Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

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

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans in disarray!

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

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

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

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Reader Interactions

144Comments

  1. 1.

    Spanky

    Ditto here. Since the dew point was at 74 here in the swamps of Southern MD, I made the command decision to blow off outdoor work.

  3. 3.

    Juice Box

    I have a French lesson today. My French teacher has recently returned to France after living in the US long enough to become a citizen. Although she’s far more interested in French politics, she enjoys hearing about the latest follies. I have a lot to discuss today. Of course, that’s true most weeks as well.

  7. 7.

    Spanky

    @Juice Box: I took 5 years of French through 11th grade and am mulling getting back to it now that I’m retired.

    Also, has anyone started piano as an adult? Also a little leery how my (minor) arthritis will fare.

  8. 8.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Combining this with the emergency Pence return, I’m going to suggest Trump had a stroke. Not a physically crippling stroke, but one that made him even less coherent than before. I consider this far from certain, but the timeline makes it a reasonable possibility.

  10. 10.

    Luthe

    @Spanky: No, they fell to those dastardly Canucks (who dare to have their national holiday three days before ours!).

  11. 11.

    Luthe

    In awesome news: I GOT A JOB!

    It is in the DC area (VA side), so if any Juicers have advice on where to live, what to do, where to hang, etc. please chime in. Note: I am looking for an apartment, so don’t bother with house-hunting advice.

  12. 12.

    The Dangerman

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Not a physically crippling stroke, but one that made him even less coherent than before.

    On first coffee (read: dangerous), I suspect the same; he was gonna have his military parade come hell or high water, but if he cuts back his schedule and his tweets start to read like a normal human being (done by Baron?), well …

    …can you imagine the Republican primary if he has to stand down? Without smiling massively, I mean. Pence would want the automatic but I don’t think that happens.

  13. 13.

    jimmiraybob

    Once you factor in the deep state, Obama, Her emails, Bengazi!, Q Prophesy, and time travel, it doesn’t look that silly anymore.

  16. 16.

    hueyplong

    Fox&Friends is now stuck with insisting that we did indeed take airports during the Revolution because to do otherwise would be to admit to a Trumpian error, and that cannot be tolerated.

    It’s either that or go 24/7 live from some place where a non-documented person committed a crime.

  17. 17.

    SFAW

    @jimmiraybob:

    Once you factor in the deep state, Obama, Her emails, Bengazi!, Q Prophesy, and time travel, it doesn’t look that silly anymore.

    I think that’s a reasonably comprehensive list. Well done.

  18. 18.

    Nicole

    @Spanky:

    Also, has anyone started piano as an adult? Also a little leery how my (minor) arthritis will fare.

    Do it. It’s good for your brain, and it’s not like you’re trying to play professionally so do as much as the arthritis lets you and don’t worry about it. My best friend’s father-in-law started teaching himself piano at 91, so you’re still a spring chicken.

  19. 19.

    BlueGirlFromWyo

    Thank God President Trump has enlightened us on history quashed when those PC libs didn’t allow statues of Benedict Arnold on his Ticonderoga B-52. – Wingnuts

  20. 20.

    Bill Arnold

    My favorite of yesterday when he announced on twitter that the “Kremlin-in-the-Air”, AKA (Putin’s) Aircraft One, would be doing a “low and loud sprint” over the parade. Copied from a thread last night. Gaffe, or deliberate? :-)
    Aircraft One

    Called “Kremlin-In-the-Air”, it carries Russia’s most important passenger – the President. Set in the context of real historical events, the film reveals unique facts about life and work aboard the Aircraft One.

    via
    Trump writes that “Aircraft One” may do a “low & loud sprint” over his military parade (Rob Beschizza Jul 4, 2019)
    More on that:
    newsweek.com/george-conway-slams-trump-apparently-confusing-name-air-force-one-putins-aircraft-one-1…

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @hueyplong:
    I find both equally plausible. Remember, Fox is an alternate world with little to no connection to ours. It’s way beyond merely misrepresenting or fudging. I remember seeing their coverage of the Mueller investigation, and the narrative taken for granted that they were merely providing updates on was that Mueller and Hillary were facing imminent indictment.

  22. 22.

    plato

    Wasted MILLIONS of dollars
    DESTROYED American history
    CLOSED off national monuments
    Turned national holiday into a PARTISAN rally
    WASTED military resources
    Turned off cameras to hide his SHAME
    #TrumpParadeFail— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) July 5, 2019

  23. 23.

    James E Powell

    While we’re talking coffee, has anyone here ever heard of Swedish Egg Coffee? I tried that recipe and I got a cup of luke warm coffee-ish water the color of iced tea.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    CNN interviewed Joe Biden, who said he was surprised Kamala Harris came after him on the busing issue. She clapped back kinda hard when asked about it today:

    Biden also said Medicare for All is crazy talk and said he’d support a Medicare buy-in instead.

    FWIW, my guess is that’s where the eventual nominee will land, regardless of what the candidates are saying now — primary proposals are aspirational! Ditto Biden’s remarks on immigration and healthcare for immigrants… Maybe when they winnow the field so there’s more than 40 seconds to answer a question, we’ll get more details.

  28. 28.

    Ken

    @Spanky:

    I did not know that. I thought we took the airports in the War of 1812.

    I just checked Wikipedia, and there’s a huge section on the operation.

    Oops, gone again, and the page is locked.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Even if Dems take Congress, I don’t think there will be the votes for MFA. Too many moderate to conservative Dems, and MFA doesn’t leave much room for compromise.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    @Spanky:
    I learned German with a self-teaching kit after retiring. I am now renowned among the Juicitariat for showing off in the language. And I started guitar a couple of years ago. The pinky finger on my left (fretting) hand has been shortened and weakened by gout; but it (mostly) works fine for chord fingerings as long as I avoid 11th and13th chords. I’m not keen on jazz guitar anyway.

  32. 32.

    Gelfling 545

    @Spanky: I started piano at age 67. I am enjoying it enormously. I have arthritis in my hands and it actually seems to have helped it a bit.
    As for French, a friend who is in his late 70s attends a French conversation group for all levels of skill at a local coffee shop regularly. He is amazed at what he has recalled from his school days.
    Bonne chance dans tes études.

  35. 35.

    EthylEster

    @Spanky wrote:

    and am mulling getting back to it

    I recommend DuoLingo. I, too, studied French when young. I started again with (free) DuoLingo on my phone about a year ago. I have made REAL progress. I am most pleased with significant improvements in my accent AND listening comprehension.

    The app is not perfect but it exercises reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. AND did I mention it is free? OK, the ads are annoying. And there is a lot of tedious repetition but that’s what is necessary for language learning. You have to commit to regular use. I’ve had 110 and 85 day streaks.

    There is a desktop version as well.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: That’s my assumption too. I’m glad they’re swinging for the fences though. The current system is unsustainable.

  39. 39.

    Aleta

    (SF Chron) The Trump administration is preparing to replace in-court interpreters at initial immigration court hearings with videos informing asylum seekers and other immigrants facing deportation of their rights, The Chronicle has learned.
    …
    The Justice Department informed the nation’s immigration judges of the change last month at a training session, multiple sources familiar with the situation told The Chronicle.

    At issue are “master calendar” hearings where immigration judges meet with undocumented immigrants, usually dozens of them, in rapid succession to schedule their cases and to inform them of their rights. The quick sessions are intended mainly to be sure the immigrants understand what is happening and know when their next hearing will be and what steps they need to take in the interim.

    Under the new plan, which the Justice Department told judges could be rolled out by mid-July, a video recorded in multiple languages would play, informing immigrants of their rights and the course of the proceedings. But after that, if immigrants have questions, want to say something to the judge or if the judge wants to confirm they understand, no interpreter would be provided.

    Many of the immigrants come from Central America, but collectively they speak a diverse range of indigenous languages and sometimes don’t know Spanish. Immigrants from all over the world also come before the court system, which is run by the Justice Department.

    The shift would especially affect immigrants who do not have attorneys to explain proceedings. Many immigrants lack representation at the initial hearing, and legal services around the country say they are being stretched thin. The government does not provide attorneys.

    Instead of turning to an in-court interpreter, judges would have to rely on any who happen to be in the building for other purposes, or call a telephone service for on-demand translation that judges say can be woefully inadequate or substantially delayed.

    “It’s a disaster in the making,” one judge said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person did not have Justice Department approval to talk publicly. “What if you have an individual that speaks an indigenous language and has no education and is completely illiterate? You think showing them a video is going to completely inform them of their rights? How are they supposed to ask questions of the judge?”

  40. 40.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

     I’m glad they’re swinging for the fences though. 

    In theory, I am too. In practice, I feel like it’s trouble when it comes time to accept compromise.

    Progressives do this weird thing where they think it’s a good negotiating tactic to ask for more, but then they get really upset about the negotiating process.

  41. 41.

    cmorenc

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Remember, Fox is an alternate world with little to no connection to ours. It’s way beyond merely misrepresenting or fudging.

    …and even Fox’s warped distortion of reality is mild compared to One America Network where they’re still ranting about prosecuting (only Obama Admin officials) for “Fast and Furious”, ignoring that the origins of that sting-gone-wrong were back in the Bush Administration. At least Fox has moved on to focusing on distorting Mueller and doing their best to make cheetolini look good.

  42. 42.

    Amir Khalid

    @Amir Khalid:
    I should also add: a pianist has one important advantage over a guitar player. Namely, a pianist will be less tempted to collect pianos than a guitar player is to collect guitars.

  43. 43.

    Gelfling 545

    @SRW1: Les français ont leur part des foux en politique mais les notres sont uniquement américains. Comment les expliquer à l’étranger?

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Betty Cracker: I’m doubtful Medicare for All is politically feasible right now. But I am backing it because at least there is a productive and active debate about how to set up a stable sustainable and cheaper Medicare type system that will improve population health.

    Problem I see going forward with improved Obamacare is that no one is presenting specific plans for exactly how to do it. Going back to the status quo is too vague, and I think my initial fears that Obamacare is an unstable system that can only go so far in reducing costs and increasing access and quality of care are being born out.

    That is no knock on Obamacare. Every big program, whether by government, or private organization,or anybody, has to be adjusted and modified when it meets reality, and as reality reacts to the program. My hunch is that those backing improved Obamacare are afraid to take on the much stronger regulation of private insurance and corporate providers that is needed. Obamacare is an historic achievement for Obama. But there is a big void in the debate on specific plans to move forward to improve it.

    Unlike many pundits, I see no harm in exploring all options. I heard a news report on some new polls that the reason support for Medicare for All goes down once people are told they will lose their private insurance is that many people confuse private insurance with choice of provider. Once that issue is clarified, support goes back up.

    It is far beyond the skill, and probably interest, of the our lousy worthless corrupt corporate media to inform people adequately about the choices, so the candidates have to do it. I trust Warren can get it done. And if Harris stops waffling on her stance on this issue and makes up her mind, I trust that she can too.

  47. 47.

    jl

    And dubious thanks to Tamara for the pic. I’ve been trying to get Trump’s grotesque speech out of my mind, but that drags me back.

    Trump and the Trumpsters always eerily give tells about their con person souls. Is it karma, or the Great Spaghetti Monster forcing them to reveal themselves in everything they say, even if in subtext? IIRC correctly there was a touch of Trumpian betrayal in the Washington’s actions in New York. So, great that he got the population riled up, and they melted King George’s statue into bullets, and he talked ‘Conquer or Die!” Then he realized he had to skedaddle right quick out of there or he would lose his army, and evacuated in the dead of night, leaving the population of New York to the British. And that started a year of talk that Washington didn’t know WTF he was doing and should be replaced, IIRC.

    Very fitting in a vile way that Trump would decide to militarize Fourth of July by glorifying that episode and implying that the real glorious action that meant something in 1776 was with the military in New York, just as glorious and important to mention as those wimpy losers fiddling with their egghead papers.

    Washington was no Trump of course. And became a good general. But Trumps ridiculous, lying and disgusting speech just eats at me.

  49. 49.

    cmorenc

    @Amir Khalid:

    @Amir Khalid:
    I should also add: a pianist has one important advantage over a guitar player. Namely, a pianist will be less tempted to collect pianos than a guitar player is to collect guitars.

    I am just over 2 years in seriously learning to play acoustic guitar, having also just turned 70 in May. By “seriously” I’m not content to just learn to campfire-strum the chords in tunes, but learning to flatpick up-tempo fiddle tunes, including learning crosspicking arrangements of some tunes and really learn the fretboard and get really fluid with scales, and learn enough music theory to understand what I’m doing instead of just playing by rote. A HUGE difference between guitar and piano is that piano is laid out is a far more understandably linear fashion, and it’s relatively quick and easy to visually learn which notes are which at a glance (the sharps / flats are rather conveniently all on the black keys). Standard tuning of a guitar OTOH is laid out so five of the six strings are a fourth apart, except that the B string is a major third above the G string, and it can become a bit elaborate to learn to identify the useful triads across the fretboard. It’s taken me a couple of years to understand important things about how music connects to the guitar that I could have absorbed in just two or three months on piano.

    But, as others have noted above – it’s a worthwhile journey to dive into, and at each layer of accomplishment I discover new deeper (and more challenging) layers to get into – definitely worth it as something to keep your mind and motivation young instead of sitting around watching TV and letting my mind slowly turn to mush.

    And yeah, one guitar tends to begat desire for more guitars – I have a Martin D18, a Taylor 114ce, as well as a resonator guitar borrowed from a friend who said it was just catching dust in his closet. And yet the lust to add yet another intermittently flares up, though I’m keeping the guitar acquisition disease under control -so far.

  50. 50.

    sukabi

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I suspect we’ll all be very familiar with many of the names on that list.

    Won’t be surprised in the least if there is a mad scramble to get the release killed.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Whereas the knock on moderates is that their opening bid is what they want and they negotiate downward from there. ;-)

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    @Aleta:

    Looks like the last people to realize that our current immigration “courts” are a cruel farce are the actual judges.

  56. 56.

    delk

    I have an old friend visiting and yesterday we drove about an hour away from the city to a roadside diner for lunch. The waitress sat the three of us right under a TV playing Fox News. When she came back with our water I asked if we could have another table away from the TV. She sort of gave us a look and said that she could lower the volume. I told her that was not good enough. She immediately said that she could turn it off. We agreed and had a good lunch.

    I suspect she realized that customers that do not want to be subjected to Fox News probably are better tippers than those that want to watch that crap.

  57. 57.

    laura

    @Steve in the ATL: Whatever happened to Esperanto?
    IIRC, Esperanto Spaulding rocks the stand up bass, you should def check her out if/when she comes to a town you find yourself in. :)
    Luthe- congratulations on the new job. That feeling of elation is such a good feeling so enjoy it!
    Amir Khalid, hope you add a dobro to your collection, but jazz guitar, come on, Wes Montgomery a legend in West Coast Cool Jazz. Take a listen:
    youtu.be/zxTD1XQTcyk

  59. 59.

    jl

    @Mnemosyne: On the bright side, it really doesn’t make any difference for the 2 and 3 year olds crawling on the table at their immigration hearings. I don’t think ‘goo-goo’, and ‘waah’ are hard to translate.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    @sukabi:

    I’m fully expecting that all Republican and conservative names will be redacted and any Democratic or liberal names will be left intact.

  61. 61.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Gelfling 545: Years ago I picked up an interesting book in the Paris airport on that very subject. Sacrés Americains: Nous les Yankees, on est comme ça (something like “Holy Americans: We Yankees, it’s just how we are”) by Ted Stanger.

    It’s written in French by an American for a French audience. Trying to explain various aspects of American culture including what the whole “freedom fries” thing was all about (this was during the era after W declared we hated the French because they wouldn’t support his invasion of Iraq).

  62. 62.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Amir Khalid: Very True. Although my spouse and I have two pianos, one fortunately is not in our house it is still at her ancestral manor. On the other hand I currently have 6 guitars, plus I am learning to build them so heaven only knows how many I will wind up with before my spouse removes me from this mortal coil.

  63. 63.

    Shana

    @Luthe: Depends on a bunch of things: do you want proximity to Metro? How long a commute do you want? Are you young or youngish and is proximity to restaurants and bars important? I primarily hang in the Oakton/Vienna/Fairfax area which has a number of apartments but can run pricey. Currently on vacation but will be back Sunday so let me know if you want to get in touch about all this next week or later.

  66. 66.

    Anotherlurker

    @Nicole: Do it! Take Piano lessons. I took up the Guitar 10 years ago. I had lessons for a while and developed a degree of competence. I progressed, positively, from having my efforts classified as “A minor crime against humanity” to them being “mostly un-listenable”. //.
    Sadly, life interfered with living and I let my Guitar studies lay fallow.
    I have started lessons again and I’m having a good time with them.
    For me, music is a wonderful outlet. It is amazing to me the amount of pleasure that can be derived from 3 or 4 chords.
    Again, give it a try!

  68. 68.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Spanky: Go for it….. I have moderate to severe (depending on the day) arthritis especially in my hands and find that anything that I do to keep my hands moving helps. If I haven’t picked up a guitar or woodworking tools after a couple of days my hands get very stiff. So maybe I will dust off the piano since it is currently too damn miserable weather wise to get in the shop.

  69. 69.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Amir Khalid: How did you attain the level of proficiency you obviously have? I find that with language study I get to a certain kind of survival level and then just get sort of stuck there. I find it very difficult to improve on my own.

    With French I’m proficient enough to read, and I think that helps with the practice, though I find full-speed French on movies or YouTubes is almost impossible. With German, I took some formal classes (adult night school years ago) but it’s mostly been a process of picking up a word here and there while on travel, which is something that happens at best every few years, for a few days at a time.

    The vocabulary is what really kills me in German. I pick up something to read and I find myself having to consult the dictionary on two words out of three. I’ve got a National Geographic magazine on “Die Wikinger” (the Vikings) in front of me at this moment, as we just had a trip to Germany and I always get ambitious and pick up something to read, but it is VERY slow going.

    I just this morning translated the slip we got from the pay toilet in the train station. I carried that thing around with me because I swore I was going to try to figure out what it was good for sooner or later. Took me half an hour this morning with the dictionary to work out that it was a €0.50 voucher for “participating businesses in train stations anywhere in Germany”. (The toilet said the cost was €0.50 but you had to pay a €1 coin and get this bit of paper back).

  70. 70.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @Luthe: Check out old town Alexandria. There’s always stuff happening there, and a lot of restaurants too

  72. 72.

    joel hanes

    An old joke in my family:

    Q. What did George Washington say to the troops before crossing the Delaware?

    .
    .
    .
    .
    A. “Get into the boats, men.”

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    Just checked my morning email and had 2 in russian in my junk file. Someone is not playing nice.
    They were both scams about money.
    Any one else getting these?

  76. 76.

    Peale

    @Amir Khalid: unfortunately, that is not true. My parents are nearing the end of independent living. As I’m going home to sort through and start getting rid of things, I’m trying to figure out what to do with four pianos. How three of them got into the basement down that narrow staircase is a mystery. I think maybe my dad built the house over them.

  79. 79.

    Luthe

    Thank you for all the congrats!

    @Shana: Metro-proximity A++ because parking near my job will be a bitch and a half. I’m aiming for a 30 min commute if possible. I am youngish and would like to have the option of going out (when I’m not feeling curmudgeonly).

    @Steeplejack:
    @JoeyJoeJoe: I will be working in Old Town, so that’s convenient.

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    Twitter:

    Adam Klasfeld Verified account @KlasfeldReports

    NEW: Judge Furman in SDNY won’t hold a #2020Census conference “at this time” given the govt’s “acknowledgment that this court’s injunction” stands and it concedes it can’t add a citizenship question to the surveys without “adopt[ing] a new rationale.'” @CourthouseNews

    7:56 AM – 5 Jul 2019

    Good, good.

    (via RammedTheRampartsHat @Popehat)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    tokyokie

    @Amir Khalid:

    I should also add: a pianist has one important advantage over a guitar player. Namely, a pianist will be less tempted to collect pianos than a guitar player is to collect guitars.

    Now you tell me! Wish you’d done so before I filled the house with them and had to move my bed to the garage!

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    @Luthe: There are a couple of new apartment developments on Washington Street just across the Beltway from Old Town (put in after the older developments were torn down for the new WW Bridge construction). I have no idea how much they cost (they’re likely spendy), but things like that might be worth considering (even though they’re not on the Metro).

    Unfortunately, one has to pay to minimize commute time, or pay in time to minimize rent, [ or pay in ] transportation costs [ in either case ]. :-( Things can be much cheaper across the river in Maryland, but then you have the traffic issues to contend with. There are some small commuter buses from places like Waldorf MD that might be another option.

    When my MIL came to DC from Minnesota in 1941 before WWII started, she lived in a boarding house on P Street in DC with some of her friends. I wonder if we’ll be returning to days like that in the not too distant future. :-/

    Good luck, and welcome to the area!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    James E Powell

    @cmorenc:

    And yeah, one guitar tends to begat desire for more guitars – I have a Martin D18, a Taylor 114ce, as well as a resonator guitar borrowed from a friend who said it was just catching dust in his closet. And yet the lust to add yet another intermittently flares up, though I’m keeping the guitar acquisition disease under control -so far.

    Sounds like you need a 12 string.

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    @Mike R:

    Let’s be honest a guitar player only needs one more guitar.

    In an amazing coincidence, the very same rule applies to bicycles.

  85. 85.

    dnfree

    @James E Powell: My husband said his family used to make coffee with an egg beaten and stirred into the grounds. This was in the day of stovetop percolators so that probably made a difference–running the water over the grounds multiple times.

  87. 87.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @dnfree: Not sure what the egg in the coffee grounds does, but it’s triggering an ancient memory in my own brain of people putting egg shells in the coffee grounds. Might be a completely false memory.

    Some years ago I read an interesting little history article about the important of coffee in the American Civil War. The Union had a strategic coffee advantage, while the South had to make do with various substitutes, and generals considered this a significant advantage. What I remember from the article was that cooks were prized for their ability to “settle the grounds”. This is the kind of coffee-making where you heat the water and grounds up together, so I have no idea what you do to keep the grounds out of the coffee when you pour it. But maybe the egg has something to do with that?

  89. 89.

    Amir Khalid

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    I don’t think there’s one way that works for everybody. The only thing that works for everyone is constant and varied exposure. It helps that I’m already proficient in a Germanic language, namely English, and have some familiarity with concepts in grammar and syntax. I do wish I had a conversation partner because my listening skills don’t get much practice right now, and I wish I did more reading in German. I do practice with Google Translate, writing sentences out in German and seeing if the English translation is exactly what I mean to say. That’s a useful exercise.

  90. 90.

    germy

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: No, I remember seeing people put eggshells in coffee grounds in 1940s movies. And I recall reading a novel (written in the 1930s, but I don’t remember the name) where eggshells go into coffee grounds. It’s just mentioned off-handedly, during the course of a morning breakfast scene.

  91. 91.

    Anotherlurker

    @James E Powell: LOL! I have a Washburn 6 String, a Squire Mustang and a Little Martin. I just bought an Oscar Schmidt 12 string.
    That’s it! I swear! (I think)

  92. 92.

    TomatoQueen

    @Luthe: The most attractive thing about Old Town is that you can live,work, and hang out there without a car. If I weren’t limited by a need for wheelchair-compatible housing, Old Town in all its gracious funkiness would be my first choice. The most unattractive thing about NoVa is that it’s eyewateringly expensive, getting worse all the time and at an increasing rate (thanks Bezos), and the traffic is hilarious. Close Metro stations in NoVA all summer because they’re all crumbling and need to be fixed, ten years ago? Why, let’s do so immediately and so they did. Two easy things to do right now are subscribe digitally to WaPo and start paying attention to Fbook Marketplace listings, which will show you current listings for short-term leases and sublets without much effort.

  93. 93.

    cmorenc

    @James E Powell:

    Sounds like you need a 12 string.

    A skilled solo flatpicking acoustic guitarist makes a 6-string sound like an ensemble, seamlessly surrounding the melody notes with harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment. I’ve never really been all that into the sound of a 12-string guitar, which comes across to me as too much like trying to substitute more strings for more skill. Maybe that’s too harsh and unfair an evaluation generalized to other guitarists – but focused solely on the issue of what further kinds of guitars I am vulnerable to lusting after – a quite valid consideration, at least for me.

  95. 95.

    mad citizen

    @Spanky: I was just outside working for 3 hours–felt really uncomfortable (central Indiana). Now inside, checking the weather on the computer, and we’re at a 77 degree dew point–the highest I’ve ever seen. Says it “feels like 103”. It’s 92 degrees with 55% humidity. Has me thinking of moving to a dryer, cooler place.

  96. 96.

    James E Powell

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    My mother’s family always put egg shells in the grounds of the percolator. Speaking of which I don’t know anyone who uses a percolator. I haven’t even seen one in years.

    @dnfree:

    The recipe I linked called for boiling the coffee-egg slurry for five minutes, I would have thought that made a pretty strong brew. Then it said to add a cup of ice cold water to settle the grounds, which it did. But it was luke warm and very weak.

  97. 97.

    Redshift

    @Luthe: You might want to look in my neck of the woods – west end of Alexandria, near 395. There are plenty of apartments, and they’re building more, and the bus runs straight into Old Town.

  98. 98.

    Redshift

    @Redshift: Meant to add, it’s a lot less expensive than actually being in Old Town. I read recently that the majority of the population of Alexandria lives around here.

  99. 99.

    joel hanes

    @germy:

    When making old-fashioned boiled coffee over a campfire (bring water in coffee pot to a rolling boil, add coffee grounds directly to the water, stir once, boil thirty seconds, remove from heat, allow to stand for minute, trickle a bit of cold water over the top “to settle the grounds”) adding the eggshells from breakfast after the grounds is a traditional way of clarifying the coffee a bit, and reducing the acidity.
    I’ve been doing it on canoe trips all my life.

    You want a pretty coarse grind.
    Even more “body” than French-press coffee.
    One grows accustomed to tossing the last teaspoon of coffee in the bottom of the cup, and knocking out the sludge before refilling.

  100. 100.

    Shana

    @Luthe: not sure how cool it still is but the Ballston area is nice, more city-like than a lot of suburbs. Full of bars and restaurants.

    The impending move of Amazon to the area is already having an effect on prices although it won’t happen for a couple of years.

  101. 101.

    joel hanes

    @James E Powell:

    add a cup of ice cold water

    Far too much. Use maybe a quarter cup, and trickle it as slowly as possible over the “crema” froth.
    You can put the pot near the heat afterwards, but don’t reboil.

    boiling for five minutes
    Boy, that’ll be bitter. And oxidized. Use more coffee grounds, and boil very briefly.
    And yes, campfire coffee is often weak by modern standards.

  103. 103.

    James E Powell

    @joel hanes:

    Thanks for the tips. I’m actually pretty happy with my ordinary store-bought drip coffee, but it’s summer and I’m not working and I like to mess around.

  105. 105.

    Juice Box

    Studying languages is much easier in the internet era. Try http://www.italki.com if you want to really learn to speak a language.

    @James E Powell: I use a percolator. I bought it after I read an article by Megan McArdle about appliances. She said that there were many better ways to make coffee than a percolator. Since Megan McArdle is always wrong, I bought a percolator and discovered that it makes superb coffee. In his essay about coffee, Umberto Eco admits that American percolator coffee is the best coffee in the world.

  107. 107.

    Yutsano

    @rikyrah: To be fair, I don’t think Yamiche is accepting it. I just don’t think she has an avenue to pursue it further. As of yet anyway.

    @rikyrah: Chuckles can eat ALL the bags of salted dicks.

  108. 108.

    rekoob

    @Luthe: Lots of great ideas from others, and allow me to add Del Ray, which is north of Old Town Alexandria and south of Arlington. Braddock Road is the closest Metro (closed until 8 September for reconstruction). Del Ray has *tons* of restaurants and along US Route 1 (now renamed “Richmond Highway”), plenty of new apartments. Great neck of the woods. You might also consider south of Old Town (Huntington) for affordability and good access to roads.

  110. 110.

    James E Powell

    @cmorenc:

    I’ve never really been all that into the sound of a 12-string guitar, which comes across to me as too much like trying to substitute more strings for more skill.

    I never heard that one before. Let’s agree to disagree.

    Back in my cover band days I always wanted to add a Rickenbacker but I never had the money. The most common gripe about 12 strings is tuning. It’s said that the two happiest days with a 12 string are the day you get it and the day you sell it. I’ve heard the same thing said about boats. Never owned either one, so I can’t really say.

  111. 111.

    polyorchnid octopunch

    @Amir Khalid: You know what the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist is, don’t you?

    A rock guitarist plays three chords to three thousand people….

  112. 112.

    StringOnAStick

    @germy: Ukulele bug bit me, I got an Acacia wood low G tenor 6 months ago and love it. I’ve played mandolin for 8 years but the high string tension has become too hard on my thumb and fingers; too bad, I do love how it sounds. You can get a very nice ukulele for a lot less than an equal quality mandolin too.

    I’m still pretty drugged from getting knee #2 replaced this past Tuesday but I should be back to playing very soon. My husband (jazz guitar guy) and I (better vocalist than player) did some songs for my 87 year old dad in late June who was both shocked that I can sing and sure I was taking vocal lessons. That have me a smile.

  114. 114.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Steve in the ATL: That’s why I use an octave pedal. Turn a 6 string into a 12string, organ(with a couple extra pedals), or a bass and still only have to tune 6.

  115. 115.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Doc Sardonic: those are cool. Heard a guy in Bob Mould’s band do a solo show with a Strat and one of those. Sounded like a full band.

  117. 117.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah:

    Biden didn’t prepare, got his ass kicked and has been whining about it ever since.

    Chuck Todd likes what he’s seeing

    Not a coincidence. Anybody with a dollop of white male grievance likes seeing white men whine. The whiner is whining for them, validating that white men whining is the correct response and whiny white men are as superior as they’ve always believed themselves to be. The curve for mediocre white men is real, and now that it’s under fire those mediocre white men worship the curve as a god.

  118. 118.

    Jay

    @Aleta:

    Sadly it’s the same “Immigration Court” system that thinks 3 year old children are sufficiently versed in Immigration and Refugee Law to represent themselves at hearings.

  119. 119.

    JoeyJoeJoe

    @Redshift:

    I’m over there as well. You can bike to old Town or use one of the multiple bus services. Also less traffic west of quaker lane. Just avoid trying to get onto Telegraph road off of Duke during evening rush hour

  120. 120.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jay:
    The quotation marks are important. It’s worth making sure everyone remembers, these aren’t real courts. They’re just something a lot like a court that the Department of Justice does inside itself, and that’s why Sessions for example was able to assign himself the power to decide any individual case he felt like.

  121. 121.

    Zinsky

    Donald J. Trump may be one of the most underwhelming individuals in the history of the universe. The personification of mediocrity.

  122. 122.

    Jay

    @James E Powell:

    “Boiled” coffee requires that first, the coffee be boiled to strength.

    You don’t actually want the water boiling because above 97C it brings out the bitter oils.

    Once you have the coffee as strong as you want it, add the egg.

    Or take it off the heat and let it settle, ( no bubbles). Add a dash of cold water and crushed eggshells to settle the grounds, (eggshells are optional)

  123. 123.

    Zinsky

    Trump didn’t have a stroke – drat the luck. We need to egg him and throw pies in his face at every opportunity, though. Incessantly!

  129. 129.

    HinTN

    @cmorenc:

    A skilled solo flatpicking acoustic guitarist makes a 6-string sound like an ensemble, seamlessly surrounding the melody notes with harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment.

    More years ago than I care to count I went to Boston Common to hear Aretha Franklin. There was some opening act with which I was unfamiliar called Leo Kottke. Walking up I heard what I took to be at least two very talented guitarists. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was just this guy and a twelve string.

  130. 130.

    Bill Arnold

    @Aleta:

    My favorite is Cornwallis of Yorktown.
    Alas, poor Yorktown.

    DJT may have confused him with AOC, who graduated from Yorktown High School. (Only 20% serious :-)

    After watching the video, I’m 50% with Frankensteinbeck@8 – mild stroke or functional equivalent (e.g. heat, and/or …) reduced his verbal performance level.

  131. 131.

    Brachiator

    @jl:

    Problem I see going forward with improved Obamacare is that no one is presenting specific plans for exactly how to do it. Going back to the status quo is too vague, and I think my initial fears that Obamacare is an unstable system that can only go so far in reducing costs and increasing access and quality of care are being born out.

    Coming late to the thread and will soon be offline again.

    From what I gather from the great health insurance threads here, Obamacare has not only been a great success, it has stabilized in many areas, even with Trump’s attacks on it.

    I don’t see the advantage in Medicare for all, or even in the insistence that universal health insurance must be single payer.

    As an aside, I note that in the second debate, Wilmer repeated his standard stump speech lie that the US needed single payer, “just like all the European nations have.”

  132. 132.

    JAFD

    Note that Philadelphia Int’l is right next to Fort Mifflin, site of major action in American War for Independence (‘AWI’ = standard compromise term in old ‘rec.games.miniatures.historical’ Usenet group)

    “Strategic coffee advantage” – to make coffee, you have to boil water, which kills germs. In Civil War, water-borne diseases like dysentry, typhoid. etc killed more soldiers than bullets

  133. 133.

    debbie

    @Another Scott:

    Just heard Trump’s statement that they’re working on “five ideas” to get the citizenship question on the census forms. He’s starting to sound desperate. I bet he was counting on that question to suppress votes and ensure his win in 2020. Knowing Trump, he also doesn’t have a back-up plan.

  134. 134.

    Anotherlurker

    @Steve in the ATL: Once the strings stretch out a bit and settle in, tuning isn’t a problem, for me, with a 12 string. I remember Leo Kotke saying that tuning one was like tuning a Centipede.

  135. 135.

    Brachiator

    @HinTN:

    More years ago than I care to count I went to Boston Common to hear Aretha Franklin. There was some opening act with which I was unfamiliar called Leo Kottke.

    That sounds like a fun double bill.

  136. 136.

    Brachiator

    Breaking news…

    President Donald Trump said Friday that a teleprompter mishap led to his much-mocked July Fourth flub in which he talked about defending airports during the American Revolution.

    George Washington never blamed his teleprompter for speech gaffes.

  137. 137.

    HinTN

    @Brachiator: You got that right. I gotta say that Ms Franklin was everything I hoped she would be but what stuck with me was Mr Kottke.

  139. 139.

    Steeplejack

    @rekoob:

    Seconded on Del Ray. Also, Metro can mean buses, too, right? Buses from various Del Ray stops every 20 minutes, and the ride to Old Town is about 20 minutes. Very doable.

    @Shana:

    Ballston is still pretty cool—I live a couple of miles away at Seven Corners and go there often—but getting to Old Town via Metro train or bus would take over an hour.

  141. 141.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @debbie: One devoutly hopes that the Good Guys (& Gals) have a contingency plan for the likely instance that Interior prepares & prints forms including a citizenship question & then when discovered throws up its figurative hands & whines, It’s too late to change it now. Something like a court injunction that NO ONE has to answer the question, that forms on which the question is left blank (or answered NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS) MUST be counted, (ETA: that a cover letter or script to that effect be included in EVERY contact by the Census Bureau,) and that Wilbur Fucking Ross serve serious time in a Federal lockup.

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    @HinTN:

    Washington had the world’s best speech writer.

    And Ben Franklin, who also invented the Internet, built Washington’s teleprompters.

  143. 143.

    Doc Sardonic

    @James E Powell: Currently I am using one in my modeling pedal board since I am no longer gigging. Back in the day I used an Electro Harmonix POG, their new one is the POG2 I think.

  144. 144.

    Ruckus

    @James E Powell:
    I owned a 30 ft sailboat. When I bought it I thought that was the best day. I was of course wrong. Even better was finding out that I did make enough money to live OK, when I wasn’t spending it all on the boat, the slip, the sails, gas for the car to get to the sailboat …………..

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