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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Night Open Thread

Friday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  February 8, 20199:44 pm| 143 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Tammy and Samantha are here for a visit:

Watching Star Trek: Discovery.

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Previous Post: « Open Thread: Meet Baby
Next Post: Late-Night RussiaFvckery Open Thread: The Sideshow Artistes »

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    February 8, 2019 at 9:48 pm

    Moar puppehs! Yay!

  2. 2.

    jacy

    February 8, 2019 at 9:48 pm

    Bonus Puppeh!

  3. 3.

    The Midnight Lurker

    February 8, 2019 at 9:49 pm

    Can I stay here with you a little while Mr. Cole?

    Between the hot mess in VA and that hot wombat love thread… I’m scared.

  4. 4.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    February 8, 2019 at 9:54 pm

    Thank you for the open thread. Have a nice visit with Tammy and Samantha.

  5. 5.

    Pogonip

    February 8, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    How do you like Discovery , Cole?

  6. 6.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2019 at 9:59 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker:
    Nothing like having a wide range of topics to discuss, run away from, swear at, yell swear words at, get overly excited about, not be interested in at all……

  7. 7.

    jacy

    February 8, 2019 at 9:59 pm

    And for those of you following along at home:

    1) Mouse has gotten fat. I mean fat. You wouldn’t think such a scrawny kitten would gain weight SO fast. So he has to go on a diet, which will be agony for everyone. He is convinced that he’s never been fed, ever, not even once and he manages to make us believe it half the time. (I think maybe some of it is due to his disability and the fact that he can’t jump and run and like “normal” cats, although I am sure most of it due to the fact that we are suckers who just keep feeding him constantly.)

    2) Custody paperwork has been filed so I sent a letter telling the ex that the kid has been accepted to the school he wants to go to and that I think it is in his best interests. 48 hours and no response, so I don’t know if he is moping or plotting. I did not tell him about the court petition yet, but he’ll be served some time next week and he’ll find out then. So, still waiting, but the anxiety is a few degrees less.

    3) Still waiting to hear back from the mtg co and whether I can modify further, but I did get my valuation on my house back and it’s gone way up since I bought the house, to that’s good, I think. I’m within about $2,000 of what I need to pay off everything, and I have until the 25th to wire it, so I feel good about it, and far less panicky than a few weeks ago when everything seemed impossible. (And the peeps here are working at keeping me organized and taking on some of the burden things, so that helps a lot.) Thanks to everyone again for the help and kind words and good thoughts. It’s amazing the difference it makes. Y’all are the best.

  8. 8.

    The Midnight Lurker

    February 8, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    @Ruckus: I’m with you, pal. I love this blog! But for right now, I’m just going to sit in the corner and watch Star Trek with dad.

    My phaser is set to stun and I’m ready to beam out!

    They still do that, right?

  9. 9.

    Ohio Mom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:03 pm

    In my front yard, the daffodils are just beginning to break through — there are half inch tall leaves showing — and yesterday a robin was hopping around my neighbor’s yard.

    It really lifted my spirits to see signs that this winter may actually end.

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:05 pm

    I am feeling very stressed out, somewhat irrationally, but also about an absolute shitshow that went down while I was on a work trip this week. One of my colleagues went missing for a period of some hours, then turned up saying that he had been drugged at a bar and taken to a stranger’s house. Other details in his story around these events were easily disprovable lies.

    It has been a week.

  11. 11.

    eemom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:05 pm

    Are you all better now, Sir BlogLord?

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:08 pm

    @Suzanne: Ugh on your work mate. How are your sinuses?

  13. 13.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 10:08 pm

    With filing season officially under way, a growing number of taxpayers are realizing that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act might be a double-edged sword.
    The White House said in October 2017 that the average family “would get a $4,000 raise” when it was pushing for passage of the law. Now that the new filing season has begun, some taxpayers are finding out that the tax man giveth — but also taketh away, especially as it pertains to their annual refund.

    Early filers have been taking to social media to express their ire at finding that their refunds were a fraction of what they anticipated or — worse yet — that they would owe an unexpected bill to the IRS.
    “That campaign promise was one of the only two reasons I voted for you,” wrote Twitter user Dee Nelson. “Rethinking that decision now.”
    @realDonaldTrump just did my taxes and thanks for increasing mine!! No change in income and got back $400 less than last year. That campaign promise was one of the only two reasons I voted for you. Rethinking that decision now.

    I’m slightly curious what her other reason was.

    I hope it wasn’t The Wall :)

  14. 14.

    B.B.A.

    February 8, 2019 at 10:09 pm

    For the two or three people who haven’t pied me yet, I posted an explanation of my behavior on the other thread, which I’m not going to repeat.

    For I am Costanza, king of the idiots.

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    February 8, 2019 at 10:12 pm

    Lucinda Williams and the DBTs tonight in DC…semi-ashamed I knew next to nothing about Ms. Williams prior success, but hey now I am a fan. ?

    Considering the time of year, would be great if the DBTs opened with “Feb 14” ❤️???

  16. 16.

    jacy

    February 8, 2019 at 10:13 pm

    @B.B.A.:

    Temperatures are running a little high, and the world is a remarkably stressful place right now. For my part, I am cutting EVERYBODY a little slack. If I find myself getting annoyed with anything, I just take a breath or go do something else.

  17. 17.

    Sayne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:13 pm

    If you’ve not seen it yet, here is a letter dictated by John Dingell to his wife on the day he died. Powerful and moving words from a great patriot.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-dingell-my-last-words-for-america/2019/02/08/99220186-2bd3-11e9-984d-9b8fba003e81_story.html?utm_term=.29602b9e6094

  18. 18.

    Suzanne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:15 pm

    @Ohio Mom: About the same. Colleague situation is some absolutely crazy shit. Third colleague and I were incredibly concerned and upset…..then the dude just reappeared, completely unconcerned, as if nothing had happened…..but said he was given a roofie and essentially kidnapped. And then he acted like that was just HILARIOUS, and he told us “that’s my story and I’m not changing it”.

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2019 at 10:15 pm

    @The Midnight Lurker:
    As long as you weren’t sitting in the corner sucking your thumb and waiting for dad to come home, you probably are OK.
    Technology has come a ways since Star Trek so maybe phasers and beaming out are now classique. I’d assume that in the future that Apple will make an overpriced gadget that will do both, much simpler, smaller and far more expensive. Probably Apple Watch 12.

  20. 20.

    Amir Khalid

    February 8, 2019 at 10:15 pm

    @B.B.A.:
    Any chance of a link?

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:21 pm

    @Suzanne: I haven’t worked outside the home in a while so my memory might be fuzzy, but that doesn’t fit what I remember about professional behavior.

    Is he the boss’s son-in-law or something?

  22. 22.

    B.B.A.

    February 8, 2019 at 10:21 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I would prefer not to.

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2019 at 10:23 pm

    @Suzanne:
    That must be what I got a whiff of, even at this great distance and with a smeller that doesn’t work at all. It’s #2 colleague bullshit from where you work.

  24. 24.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:24 pm

    @jacy: Glad things are looking a bit better in your life.

    Here’s the link to jacy’s GoFundMe to save her house,in case anyone was still wanting to contribute.

    @Kay: NBC Nightly News did a segment on how people are upset they’re not getting refunds and/or having to pay taxes this year. Elections have consequences, bitches.

  25. 25.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:26 pm

    @Suzanne: Whoa. That doesn’t sound good. Any other weird signs from this guy? Something isn’t right there.

  26. 26.

    B.B.A.

    February 8, 2019 at 10:27 pm

    @Sayne: I’m not crying. It’s just dusty in here.

  27. 27.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:30 pm

    @Kay: Also, when the tax law comes up I like to mention this comment from the turtle:

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) looked ahead to the 2018 midterms with some confidence. “If we can’t sell this to the American people, we ought to go into another line of work,” he said at the time.

    Yes. Yes you should.

  28. 28.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 10:31 pm

    @Kay: I do tax prep. I am really curious about how this tax season will go. First horror story (not a client; I would never discuss a client on a blog) a co-worker of someone I know has a wife and eight kids. He didn’t think to adjust his withholding because he’s just a normal guy who goes to work and doesn’t think about stuff like that. He was expecting a refund. But of course he had lost ten personal exemptions (him, wife, eight dependent kids) which is worth more than $40,000 off his taxable income that he isn’t getting any more. So he had to borrow to pay his taxes. Plus he has to readjust his withholding so his take home will be less going forward. Net effect of the tax bill for him: no refund, new debt, less take-home pay.

    Next election a lot of people may be bitter.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:31 pm

    @Ohio Mom: It’s completely fucking weird. Obviously, if he really was drugged, then that is serious and a crime. But I am skeptical. He told us that he only had one drink, even though I personally saw him get fairly intoxicated earlier in the evening and be kind of a drunken asshole. Plus some other lies. Then he changed his flight and made a fairly quick escape.

    @Yarrow: I just met the guy for the first time on Sunday, because he works in a different office in my company. Three of us flew in from different offices for a recruiting event. So I don’t know him well enough to say.

  30. 30.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    February 8, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    @B.B.A.:

    I don’t pie nobody, but that’sa personal choice of mine. People usedta threaten to pie me, which is certainly their prerogative (I, perhaps fatuously, likes to think like Zora Neale Hurston on that score: “Why would anyone deny themselves the pleasure of my company?”) Chin up, don’t mean nothing.

    Read your post mentioned on previous thread. At the risk of sticking my oar in where it ain’t wanted, got the impression you’re mostly confused about how best to proceed by the roiling crosscurrents of our times. Which, if so, to me is totally understandable. We gotta criminal preznit of these here United States gaslighting the entire fucking country, ratfuckery is afoot far and wide, and we’re all getting a lurid object lesson that retrograde views on race and gender are not limited to the GOP. It *is* confusing.

    But: fwiw, wouldn’t recommend flagellating yourself over it. Only seems likely to exacerbate the state to which you mentioned being prone to.

    One thing I try’n allus keep at the forefront of my mind as the sole saving grace of the Trump maladministration and its exponential evils (providing we make er thru, course): The Trump era has ripped the scab offa most every false piety ever invoked in these here United States and revealed the oozing pustulence to the world.

    It now falls to alluvus to determine if we are equal to surmounting that.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    Monthly trek into town complete. Bills paid, groceries obtained and now all unpacked and put away. Time to collapse.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 10:33 pm

    @Yarrow:

    We’ve heard complaints. The drops are really large- going from 5k to 500. They’re pissed. They plan on getting that money.

    Don’t quote me on this but I would be willing to bet Donald Trump did not know people wait for those all year, and put off big purchases and expenses until they get them. It’s like withholding is a kind of savings account. For a lot of them it’s the only big chunk of money they get all year. They didn’t (and wouldn’t) notice the extra $2.11 they got weekly, or whatever pittance he threw their way, but they will notice the lower refund.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    February 8, 2019 at 10:37 pm

    @Sab

    Long ago lost track of how many dozens of times have made mention of the tax time bomb here and IRL.

  34. 34.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:37 pm

    @Suzanne: Hmmm….that does sound weird. Sounds like something is definitely going on there. Not really the kind of person you want representing your company at a recruiting event. Are you and the other person going to report him or do anything about it?

  35. 35.

    Ohio Mom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:38 pm

    @Suzanne: Am I to understand the other office sent this paragon of judgement to an event where job candidates are screened?

    Well, I guess I can understand that they wanted a break from him.

  36. 36.

    AThornton

    February 8, 2019 at 10:39 pm

    @Kay:

    Early filers have been taking to social media to express their ire at finding that their refunds were a fraction of what they anticipated or — worse yet — that they would owe an unexpected bill to the IRS.

    In times of stress it’s always good to relax with the classics

  37. 37.

    Bess

    February 8, 2019 at 10:40 pm

    Interestingly the pro-family, birth them all party wrote a tax reform package that harms large families. Older blind folks also got shafted.

  38. 38.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:41 pm

    @Kay: Trump doesn’t understand anything that doesn’t impact him directly. He probably thinks everyone has accountants who figure out how to keep them from paying anything in taxes.

    The idea of getting a refund in the three or four digits category and actually needing or wanting that money to pay for things would never even enter his head.

  39. 39.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 10:42 pm

    @NotMax: Yeah. How did they not see it as a bomb? I sure hope it takes out my R senator. He’s not up for a couple of years, but people with big families maybe won’t see him as so family values next time.

  40. 40.

    Mike in NC

    February 8, 2019 at 10:44 pm

    @Kay: Good to hear about MAGAts who got screwed by Trump’s fake tax cuts.

  41. 41.

    Jay

    February 8, 2019 at 10:45 pm

    @poleaxedbyboatwork:

    Yup.

  42. 42.

    Ohio Mom

    February 8, 2019 at 10:45 pm

    @Sab: I hope Democratic candidates will address that bitterness clearly and frequently. Spell it out: this is what Republicans did to you.

    They need to be very direct, there are too many people like your friend’s friend, the dad of eight, who don’t have the wherewithal to follow the news closely.

  43. 43.

    jacy

    February 8, 2019 at 10:48 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Any con can only last so long. The Republican con has lasted a long time — mostly because RACISM — but they have shitty, unworkable ideas that, once implemented, are shown to be shitty, unworkable ideas. A good conman knows when to get out, but a bad one just keeps pushing for another score. Republicans, in the end, are bad conmen.

  44. 44.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 10:48 pm

    @Mike in NC: They aren’t all MAGAts. They are people with kids across the political spectrum. Let’s not lose sight of that.

  45. 45.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:49 pm

    @Ohio Mom: It shouldn’t be that hard to do since Republicans crowed about their tax bill and in the last election Dems talked about how it gave money to the rich. It’s already out there. People just have to be reminded that yes, this is what we meant by that. Republicans screwed over everyone but the very rich. They screwed you.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 10:49 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    I bet Republicans in Congress did it deliberately, front loaded the tiny benefit and put off the big refund cut. Because that’s the kinda people they are.

    I’d blame Trump but he has no earthly idea what’s in that law. I bet he’s shocked to discover people get refunds. Or, used to get refunds.

  47. 47.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 10:50 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    @Kay: Good to hear about MAGAts who got screwed by Trump’s fake tax cuts.

    They weren’t fake at all if your last name was Koch or Devoss or Trump or Kushner or any of their ilk.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    February 8, 2019 at 10:50 pm

    @Bess:

    No, the deduction for over 65 or blind is still there.

  49. 49.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:51 pm

    @Kay: Cue up all the times he said the tax law was great for everyone and was going to put money in everyone’s pockets.

  50. 50.

    Yarrow

    February 8, 2019 at 10:52 pm

    @debbie: But teachers get screwed because they can no longer deduct expenses.

  51. 51.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 10:52 pm

    @Kay:

    @Mike in NC:

    I bet Republicans in Congress did it deliberately, front loaded the tiny benefit and put off the big refund cut. Because that’s the kinda people they are.

    I’d blame Trump but he has no earthly idea what’s in that law. I bet he’s shocked to discover people get refunds. Or, used to get refunds.

    I think it was the Trump-appointed political leadership in the IRS that goosed the withholding tables in an attempt to increase people’s take-home pay before the 2018 mid-terms. Of course no one noticed that. But now they are noticing the missing refund they used to use for that vacation to Vegas or whatever.

  52. 52.

    Suzanne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    @Yarrow: We did report it, because there is also the issue of $1400 in additional unexpected costs due to his disappearance that I didn’t mention. (Seriously, this story is complicated and weird.) He also disappeared with all of the work product the three of us accumulated over the trip, and said that he could not get back to the office until next week.

    @Ohio Mom: Yes, they did. I don’t know how long that will last. He was directed not to go to the next event, which was yesterday and today. My company is trying to figure all this shit out.

  53. 53.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    @Yarrow: What is weird is this wasn’t Trumps tax bill. He just signed it. It was Mitch McConnell’s and Paul Ryan’s. Ryan was already planning to exit to wing-nut welfare. But why did McConnell go along with a plan that would torch the base?

  54. 54.

    cain

    February 8, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I am feeling very stressed out, somewhat irrationally, but also about an absolute shitshow that went down while I was on a work trip this week. One of my colleagues went missing for a period of some hours, then turned up saying that he had been drugged at a bar and taken to a stranger’s house. Other details in his story around these events were easily disprovable lies.

    The man must be having a psychotic break to start telling tales like that.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 8, 2019 at 10:54 pm

    @B.B.A.:

    I would prefer not to.

    Does one of the Bs in your nym stand for “Bartleby”?

  56. 56.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 10:54 pm

    @Yarrow:

    @debbie: But teachers get screwed because they can no longer deduct expenses.

    Really? I’m a teacher and just did my taxes on TaxCut. The $250 deduction for classroom expenses was still there. We have never been able to actually deduct actual expenses which, for most teachers, is much more than $250.

  57. 57.

    debbie

    February 8, 2019 at 10:55 pm

    @Yarrow:

    True. Most people do get screwed. Congress voted to get rid of the 65/blind deduction, but someone somewhere must have had second thoughts.

  58. 58.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:00 pm

    @jacy: Yep. That makes more sense than anything else I’ve heard. Incompetent conmen.

  59. 59.

    Brickley Paiste

    February 8, 2019 at 11:00 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Oh, he a spy. A spy with a drug problem.

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    February 8, 2019 at 11:01 pm

    @Sab:

    But why did McConnell go along with a plan that would torch the base?

    Because McConnell’s base is the plutocrats and millionaires. The rubes back home are just the saps who can be counted on to vote for him because reasons.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 11:01 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Oh, it was way more specific than that. People were all getting a “4,000 dollar raise”. That’s what they promised. Democrats can do a lot with that. You would think they would know better than to put a number on it.

    Democrats did a good job attacking the tax bill though. It’s unpopular. Most people think it benefits rich people, which is good, since it does. So they can just stay the course, but now with examples! :)

  62. 62.

    Millard Filmore

    February 8, 2019 at 11:02 pm

    @Kay:

    I bet Republicans in Congress did it deliberately, front loaded the tiny benefit and put off the big refund cut.

    There was some discussion here that the Republicans timed the whole thing so that the tax cuts were before the 2018 elections, and the refund hit came after the elections.

  63. 63.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:02 pm

    @Kent: You lost the miscellaneous itemized deductions above the 2% floor, which probably never benefited you anyway unless you have a tiny income and huge expenses and you itemized.

  64. 64.

    ellie

    February 8, 2019 at 11:04 pm

    @Sab: Oh my god!

  65. 65.

    Salty Sam

    February 8, 2019 at 11:08 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Lucinda Williams and the DBTs tonight in DC…semi-ashamed I knew next to nothing about Ms. Williams prior success, but hey now I am a fan. ?

    You’re a lucky man, Jeffro- “The Saint of White Trash” has been a fave of mine for a long time, and not well appreciated in wider circles. Glad you got to see her.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2019 at 11:08 pm

    @Sab:

    Incompetent conmen.

    That’s the name of the rethuglican band.
    They play as good as they do everything else. Very, very badly.

  67. 67.

    Renie

    February 8, 2019 at 11:10 pm

    @Kay: I read that when trump was told about SALT by Dan Freedman trump thought it only affected wealthy people. He didn’t realize it also affected middle class people. It is greatly affecting me as a resident of NY.

  68. 68.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:10 pm

    @Millard Filmore: But it is still a hit, and I am guessing a huge one. People will remember.

  69. 69.

    debbie

    February 8, 2019 at 11:11 pm

    @Renie:

    Especially NewYork with not being able to deduct city and state taxes.

  70. 70.

    cain

    February 8, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    @Kay:

    We’ve heard complaints. The drops are really large- going from 5k to 500. They’re pissed. They plan on getting that money.

    On the upside, Trumpers are going to have a hard time spending any money on anything related to politics. Churches are going to be pissed too as well groups like Focus on the Family. I would imagine that it might be hard to spring for cable.

  71. 71.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:13 pm

    @ellie: That guy didn’t even vote. My guess is that he and his wife will never make that mistake again.

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    February 8, 2019 at 11:15 pm

    @Sab:

    I think maybe the point is only MAGAts expected that their taxes were going down under this conman. The rest of us expected the worst.

  73. 73.

    ellie

    February 8, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    @Suzanne: You really never know people. I used to supervise this guy who seemed incredibly normal. Until I attended a work conference with him. Come to find out he was a very aggressive drunk who liked to invade everyone’s personal space. He was let go in a round of cuts. Many years later, I found myself next to him at another work conference (he landed a job with a company in our industry) and he drunkenly hit on me. He is married. I am married. If you talked to him during a work day he is as steady and sober as anyone but let loose, he is a monster.

  74. 74.

    Another Scott

    February 8, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    @jacy: I’m glad things are looking up. Thanks for the update.

    For those who lost the link, it’s here – https://www.gofundme.com/5b5c5m-keeping-my-home/

    Also, check out jacy’s excellent art – https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSpectralObelisk

    Let’s make sure she makes her goal!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  75. 75.

    jl

    February 8, 2019 at 11:18 pm

    My Friday evening thoughts: the ride to the peak wingnut asymptote will be wild. How can they go even more absurdly nuts in public? Is the country so messed up politically that these abject lunatics will drive us off a cliff? All of them, from Trump on down. Too many links to put in a comment without getting bounced (I think, is there a limit now?)

    And why doesn’t the spell checker of a full service almost top 10,000 blog know ‘asymptote’?

  76. 76.

    Mike J

    February 8, 2019 at 11:19 pm

    Today brought the revelation that the lt gov of MS was in Kappa Alpha, an explicitly pro confederate college frat. There are pictures that won’t surprise you.

    Wiki says:

    Ku Klux Klan founder John Lester claimed that the Klan’s initiation ritual was based on a popular collegiate fraternal order. Allen Trelease makes the connection that “Kuklos Adelphon (KA) almost certainly provided the model” for the early Klan.

    My first college roommate pledged KA. His replacement and I shared Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen albums and drove to Baton Rouge to see REM (where we got sidetracked by a girls dorm at LSU). So I traded up in the roomie department and hoped it was the last I ever had to think of KA.

    However, other people might want to look at the lists of prominent KA members at Wikipedia or at various chapter sites. The current gov of West by God Virginia was a member!

  77. 77.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 11:19 pm

    @cain:

    I peeked at Tax Refund Twitter. Ugly out there.

    There’s also # TaxScam

  78. 78.

    JaySinWA

    February 8, 2019 at 11:19 pm

    @Suzanne: Sounds like an alcoholic episode. Although I think they usually last longer. Had a co-worker disappear for a week or so. He fessed up and got treatment.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    February 8, 2019 at 11:28 pm

    @cain:
    They had one chance to screw everyone for their paymasters and this was it. I can’t imagine what life in this country will be like in another couple of months when most people find out how badly they got fucked.

  80. 80.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:29 pm

    Why I love this blog. We start with John’s feet and Lily, and now we are discussing tax policy, and the whole drift from one to the other was sort of organic.

  81. 81.

    J R in WV

    February 8, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I have to say, I wonder who put a roofie in who else’s drink… it’s probably not your co-worker who got drugged, that happens to women, not guys. Just being paranoid. Glad he doesn’t work anywhere near you!

  82. 82.

    Martin

    February 8, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    Californian’s paid $12B more in taxes than before the law. People are pissed. We wouldn’t mind if it was helping balance the federal budget, or if the feds weren’t constantly fucking with our own part of federal spending, but the deficit is getting worse despite us paying more, suggesting that someone is paying MUCH less than us.

  83. 83.

    Joy in FL

    February 8, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    @jacy: I’m so glad that some things are better for you. : )

  84. 84.

    Renie

    February 8, 2019 at 11:30 pm

    @Kay: Hope the Democrats talk this #TaxScam up big time for the next election. People seem to forget issues quickly but this one hitting their wallets will hurt a lot. It’s a perfect issue to use against GOP.

  85. 85.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:31 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Agree

  86. 86.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 11:31 pm

    @cain:

    On the upside, Trumpers are going to have a hard time spending any money on anything related to politics. Churches are going to be pissed too as well groups like Focus on the Family. I would imagine that it might be hard to spring for cable.

    I think this is really under-reported. I have a LOT of extended family who are heavily into their church life. Based on roughly guessing at their mostly lower middle class financial status I gotta think that most if not all of them have lost their ability to deduct their tithing. Unless you have a MASSIVE mortgage, most middle class Americans are not going to get close to the $24,000 standard deduction for married filing jointly. So all those annual write-offs for church donations? Poof. They are gone.

    I haven’t really been looking for it, but I have to wonder what the long-term effect will be on a lot of these grifter churches.

    Of course it’s going to afffect college and universities as well. But their donor class is usually of a somewhat higher financial level.

  87. 87.

    J R in WV

    February 8, 2019 at 11:32 pm

    @jacy:

    If things get close, you come back here to the Jackals and we’ll try to do what needs to be done for you.

    Best of luck, I’m thinking fighting you is to much like work for you ex, who sounds like a lazy ass, too lazy to keep up an attack on you. Plus your kid is old enough to tell the judge who he wants to live with and why. Judges should be listening to kids that age!

  88. 88.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    @cain:

    On the upside, Trumpers are going to have a hard time spending any money on anything related to politics. Churches are going to be pissed too as well groups like Focus on the Family. I would imagine that it might be hard to spring for cable.

    This has really been underreported. All those lower middle class churchgoers are no longer going to be able to write-off all their tithing every year which I expect has been a MAJOR source of fraud to begin with in the past. How are all those grifter churches going to survive?

  89. 89.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:35 pm

    @Kay: Kay, you are a national treasure, although nobody but jackals, your family and your county dems realize that. It is still a fact.

  90. 90.

    jl

    February 8, 2019 at 11:37 pm

    Preparing to crawl out from under the bed and brave the world zooming towards peak wingnut asymptote.
    But, forgot to say thanks to Cole for petpic.

  91. 91.

    Steve in the ATL

    February 8, 2019 at 11:37 pm

    @Mike J: and the Kappa Alpha Order was founded by…Robert E. Lee.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    February 8, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Lucinda Williams has been in WV on Mountain Stage, a nation-wide live music show, several times. She is a wonderful singer/songwriter. We have several of her albums. Not quite country, not really pop, just gritty good music.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 8, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    @Yarrow: OTR truck drivers are truly screwed.

  94. 94.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 11:39 pm

    Middle Class Trump Dads Freak About Tax Hikes: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/middle-class-dad-freak-trump-211032057.html

    The comment thread has over 12,000 comments.

  95. 95.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    @Kent: Wow

  96. 96.

    Steve in the ATL

    February 8, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    @J R in WV: uh, if you don’t roofie guys then how do you get them on the plane for extraordinary rendition? Think, JR!

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    February 8, 2019 at 11:42 pm

    @J R in WV:

    My comment is “in moderation” for no reason I can see…. help!!

  98. 98.

    Aleta

    February 8, 2019 at 11:43 pm

    @Sab: And didn’t Mnuchin go around in public telling lies about it, especially the summer and fall when they were trying to get vote commitments? There was “fit on a postcard” and the old Rumsfeld (I think) “this war tax reform will pay for itself” (in economic stimulus & corporate reinvestment). He also said it wouldn’t significantly reduce how much people at the top pay (because deductions would be limited). What else…there was more I think.

    We were supposed to be reassured that it wasn’t just Trump’s plan—Mnuchin had worked it out.

    He promised to show his work, but I’m not sure if he ever released the figures he claimed he had worked out.

    Someone like Mnuchin will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars less than before (on paper at least) I believe. Susan Collins’ family will feel some tax relief joy too.

    Now might be a good time for some billboards if there were actual estimates of savings for the 1%.

    There may be mistakes in what I remember — this shouldn’t be treated as facts. Exhausting day.

  99. 99.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Every tax bill in my lifetime screws them. At some point we won’t have transport anymore. Good luck eating then.

  100. 100.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 8, 2019 at 11:44 pm

    So, check this. I was just perusing OK Cupid, and one fellow I stop to read about happens to mention Balloon Juice in his profile! A member of the jackaltariat! How cool is that!

  101. 101.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    February 8, 2019 at 11:44 pm

    @J R in WV:

    I have to say, I wonder who put a roofie in who else’s drink… it’s probably not your co-worker who got drugged, that happens to women, not guys …

    Unless it’sa guy who wants to rape a guy.

    Embarrassing lil vignette: Distinctly remember my gram warning me as a wee tot growing up in Flint that boys get raped, too. As a naive know-it-all sprite of nine, I had no idea what she was talking about. I remember trying to line out the physical complexities of a woman raping a man in my ignorant brain and deciding that gram, bless her heart, didn’t know shit about the world. Thankfully, I ain’t young enough to know everything nomores.

    That said, it sure sounds onnit’s face more like what another commenter said: an embarrassed cover story to make sense of a black-out bender.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    February 8, 2019 at 11:45 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Jeeze, that’s why you’re a famous lawyer, and I’m just a retired guy hiding out in the woods.

    Or on a high desert mountain range foothill. Fire is burning well… I’ll have to add more wood come bedtime. It’s only 9:43 here now.

    I’m lucky to know what a roofie is, really, from reading those progressive online magazines, warning women not to look away from their drinks. Glad I mostly drink at home now!

  103. 103.

    Plato

    February 8, 2019 at 11:45 pm

    @Kent:

    You get what you voted for, magat assholes.

  104. 104.

    Suzanne

    February 8, 2019 at 11:47 pm

    @J R in WV: I think there is much more to the story that I don’t know about. All I know is that, on the day we were supposed to fly out, dude disappeared and scare the living shit out of us. We were calling police, having hotel staff wellness check his room, changing our flights, etc. Then dude texts us with a crazy story that doesn’t add up, and shows no regret or concern…..before beating a very hasty retreat. It was very emotional and weird.

  105. 105.

    Kent

    February 8, 2019 at 11:49 pm

    If Dem’s don’t take advantage of this they are practicing political malpractice. The ads I would run?

    Make wanted-style posters of the Trump Cabinet and main boosters and flash them across the screen with ominous music.

    Betsy Devoss: $450 million tax cut that YOU paid for
    Wilber Ross: $975 million tax cut that YOU paid for
    Jarrod Kushner: $150 million tax cut that YOU paid for
    Koch brothers? $2.1 billion tax cut that YOU are paying for.

    And so forth. I just made up those numbers but they should be easy enough to estimate based on public information.

    Run a new set every week. Every week release the new set of Trump Billionaire tax savings.

    Do the same thing for corporations.

    GM: $2.8 billion in tax savings. 95% of it kicked back to shareholders, 5% to workers. and so forth.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 11:50 pm

    @Sab:

    Thanks. I’m amused that the GOP and Trump didn’t know “planning how to spend and then spending the tax refund” is a cherished American tradition. The majority of these people will never have had a federal tax bill in their lives, because all they pay is payroll and sales taxes and fees and such. They don’t actually make a payment to the IRS on income. Of course they’re outraged.

  107. 107.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 8, 2019 at 11:51 pm

    @J R in WV:

    My comment is “in moderation” for no reason I can see…. help!!

    You know what you did.

  108. 108.

    Sab

    February 8, 2019 at 11:51 pm

    @Plato: Not everyone who is getting phucked voted for these assholes. Just saying.

  109. 109.

    Kay

    February 8, 2019 at 11:58 pm

    @Sab:

    That’s true. My middle son’s on again/off again GF told me at Christmas how she was going to spend hers and I was thinking about her reading the tweets. She has a 3 year old. She not only didn’t vote for Trump, she canvassed for Sherrod so she doesn’t deserve this.

  110. 110.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 8, 2019 at 11:58 pm

    LA with snow capped mountains in the background. Much more snow this year.

  111. 111.

    Aleta

    February 9, 2019 at 12:01 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: What’s that bright green stuff? Athletic drink spill?

  112. 112.

    Sab

    February 9, 2019 at 12:06 am

    @Kay: LOL. My whole adult life in accounting (40 years) the tax pundits have said don’t overwithold. The IRS gets your money interest free. My response has always been: have you never been married? Every penny in our checking account gets spent by one or the other of us within the week. The only way we save is through overwithholding.

  113. 113.

    Ohio Mom

    February 9, 2019 at 12:06 am

    @Kent: Your ad also needs the contrast of Joe Blow with eight kids who had to take out a loan to pay his taxes when he used to get a refund.

    Don’t assume everyone is going to be able to draw a line between Mr. Fat Cat’s tax cut and their own missing refund. For that matter, don’t assume they are going to recognize any of the fat cat’s names you mentioned.

  114. 114.

    Ohio Mom

    February 9, 2019 at 12:10 am

    @RedDirtGirl: Could be promising.

  115. 115.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 9, 2019 at 12:11 am

    @Ohio Mom: I know, right?

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 9, 2019 at 12:11 am

    @RedDirtGirl: Run! Run fast and far.

  117. 117.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2019 at 12:12 am

    @Aleta: Grass, it gets green when you water it.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    February 9, 2019 at 12:20 am

    @Sab:
    Wow…that’s deep.
    Damn?

  119. 119.

    Barbara

    February 9, 2019 at 12:20 am

    @Suzanne: He hooked up with someone would be my guess. Most made up excuses have at least a passing connection to what actually happened.

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    February 9, 2019 at 12:25 am

    @Kay:
    Thanks for those links.

  121. 121.

    Bess

    February 9, 2019 at 12:26 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Fuel, etc. are business expenses. Independent truckers operate as businesses, teachers don’t.

  122. 122.

    rikyrah

    February 9, 2019 at 12:26 am

    @Sab:
    Cole said Open Thread?

  123. 123.

    Steeplejack

    February 9, 2019 at 12:28 am

    @Kay:

    #TaxScam link fixed.

  124. 124.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 12:32 am

    @Kent:

    “GM: $2.8 billion in tax savings. 95% of it kicked back to shareholders, 3600 workers laid off!”

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    February 9, 2019 at 12:32 am

    @Salty Sam: She really let it rip. The DBTs, not so much after the first 2-3 songs. Ah well…

  126. 126.

    Jeffro

    February 9, 2019 at 12:33 am

    @J R in WV: She was a hit w/ the crowd (including moi) :)

  127. 127.

    Kay

    February 9, 2019 at 12:35 am

    Adam Davidson
    ‏Verified account
    @adamdavidson
    Follow Follow @adamdavidson
    More
    Ivanka says she’s not scared of Mueller because her family never did business with Iran.
    They did! They have admitted to working with known money launderers for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

    Ivanka’s on one of her media tours. This is one is a bad idea because she sits for interviews now rather than just releasing statements to the NYTimes thru her publicist about how she’s not a racist. In the interview format you find out she lies as much as her father does.
    I can’t imagine who the Ivanka Constituency is. What group of voters are just dying to hear from her?

  128. 128.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 12:35 am

    @RedDirtGirl:

    You know he’s lying about his age on his profile right?

    Or Baud?

  129. 129.

    NotMax

    February 9, 2019 at 12:40 am

    @Kay

    Ivanka says … her family never did business with Iran

    Trump to English translation: We did business with Iran.

  130. 130.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2019 at 12:43 am

    @Kay: When they said Mueller, Ivanka thought they said Mullah.

  131. 131.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 9, 2019 at 12:43 am

    @Jay: Baud is ageless, he’s virtual.

  132. 132.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 12:45 am

    @NotMax:

    ?

  133. 133.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 9, 2019 at 12:47 am

    @Bess: Not all OTR truckers are independent contractors, are they?

  134. 134.

    Bess

    February 9, 2019 at 12:51 am

    Ones who work for trucking companies are employees and the trucking company covers expenses. I was assuming the discussion was about independent truckers who are basically contract workers who have very short (usually single load) contracts.

  135. 135.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 12:55 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    A lot are, some arn’t. Most companies that hire drivers as employee’s require hours. Most companies that contract drivers don’t. Trucking used to be a good middle class blue collar job, now, you might not be able to pay off your rig. With the advent of high speed diesels, trucks don’t last any where as long and are much more expensive to maintain.

  136. 136.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    February 9, 2019 at 12:56 am

    @Kay:

    Ivanka’s on one of her media tours. This is one is a bad idea because she sits for interviews now rather than just releasing statements to the NYTimes thru her publicist about how she’s not a racist. In the interview format you find out she lies as much as her father does.
    I can’t imagine who the Ivanka Constituency is. What group of voters are just dying to hear from her?

    Ivanka: “Sure, I work for unapologetic racists. And no, I damn sure don’t do fuck-all-nothing to stop them. And true, I wouldn’t say shit if my mouth was fulluvit. But how fucking DARE you intimate that *I’m* a racist.”

    Spoilt rotten fruit borne of a poison tree, our sweetheart of the rodeo, Ivanka. Distinction w/o a difference poster-chile.

    Ivanka’s constituency? The silently complicit. The whistling-past-the-graveyard ignore-it-and-it’ll-go-away fence-straddling ass-covering chickenshits of the world.

    (Which is a surprisingly and depressingly large constituency, foremost a which reside in the inner sanctums of the press corpse.)

  137. 137.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 1:01 am

    @poleaxedbyboatwork:

    You need to tell us how you really feel, and not hold it in.

  138. 138.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    February 9, 2019 at 1:07 am

    @Jay:

    Work in progress, brother. Lemme warm to the subject first, mebbe I’ll get there eventually.

  139. 139.

    Bess

    February 9, 2019 at 1:19 am

    @Jay: Look for the trucking world to get a good shaking up later this year as he whose name shan’t be mentioned starts selling battery powered trucks. Opex should be considerably lower.

  140. 140.

    Jay

    February 9, 2019 at 1:29 am

    @Bess:

    Works for short haul, the most covetted jobs in trucking.

    There’s a small side industry here, rebuilding old trucks, ( 2×6 as well), making them BCCAR compliant, and putting them back on the road. A simple truck that can run 1million+ miles beats a slightly more fuel efficent truck that’s dead and useless at 350k miles.

    Here, aboot 60% of truckers are close to retirement age, and the youtes arn’t doing well due to debt exceeding income.

  141. 141.

    Bess

    February 9, 2019 at 1:42 am

    The first battery powered T-semis will be for short haul work. Later a semi with a 100% charge range of close to 600 miles will make long hauls possible. With rapid 80% charging a 550 mile range truck would give a 440 mile range between charging. About 7 hours at 60 MPH.

    The T company has already started the process for three truck convoys with only the lead truck having a driver. The second and third truck would follow along like baby ducks.

  142. 142.

    joel hanes

    February 9, 2019 at 2:15 am

    @B.B.A.:

    Everybody plays the fool
    Sometimes
    There’s no exception to the rule
    [Listen, people]
    It may be factual may be cool
    [I aint’ lyin’]
    Everybody plays the fool

  143. 143.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    February 9, 2019 at 2:27 am

    @joel hanes:

    Been awhile since I seen you, but wanted to sez tx. for recommendation of Holst Suite. Really enjoyed it, specially the intermezzo second movement.

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