We’re getting some positive trends in recent rounds of polling. For instance:
Georgia Governor GE:
Abrams (D) 45%
Kemp (R) 45%University of Georgia/@AJC/@wsbtv 8/26-9/4https://t.co/RoXQylplMm #GAgov
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) September 7, 2018
OK. So maybe the Senate is "in play." That's the first time I have said or written that. Gotta go with the numbers.
— Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) September 6, 2018
Andrew Gillum up 50-47 for Governor, says Quinnipiac. First live-caller poll of Florida since the primary. https://t.co/wcqlvh5XdJ pic.twitter.com/rBIgMsIUHd
— Taniel (@Taniel) September 4, 2018
Yes, he has a shot. Equally important, Bill Nelson has a much better chance of holding on to his seat, as African American turnout has a good chance of rebounding to 2008/2012 levels.
— daniel a. smith (@electionsmith) August 29, 2018
Tia Mitchell is a reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Daniel Smith is a former colleague of mine in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida who specializes in, among other things, state and local politics.
Yes, that's very clearly part of the issue….
— daniel a. smith (@electionsmith) August 29, 2018
I think that part of the reason for this is that the public polling under samples people of color, as well as women regardless of ethnicity and younger people. As a result a good chunk of what appears to be happening isn’t being captured in the public polling as both Tia Mitchell and Dan Smith state. And this is why we’re seeing Republican candidates, including Republican candidates for the Senate, such as Senator Cruz, behaving as if their internal polling is much worse than the public polling. It is important to remember that the campaigns’ internal polling is always better than the public polling. They have better models of their supporters, of the likely electorate on election day and in early voting, and in regard to potential turnout.
None of this should lead anyone into complacency. Nothing is written in stone just a little over two months from the mid-term elections in November. And nothing should be taken for granted. Everyone still needs to make sure they’re registered to vote, that everyone they know is registered to vote, and that everyone those people know are registered to vote. And then everyone needs to vote, to make sure that everyone they know votes, and that everyone those people know vote. And, if possible, to vote during early voting to ensure you and everyone else doesn’t get jammed up on election day.
There are signs of hope. And while hope is not a strategy, hope is necessary to beat back despair. And, to be honest, the only thing the President and those seeking office on platforms of supporting him more than anyone else could possibly support them, are peddling one thing and one thing only: despair. Don’t buy it. Don’t even take it for a test drive.
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
Prove it!
Adam L Silverman
?BillinGlendaleCA
True, the fucking wheels fall off right after you get it off the lot, worse than a Yugo.
Adam L Silverman
Portrait of a young man without a key.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: “I built Trump Tower to have four score and seven stories. Did Abraham Lincoln ever build anything that tall? No. And I’ll bet you didn’t know Lincoln was a Republican; most people don’t know that.”
NotMax
Good practice not to put faith in those undead-caller polls.
But then again, it is Floriduh….
Mathguy
@Adam L Silverman: Portrait of a young man without a clue.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: The funny thing is that significant portions of the President’s base despise Lincoln. He’s considered to be a genocidal maniac by the white supremacy crowd and good chunk of the southern, white Evangelical crowd too. And, of course, there’s a lot of overlap between those two groups.
B.B.A.
Yes, yes, but what about crucial Waukesha County?
Jeffro
What, no “stay frosty”? “Stay busy-as-hell-registering voters”? (and then “keep rechecking those registrations every 72 hours especially in voter-purge states”?)
C’MON, Adam! We’ve got an election to win here!!!
Stay registered!
NotMax
1776 Market Street.
More and more people are hearing about the Gettysburg Address every day.
:)
Mathguy
@Adam L Silverman: Jared reminds me of a student that hasn’t attended class all semester then shows for the final late.
Manyakitty
@Adam L Silverman: This is a thing of beauty. And your wit is en fuego lately. :-D
Adam L Silverman
It was the best of times, it was the most demented of times…
Ken
@Adam L Silverman:
Trick question – almost no one knows more than 25%.
Adam L Silverman
@Mathguy: That too.
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: Well, sure. For the South to Rise Again(tm), the guy who quashed the first rising has to be torn down.
Ken
@Ken: Oh cool, I just looked at Wikipedia and it’s 20%, if you accept the verse Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. added during the Civil War.
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: I know the second verse!
//
Adam L Silverman
@Manyakitty: Thank you.
Adam L Silverman
I think he’s overdone it in his fascist theory tutorials…
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Remember Dubya and the door? Comedy gold.
dmsilev
@Ken: Probably even less if you subtract off those high notes that people mistakenly think they can hit.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
one line, one phrase, go ahead, without Kellyann whispering in your clam-like ear
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: It’s true. All of us in California have just now merged into a giant megaperson. I think I/we/us still get two Senatorial votes though.
Kay
“And more!” :)
This is so much better than suing Republicans over and over again. Get around their horrible, vote suppressing judges and just vastly expand access to voting.
Voters will love it. Modernized and very convenient.
El Caganer
@Adam L Silverman: In fairness, he might just mean that he’s aware that it exists. He sure doesn’t know the words to the national anthem – just look at him trying to lip-sync at a ball game.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: I am thinking of a Clive Barker short story here…I think it was called, “In the Hills, the Cities”. Great story. Somehow not quite what California is or will become.
Mary G
Daniel Dale alone is a reason to stay friends with Canada.
I feel a bit more optimistic than I did at the beginning of the week. And it makes me want to work harder, to run up the score as high as we can. Real Clear Politics’ summary numbers are getting better and better every week as far as the House goes, and the number of governors they are sure will be Republican after the election in November has gone down from 26 to 22.
Taking Out Just Enough To Win
I just found out that Stacey Abrams will be speaking at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater here in Los Angeles tonight. Just purchased my ticket and I’m on my way. Whoosh!
B.B.A.
By the way, I thought of an answer to Sen. Harris’s question about a law giving the government control over men’s bodies: the Selective Service Act. Naturally, it hasn’t been operative in over 40 years, because patriarchy.
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: My mind, it boggles.
I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean. That we vote in a block for Democrats?
Jeffro
Would just like to note here that there are reports that Trumpov will NOT. EVEN. ANSWER. MUELLER’S. QUESTIONS. IN. WRITING.
As in, there is no way for him to respond without perjuring himself, adding to the obstruction charges, or both.
This will be the story we ride into the weekend…good luck explaining that one to all but the most hardcore MAGAts, Rudy!!!
Omnes Omnibus
@B.B.A.: It will be 70% red.
Mary G
@Kay: That Voters, Not Politicians movement was heartwarming and is winning in the courts, too. All volunteers. If we have enough bodies on the street, all the millions the Kochs and the Mercers and Adelson put up won’t do it.
Kay
Do you think Trump really tans in a tanning bed or does he put goggles on and just smear shit on his face?
I don’t understand the goggle eyes. Why can’t they make him up better? Can’t they put some orange-tinted concealer around his eyes so he at least has a uniform orangey color?
I bet everyone is afraid to tell him because he’ll scream obscenities at the person who does, but really it would be a kindness.
Mary G
@Jeffro: I’ve been on twitter calling for Mueller to break out the subpoena.
B.B.A.
@Kay: I think the chemicals have soaked into his skin, so he’s permanently that color.
Mary G
Wow:
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Giant Sized X-Men #1.
Kay
@Mary G:
People will like more convenient voting. It doesn’t have to be horrible and grim- a battle for the ballot.
It could be friendly and efficient! :)
Let’s treat voters with decency and respect again, instead of treating them like presumed felons.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
Lincoln represents the kind of Republican whom the white racists and Southern evangelicals drove out when they conquered the party, doesn’t he?
Schlemazel
I have put in a lot of hours making calls early. The good news here is that Paulson (R-MN3) is behind Phillips. That set has been firm corporate, white, suburban GOP for all my life. We damn near tipped it in 04 with a huge GOtV. This would be very helpful because I think we are going to lose Walz seat that he abandoned to run against the endorsed Gov candidate.
I have minor surgery in 3 weeks and won’t be much help for 3-4 days so I have been banking hours. I have been trying to put off the major work but it could happen in early Nov & I will be totally out of commission for 3-4 weeks. I don’t want that to get in the way of flipping the House.
Off to bed – keep the lights on
rikyrah
Finished with Amazon’s Jack Ryan. I liked it.
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: I think it means you’re a collective organism like that giant killer mushroom in the X-Files.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mary G: Mueller will do his thing at his pace. He will not give a flying fuck what people do on Twitter.
Marcopolo
My philosophy is if the R’s are having a problem staying afloat for the midterms throw them a gd anvil. Pedal to the metal.
And on a very cool note, the NYT has started as of tonight live call polling selected US congressional races and posting the results live as the calls are being made. Amazing how many calls need to be made to get a response—response rate appears to be around 2%. Here is the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-polls.html
Tonight’s polling is for CA-48; IL-12; IL-6; MN-8; and KY-6.
rikyrah
@Kay:
They won’t tell him..nobody will tell The Emperor that he has no clothes?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I have no idea what that means.
B.B.A.
@Amir Khalid: He represents the kind of Republican that the plutocrats drove out when they conquered the party in the 1870s.
Kay
@B.B.A.:
That doesn’t explain the incompetent make-up application.
Mix up some orange tint foundation and lay it on like spackle.
hitchhiker
It’s going to be a long, long time before Democrats take anything for granted again. I’m encouraged by recent numbers, and I know it’s going to get crazy ugly every single day from now until the November votes are all counted, but there’s no rest to be had until that guy is out of our government.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: Pretty much.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_Trip_(The_X-Files)
lamh
Alright, Budget set for London guys.
Now it’s time to prioritize what I want to see and do.
Gotta make a list of free and paid activiites I want to do.
I do know that I will dedicate one day for Paris. But just one day unfortunately…hopefully a longer visit in about a year or 2.
I’m off to bed now.
Thanks for all the advice in the earlier thread. I’ll be back tomorrow in need of more advice I’m sure.
Good night BJ peeps.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: I am not sure that this helps, but I do appreciate the effort.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
I loved that moment at the end where Mulder and Scully hold hands in the ambulance rushing them to hospital. Also the melting heads in their fungal hallucinations.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: There’s a full plot breakdown at the link. Basically in that episode, the monster of the week was a giant mushroom, which was a single collective organism, was killing people by drugging them into a hallucinogenic stupor until they died.
Kay
@rikyrah:
It must be so much worse inside that paranoid bunker since the op ed. They don’t know who the traitor is!
They don’t even know which one of them is recording the rest of them . You know Omarosa wasn’t the only one.
They SO deserve one another. A nest of vipers. I read “leaks” from these people and I think “well, the leaker is probably a liar too”
Kavanaugh seems to be a world class liar, too. I had no idea. I assumed he would be a far Right nutjob. I had no idea he’d spent the last decade casually lying on the record. Jesus. There’s not s shred of ethics among them.
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman: am I part of that? Didn’t get to San Jose until a couple of hours ago. Still have a contact high from being in Seattle.
MomSense
@Kay:
Have I got the video for you.
make your face great again
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated…
lamh
@lamh: .Ugh…Not sure about Paris anymore…looks like I waited too long…and now prices for Eurostar are a bit steepier than they were just a couple of days ago…ugh
Doug R
@Kay:
Colbert shows how trump preps for his rallys.
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman: that’s cool, but someone needs to explain to my admin how to expense my meals if I’m part of one giant organism.
Redshift
@Kay:
My assumption has always been that he’s a cheap bastard who won’t pay to have it done right. He puts on the goggles and does the spray tan, and everyone around him knows they’ll be fired if they say anything’s wrong.
How he doesn’t notice when he watches himself in TV, I don’t know. Maybe it’s part of the narcissism that he’s Incapable of seeing himself as less than perfect
Doug R
@Doug R: It’s rallies isn’t it?
Steve in the ATL
@lamh: Paris can’t be done on one day. Skip it until you have more time for the greatest city in the world.
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: Oh! Well, that’s mostly true. Glory to the mushroom.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: Threaten to show them the trailer for Human Centipede if they don’t just reimburse you.
Gravenstone
@MisterForkbeard: Suspect he misread ‘prison’ on his evil teleprompter. Because MS-13 is imprisoning the whole state, dontchaknow?
And no, I don’t like trying to wrap my head around what he may or may not have been thinking. It hurts!
dmsilev
@lamh: Honestly, it might be just as well. There’s so so much to do in London that spending several hours on a back-and-forth train ride, even to Paris, is a bit of a waste for a short trip. Put the cost of the train ticket towards a show or a really nice meal or something else that you might not have had time/budget for. Paris deserves its own trip.
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh: Stay in London.
@Steve in the ATL: Get out of my head. Couldn’t live there, but I want to. Amsterdam is livable if one has the cash.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: I haven’t seen the episode since it first aired. I have found that I can’t rewatch the X-Files. It just doesn’t do it for me on a second viewing.
Mary G
@lamh: @Steve in the ATL: I agree. If you go to Paris and back in one day you will just be travelling all day. There’s so much great stuff in London you couldn’t see it all in six months.
Luthe
@lamh: Paris is impossible to enjoy in one day. There is far too much to do and see.
London in a week is also impossible, but you have a better chance of enjoying yourself.
Depending on the activities you want to do, a London Pass might be a good idea. Many museums are free, but the palaces and major churches are not. Also, check to see where the Queen is currently in residence because that will affect what sights are open.
/was in London last October
Yutsano
@lamh: Save calories for Paris. Trust me on this. Especially after a few days of English cuisine.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh: @Steve in the ATL: Yeah, if I were gonna do a day-trip from London: Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury I’ve done. Winchester, Salisbury, Stratford I’ve thought about. I’d say pick a cathedral town and see which trains are most convenient.
As I recall I bailed on Stratford cause it was surprisingly hard to get to, but it’s been a while and I can’t quite recall.
ljt
@lamh: Probably for the best–better to spend more quality time in London. Save Paris for when you can do it right. We spent a week in Paris in May, and it wasn’t nearly enough time! Bath is a nice day trip from London.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Of course, a giant-sized Wolverine would be what – 5′ 10″?
;)
Still the best entendre-laden Marvel title in the library. Ever.
MisterForkbeard
@Gravenstone: This makes a lot of sense, actually. I don’t know why he’d say that (maybe we’re all imprisoned in our homes because of illegal immigrants?), but that sentence actually makes sense as a logical construction even if the meaning behind it is utterly batshit.
Mary G
Adam? Say it ain’t so. It would be just like Twitler to think that putting US troops near Idlib to keep Assad from carpet-bombing civilians would work.
Twitler probably thinks it would be a ratings bonanza to do a reality show loyalty switcheroo.
pamelabrown53
@lamh: #63.
If you can’t make it to Paris this trip, then maybe you could take a day trip to Oxford. Very beautiful and historic-a delightful place to walk around. Have a wonderful adventure!
danielx
Like that was an alternative.
I’m not heavily involved in local politics, for a variety of reasons. I do know a number of people who are, at the street level canvassing level. People who, before the last couple of years, had been….sorta lukewarm. There is a very high level of enthusiasm (easily confused with desperation) out there for Dems. To the point where if Dems don’t make major inroads in the House, which they should, there will be serious questions…and if they do make major inroads, the shitgibbon will claim that every single contest his favored candidate did not win…is fraudulent.
But that doesn’t matter. What matters is running up margins so big they can’t be denied.
Elizabelle
@lamh: Yup. Ixnay on Paris. Stick with the UK.
But: maybe ask the hive mind here about some cool day trip. It will be way closer (and cheaper!) than Paris.
Personally, I think trying to cram too much in is the death of good trips.
Mary G
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I went to Stratford by myself because my roommate, who had four or five times as much money as I did, was going to spend the day in Harrods buying presents. It was one of the best days of my life; I had tea with a real Lord and Lady and met a cute guy on the train back.
jl
Thanks for good post. We need cautious optimism.
We WILL win, and win big, IF everyone gets out to vote.
Good time to talk about voting as a valuable and delightful act of self-expression, as well as a precious Constitutional right, and a civic duty.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Now I really want to go to England
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s a royal pain in the patoot to get to. I drove to it in 95 when my parents came to visit – I took them all over Scotland and England, we did a week in Paris after London, than the rest of England back to Scotland. And with a map and directions to the B&B it was still a nightmare getting to Stratford.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Based on Hugh Jackman’s Wikipedia page it would be 6’2.
jl
And, in response to Trump clip I just saw on the news, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was not universally ridiculed when he gave it.
US history pro-tip for Trump.
lamh
Of course Moonves did…FUQ him and the “eye” network..
Gelfling 545
@Kay: Stephen Colbert has a you tube video about how to get “that presidential glow”.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: The US units, which are Special Forces conducting an advise/assist and train operation as part of the by, with, and through strategy and, if I’m recalling correctly, a Marine artillery battery to provide them with some fire support, have been there for a while. We haven’t just moved them into place in the past few days.
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
It still annoys me, a bit, that the movies cast a 6’2″ Aussie to play a 5’2″ Canadian.
Mary G
CNN has a copy of the letter Gary Cohn stole off Twitler’s desk. It basically says Dear South Korea: Fuck off. Signed, the president.
OK, it’s not exactly in that wording, but it’s only one paragraph long!
Luthe
@Yutsano: The trick is to remember the best food in England is curry. Traditional British cuisine ranges from meh to inedible, but the food from all the places they colonized is delicious. Also, there are Pret a Mangers on every corner, so decent food can be found for reasonable prices.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Pfeh. CGI could have made him appear the correct height (or rather lack thereof).
Never saw any of the movies but guessing they also threw out Wolvie’s inveterate stogie chomping.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh: I am not surprised by this at all. Given that whats his name faced no consequences and she was suddenly blackballed, it was abundantly clear.
Adam L Silverman
@Luthe: Pub food is generally good as well.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: That is really poorly written. Almost like no one asked anyone at the protocol office how to word it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Luthe:
Not true, but fun to say. Ever had a standing rib roast? I will leave Yorkshire Pudding for another lesson.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: you can tell it’s just a rough draft though, no mention of the electoral college landslide, which is very difficult, many people say impossible
Gelfling 545
@lamh: Paris is not a city one just dashes into for a brief look. Days, weeks, even months would not exhaust its delights. It’s a place to wander, stroll, meander.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
The wheels on a Yugo were the only things that were in any way good. Employee of mine bought one, cheapest new car, she could establish credit. Of course she still had to find a way to get to work. Worst built car I’ve ever seen. Of course the USSR and some of the satellite countries built ones that they couldn’t export because they were worse than the Yugo. Of course there was British Leyland back in the day. Some fine autos those were.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: He did some stogie chomping in the movies. It wasn’t constant and I while I haven’t seen Logan yet, he didn’t do any cigar smoking in the one before that.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Also nothing trifling about a well made trifle.
Steve in the ATL
@lamh: missed the earlier thread so I don’t know what these clowns told you about London (“eat lots of boiled mutton!!!”) but don’t miss the fakes gallery at the V&A. And they use to do a musical brunch on Sundays which was just awesome.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Putting a marker here. I am going to bed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
but beware the spotted dick!
what? I don’t like raisins.
Luthe
@Omnes Omnibus: Despite having seen the Yorkshire Pudding episode of Great British Bake Off, I am still confused by the whole thing. Pudding is dessert, correct? And yet Yorkshire pudding isn’t.
NotMax
@Ruckus
British auto-de-fail? Reliant Robin. Maybe the purest exemple of a country’s love/hate relationship with one of its home-grown autos.
Mary G
Well, the teen is not required to use the sofabed tonight, for which I am grateful, but his mom went through with her threat to take his bedroom door off and he’s been in her room since before 4 p.m. arguing with her. I knew there was a reason I didn’t have any children.
Adam L Silverman
@Luthe: The use of language is sort of like this:
Adam L Silverman
I’ve got doggie bellies to rub before I get mauled! Catch everyone on the flip!
Redshift
I actually did the day trip to Paris on the Eurostar, partly because I didn’t know at the time if I’d ever have a chance for another trip there, and partly because for train geeking. (The Chunnel was pretty new at the time.)
So it is possible to have a good experience in a day, while knowing full well your only getting a tiny taste.
Ruckus
@Kay:
Ethics are for the little people, who can not afford to have lawyers on permeant retainer.
Redshift
@Luthe: Pudding being only dessert is an American thing
frosty
@lamh: One day in Paris! Okay, we had two when we did our London/Normandy/Paris trip, but the fam was wiped out and it was raining. So our one day of touring was a boat on the Seine from our location on the West Bank to the Eiffel Tower. We stood in line for that, didn’t want to stand in any other lines for the Louvre or Notre Dame. YMMV.
Best part was hitting cafes near our AirBnB for every meal. Place de la Contrescarpe. Sadly, the patisseries near us in Paris were no match for the one we found in Bayeux in Normandy.
NotMax
@Luthe
Whereas pudding club is, well, a different bellyful entirely.
Jay
@Omnes Omnibus:
Fish and Chips,
And Britain has hugely embraced not only “ethnic food”, but “fusion”.
Ruckus
@Redshift:
Leave out the Maybe. At his level of narcissism he is incapable of any thought that does not put him at the top of every heap. And any mention that he’s not at the top of that heap is worse than actually stabbing him. His ego is bigger than he is and that’s saying something. On balance though his ego has so many footprints on it from his constant fuckups that it’s actually in about the same physical shape he is. Just in case it wasn’t obvious that’s fat, dumb and very unhappy, primarily because his ego writes checks that bounce higher than the ones from his bank.
frosty
@lamh: Yeah, Eurostar for the four of us was a pretty big hit. But hey, we’d gone that far, once you’re in, go in all the way and spend the $$.
I’m reminded of a trip my in-laws took to England. They paid to see the museums and other things they wanted to see, the brother and SIL cheaped out and waited outside. Really???
Jay
@Luthe:
Yorkshire Pudding is a cunning gravy delivery system.
NotMax
@Jay
A
taco truckkebab stand on every corner.;)
Calouste
@Luthe: Don’t ask for black pudding for dessert.
Steve in the ATL
@Redshift: reminds me of a song I was listening to on the plane earlier today. “One taste of the bait is worth the hook/she’s got more spices than a Cajun cook”. Who doesn’t love Webb Wilder?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kuO0Seer-b4
Steve in the ATL
@Calouste: racist.
Luthe
I’m for bed, but I think my much younger self was correct when I surmised half the food in British children’s literature was made up. It is the only logical explanation for “treacle tart” and “rocket.”
NotMax
@Calouste
And if you should, absolutely not a la mode.
frosty
@lamh: I’m agreeing with the others. Eurostar round trip will eat up a day, so to do Paris even minimally you need to spend two nights. As an alternatie, we did Salisbury/Stonehenge as a day trip from London and it was worth it.
Steve in the ATL
@frosty: Eiffel Tower is the second most overrated sight in Paris. The Mona Lisa is in first place by 1.6 kilometers.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Yeah but I don’t actually consider that a car. It has three fucking wheels, the pair are on the wrong end and it is an utter piece of shit. And don’t call it a motorcycle either, although 3 wheel motorcycles can get a wheel airborne. Here’s an example of one 3 wheeler that I’ve ridden on. Notice the license plate.
NotMax
@Luthe
Anotherlurker
@lamh: Take a day trip to the Royal Botanic Garden, at Kew. If you are an art lover, the Tate, especially the J.M.W. Turner Room is not to be missed. You could also take a day trip to Hampton Court Palace. My ex and I took a train there and a riverboat for our return.
There is just so much to do, in London.
Elizabelle
I miss the strong hot tea in Britain. And tea and elevenses. And a proper English breakfast before out and about.
Steve in the ATL
@Elizabelle: and the letter “u” inserted inappropriately in miscellaneous words?
jl
@Redshift: ” Pudding being only dessert is an American thing ”
I think it might be more vocabulary. There are a few savory dishes in the US that would be called ‘puddings’ in other countries.
But the savory pudding concept is not popular here, regardless of what we call them.
frosty
@Steve in the ATL: Agreed on the second. I saw the Mona Lisa n my 3-month Railpass walkabout in my 20s. Meh. We all liked the Eiffel Tower though, in part because while we were waiting for the second elevator we could watch a squall line coming at us through Paris and blotting out the view. Did I mention our it was raining during our time there?
frosty
@frosty: Boy do I miss the edit function.
n = on
delete “our”
Redshift
@jl: Yeah, that’s probably a more accurate way of putting it. Though even for desserts, what we call pudding isn’t what the Brits call a pudding.
NotMax
@Ruckus
How about the BMW Isetta 300? A family down the block owned one back during the 50s/early 60s.
Jay
The British Museum is a must,
SoupCatcher
I don’t know about British cuisine, but a full Scottish breakfast was one of the highlights of my dormitory stay at the University of Glasgow when there for a conference a couple of decades ago. I think there were five kinds of meat, plus mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, toast, and maybe even some potato product.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Yeah they were shite as well. Built for a market that had to purchase cars that cost nothing because a majority of the people didn’t have a whole lot more than nothing.
Uncle had a Renault Dauphine, and of course they made the 2CV as well. I think people bought the 50s European cars because they actually didn’t use gas like the water going over Niagara Falls. Because they weren’t good. Of course
a lotmost manufactured things weren’t all that good then.NotMax
@Ruckus
Was that Renault the one with the pushbutton transmission? The one in which a sharp finger poke in the quarter panel might well go all the way through?
While on the subject of bz-car-ities, who knew that the phrase “limousine comfort” is actually German for “sardine can?”
:)
EZSmirkzz
@Adam L Silverman: Yeah, I use it for my pass phrase at work.
To the point I think the American people are reaching the point with the GOP that they reached in 2006 when the rationale for the war on Iraq was exposed as complete and utter BS, and that the Republicans can’t govern even when they have the majority and control of all three branches of the federals government.
There was a lot more inter-party co-operation then however, mostly in opposition to the war. The disarray at the White House is proving to be that catalyst in this cycle, but we shouldn’t overlook the disenchantment with the Congress’s tax cut for the rich, the assault on national parks and the environment, and the abject failure to address the devastation of Katrina on Puerto Rico, along with the sheer duplicity of elected Republicans at both federal and state levels. As we learned in 2009, supporting policy positions of one’s own party that suck, is neither pleasant nor advantageous and the Republican rank and file with sense find themselves in a position of not being able to support any party or the policy options being presented by the status quo, as we’ve seen recently concerning Pelosi and Schumer on our own left flank, and leaving an opening in the center for Democratic progressives to wedge through, which is something the status quo cannot do, nor will they likely be very much willing to lend the progressives verbal and monetary support.
No one has to support the progressive candidates, but it would be helpful if they would present a better alternative than the status quo if that is what they think and how they feel. But be aware that the campaigns are now moving into the emotional phase, and the Republicans professionals haven’t got anything but off the wall BS to throw at the strawmen of their own creations, socialism and criminals coming to steal your stuff, and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of us po white foke at the hands of drug smuggling brown people and black welfare queens, all of whom are voting twice, especially in the most remote and impoverished precincts in the red states.
Having said that, the need to get out the vote will entail volunteering to give rides to the polls and may include setting up and advertising the availability of those services to the old and economically challenged, which would require those who can do so to be in getting in contact with their local precinct captains ASAP. Money talks and BS walks.
What concerns me most is repeating the cycle of the past two decades of Democrats running as one thing and governing as the same old same thing, because the House and Senate leadership has become ossified in whatever era they woke up to those many years ago when they first went to Washington. Progressive need to be vocal in supporting the old farts, with the caveat of holding their feet to the fire with letters to the editors, blog posts, sigh, and even blog comments, or the other platforms such as FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram and such.
I could get more detailed but there is so much pie and so little pan here abouts.
As a side note I fear the old man is becoming more unhinged by all this as well. I personally don’t think one should get so wrapped up in politics that it robs the joy of life and clarity of thinking from oneself. There is a certain bit of sadness in seeing it happen in old friends,
Yours,
NotMax
@EZSmirkzz
Maria.
NineDragonSpot
@lamh: the circus atmosphere surrounding the Mona Lisa and most of the renaissance Italian art wing of the Louvre is hard to bear, but the opposite side of the museum is lightly-travelled and filled with wonders: art from Charlemagne’s court, ginormous 16th-century tapestries depicting royal hunts for every month of the year, masterpieces from 17th- and 18-century France and Italy, ancient regime decorative arts, and – hidden in a rear stairwell – some amazeballs Anselm Kiefer created for the location. I had a couple free days in Paris last year and spent them very contentedly in these quiet parts of the museum.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
I don’t remember the transmission It was about 60 yrs ago.
EZSmirkzz
@NotMax: Oops
The first mistake I’ve made in twenty years. ( I could have blamed it no no edit button, but it’s to late for that BS)
NotMax
@Ruckus
Childhood friend’s father bought one as a second car for his wife to use to tool around town. His car was a Rolls Royce.
Guess which one she wound up using as her car?
EZSmirkzz
Also too, too not to
Ruckus
@NineDragonSpot:
It of course isn’t in Paris, but I’d highly recommend the Rubins museum in Antwerp. Different than a city/state art museum because of the nature of it, it relates a lot of what life would be like as well. And in another country, New Zealand, I’d heartily recommend the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington. It’s more a story of the country but it is really well done with lots of art and history. I spent a day there and could have spent a week.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Well duh. That one wasn’t difficult to figure out. Dumb ass thought he’d get away with that?
sempronia
@lamh:
Recommend a day trip to Stonehenge via Salisbury over a single day in Paris. It’s not that straightforward to get to Stonehenge on your own, so I went with London Walks (walks.com) and would recommend any of their short walks and day trips. Also, don’t miss Borough Market.
J R in WV
@lamh:
I agree with @sempronia: you should just take TRIP outside Londen to see one of the cathedrals or Stonehenge or some other ancient sites. Paris needs a week or 10 days, and just a day trip would be exhausting.
Brianm
@lamh: Don’t know if it was mentioned earlier, but fasting to fight jet lag works. https://www.google.com/search?q=jet+lag+fasting&oq=jet+lag+fasting&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.8909j0j4&client=ms-android-hmd-rev2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
I’m in London now. Wife, son, and I feel great.
Steve in the ATL
@Brianm: have a great trip! You should totally take a day trip to Paris while you’re in London.
Miss Bianca
@B.B.A.: Funnily enough, that example also occurred to me early this morning. But it has yet to be invoked – political suicide. Unlike the endless rounds of birth control and abortion battles.
Brianm
@lamh: Bad link earlier, I was on my phone and in a hurry. Here’s a better one, anyway. https://hbr.org/2009/05/a-fast-solution-to-jet-lag.html
@Steve in the ATL: The best way to get to Lisbon (our real destination) turns out to be Eurotunnel to Paris to catch a flight to Lisbon. So we’re forced (ahem) to stay in Paris for a few days.
Just had lunch with some Brits who pointed out we were only a few blocks south of a notorious Fox News “no go” zone, aka “the place to go for really good food”. I must try it out.
Brianm
@lamh: I’d recommend Avebury over Stonehenge. It, and the nearby Silbury Hill really made my jaw drop and think “These neolithic people were crazy. Avebury doesn’t have the rocks-on-top-of-rocks that Stonehenge has, but it’s huge. Also, you can sit on the back porch of a pub, look at standing stones marching off into the distance, and contemplate Time. (At least you could, 29 years ago.)
Avebury is 25 miles north of Stonehenge, and Google Maps shows it as slightly faster to get to.