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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Odds and Ends (Open Thread)

Odds and Ends (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  July 29, 20184:52 pm| 213 Comments

This post is in: Birdwatching, Dog Blogging, Open Threads, Politics, Assholes, General Stupidity

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Something tells me new indictments may be forthcoming:

This follows an extended rant about unfair treatment in the press, doubling down on the press as the “Enemy of the People,” and threats to shut down the government this fall because Democrats (who don’t control any branch of government) won’t give him money for the wall Mexico was supposed to pay for.

It’s a good thing we’re paying tens of millions of dollars to shuttle Hair Furor back and forth between self-branded golf resorts. Imagine how much more deranged he’d be if he didn’t relax on the links!

In other news, Jake Tapper sure can be a cockwaffle sometimes:

Fuck you, Jake.

Lastly, we were checking out some property in the country, and we took Badger along to 1) give Daisy a break from his constant harassment, and 2) ensure he learns to be a good road trip dog. The property we were inspecting had a pasture next to it that was occupied by an emu:

As a small breed pup, Badger weighs around 10 pounds currently. He’ll likely max out at around 20-25 pounds. My guess is he’ll grow wider rather than much taller than he is right now. He’s used to eye-balling chickens through a fence. I wish I had video of him processing the sight of this giant bird. It looked something like this:

But he charged at it to the limits of his leash and barked his head off because he’s a foolish boy. I kept him from getting within striking distance. The bird was neither afraid nor impressed, not even a little bit.

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

213Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    So the
    Emu == Obamas, Badger == Tapper?
    P.S. Don’t you already live in the country?

  2. 2.

    p.a.

    July 29, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    So… the name Badger turned out to be prophetic!

  3. 3.

    Cheryl Rofer

    July 29, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    Paul Manafort’s trial begins Tuesday.

    Trump probably doesn’t like Sulzberger talking back to him. WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS, THE PUBLISHER OF THE NEW YORK TIMES?

  4. 4.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    We went to see Mama Mia this afternoon. It was fun, but if they wanted us to believe the other women could sing, they shouldn’t have let Cher do it.

  5. 5.

    satby

    July 29, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    On my way to the NYC meetup now!

  6. 6.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    @satby: Have fun!

  7. 7.

    Teddys Person

    July 29, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    Tapper’s gonna hurt himself reaching for that “but both sides” bullshit.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2018 at 5:00 pm

    Fuck you, Jake.

    Agree 1,000 percent.

    From Reuters.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would allow the federal government to shut down if Democrats do not fund his border wall and back immigration law changes, betting that maintaining a hard line will work in Republicans’ favor in November congressional elections.

    Fuck Trump, too. We can categorically reject cruelty and support rational immigration reform. Fuck every pundit and reporter who falls for Trump’s false equivalency.

  9. 9.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    July 29, 2018 at 5:00 pm

    How much longer can this shitbag hold it together? More to the point, how much longer can Republicans cover for him? It seems like he’s losing it–though it’s hard to see how he ever had it to begin with…

  10. 10.

    p.a.

    July 29, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I’m putting up a Craig’s List ad looking for tachyons; there can’t be worse timelines in the multiverse.

  11. 11.

    Humdog

    July 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    I think I remember you tellling us Badger is kinda chicken shit himself, letting Daisy do guard duty while he barks from the safety of far away. My husband thinks being on a leash gives our Peanut confidence she doesn’t have off leash. When she’s off leash, she approaches other dogs and people very cautiously, from the side and ready to dart away if needed. On a leash, she barks, gets her back up a tad and lunges straight toward dogs. Yeah, our Peanut needs some help, or we do.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    July 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    Sitting in the Irish pub for meet-up. Three jackals so far…

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    Wow. Even given my pretty moderate expectations for Tapper in particular and his ilk in general, that’s some major douche-itude. If Obama had been campaigning for someone, Tapper or more likely Dowd would be banging the “he thinks it’s all about him” drum. I hope and trust he got roasted in the replies.

    and that tweet about Mueller’s conflicts of interest and “I turned him down” is the sort of thing that makes me think Junior– or Jared– is about to be indicted.

  14. 14.

    Teddys Person

    July 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    how much longer can Republicans cover for him?

    If they’re anything like soybean farmers, “to the death.”

  15. 15.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    We went to see Mama Mia this afternoon. It was fun, but if they wanted us to believe the other women could sing, they shouldn’t have let Cher do it.

    Does Cher sing “Fernando?”

    I hear that there is a post credit scene that people may want to stick around for.

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    Hey B Crack. Did Time pay you for this pic of Badger they used on their cover?

  17. 17.

    Это курам на смех

    July 29, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    Thank you, Ms. Cracker, for a hearty laugh. Don’t ever change.

  18. 18.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    Therefore, the Witch Hunt is an Illegal Scam!

    I love when he uses Logic.

  19. 19.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    We saw Sorry To Bother You for a second time. Lots of little things I didn’t notice the first time around.

  20. 20.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    @NotMax: 3 jackals walk into a pub..

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    @Teddys Person:

    If they’re anything like soybean farmers, “to the death.”

    Personally, I am happy with their terms and am in agreement.

  22. 22.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    I just finished watching the first season of the Crown. Was Prince Philip such a whiny little shit IRL?

  23. 23.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:09 pm

    @Corner Stone: I made really good beef roganjosh the other day. I wish I had some naan to sop up the juices.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Tapper is a douche. Criticizing POTUS Obama for living his life is garbage. But pointing out some facts should not be immediately dismissed.

  25. 25.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: That’s it. Done with you. *looks up flight schedules to somewhere in the NE*.

  26. 26.

    Chyron HR

    July 29, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Which facts? That the Democratic party is allegedly at it’s “weakest” (based on some undefined metric)? Or that Obama rhymes with “numb digger”?

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    July 29, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    @Brachiator: Shutdowns usually get blamed on either the party in power or the party that fomented the shutdown.

    Or, in this hypothetical case, both.

    Even if, as is likely, Trump doesn’t understand this, Ryan and McConnell do. They’re not going to stick their necks out for Trump’s Wall a month before the midterms. The Freedom Caucus lunatics might, of course.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Haha, I’m going to see it Tuesday, and I saw the trailer and am worried about this very thing. Cher just blows them all away. There’s something to be said for a characterful voice.

  29. 29.

    oldgold

    July 29, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    I wonder if there is something afoot with Manafort that has set Trump off this afternoon.

  30. 30.

    Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi)

    July 29, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @NotMax: got an attack of the introverts, hope you all have fun. Maybe next time…

  31. 31.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I believe so.

  32. 32.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    @Corner Stone: Hartford is the closest airport.

  33. 33.

    debbie

    July 29, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    The next WH hire has got to be a teacher of remedial English. This is embarrassing.

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    The only “conflicts of interest with respect to Lying Littledick” is that Mueller is an honest, upstanding man who is (A) following the law and (B) trying to do something FOR, not TO, America.

    Unlike the Fuckhead-in-Chief.

  35. 35.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2018 at 5:19 pm

    @Brachiator: Yes, she does.

    And yes there’s a credit scene that’s fun to watch.

  36. 36.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:19 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Poor Lilibet.

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 5:20 pm

    @JamilSmith
    Following Following @JamilSmith
    More
    I wasn’t aware that @BarackObama was enjoying a concert on the same night that he should’ve been saving the Democratic Party. Or that after an admittedly flawed presidency during which he managed to rescue the country from recession, he is not allowed to dance to Beyoncé. Got it.

    4:04 PM – 29 Jul 2018 from California, USA

    https://twitter.com/JamilSmith/status/1023675576534544386

  38. 38.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Even if, as is likely, Trump doesn’t understand this, Ryan and McConnell do. They’re not going to stick their necks out for Trump’s Wall a month before the midterms.

    Good point. And even if they did, this would end up hurting Trump.

  39. 39.

    p.a.

    July 29, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @dmsilev: Trump has promised threatened to go all-out campaigning for Rethugs this fall. Their invitations should come pouring in to the WH any day now. Gotta figure anyone who actually wants Trump around wouldn’t need him anyway.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    July 29, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    He had an entirely different attitude when he guested on Colbert last week.

  41. 41.

    B.B.A.

    July 29, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @dmsilev: I think he thinks a shutdown means he doesn’t have to work, and can spend the whole rest of his term doing what he loves – watching Fox and ragetweeting.

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @p.a.: They are scared to death of the racist, ignorant base they have cultivated for 30+ years. They never thought…

  43. 43.

    Teddys Person

    July 29, 2018 at 5:25 pm

    Well Bobby Three Sticks should just pack it in. Rudy 9/11 was on the CBS moring show and dropped this little nugget.

    Giuliani: A lot of his tweets have been very helpful. The reason he may not have to testify is that he’s laid out his defense very clearly, …

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    July 29, 2018 at 5:25 pm

    @Brachiator:

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would allow the federal government to shut down

    Trump will sign whatever is handed to him, like he did last time. There is no bigger chickenshit in the world.

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    how much longer can Republicans cover for him?

    If it involves just saying ‘Nuh-uh, YOU’RE the criminal’, forever. There’s nothing to stop them. Seriously, have you seen any sign they care about decency at all? Actually actively sticking their neck out and interfering for him is iffy and depends on the Republican. McConnell would happily introduce an Apartheid bill into the Senate right now if he thought he had the votes.

  45. 45.

    Jeffro

    July 29, 2018 at 5:28 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    that tweet about Mueller’s conflicts of interest and “I turned him down” is the sort of thing that makes me think Junior– or Jared– is about to be indicted.

    I think it all drops in the next week or two. There’s almost nothing left to look into – Mueller’s had everything, EVERYTHING, for months if not a year or more.
    – Don Jr
    – Jared
    – Parscale
    – Stone
    – Page

    Anyway…that Trumpov, he sure acts like an innocent man, doesn’t he? If he’s so sure he’s clean and the “Witch Hunt” is illegal/baseless/both, why doesn’t he fire Mueller and shut it all down? Go for it, you fucking orange moron. The midterms (and House Dem subpoena power) sure are getting closer, aren’t they?

  46. 46.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I loved the first one, and was a bit sketchy bout seeing this one, but I’ve gone ahead and enrolled in that AMC A-list thing where you pay one montly price and you can see up to 3 current movies in one week, and I’ll have some free time in Miami before I check in to the hotel and while I wait for the other members of my party to arrive…so I figured I see a movie or two while I wait…HMM

    I saw Mission Impossible this past Friday, and I really liked it.

    I won’t say too much, in case folks plan to see it, but what I will say that this film was the BEST use of Henry Cavill I have ever seen. I like the way they used him in this film much more than I EVER liked him as Superman, or any other films I’ve seen him in.

    If his agent is paying attention, they should be looking for more roles like that one for Henry…he was perfect, even being the weakest in the acting cast (I mean come on, he was working with Baldwin, Cruise & Angela Bassett, neither 3 a slouch in the acting department).

    Anyway, I may see Mamma Mia while I wait for flights to arrive

  47. 47.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Lil Bit is doing ok. I took her temp and it’s good so we just have to see what develops with the cough.

    Are you aware of the large Indian and Pakistani population in Houston? The Anthony Boudain about the city has some great segments in that community. The folks in it said there is really no ill will between each other and that the caste system is pretty much irrelevant.

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    July 29, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    Liveblogging…

    12 jackals and counting…

  49. 49.

    Steve in the ATL

    July 29, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @raven: was she doing better until that ninth inning single?

  50. 50.

    Steve in the ATL

    July 29, 2018 at 5:33 pm

    @NotMax: I believe that’s called a “balloon of jackals”

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    July 29, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    Badger is so cute ? ?

  52. 52.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    @lamh36: ETA: Just speaking of Angela Bassett..this is in the trailer, so it’s not a spoiler, but when she said
    “that’s…THE JOB..” I was like “HELL…YEAH…IT IS…”

  53. 53.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Jeffro: some people say Jared and Junior haven’t been interviewed yet, and those will be the sign that Mueller is wrapping up. Other people say he might well already have interviewed them and we would only know it if the interviewees told us. Shrug emoji thing. IANAL and IDK.

    There is a twitter theory that floats around from time to time, that Team Jared, in the person of Abbe Lowell with the consent of his client, is the source for rumors that make Junior look bad. I want this to be true, cause I hate all of them, and I’m pretty confident Jared will be in legal trouble for Kushner stuff if the NY, and maybe NJ?, state authorities start to look at stuff Mueller digs up.

  54. 54.

    bluefish

    July 29, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    Freak out at the White House. Hard rain’s gonna fall.

  55. 55.

    Yarrow

    July 29, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @Jeffro:

    I think it all drops in the next week or two. There’s almost nothing left to look into – Mueller’s had everything, EVERYTHING, for months if not a year or more.

    Agree in general but my guess is in the next 2-4 weeks. It’s not going to go well for the traitors in the White House and Congress.

  56. 56.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @raven:Upper caste people saying that the caste system is irrelevant, its like white people saying they don’t see race.

  57. 57.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    July 29, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @lamh36: We’re not talking deep characterization and riveting plot or anything. The focus is on the music, the dancing, and the scenery.

  58. 58.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Anyway…that Trumpov, he sure acts like an innocent man, doesn’t he?

    Well at least he thinks he is. And really how can such a great human being ever be guilty of every thing he’s done?

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I want this to be true, cause I hate all of them, and I’m pretty confident Jared will be in legal trouble for Kushner stuff if the NY, and maybe NJ?, state authorities start to look at stuff Mueller digs up.

    Ivanka has the absolute best PR team in the history of PR teams. It’s not even close.

  60. 60.

    Mary G

    July 29, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh, I am expecting the fingerpointing to be epic when it finally all comes out.

  61. 61.

    Shalimar

    July 29, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    @lamh36: Cavill is horrible as Superman, though I blame the scripts that distort and diminish everything Superman has ever stood for more than I blame him. Anyway, that is a low bar to crawl over, though I am looking forward to Mission Impossible to see how he could be decent in something.

  62. 62.

    geg6

    July 29, 2018 at 5:39 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    We saw it last night. It’s silly and fun, just like the first one. And no one could sing in that one either. Though Streep isn’t awful. But nobody cares, the actors are obviously having the time of their lives and don’t care if they sound awful and the girl who plays the young Christine Baranski character has her down to a tee. We had a smile on our faces when we walked out of the theater.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Difficult to see things with your eyes welded shut.

  64. 64.

    Alain the site fixer

    July 29, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: or is it a rage of Jackals?

  65. 65.

    LAO

    July 29, 2018 at 5:43 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: you just wish you were here!

  66. 66.

    OldDave

    July 29, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    I was more than a little curious about this:

    we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship

    … but apparently DJT is referring to a golf club membership. Seriously?

  67. 67.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    @Teddys Person:
    He really must be about a thousand yrs old and his brain has made the transition from mush to about 20 yrs past maggot food.

  68. 68.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    @Shalimar: let’s just say if the rumors bout him being a jackass (and that was before his stupid #MeToo comments) are true…then he was perfect in this role and there is a reason why he much better playing bad Superman than wholesome Clark Kent…

    Best utilization of his acting ability that I’ve ever seen from him…

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    July 29, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Season 2 focuses on Philip’s back story a bit more. He had a truly awful, tragic childhood, if the portrayal is accurate (not that that’s an excuse for being whiny and selfish).

  70. 70.

    Shalimar

    July 29, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    @Yarrow: The last federal state primaries are New Hampshire and Rhode Island on Sept. 11th and 12th, so that is the hard deadline for wrapping up this part of the investigation if Mueller doesn’t want the appearance of influencing the general election.

  71. 71.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    @geg6: I think the majority of the cast was ok with the singing, Baranski likely the best, since she is/was a Broadway vet…but OMGawd… Pierece Brosnan was HOOOORRRIBLE…like OMG…this was AFTER sound editing and stuff and his singing was STILLL pretty bad…lol.

    I’m guessing that doesn’t improve in this sequel…lol

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    @lamh36:

    I won’t say too much, in case folks plan to see it, but what I will say that this film was the BEST use of Henry Cavill I have ever seen. I like the way they used him in this film much more than I EVER liked him as Superman, or any other films I’ve seen him in.

    Saw a morning screening of the film today. It is another “Tom Cruise running, jumping, falling down movie. This time with flying!!” But it is loads of fun, and you really get drawn into many of the stunts, which often look painful and very realistic.

    I agree that Cavill is very good. You see the mustache that he was not allowed to shave off for Justice League (they had to digitally remove it, not always effectively). Cavill is heavily hinting that he would be willing to ditch Superman to become the next James Bond, and his performance her makes a good case for this.

    Rebecca Ferguson, Angela Bassett and the rest of the IMF gang are all great.

    The one weird downside is that there are a whole bunch of white dudes with beards that all look like one of the main villains. It’s a little hard to keep straight who is who, and you really don’t want to have to work hard watching this summer romp.

  73. 73.

    Teddys Person

    July 29, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Ruckus: I think he and Trump have a contest going to see who can be the biggest, loudest, and most demented asshole in the country. They’ve surrounded themselves with sycophants all their lives, and there’s no one around to stop grandpa from pooing on the living room floor.

  74. 74.

    Another Scott

    July 29, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: As Adam reminds us from time to time, this is (mostly?) a counter-intelligence investigation. It’s clear that Obama (and Hillary, and Warner and lots and lots of people in the House and Senate) know an awful lot of what happened and did long ago. It’s not clear, though, how many of the “sources and methods” that the Intelligence Community is going to be willing to give up to prove the extent of the conspiracy in court.

    That’s the aspect that makes me wonder how much longer this is going to last. And how much Mueller is ultimately going to bring indictments about….

    Rosenstein’s remit to Mueller was pretty broad, and that’s (at least part of) the reason we’re hearing so much about Manafort’s money laundering and all the rest. And that’s good. But I want Mueller to follow all the leads and get all of Ryan’s “family” that refused to protect the USA all for the sake of personal political power…

    Grrr.

    99 days to go. Eyes on the prize.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  75. 75.

    Shana

    July 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    My problem with both Mamma Mia and Mission Impossible is that I HATE ABBA and Tom Cruise. You couldn’t pay me enough to see either one of those. Well maybe $1 million, but not less. There, I’ve said it.

  76. 76.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I have read that the caste system still stunts the life chances of lower-caste and untouchables in India. And I believe it. But in the US? Really? I’ve never once seen any indication that any South Asian American even *notices* the caste of other SAA. And for sure how could a non-SAA even tell?

    Again: I’m quite convinced from what I’ve read, that the caste system is still a blot on India’s people. But the comment was about Houston, not India.

  77. 77.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker: But the non-stop complaining and the frat boy clubbing doesn’t making him sympathetic.

  78. 78.

    geg6

    July 29, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @lamh36:

    Nope, he’s awful again. **spoiler**

    Andy Garcia sings “Fernando” with Cher. He isn’t the worst but they had the good sense to keep him at a minimum and just let Cher go. The cast seems to just be having fun. I’ll bet that was a fun set.

  79. 79.

    efgoldman

    July 29, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @Jeffro:

    If he’s so sure he’s clean and the “Witch Hunt” is illegal/baseless/both, why doesn’t he fire Mueller and shut it all down?

    As Paul Campos said a week or two ago, why is Mueller finding so many witches?

  80. 80.

    geg6

    July 29, 2018 at 5:55 pm

    @Shana:

    I despise Tom Cruise and wouldn’t watch his films for any amount ever. He’s a very sick person who shouldn’t be encouraged in any way. ABBA is just silly fun and so are the Mama Mia movies.

  81. 81.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @Shalimar:

    if Mueller doesn’t want the appearance of influencing the general election.

    I don’t believe any candidates in the election are targets of the investigation, so that’s pretty much a moot point.

  82. 82.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    @Chetan Murthy:

    I’ve never once seen any indication that any South Asian American even *notices* the caste of other SAA.

    Is this a joke? May true of the generation born here, I don’t know. But people from India do certainly notice the region and caste any other Indian is from. That’s the first thing you notice. Last names, languages spoken are a dead give away.
    I was befriended by a Tamil Aiyar doctor, because husband cat was the caste that she was, she had zero interest in me before that.
    ETA: How many people marry outside their caste in a n arranged marriage situation? Why do you think arranged marriages are still so big in India and in the diaspora? To maintain the caste structure, that’s why.
    To understand the United States, you need to understand race to understand India, caste.

  83. 83.

    tracy ratclif

    July 29, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    This popped up in my newsfeed today: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6003457/Mystery-Russia-LIQUIDATES-holdings-Treasury-securities.html

    Now, it’s the Daily Mail, so take it with a very large pinch of salt, but they say the Russians have sold off 84% of their holdings on US Treasury bonds, maybe to get out of investments that might be confiscated, or to turn it into Cypriot bank accounts, or possibly to take advantage of some anticipated move in US bonds that didn’t happen.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @Another Scott:

    It’s clear that Obama (and Hillary, and Warner and lots and lots of people in the House and Senate) know an awful lot of what happened and did long ago.

    Fascinating.

  85. 85.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @Shana: I’m with you on Tom Cruise. But ABBA ? Heresy, I say, heresy! Bring back the Inquisition!

    In the meantime, I’ll put on a little _Dancing Queen_.

  86. 86.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @efgoldman: I’ve said that as well, it’s a Witch Hunt cause there be witches.

  87. 87.

    Just One More Canuck

    July 29, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: A Tunch of Jackals?

  88. 88.

    efgoldman

    July 29, 2018 at 6:03 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I don’t believe any candidates in the election are targets of the investigation

    Some of the RWNJ congresscritters? They’re not all retiring/resigning.

  89. 89.

    Wapiti

    July 29, 2018 at 6:03 pm

    @Mary G:

    Oh, I am expecting the fingerpointing to be epic when it finally all comes out.

    I ready that as “the fingerprinting to be epic” and thought, damn, I hope it is on pay-per-view.

  90. 90.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: So you’ve seen it or you just decided what caste whoever said it on your own?

  91. 91.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:05 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: Disco Girl, coming though…that girl is you…

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 29, 2018 at 6:05 pm

    @raven:

    Lil Bit is doing ok.

    LOL, “Lilibet” is the royal family’s pet name for the Queen. She’s been called that since she was tiny (either she gave herself the nickname or maybe it was Princess Margaret who couldn’t pronounce “Elizabeth”). Never noticed the similarity to “Lil Bit,” but I’m very glad your pup is doing well!

  93. 93.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:06 pm

    Julie Chen is defending Mr. Moonves. And her “The Tawk” co-hosts are defending her defending him.

  94. 94.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @Just One More Canuck: A Steve of Balloon-Juice commenters.

  95. 95.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @germy: I saw “Sorry To Bother You” for the first time yesterday. There were incongruous subwoofer explosion noises leaking through from some other theater, probably playing the Mission: Impossible movie. For much of the running time I was honestly not sure they weren’t part of the soundtrack of the movie I was watching. It’s that kind of film.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @raven: No I haven’t seen it. I will check it out though. Its my guess based on years of experience. Mostly its Brahmin (or other upper caste) males that like to say things like that. Because for them its true, their caste doesn’t hinder them much.

  97. 97.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I know.

  98. 98.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Is this a joke? May true of the generation born here

    I came to America when I was 4. Only found out I was a Gowda when I was in my mid-30s; I had always figured based on my dark skin that I was some sort of low-caste, and took some pride in that. I’ve known lots and lots of Indian folks who came here as grad students; never noticed any sort of caste prejudice in any of them. But those were young folk (right out of college). Maybe the older generation is different; then again, I don’t interact with ’em much.

    To be frank, I don’t pay much attention to the prejudices of first-generation adult immigrants; my father used to say “out there it may be America; in here it’s India”. Guess what, dad? I’m an American, not an Indian! Ha! So it’s already confirmation for me that caste doesn’t matter, that I’ve never met someone born or raised in America, who ever mentions it, except as the butt of a joke about their relatives’ backward attitudes.

  99. 99.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    @efgoldman: Mueller would just keep those indictments sealed.

  100. 100.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I had no idea until I studied the closing credits that Forest Whitaker was the first horse.

    And Rosario Dawson is the elevator voice.

  101. 101.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    @Corner Stone: BABBA! Ha! Never heard of ’em! But I do like Roxette! [one of my relatives was quite, quite withering in her rebuke about that *grin*]

  102. 102.

    Fair Economist

    July 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @Alain the site fixer: How about a gas of jackals?

  103. 103.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: There were a couple of guys, cricket players, who mentioned it in the segment.

    A grocery store dance party in Houston’s ‘Little India’
    On “Parts Unknown,” Anthony Bourdain explores the surprising diversity of Houston, including its growing population of Indian and Pakistani immigrants.

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    July 29, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Fascinating.

    Isn’t it though?!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  105. 105.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: Most people that end up here are already pretty privileged by Indian standards and in most cases upper caste. Its like a bunch of white people sitting around and saying racism doesn’t exist, because we get along.

  106. 106.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    Anthony Bourdain received plenty of love for the unconventional Houston episode of his popular CNN TV series Parts Unknown. The episode’s diversity was particularly praised. It turns out the bad boy chef turned travel savant achieved that with one simple edict.

    “No white people,” Bourdain told producers about his vision for highlighting Houston according to a recent New Yorker magazine profile.

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 29, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Did you see that hagiographic tongue bath of Javanka in today’s FTFNYT? If I had already eaten breakfast, I would have lost it on the spot.

  108. 108.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: They did mention that it took some time for this to take place.

  109. 109.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: I felt like I should add: I’ve had friends who were Brahmins (high-caste) and other friends whose caste I don’t know. The only way I knew they were Brahmins is that one day the guy told me. Otherwise I’d have never guessed. B/c who in America is taught these things? Nobody. And rightly so,

  110. 110.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Maggie H. is in fine form with that “news”

  111. 111.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: It would be an interesting social studies project to find out how many Indian Americans born here still marry within their caste and/or go through an arranged marriage.

  112. 112.

    Mel

    July 29, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    @Shana: @Chetan Murthy:

    Tom Cruise gives me the creeps. There’s always been something extremely off-putting about that smugly entitled grin and the phony wholesomeness.

    Love, love, love ABBA, but not so much the whole “Mama Mia” experience.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 29, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    @germy:

    A Steve of Balloon-Juice commenters.

    Steve in the BLJ?

  114. 114.

    Mandalay

    July 29, 2018 at 6:23 pm

    There were several fine responses to Tapper’s vile racist nonsense on twitter, but this one used the scalpel:

    It’s cool how @jaketapper doesn’t feel compelled to make this point when Obama windsurfs with Richard Branson or gives six-figure speeches to bankers, but as soon as he shows up to a hip-hop concert…

  115. 115.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:23 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Here’s one from 1960!

    JOURNAL ARTICLE
    Caste in India and the United States

    If there were studies then there are surely studies now.

  116. 116.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    @Mel: He was good in Born on the Fourth of July as Ron Kovic.

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    July 29, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    @raven: I am sure. I was listening to an Indian stand-up comic this weekend, who said that independent India has given death penalty to only 4 brahmins so far, two of which were Gandhi’s assassins.
    Life for a dalit is very different than that of the upper caste. Dalits* were kept away from education traditionally, so you will very rarely come across a Dalit in the United States.
    ETA: Dalit == down trodden, that’s what they call themselves. These are typically untouchable castes.
    The whole anti-cow slaughter thing in India is anti-Dalit as much as it is anti-Muslim.

  118. 118.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I still have PTSD from the first Mamma Mia! The soundtrack album was on “in-store play” for a month when I worked at B&N, and I will never forget the horror of Pierce Brosnan bellowing his way through his songs.

  119. 119.

    SFAW

    July 29, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’ve said that as well, it’s a Witch Hunt cause there be witches.

    It’s what some might call a “target-rich environment.”

  120. 120.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Well the entire segment was on the rah-rah side but all these folks talked about how they saw America as a place where they could do better than where they came from. The Vietnamese were the kids of boat people or bat people themselves and they had busted their asses and it paid off.

  121. 121.

    JWL

    July 29, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    I’ve spent the afternoon gardening and listening to the Giants-Brewers game, and haven’t given a seconds thought to the health of the democratic party, either. That said, I too would like to hear both Obama and Jimmy Carter weigh in on it eventually. But I’m far more interested today in hearing what both men have to say about the health of the republican party, how best to kill it. Most importantly, to hear both explain why it needs to be scattered to the four electoral winds for the good of the country. Frankly, I don’t understand what’s taking them so long. Perhaps they intend to sit this one out, hard as that is to imagine happening..

  122. 122.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I know of one who … well, I’ll just say that she had to get pretty forceful with her family before they relented. Aside from that? I know of nobody else. I knew a few grad students who got arranged marriages -during- grad school. By and large, if they made it past the first few years, it was too damn late there too — their parents back in India might coax, wheedle, and rage all they wanted. But at some point, those students were no longer willing to go along with the B.S.

    I -have- read that overbearing Indian fathers push their daughters into it more than we’d like to believe. Which is an atrocity on so many levels. But I haven’t seen many cases where -American- South-Asian decent kids opt for it. Maybe they use their parents’ networks to find people to go on dates with, or go to the local Indian-American cultural association to meet other singles. But that’s it.

  123. 123.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 29, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @germy:

    I had no idea until a day or two ago that Julie Chen is married to Les Moonves.

  124. 124.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @Brachiator: it’s really the stunts that sell it…cause as we konw Cruise does alot of the stuntwork himself (as I may have mentioned before, he took an accelerated course in helicopter flying so not only did he pilot the copter, but he also was the ONLY in the copter and had to also work the camera for a bit of the shots).

    And yeah…the running…there is literally an article I saw where some one with a lot of time on their hands calculated that the amout of running Cruise does in a film correlates to the likelihood of bigger box office…

    LOL..like what?

  125. 125.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: They’re Top 40 for a reason!

  126. 126.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Did you spill your guts?

  127. 127.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I keep my beautiful mind far, far away from the NYT.

  128. 128.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @geg6: Oh god…LOL.

    I gotta at least comment Brosnan for singing in his own voice, even if it was BADLY. As much as I loved The Greatest Showman…I’m still mad that Rebecca Ferguson lip synced her singing…like the role wasn’t THAT big a deal, they could have used the actual singer and maybe a new star coulda been born…

  129. 129.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @Corner Stone: Oh, CS, I somehow think there’s a coded looking-down-your-nose goin’ on. And you might be right. Plebeian tastes, man. Just parta the hoi polloi, I yam. It’s OK. _Money Money Money_ is comin’ in.

  130. 130.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Is it “Buut-in-ah” or “BOOot-een- AH”?

  131. 131.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Mandalay: Yes, it’s racism. If the Obamas had been seen at a Yo Yo Ma concert, Tapper wouldn’t have felt the need.

    Wasn’t his first scoop dating Monica Lewinsky?

  132. 132.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 29, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Two Irishmen walk out of a bar. Hey, it could happen. /GWB

  133. 133.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    @raven: I happened across a tweet about Bourdain’s Parts Unknown episode about Miami while I was looking for some Miami suggestions…all the eps are On Demand (I might just watch them while I couch surf the net).

    I loved that Bourdain made an effort to visit ALL the ethnic and immigrant area of Miami…

  134. 134.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    I’m on my home wi-fi right now.

    When I click my little wi-fi icon, I can see mine and all my neighbors’ routers.

    One of them is named “2 Girls, 1 Router”

    I must have interesting neighbors.

  135. 135.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 6:43 pm

    Not for nothing, but Diahnn Carroll’s birthday was this month, and I just happen to love her…and if I had ever had a child, or if I ever get a pet, I would name them Dominique Devereaux!

    https://twitter.com/ava/status/1023685565915582464

  136. 136.

    Nettoyeur

    July 29, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: yes

  137. 137.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 6:45 pm

    I just don’t like Lester Holt. There. I said it.

  138. 138.

    germy

    July 29, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    @lamh36: I’ve always loved Diahnn Carroll.

    I’m 60, and my earliest memories of her are the TV show where she played the nurse.

    Last week, my wife and I were watching some old western, and I recognized an actor. “That’s Lloyd Nolan,” I said. My wife expressed surprise that I’d remembered the name. I told her I remembered his name from “Julia”

  139. 139.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m really not sure where the stress is, but I’m guessing it’s the same as Putin, so BOO-tee-nuh. I can’t seem to find any audio of her name being pronounced. Some last names are hard to predict where the stress lies.

  140. 140.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    ¿Qué? Feel like I’m missing some nuance here.

    Mental faculties a bit dull because I’m still battling the cold from hell that everybody here was bitching about a few months ago but I didn’t pay attention to because I never get sick. I’m on about Day 11 and actually thinking about going to see the doctor on Tuesday. How long does this thing last?

  141. 141.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I just thought that making you listen to Pierce Brosnan sing ABBA on a constant loop would be a good way to get you to talk, if I were an enemy agent.

  142. 142.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    @lamh36: I read his book when it first came out and really liked I liked it but had never seen the show. 8 seasons on Netflix!

  143. 143.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 6:53 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    You shouldn’t be having that one in the summer (it lasts several months). Have you been tested for Lyme?

  144. 144.

    Brachiator

    July 29, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    This is some BS. Having National Chicken Wings day on a Sunday. Free deals in some places. I’ve already eaten my main meal today.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/07/27/food-holidays-bring-free-chicken-wings-lasagna-and-cheesecake-deals/829959002/

  145. 145.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    I am no fan of Tom Cruise personally…but I am a fan of classic action stunt work…and how ever much I don’t like him…sometimes even I get tired of CGI stunts.

  146. 146.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    July 29, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @geg6: Ditto, Tom Cruise is a sick individual and should not be watched.

  147. 147.

    lamh36

    July 29, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @lamh36:

    Damnit…and now I’m down the YouTube rabbit hole watching clips from ole Dynasty eps with Dominique Devereaux!

    The drama of it all…LOL

    https://youtu.be/PNfz2xPMZgg

  148. 148.

    b

    July 29, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: I am a white many generation American. However, I have worked for several smallish companies owned by Indians, and I was forced to learn the caste system and how to tell the caste from names, etc. As a supervisor of many Indians that were brought in on various work visas, I found that they often did not get along with each other – some of it based on language, some of it based on their region of India and some of it based on caste. Unfortunately, the caste system appears very much in place still- at least with the first generation immigrants. I also agree with Schrodinger’s Cat – I’ve been invited to several arranged marriage weddings, and caste and region appeared to play a large part in the selection.

  149. 149.

    Corner Stone

    July 29, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @b: This sounds fucked.

  150. 150.

    Another Scott

    July 29, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    @Steeplejack: Consider visiting an ENT if your sinuses are involved. The nasal spray antihistamine Azelastine HCl made a huge, huge difference for me. Stopped my snoring, also too (by reducing the chronic swelling in my sinuses).

    Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  151. 151.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 29, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    @b: So, uh, I can’t speak to those arranged marriages. But for the rest — “many Indians that were brought in on various work visas” — those were short-term guest workers, right? I’m not talking about those folks, who are basically still Indians. As I wrote above, I’m quite persuaded that the caste system is still a blot on the culture of India. I was writing specifically about America, and much more about American-raised people of South-Asian ancestry. Look: people who come here as fully-formed adults, or who are only here short-term, why should we expect them to adapt to our culture? FFS, there were German-language newspapers in the US into the ’20s. There are still stores in SF’s Chinatown where the workers simply don’t speak English — not at all, not at all. But then there’s a guy I know who was raised in Shenzen, and I thought he’d grown up in LA, his accent is so SoCal. I don’t think South Asians coming to the US *to stay* are any more prone to carry over their factional divisions from India, than Sicilians were, back in the day.

    It’s possible that my experience is biased by being mostly amongst the highly-educated [grad school, postdocs], and tech workers more than other occupations.

  152. 152.

    b

    July 29, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    @Corner Stone: It was very eye opening to see that the US wasn’t the only country with issues and marginalization of large portions of the population.

  153. 153.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    July 29, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    Some good news tonight:

    AprilDRyan
    AprilDRyan
    @AprilDRyan
    Update on Congressman John Lewis: Rep. John Lewis has been released from the hospital this evening. All tests have been completed, and doctors have given him a “clean bill of health”. He thanks everyone who shared their thoughts, prayers and concerns during his stay.
    6:49 PM · Jul 29, 2018

  154. 154.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    July 29, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @b:

    You haven’t traveled outside the US much, then. I’ve seen plenty of it in my travels.

  155. 155.

    burnspbesq

    July 29, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    McConnell would happily introduce an Apartheid bill into the Senate right now if he thought he had the votes.

    Why not? It doesn’t seem to have hurt Netanyahu.

  156. 156.

    b

    July 29, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: Almost all my Indian employees intended to remain in the U.S. – there were only a couple of exceptions. I am not insisting they not bring their culture. I found it fascinating to learn about their culture and religion. But the caste part – not so much. It was also interesting watching highly educated (in the sciences) individuals use the Indian version of astrology (which is far more complicated than what we grew up with here) to help arrange marriages. Indian culture is not monolithic, and is quite old and complex. I think most Americans are like me – very ignorant of their history and culture (and regional conflicts that go back centuries).

  157. 157.

    frosty

    July 29, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    @lamh36: Pierce said in the comments on the DVD that he’s done all kinds of acting but he’s never been as terrified as when he had to sing. I liked all their singing, even his. What a trouper!

  158. 158.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 29, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    @germy:
    One of my neighbors named his wifi “Harry Balzanya’s Network”. I don’t want to know which neighbor.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    So how do you pronounce “Nabokov”? I think most Americans would say “Na-boh-kov,” but I seem to remember some Time profile years ago that said it should be “Na-boa-kov.”

  160. 160.

    b

    July 29, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    @The Ancient Randonneur: Agreed. But my experiences started right while I was still in grad school – and that was a long time ago. I was in grad school in physics and had little experience with foreigners before this. I realized long ago that the US was hardly the only country with problems.

  161. 161.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    @Teddys Person:
    I don’t think they could conceive of such a contest.
    That would entail them coming up with the idea that someone could be all that close to them in their minds view of perfection. Now seriously delusional people do exist in this world but I believe that they mostly decide they are superheroes and try and fly off of things. High things. Having a contest to see who could be the biggest asshole? Yeah I doubt that they think they are assholes in any way. Their delusion is that they are normal.

  162. 162.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    I wouldn’t be too sure that some are not involved but to say no one?
    Given the current republican party I wouldn’t bet against anything unethical going on with any of the candidates.

  163. 163.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Okay, got it. That went right over my head.

    In-store play was its own special taste of hell at B&N. Every month we would get a box of 8-10 CDs that we were supposed to promote on the store sound system. We had a six-disc changer in the back office that fed the system. Since I worked in Music I had some control/​input on my shifts, but some months the selection was just awful. I always thought it was funny when we would get a memo a week into the month saying “Don’t play that one CD—salty lyrics.” Good times.

    But even with good CDs you would get sick of hearing them multiple times a day over a month. The low point was September ’09, when the Beatles remasters were issued (09/09/09). One day I was working in Music with Rubber Soul playing, and a coworker about my age came in to talk for a minute. We looked into each other’s eyes, and I knew what she was going to say: “I never would have thought that anything could make me hate Rubber Soul!”

    What could I say? “I know, right?” It was a horrible, soul-crushing moment.

    Now I find that I am hyper-aware of whatever “Muzak” is playing in any store I’m in. They have it at my grocery store, for chrissake! Although I have to admit it’s pretty good, go figure. Innocuous classic rock. You could do worse.

  164. 164.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 29, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    @Ruckus: My point is that Mueller won’t just stop due to the election.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 7:42 pm

    @Mel:
    Not had a lot of contact with scientologists?

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I haven’t been tested for Lyme. I barely have contact with other humans, much less woodland parasites. If I go to the doctor on Tuesday I will ask about it.

  167. 167.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    July 29, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Rohrbacher might be the only candidate on Mueller’s radar but doubt an indictment is coming any time soon, if at all.

  168. 168.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Sinuses not involved at this point. The cold has tapered down to congestion in my chest, occasional coughing jags to clear that and extreme fatigue. I’ve been trying to sleep a lot, which helps, but even slight exertion leaves me overheated and exhausted.

  169. 169.

    raven

    July 29, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Steeplejack: Ask Sting.

  170. 170.

    frosty fred

    July 29, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    @Steeplejack: You are correct; there was a sequence on Dick Cavett back in the day where Adela Rogers St John (I think it was) corrected his pronunciation, and he responded with And here I’ve been NAB-akov-ing all over the place.

  171. 171.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    He had a joke about that. If you’re speaking Russian, it’s “vlah-DEE-meer na-BOH-kof.” If you’re speaking French, it’s “vlah-dee-MEER na-boh-KOHF,” and if you’re speaking English, it’s VLA-di-meer NA-bo-kov.” Anyway, it’s originally na-BOH-kof.

  172. 172.

    Another Scott

    July 29, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    @frosty fred: You inspired me to do some looking, and I found this:

    Edmund Wilson v. Vladimir Nabokov

    Before there were Twitter spats, there were letter feuds. Wilson and Nabokov aired their grievances via letters, including some which were published in the New York Review of Books. “I do not think Mr. Wilson should try to teach me how to pronounce this or any other Russian vowel,” Nabokov wrote. “The ‘yaw’ sound he suggests is grotesque and quite wrong. It might render, perhaps, the German-Swiss affirmative (‘yawyaw’) but has nothing to do with the Russian ‘yo’ pronounced, I repeat, as in ‘yonder.’ I can hear Mr. Wilson (whose accent in Russian I know so well) asking that bookseller for Myawrtvïe Dushi instead of the correct Myortvïe Dushi (Dead Souls).” Later, Wilson continued the feud by wondering in the same magazine pages why Nabokov seemed to switch his preference from St. Petersburg to Minsk pronunciation and vice versa when convenient.

    Hehe.

    Reminds me of vacationing in Quebec with J (who took years of French in school and has a wonderful French accent) and her being corrected on her pronunciation by some wet-behind-the-ears waiter… ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  173. 173.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    @Steeplejack:
    My bug is rock from the 70s. One guy at work has to have on the oldies rock station as long as he’s breathing. It’s not the songs it’s the mindless fucking repetition that drives me batty. I’ve heard all of the 20 songs they play, over and over and over and over and……………….
    My pudgy little brain is black and blue from the assault.

  174. 174.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    He may not stop but releasing indictments I don’t see. After all he is entrusted with investigating election tampering and what could be more tampering than releasing indictments right before an election? Of course not releasing them could allow that criminal to be elected. Which is worse?

  175. 175.

    Bex

    July 29, 2018 at 8:15 pm

    @Shalimar: He was quite good as Charles Brandon (Henry VIII’s BFF) in “The Tudors” mini series.

  176. 176.

    Shell

    July 29, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    I dont believe Trump wrote that first tweet himself. Tho Im sure he’d have no problem referring to himself in the first person.

  177. 177.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    @frosty fred, @zhena gogolia:

    Thanks.

    I really like Nabokov’s short stories. Many of them seem to stick with me more than his novels. I had a volume containing all of them at one point, but I might try to run down a copy of Nabokov’s Quartet, which I bought as a small paperback in college.

    Lately I have been thinking about getting copies of the exact physical editions that I had of some especially beloved books: that Nabokov, Borges’s Ficciones (the black paperback with the sun face), some others. I lost all my books in the terrible fire of ’02*, and some of them I really miss.

    Adela Rogers St. John strikes a chord. When I got to the age of being an avid reader as a kid, I discovered that my grandmother’s farmhouse attic was a treasure trove of all sorts of books. She particularly liked St. John and had some of her books. St. John was a flamboyant “girl reporter” of the ’20s and something of an early feminist. My grandmother was educated and well-read but had to “retire” from teaching school when she got pregnant in the late ’20s. (She was married at the time.) Connect the dots.

    * Not an actual fire, merely a personal low point.

  178. 178.

    ellie

    July 29, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @Mel: I know right? I never liked him, even during his Top Gun days. He is creepy and unsettling.

  179. 179.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    @Ruckus:

    My condolences. God, I can’t remember the last time I listened to terrestrial radio. One good thing about SiriusXM is that each channel really goes into the “deep cuts,” whatever the genre. When I (occasionally) listen to the ’70s rock channel for even a little while I am always amazed to hear some song that I hadn’t heard in years. They do hit the high points, of course, which is when I head back to my home base, Soul Town (“before disco and after doo-wop”).

  180. 180.

    frosty

    July 29, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    @Steeplejack: Five Guys. Rock from the 60s and 70s I’ve heard all my life. Aaauuuggghhh!

    Last week I heard No Doubt. Yay!

  181. 181.

    Amir Khalid

    July 29, 2018 at 8:35 pm

    I’m surprised to learn that Trump was considering Mueller for director of the FBI. Muller had already served for the full term of a decade, plus (at Obama’s request) another two years. You’d think a guy like Trump, who’s had a lot of experience lying, would know how to make up a believable lie.

  182. 182.

    Mandalay

    July 29, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    The Official Court Stenographer has been busy publishing a White House press release on the feckless couple with her name on it:

    Earlier this month, Ms. Trump held an event at the White House to promote job training, and her father turned up to offer support. In June, when the United States won its joint bid with Canada and Mexico to host the World Cup in 2026, Mr. Kushner’s team made sure to tell reporters that it happened in part because of the efforts of the president’s son-in-law, who reportedly used some of his international contacts to win enough votes to seal the bid.

    The couple entertains in both Washington and Manhattan, where the guests for a recent dinner honoring Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, included former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and A. G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times.

    Their dinners in Washington have drawn a range of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

    Trump must have kidnapped her kids to get her to agree to publish that drivel with her name on it. It’s like something from the society pages in 1950s, yet it qualifies as front page news at the FTNYT.

  183. 183.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @frosty:

    True, but I have to admit that I was impressed the last time I went to Five Guys—I belatedly discovered that there is one less than half a mile from my house, but it’s on a side of the strip shopping center that I never go to—when I lingered to hear all of “Light My Fire” and they actually played the long version. Props for that.

  184. 184.

    SWMBO

    July 29, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    @Amir Khalid: If Trump is as innocent as he proclaims, why didn’t he nominate Mueller for FBI director instead of Wray?

  185. 185.

    Mel

    July 29, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    @Ruckus: Thank goodness, no. I generally try to avoid fanatics of any stripe.

    The one thing I feel (almost) bad about is flinging my front door open to some unsuspecting teenaged Jehovah’s Witness doorknockers an hour after returning home from having extensive tissue grafts and bone grafts in my mouth. It was two days before Halloween.

    Suffice it to say that there was enormous swelling, two black eyes, and lots of drool and blood involved, and the only sound I could make when I tried to speak was a gnarly, wet gargling.

    One of the kids backpedaled so quickly that he fell off the edge of the porch. I haven’t had another Jehovah come knocking since, and that was almost four years ago…

  186. 186.

    SFBayAreaGal

    July 29, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    @lamh36: Wow flashback to Dynasty. I loved her playing Dominic

  187. 187.

    SFBayAreaGal

    July 29, 2018 at 8:44 pm

    Damn it. Dominique. I really, really, really, hate being unable to edit

  188. 188.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    July 29, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    The Republican dependency in the 1920s was followed by something like twenty years of the Demcrats in control just to undo the damage the Republicans did. So history Jake Tapper, how does it work?

  189. 189.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    @Amir Khalid: could be a complete fabrication, could be that somebody tossed his name out in a meeting because Mueller was/is a lifelong Republican and more importantly to the Big Oaf, looks like a “central casting” FBI Director.

  190. 190.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 29, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I’m still trying to work out how Obama going to a concert in 2018 flipped the Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansa, Kentucky and West Virginia state leges to the Rs

  191. 191.

    RedDirtDirl

    July 29, 2018 at 9:08 pm

    @Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi): sorry you didn’t join us. We were pretty well behaved. Until lao started dancing on the bar!

  192. 192.

    Steeplejack

    July 29, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    Well, I didn’t do my homework and get caught up on Endeavour so that I could watch tonight’s episode live, so it will join the others on the DVR.

    I did, however, get caught up on The Tunnel: Vengeance, so I’ll be watching that later—presuming I can stay awake. Might fade early tonight.

  193. 193.

    SWMBO

    July 29, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    @RedDirtDirl: Did he get enough tips in his garter to settle the bar tab?

  194. 194.

    efgoldman

    July 29, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I just don’t like Lester Holt.

    His promos annoy me no end. They make it look as if HE is out there physically working with the the first responders instead of just reporting it.

  195. 195.

    Mel

    July 29, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    @raven: How’s Lil Bit doing? Hoping that she is feeling better today.

  196. 196.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    @Mel:
    That almost sounds like a good day.
    When ever they came to my door with pamphlets in hand I’d always start off with “What the Fuck do you want?” That always convinced them to leave. I never had the same guys come to the door again and seldom anyone else either. Till of course I moved and the cycle started all over again.

  197. 197.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Don’t even bother. You get caught in a non logic trap and someone has to come in a drag you out. Then slap you for 15 minutes to make sure all the non logic and fact burning neurons have fallen out.

  198. 198.

    Mel

    July 29, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    @Ruckus: My neighbor watched the whole thing go down, and reports that both kids were last seen running away down the street as fast as their sensible lace-up shoes could carry them.

  199. 199.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 29, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    @germy: I came in fairly cold, but I’d read a capsule summary saying it “starts out as a brilliant satire, but then turns in a direction that may leave many alienated,” and thought “OK, that’s the kind of movie I like to see, I’m not going to read any more about it.”

  200. 200.

    Amir Khalid

    July 29, 2018 at 9:26 pm

    I was wrong when I thought Trump was lying about considering Mueller for director of FBI. Wikipedia, citing a CNN report, says Trump did indeed interview Mueller for the job — and the very next day, Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller Special Counsel.

  201. 201.

    WaterGirl

    July 29, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Trump was probably going to pick him and then was pissed when Mueller betrayed him by taking the special counsel position.

    It seems very strange, though, that Trump would consider Mueller as FBI director, and ask Preet to stay on as US attorney for SD New York, and then switch to only hiring scum in his administration. Wonder what changed.

  202. 202.

    RedDirtDirl

    July 29, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    @SWMBO: SHE did!

  203. 203.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    @b:

    As a supervisor of many Indians that were brought in on various work visas, I found that they often did not get along with each other – some of it based on language, some of it based on their region of India and some of it based on caste. Unfortunately, the caste system appears very much in place still- at least with the first generation immigrants. I also agree with Schrodinger’s Cat – I’ve been invited to several arranged marriage weddings, and caste and region appeared to play a large part in the selection.

    We hired ( we always formed a small committee to interview and hire both contractors and FTEs ) a really sharp Indian fellow to guide our shop’s move from Mainframe programming to using Windows based development with Oracle backend. He was brilliant, handsome, friendly, competent and helpful.

    He worked in my cube 12×12 with two guys. I got to know him well. Piyush was his name, and he was HIndi. His wife was Muslim, and they emigrated to America to avoid the embarrassment of one or the other of them being killed. It was a horrible and sad story, they were both completely severed from their families back in India so that no one would know where to go to attack them. It was impossible for them to know whether their family would attack their loved one or them, for “honor”.

    So I’m sure caste and religion and region are still paramount in many circles in India, and among South Asians here in America.

    Eventually we also hired his wife, as she had a graduate degree in IT, but had no professional experience. We figured we couldn’t lose and Piyush would make sure she succeeded in her assignments, and elegantly as well. She was also quite brilliant, friendly, and I’m sure is today making a ton of money right there with her husband. Southern California, last Xmas card I got.

    Several of our younger men developers from India took long vacations in order to go home for arranged marriages. They got resumes from their families to review during the process, so it wasn’t like they did know anything about their future family. But, also, I have to admit, my family knew my wife’s family quite well long before I met her.

    I remember my Great Uncle Harlow drifting around at a family party going “Rogers’s, fine family, fine stock!” [not her real family name!] as if we were talking about breeding a thoroughbred horse! Her grandmother was chairwoman of the dominant Democratic party committee back in the day, long before women were in politics at all. Her cousin (much older than wife) was my grandfather’s executive assistant for several decades. So not so different in some ways. Small town America back in the day…

  204. 204.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @A Ghost To Most:

    My neighbor’s wi-fi is named “FBI Counter-Intelligence Net” just for fun. I bet no one ever tries to log into that. Actually, where we live, no one will ever see a glimpse of that network node. Nor ours.

  205. 205.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I was working as a contract software developer in a project that involved Deloitt-Touche briefly, and they invited everyone to a local Marriot lounge after work Friday’s for teambuilding via drinking. I was enjoying my second drink and the tapas, when I heard over the bar’s muzak a well known Pink Floyd piece – I leaned over and asked my co-worker “Did you ever think you would be as a business event and hear that Pink Floyd as the background music?”

    She opened her eyes wide, and said “No, never!” It was one of their more revolutionary songs…

  206. 206.

    Ruckus

    July 29, 2018 at 10:17 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    I don’t believe anything the shitgibbon or his underlings or supporters say. They are all so full of shit and lie so much that there is no telling what is real and what is bullshit. So for me, the safe thing is to just accept that anything anyone of them says is just bullshit. Which means that I fully doubt that he was going to pick Mueller. I doubt until Mueller was given the task of investigating him and every one near him that he even knew the name or who he was. Interview him for the job, sure, consider hiring him? He obviously doesn’t know people in DC who he could hire and Mueller would be on a short list for sure, so he would interview him. But the man is competent. That is a disqualification right there.

  207. 207.

    zhena gogolia

    July 29, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Endeavour was complicated!

  208. 208.

    J R in WV

    July 29, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    @Mel:

    The one thing I feel (almost) bad about is flinging my front door open to some unsuspecting teenaged Jehovah’s Witness doorknockers an hour after returning home from having extensive tissue grafts and bone grafts in my mouth. It was two days before Halloween.

    When we first built our house, there was a pool and hot tub on the ground floor, and a giant dehumidifier to keep it under control. Friends had a standing invitation – one was a paraplegic who came with other friend to help her in and out of the two pools of water.

    So some Jehovah’s came knocking, and they knocked on the ground floor door, to the hot tub room, and Kate answered that door knock, nude but for a beach towel. All pink and glowing wet and statuesque. Have never had another Jehovah’s Witness in nearly 25 years now.

    Thanks so much, Kate!

  209. 209.

    Tehanu

    July 29, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    No question on my part that Tom Cruise is a weird and probably sick individual — in real life. But I’ve always liked him as an actor since Risky Business. My dear friend refuses to listen to Frank Sinatra because he was “a horrible person” and all I can say is, she’s missing something wonderful. I always remember that Caravaggio was a murderer. If people don’t like an artist, fine, everybody’s taste is different.

  210. 210.

    SWMBO

    July 29, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    @RedDirtDirl: My bad. I wasn’t sure if LAO was male or female. At least the bar tab got covered. lol

  211. 211.

    Mel

    July 30, 2018 at 12:07 am

    @J R in WV: Fabulous! I’m betting that nudity is even more terrifying to the Jehovah young than my gorgon impression!

  212. 212.

    Domestic short hair tabby (fka vheidi)

    July 30, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @RedDirtDirl: pretty sure thread is dead, but many thanks

  213. 213.

    JAFD

    July 30, 2018 at 1:42 am

    @Steeplejack:
    I feel your pain. Worked in K-Mart one December, got enuf ‘secular Christmas music’ for a lifetime.

    But the Saturday evening between Christmas and New Years, real busy day and then some, 10 PM – “please finish your shopping and bring your purchases to the cashiers” “The Store Is Now Closed” “Department Managers Will Check There Are No Customers Remaining In Your Area”. And then the system played …

    Madonna’s “Material Girl”

    Everybody clapped !

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