Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

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

T R E 4 5 O N

This fight is for everything.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

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

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

I really should read my own blog.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Monday Morning Open Thread: Cherish the Otter Moments

Monday Morning Open Thread: Cherish the Otter Moments

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87Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    Looks like we’re in for another big Infrastructure Week! I keep hoping it’s just a long bad dream and I’ll wake up to President Clinton being delightfully boring and competent.

  7. 7.

    Raven

    Over the weekend someone mentioned they missed my MJ updates. Like football I got tired of the whining so I stopped. It’s wall-to-wall Trump criticism and I love it. Ya’ll do what you want.

  8. 8.

    Geoduck

    I regularly check the headlines over at Red State. (Actually reading the articles is usually too much..) There was a pro-Trump crackdown there a few months ago, and most criticism of him was banished. But, interesting to note, there’s once again a Nevertrumper article getting full play. Maybe more folks edging towards the exits.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Chicago Sun-Times said police were called to the United Center on Friday night around 11pm after the Chicago Blackhawks mascot, Tommy the Hawk, was punched in the face and put in a headlock. As Tommy is flightless he was unable to reach a perch, eyrie or tree branch for safety. Tommy’s assailant was described as a white man between 18 and 20, about 5ft 5in and 160lbs. Video showed Tommy was able to struggle free from the headlock and bodyslam his small but nimble opponent to the floor.

    No animals, humans or anthropomorphic mascots were seriously injured during the fracas. A Blackhawks spokesperson said the team were aware of the incident. “We are gathering the facts and will have no further comment at this time, pending our investigation,” he said.

    Although generally kind to children and generous with free merchandise, mascots can lash out when provoked. In 2017, the New York Mets’ mascot, Mr Met, gave fans the middle finger after someone insulted his mother. “I do know that the fans were cursing at Mr Met with the f-word and saying derogatory things about Mr Met’s mom … which led to the gesture because of a personal matter with his mom,” a witness told the New York post at the time.

    Also, don’t kick sleeping buffalo so you can get a better pic, don’t hit garbage raiding bears with a frying pan, don’t honk at giraffe’s in the road, and always, always, be on the watch for falling box turtles.

  11. 11.

    Platonailedit

    Theresa May spouting words like faith, integrity, our politics etc. is hilarious.

    Holding another referendum on the EU would “break faith with the British people”, Theresa May will warn MPs.

    Former PMs John Major and Tony Blair are among those urging a new referendum if MPs cannot agree on a way forward.

    But the prime minister will argue that it would do “irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics” and would “likely leave us no further forward”.

    Last week she called off a Commons vote on her Brexit deal, admitting it was likely to be heavily rejected.

    Calls for another referendum have grown in recent weeks amid signs a majority of MPs are opposed both to the deal on the table but also leaving the EU without any kind of agreement.

  15. 15.

    p.a.

    Good morning! Looks like ’19 may be Infrastructure Year.

    Here at ‘home’, will the site rebuild ease the interminable time it takes to load this site on Safari?

  19. 19.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: The number of things I don’t need to know to successfully traverse my last decade or so on this planet are innumerable.

  20. 20.

    satby

    I don’t know why it never occurred to me to try the RSS feed from MPR’s classical music but it’s just put me in a much better mood not to have to listen to the same 50 schlocky Xmas songs on constant rotation almost everywhere else. Sanity restored!

  22. 22.

    Schlemazel

    @satby:
    I broke down & paid for Pandora. It is well worth the $5 particularly when we are on the road. It is 2 hours to Rochester and we never have to deal with Christmas schlock, advertizing or annoying DJs. Some of the ‘stations’ have a limited number of songs but we have a broad range of tastes so there are many stations to listen to

  23. 23.

    Patricia Kayden

    Thank you, Mr. Boehlert for pointing out that the majority of Americans don’t give a dang about the opinions of the Deplorables. I’m really sick of hearing about their views as if they take precedence to the views of the majority.

    Trump is not a popular President and once Mueller releases his report and Democrats take over the House, things are going to get worse for him.

  25. 25.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Platonailedit: While I am not a BREXIT proponent, I don’t understand what PM May is supposed to do. The majority of British people voted for it. She can’t ignore their vote and voting again may end up with the same result.

  27. 27.

    satby

    @Patricia Kayden: my online buddy linked to a map in FB that showed a majority of states have less in population than LA county. One step is to get the news organizations to quit treating landmass as if it voted.

    Edit: I can see Kindle is going to fuck with me all day.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yep, they will. One time many years ago, I was swimming in a crystal clear river with a swift current (Ichetucknee), and I caught sight of a dark figure in my peripheral vision. It startled me because I thought it was a gator, but it was an otter, swimming about an arms-length away! I was thrilled but careful not to make eye contact or do anything it could interpret as threatening, and I was relieved when it swam away, even though it was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen. Otters will fuck you up. There’s one we see swimming around our dock occasionally, and it makes me happy to see it, but there’s no way I’d dangle my feet in the water or try to pet it.

  29. 29.

    satby

    @Patricia Kayden: @Baud: Another vote now that more accurate information is available to people is only fair. I think there’s a lot of buyers remorse, and their election was as tampered with as ours was. Wouldn’t we jump at the chance of a do-over on the Traitor?

  33. 33.

    TS (the original)

    @Baud: They should never had held a vote in the first place – but I guess that ship has left port. We elect parliaments/congress to make the hard decisions – some folks never seem to accept this, but I have yet to find a better way for a democracy to operate. (This does assume fair and gerrymander free elections)

  34. 34.

    David Evans

    @Patricia Kayden: The British people voted for what was sold as an easy process, with no mention of the Irish border problem that is likely to sink the negotiations. They were told that leaving would allow £350 million per week to be diverted from Europe to the National Health Service. That was false on the face of it, and also didn’t take account of the economic consequences we have already had just from the prospect of Brexit. People who pointed out those consequences were called scaremongers.

    There was also some Russian involvement with the Leave campaign.

    If they still vote to leave, knowing all that, I don’t know what to say. But then I don’t know what to say about Trump loyalists either.

  37. 37.

    NobodySpecial

    @Patricia Kayden: The vote was held under false pretenses and her husband’s employer stands to make a killing on Brexit. Also, the referendum was non-binding. Rescinding Article 50 is the only correct choice at this juncture.

  39. 39.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: @satby: @David Evans: I have no problem with another BREXIT vote. I’m just not sure that the result will be different. Doesn’t seem as if PM May is going to call for another election and is going to push through even if that leads to disastrous consequences. Sigh.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    @Patricia Kayden:

    My impression is that Labour would like to see that happen because, if the consequences are as bad as predicted, Labour might do better in the next election.

  41. 41.

    danielx

    @debbie:

    Well, they could always take a page from Bush V. Gore….

    Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances….

  42. 42.

    Platonailedit

    @Patricia Kayden: The conservatives and the racists party ukip sold a con in brexit. Theresa May, as home secretary, played a big role in whipping up anti immigrants hysteria and as usual, them rural folks, fell for it and the youth and the libruls as usual, were caught sleeping during the referendum. Now the EU is calling their bluff and it’s her problem that she is still trying sell the con in a new bottle and no one is buying it including her own party. Yes, she is in a soup but she and her party made that sour soup.

    A new referendum, while not an easy panacea, seems to be the only way left.

  44. 44.

    Immanentize

    Happy Monday All.
    Another dreary day near Boston — but I am on the grading glidepath to my winter break. Woot!

  45. 45.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Patricia Kayden: Agreed, she had no choice when she became PM. There were deals available but these involved some form of customs union. This would not have been acceptable to the European Research Group and, since the election she’s needed their votes.

    The current deal is a gigantic mess but was the only one possible in the circumstances. It has no support in Parliament. The only way forward IMO is a 2nd referendum with 2 questions. Do you accept Teresa May’s deal? Yes or no.

    2nd question, only counted if answer is No, do you want to leave with no deal or do you want to withdraw Article 50 and stay in EU?

  46. 46.

    Immanentize

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Like polls, plebescites mean only something not quite like governing. But the conservatives went with the polls by vote instead of running the country. The got the result they didn’t want -; then did a horrible job managing the aftermath. It is just bad governing from start to finish so I expect a bad ending as well. Bye bye Great Britain!

  47. 47.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @satby: The problem is that in the Senate, land mass does vote. Or I guess not really land mass. States, borders that merit two senators no matter how many people live inside them. I’m not at all sure the Ds will take the Senate in 2020.

  48. 48.

    Lapassionara

    @debbie: I disagree. This was an election that was essentially optional, unlike our presidential election. There was interference in the election, and false information spread by those who wanted the UK to leave. The economic consequences of the vote are becoming more clear everyday, and they are not positive. Another vote is justified in these circumstances.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    Mississippi counties pay about $100 million a year to jail those who haven’t been convicted of crimes, according to a newly released database by the MacArthur Justice Center.

    That’s more than the state of Mississippi spends each year on child protective services ($98 million).

    “Our database confirms that long-term pretrial incarceration of poor Mississippians, attributable primarily to improper and illegal use of the money bail system, continues to be a significant problem that costs counties millions of dollars,” said Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

    https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/12/12/mississippi-spends-100-m-jail-unconvicted/2285343002/

  52. 52.

    Yarrow

    Good morning, all.

    @Raven: That was me. I never get to see it and enjoyed your choice comments. Understand that the whining can be a lot.

  53. 53.

    Platonailedit

    What are the odds that the twitler is involved in this mega corruption in some way.

    Malaysia has filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two former employees in connection with a corruption and money laundering probe at the country’s investment fund, 1MDB.

    The US bank has been under scrutiny for its role in helping to raise funds for the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

    It is being investigated in at least six countries.

    Goldman Sachs called the charges “misdirected” and said it would “vigorously defend them”.

    “The firm continues to co-operate with all authorities investigating these matters,” the bank added.

    Malaysia filed the charges against Goldman Sachs and its former bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.

    Mr Leissner served as Goldman’s South East Asia chairman, and left the bank in 2016. Mr Ng was a managing director at Goldman until his departure in May 2014.

    Last month, Mr Leissner, Mr Ng and Mr Low were served with criminal charges in the US in relation to 1MDB.

    Mr Leissner pleaded guilty in the US to conspiring to launder money and violating anti-bribery laws.

    In that case, prosecutors said former Goldman bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng worked with Mr Low to bribe government officials to win 1MDB business for Goldman Sachs.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @Lapassionara:

    Then I don’t see what would stop those who spread the false information from turning it around and demanding re-votes on all kinds of other things.

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Brexit is the British Jonestown. Just because they’ve always done what their leader has told them to do in the past doesn’t mean they have to drink the koolaid.

    But it’s really hard to change a habit.

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Platonailedit:

    What are the odds that the twitler is involved in this mega corruption in some way.

    Pretty small I would guess, but only because there are no US banks that will do business with him anymore.

  58. 58.

    Yarrow

    @Patricia Kayden: The People’s Vote movement is to allow the British people to vote on the final deal, not have another referendum again on whether to Leave or Remain. As someone said above, they were sold a bunch of lies with Russian assistance about what Brexit would do. It isn’t working out anything close to that. Right now the two Brexit choices are May’s crappy deal that she won’t even let Parliament vote on because it will lose or a hard Brexit (no deal). Even May’s deal isn’t what they were told would happen if they voted to Leave.

    Also, as NobodySpecial said, the referendum was non-binding so it’s not like they have to go through with it. The European Court of Justice has said they can just drop it if they want.

  59. 59.

    SFAW

    @A Ghost To Most:

    A conservative admitting they are wrong?

    It would come about in one of two ways:
    1) “I thought I made a mistake once, but I was wrong.”
    or
    B) “I was wrong to believe that the citizenry (or Parliament, or whichever group is the target) could vote in an intelligent manner.”

  60. 60.

    Lapassionara

    @debbie: this was an optional referendum, not a parliamentary election. Also, there are times when election fraud is so bad that a revote is the remedy. See NC.

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    @Yarrow:

    I never get to see it

    Not sure why you’re complaining.
    Complaining about raven not providing a daily update, I can understand, but complaining about missing MJ (or J&M, I guess)?

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: Democracies revote on things all the time. It’s how marijuana is becoming legal. It’s how Central American immigrants are being locked up for the sin of requesting asylum. It’s why the WI and MI GOP are trying to nullify the 2018 electoral votes.

    Laws are not written in stone, not even Moses’ laws.

  63. 63.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I have MJ on right now and they’re fretting over whether anyone can “reach” Trump. You mean like convince him to act differently, to read his briefings, to work hard on serving the country? That’s just a bizarre concept. “Reach” is impossible. You have to block his actions and get him out of there.

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    @rikyrah:

    That 34% is getting closer to the crazyfication factor.

    First of all, Good Morning!

    Second: I’m starting to wonder if the 27-percent figure is still valid. I’m thinking it might have increased. But the tough part is trying to do separate out the (theoretically) non-insane racists (a/k/a economically-anxious WWC) from those who are both racist and insane. Maybe anti-American motherfucker Scott Walker can generate a Venn diagram for me.

  66. 66.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Either way, it’s an endless merry-go-round. It took three or four corporate “initiatives” to get ca$inos written into the state Constitution here. Brexit supporters could follow this route and overturn the vote to end Brexit.

    Maybe the answer is to have a referendum on the plan.

  67. 67.

    arrieve

    @satby: I try to time my visits to the grocery store so I can get out before Jingle Bell Rock turns up on the rotation. I hate almost all of the songs on the endless holiday rotation but that one almost makes me homicidal. It boggles my mind that I love most Christmas carols but hate the versions that are played endlessly this time of year. I think they need to be sung by small groups minus orchestral accompaniment.

  68. 68.

    Ken

    @Amir Khalid: My impression is that when the party metaphorically said “We need a new leader”, everyone else took one quick step back. Some took such a long step that they aren’t in politics any more.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie:

    Either way, it’s an endless merry-go-round.

    That’s democracy, the worst possible form of governance. Except for all the others. My main point is only that to say they can’t revote on it again is ridiculous. What they really mean is it’s too soon to revote on it. Which is just as patently ridiculous considering the amount of lies and fraud that were perpetrated in the first vote.

  70. 70.

    Another Scott

    @Sloane Ranger: +1

    Will they do it? Dunno.

    May still seems to be in the “I will not blink first, you will” mode. Since she’s been found in contempt of Parliament once already, it seems her opponents have the upper hand. But her opponents are in two very different camps – 1) Pure Brexit™ now, forever, and always, 2) Never Brexit™ now, forever, and always. Positions seem likely to harden as long as the #1 group sees any path at all to getting what they want.

    I don’t expect much to change until it changes all of a sudden. If a new referendum is called, then that would indicate to me that #2 has the upper hand and is likely to win. But who knows, really…

    This whole exercise is so very, very stupid. Vlad must giggle himself to sleep every night over his brilliant luck in this…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    Luthe

    @arrieve: My taste in Christmas music runs toward the choral, either the Renaissance variety or the slightly more “modern” Vienna Boys’ Choir et al. “Greensleeves” and “The Holly and the Ivy” tend to turn up a lot, but you also get a good deal of lovely music in languages you don’t understand.

    If I do listen to contemporary Christmas music, it’s stuff like like “Fairy Tale of New York.”

  78. 78.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Target the farmers with ads re NO WORKERS ie vs T’s immigration lies and re NO INCOME ie vs T’s tarrifs, esp soybeans and China?? Target autoworkers. Etc

  79. 79.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Another Scott: Wasn’t there a long, long period before UK joined EU when many in UK worked and propagandized vs joining?? Joining would ‘take away UK sovreignity, etc

  80. 80.

    Elizabelle

    @Patricia Kayden: Find out if voting again results in the same decision.

    if so, May is golden. Her issue is that she and her party are too goddamned cowardly to put such a crucial step to a second referendum, because they think the vote will be REMAIN.

    People were shocked by Brexit, as they were shocked by Trump. Do you think Trump would have been elected again shortly after November 2016, and even less likely now? I do not.

    I hope these twin debacles wipe out the bad actors in both nations.

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @Yarrow:

    It wasn’t a complaint. It was just a statement of fact. I did like raven’s commentary on it.

    I wasn’t really taking you to task, you know. It was a more-or-less canned response, along the lines of — although with the cachet of — “All of them, Katie.”

  83. 83.

    Miss Bianca

    @satby: I saw this video a few weeks back and L’dOL at one comment which was something to the effect of “PET THE OTTER, YOU MONSTER!”

  85. 85.

    sgrAstar

    @Patricia Kayden: but the majority of the British people *didn’t* vote for Brexit. The majority of people (52%) who voted did vote Leave, but that amounted to 38% of the electorate, as I understand it. The whole thing is a cluster, begging for a do over.

  87. 87.

    joel hanes

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I’m a big fan of Coventry Carol as sung by … John Denver.

    Stark, plangent, heartbroken, heartrending.
    For my my money, the finest art in his collected works.

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