kicked my broken two year old pressure washer. That helped…me not it.

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    The fact that they found them with evidence of tools and fire use shouldn’t necessarily change where humans first emerged since that’s decent evidence that they were already pretty advanced and could well have migrated there.

    There have apparently been some anomalous human fossils found in California that put the original dates of the land-bridge theory in doubt because they’re older than when scientists were estimating humans first came across the land-bridge from Asia.

  150. 150.

    Karen

    @HeleninEire: did you read the interview with King? he said that the horror in Oval Office is worse than anything he could have imagine, because this is real life and not fiction

  151. 151.

    Miss Bianca

    @Johannes: thanks for the info, I will add it to my list!

    @Ruckus: the other great quote by Shatner I’m digging right now, because it just so sums up the “Why We Do This” for the non-horse-mad:

    The natural reaction of non-horse people, when I talk about some of the horse-riding accidents I’ve had, is, “Bill, why would any sane, reasonable person want to pursue this?” And they have a point. If i’m injured, acting is not something I can easily pursue from a hospital bed. But when you love something – anything – sanity and practicality are not always your guiding principles

  153. 153.

    Karen

    @LAO: I have my pit bull trained to only attack her rope, when I got my first dog at age of 12 my dad sent both of us to training. I have never had any problems with puppies, rehomed, rescued dogs, or just new; but it takes work housebreaking puppy is easy compared to getting through the chewing stage. I can say one thing, dogs are so much easier than children.

  154. 154.

    bemused

    @trollhattan:
    @cope:

    Thx for the info. My husband bought 2 sets of hoses from Home Depot and 2 from Menards. Two for house front tap and other two for back of house. (We have a big yard.) One pair did say drinking water safe on label but it didn’t look much different coming out of the not safe for drinking hoses. I think I need to do some research to find out what brands are actually as safe as the companies claim.

  155. 155.

    PaulWartenberg

    An old friend from high school has an extra U2 ticket for Tampa because her family’s unable to go. She is letting me buy it for face value (plus fees).

    I’ve taken care of a few things writing-wise that is clearing up my cluttered mind, I hope this means I can move forward on more writing.

    If you’re playing Pokemon Go, starting June 13th they will host a special event that will spawn more Fire/Ice Pokemon… which may mean an uptick in Charmanders!

  157. 157.

    gratuitous

    @Karen: One of the things I liked about Eyes Wide Shut is that Kubrick got Cruise to play someone who isn’t 100% sure about everything he says, thinks, and does. But LoBrutto’s biography definitely has me wanting to watch my 2001 and Paths of Glory DVDs again.

  159. 159.

    hovercraft

    @efgoldman:

    He’s strictly civil litigation the Hair Furor way, right? He might find criminal defense against the federal government another thing altogether.

    Yup, he was the superstar that won that case in front of that biased Mexican Judge Curiel, he did great with that one, his client only had to pay out 25 million. He’s a superstar, as his error ridden statement yesterday shows.

  160. 160.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    The fact that they found them with evidence of tools and fire use shouldn’t necessarily change where humans first emerged since that’s decent evidence that they were already pretty advanced and could well have migrated there.

    Well, these finds, along with discoveries in South Africa, certainly complicates the idea that early modern humans “originated” in East Africa. It also complicates ideas about how long it might have taken early modern humans to radiate all over Africa. These discoveries also make it easy to imagine that a group of humans might have moved from North Africa into Europe earlier than scientists currently think.

    But this stuff is exciting because it suggests that more and more sites need to be considered for the search of human fossils. I love it that my original books on human evolution have more and more chapters that are totally out of date and need to be re-written.

    There have apparently been some anomalous human fossils found in California that put the original dates of the land-bridge theory in doubt because they’re older than when scientists were estimating humans first came across the land-bridge from Asia.

    Very true. Of course the dates of these migrations are hundreds of thousands of years later than the finds now being evaluated.

  162. 162.

    Mnemosyne

    @gratuitous:

    I am not a Cruise fan, but he was able to take those lessons and be a better actor in films like Minority Report and Edge of Tomorrow.

  165. 165.

    Origuy

    A friend of mine reviewed a new book on American history. Autumn of the Black Snake by William Hoagland is about a war you’ve probably never heard of. George Washington sent General “Mad” Anthony Wayne to fight a combined force of Native Americans over the Ohio Territory.
    I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.

  166. 166.

    Karen

    @gratuitous: haven’t been in mood for biographies, with all the shit in news (no tv, wasn’t worth the cost of satellite or cable when have internet) have been rereading paranormal romances. I have Noah Chomsky’s latest and a couple on wish list with B&N but there is only so much a person can handle.
    Will put book suggested on wish list; live in middle of nowhere when it comes to books.

  167. 167.

    Karen

    @Brachiator: when I was still living in WI there was small story about well digging company that found “primitive” toys 125 feet down. It was considered a hoax, since that would have put the toys in area before the last ice age in midwest.

  169. 169.

    Karen

    @Brachiator: oh, did you see the piece the other day; they found Roman sword and other tools in north america that “prove” that Roman’s explored new world at same time they were conquering British Isle?

  170. 170.

    germy

    @DougJ: Corbyn proves Bernie would have won

    Joy Reid‏Verified account @JoyAnnReid 6h6 hours ago

    The problem with retroactively applying the UK election to the US election is that it’s more likely that absent a Trump win, the Tories win.

  171. 171.

    Karen

    For anyone have gardening problems this year, I remembered something my great grandmother told me that weather, soil and water help nourish plants they are also sensitive to emotions of people. She firmly and strongly believed that, and if the past 60 years of growing plants have taught me anything it is that she was correct.
    what makes it even better? scientists have now “proven” that trees talk to each other, that plants are all connected in some way

  172. 172.

    Brachiator

    @Karen:

    oh, did you see the piece the other day; they found Roman sword and other tools in north america that “prove” that Roman’s explored new world at same time they were conquering British Isle?

    No, I didn’t know about this. Doesn’t sound like much in the way of organized colonization, but I would not surprise me.

  174. 174.

    Karen

    @Waratah: tomatoes put out? okay, done laughing and rolling on floor; you have enough time to start over; plants want to finish life cycle. You can either try trimming back all the damaged or starting over. If you start over I suggest heirlooms, they are more forgiving and seem to recover when others won’t

  177. 177.

    Brachiator

    @Karen:

    have you read “1421, the year China Discovered America”

    Read reviews, but not the book itself. I should probably throw it on my “to read” list.

  179. 179.

    Camembert

    @Brachiator: It’s been fairly well established that a few folks made it back and forth reasonably regularly. Basque fishing grounds outside Newfoundland, Roman and Chinese coins in South America, some linguistic clues here and there. The big issue is that it was just a little too far and a little too not worth trading regularly until the combination of specific Euro navigation tech and Spanish rapaciousness lead to long-term conquest and settlement.

  180. 180.

    Karen

    @Origuy: @Origuy: it is like anything else, you have got to pay attention to the gems and throw away the garbage. I have found a few good things, but I totally remember what I was taught that everyone who publishes does so in their own best interests. dogs, alive; some publish shit and some actually have a clue. I didn’t believe the theory of pyramids in North America, then I saw the findings of lake fished in. The local fish “club” sprang for money to have lake bottom mapped after claims of “Atlantis In American” we knew based on fishing there was something in middle of lake. So Rock Lake WIsconsin has a pyramid, but that has been a lake since the end of last ice age.
    So I have always tried to have an open mind about anything doing with archeology. There are too many questions and not enough answers, my problem is knowing there should be answers. We know only so much, every time a place is conquered the victors rewrite history. I have doubted since I was a child and was told that the ark landed in Turkey and the highest mountain was in Himalayas

  181. 181.

    BruceFromOhio

    Drinking beer the brew crew crafted five weeks ago and bottled last week. Burping from mondo awesome ribs from the corner rib shop. Surfing for happenings in St. Louis on Sunday, and I think I scored: a Mississippi River cruise on Sunday afternoon sponsored by a local craft brewery, featuring local pickers. I do believe I have found my diversion. And probably more ribs and beer from the local instance of the Flying Saucer. Our way of governing may be vertically fornicated, but Gaia-dammit, I’m going down drinking and eating.

  183. 183.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Mnemosyne: Edge of Tomorrow is like a sci-fi version of Groundhog Day. And Cruise played it with humility, which could not have been easy. Also had a great Bill Paxton role as the drill sergeant, Gaia rest his bones.

  184. 184.

    Nancy

    @maurinsky: One of the great parts of empty nesthood. Sad friends facing college and summer camp for the first time are always a bit shocked when I tell them.

  185. 185.

    rmthunter

    Nice butterfly. Haven’t seen many here in Chicago — yet. They’ll show up.

    As for the rest, we’re promised a Florida-style heat wave over the next week or so — highs in the lower 90s through Wednesday, then “moderating” to the upper 80s. I’ll be spending a lot of time in the park — along with most of the rest of the city. We still have things blooming — peonies and roses, mostly, but the Siberian and Japanese irises are going strong, and of course, the wildflowers around the wildlife sanctuaries.

    And it’s cooler near the lake.

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