I’m not sure exactly why, since Trump has been openly corrupt from day one, but the Pence Doonbeg boondoggle seems to have legs in the media, even while SharpieGate rages on:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding the State Department disclose its role in Vice President Mike Pence’s trip this week to meet with Irish leaders in Dublin, which included a stay at the Trump International Hotel in Doonbeg, some 175 miles away.
“This is only the latest instance in which government officials, companies or special interest groups have patronized the President’s hotels – enriching the President and his family – in numerous cases, with taxpayer funds,” Warren wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, obtained by WBUR.
Warren demanded Pompeo disclose the State Department’s involvement in making travel arrangements, how much more it cost Pence to stay in Doonbeg instead of in Dublin, and whether Trump’s reported suggestion that Pence stay at his property played a role.
Maybe it’s because the story keeps changing?
Nancy Pelosi’s office issued a blistering statement about the Doonbeg boondoggle a couple of days ago. An excerpt:
President Trump is violating the Constitution by making money off of his lavish, ritzy resort properties, ultimately prioritizing his profits over the interests of the American people.
First, Trump suggested holding the G7 Summit at his Doral golf resort in Florida.
Now, the White House is walking back their previous statements that Trump personally suggested Pence stay at his Doonbeg hotel in Ireland, which would be yet another example of the President’s self-dealing.
Vice President Pence promised that their Administration would defend the Constitution and stand by a “strict constructionist” interpretation of the Constitution. Instead the Trump-Pence Administration is ignoring the text itself and selling out the Constitution to line Trump’s pockets.
Trump properties are a cesspool of corruption, a black hole for taxpayers’ money, an exploiter of immigrant labor and a national security threat with a suspected foreign spy walking the halls.
Let’s hope this is all a preview of coming attractions for when Congress is back in session. I’ve stopped complaining about it here because it seems like pointless blog-wanking that generates more heat than light, but we have the House — let’s USE it to expose the most corrupt pack of gilded grift-mavens who ever fleeced a sucker.
Quinerly
10 Trump tweets in less than 3 hrs. Doesn’t he have anything to do in the mornings?
Gin & Tonic
@Quinerly: He watches the Donald Trump show on TV and tweets about it. It’s like a fucking Klein bottle of politics.
BGinCHI
Doonbeg (plural Doonbegs)
A sterile container which holds the fluid used for giving a vaginal douche.
(US, slang, vulgar) A jerk or asshole; a mean or rude person; someone seen as being arrogant, snobby or obnoxious.
See also, Pence, Mike.
Synonym: Vice President
That Doonbeg ruined my shrimp cocktail.
Why doesn’t that guy get a job? He’s a regular Doonbeg.
It’s fine to help your friends eat healthy, but don’t be a Doonbeg and harass them about it.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: Usually a tell he’s worried about some news dropping.
ChrisS
@Yarrow:
It is a Friday …
C Stars
Since it’s an open thread, CNN has posted (on their front page! I wonder for how long that will last…) a link to a collection of poems about gun violence by “generation lockdown.” They’re worth a read.
cnn.com/interactive/2019/09/opinion/teen-poets-speak-on-gun-violence/index.html
Frankensteinbeck
His name is Donald Trump.
We are using it for that. 9/10ths of it the news utterly ignores, so nobody knows it’s happening. The House can’t force cable news to cover their hearings. The remaining 1/10th are juicy scandals that are then replaced by the next juicy scandal, usually that same god damn day, that didn’t need the House to expose it. Trump is a neverending fountain of corruption happening right out in the open because Moscow Mitch protects him.
eldorado
good to know nancy on the case issuing sternly worded letters.
Yarrow
@ChrisS: It certainly is.
rikyrah
not.one.lie.told.
Spanky
@Quinerly: That has become into a rhetorical question with this clown. Be grateful for it.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Laziest muthaphucka ever to be President.
Baud
It absolutely is. But so is everything else we do. ?
Spanky
@eldorado: I hear ya, but Betty has pointed out that Congress is in recess, so let’s wait and see what happens when they’re back in session. Hopefully past results will not predict future performance.
opiejeanne
@Frankensteinbeck: Thank you. I’m really sick of the twits on Twitter yelling about how Nancy is doing nothing on various subjects, every one of which has a bill already passed in the House that Mitch will not allow to come to the floor. What the hell is she supposed to do? Yesterday I saw the “graveyard” poster, a headstone for every one of those bills.
Baud
@Baud:
I also think it’s largely a waste of time trying to figure out which scandals will have legs.
Patricia Kayden
Start the impeachment process and then subpoena all relevant witnesses and documents during the months of investigations. Let’s go!!
Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have more than enough evidence of corruption to move forward.
opiejeanne
@rikyrah: In his case we should be grateful for this.
JPL
The aids should tell him to go play a round of golf.
The Dangerman
First cup of coffee into the morning and only barely functional…
…but any other Juicers go see Jackson Browne at the charity event in San Luis Obispo last night? He had just finished the song City of Immigrants when an apparent MAGAt came down to the stage to yell at him. Well, the acoustics at the campus Performing Arts Center are world class, so I heard most of it, which I won’t repeat as I wasn’t completely sober at the time…
…but how big of an asshole do you have to be to come to a Jackson Browne CHARITY event and think that he might get just a little political?
I think he left quite willingly, but he might have been escorted; the University Police Department might have been waiting for him to say “hello” by the time he made the exits (hell, the University President was in the audience; he might have made sure the CPPD was there to give the man the greeting).
donnah
Future President Elizabeth Warren proves she can handle multiple tasks at one time.
Kay
Maybe it’s because they admitted it, then lied about admitting it, then lied about it happening at all.
Even for the incredibly low quality Trump hires, that’s quite the day’s work. Good to know Pence’s hires are all liars too.
cain
@Quinerly:
Well, I think Fox and Friends show is done, so I think he’s done for the morning.
C Stars
@The Dangerman: One tries not to generalize–our side has its faults after all–but my god, these people are all just so ridiculously trashy and self-centered. They’ve become a parody of themselves (like their Dear Tweeter).
Betty Cracker
@Gin & Tonic: One poor soul on Twitter watches Fox & Friends and Trump’s feed and connects the two in real time. Like you said, he watches TV and tweets. Sometimes the timing will be off — he’ll go off on something featured on the evening Fox line-up in the morning. That way, we know he’s TiVo’d a program.
Kay
Is lying mentioned in the Bible? Maybe Mike Pence could tell us. After he gets back from his vacation. I seem to recall it’s frowned upon.
Spanky
@cain: Of course, “morning” only has about 20 minutes left in it here in Eastern Daylight Time.
Then come the afternoon tweets!
cain
@opiejeanne:
I think the problem is that whenever they do come out to say something somehow or other it comes out looking ineffectual, like these complaints by the Dem leaders have no impact whatsoever in this on-going clown car show.
I think some of that is corporate media.
Baud
@Kay:
Probably not as much as being in a room alone with you, Kay.
Yarrow
I see the UK fast food companies have good social media managers too. The idiotic Tories are trying to push the idea that Jeremy Corbyn is a chicken because he won’t allow Johnson to have his election. They’ve posted various photoshopped images of Corbyn as a chicken and tweeted one at KFC UK today. KFC clapped right back at them.
LBC is a national talk radio station in the UK that has people like Nigel Farage on their shows.
Also, the Tories are putting Corbyn’s face on the KFC Colonel and using JFC instead of KFC, but with the same font. So…cue the KFC lawyers. There’s a picture of this ridiculousness in the tweet.
SFAW
@ChrisS:
Not just ANY Friday — it’s Friday of Infrastructure Week!
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: That has to be one of the worst jobs ever.
Millard Filmore
@Kay:
It doesn’t say anything about bearing false witness FOR thy neighbour.
Kay
Barr’s actually worse. He’s supposed to be some independent actor. Boy has THAT job tanked in stature, huh? He’s one of Trump’s coffee boys. “Sir, we’re booking your fine hotel for our party”. Ugh. Just repulsively corrupt and sleazy. The decent ones among them, the career people, should not attend.
Amir Khalid
@Quinerly:
A real President would, but Trump …
The Dangerman
@C Stars:
They are going to have to be deprogrammed; it’s a cult at this point (agree about not trying to generalize, but roll with me here). I was listening to someone the other day talk about potential new gun laws and the threat of confiscation and how he’d rather fight than give up his gun.
Which is fine by me. Assuming no harm done to any authority or innocent, but if these assholes want to go sit in the slammer or go to that Trump Rally In The Sky, well, their choice.
Kay
@Millard Filmore:
Maybe they interpret “neighbor” literally, because they sure lie to and about everyone else.
Trump told him to use the hotel! We all know what happened. It’s like taking a trip to Chicago and inexplicably staying in Indianapolis. They’re all afraid of him, they’re cowards, and they follow his orders. The only sad part is how they drag subordinates who have nothing to do with this sleazy crew into the corruption.
Steve in the ATL
@Kay: I’m in Indianapolis right now. I don’t recommend it. Though my seat mate on the flight up here informed me that everyone who goes to Chicago gets shot, so I’m not sure where to stay.
SFAW
@Kay:
That raises an interesting philosophical question: Is Barr worse than Pence?
On one hand, we KNEW Shill Barr was corrupt, and would not faithfully execute his duties as AG, but rather act as the Liar-in-Chief’s consigliere. So, compared to expectations, he’s probably about where we thought he’d be, within an order of magnitude.
On the other hand, we knew Dense Pence was a moron, and a run-of-the-mill Rethug (thus a grifter), but I’m thinking our expectations were that his corruption was not near Shitgibbon levels. So, he has (in a sense) exceeded expectations on the corruption front.
Of course, either way, the country loses
Kay
Another liar heard from:
They won’t take advice from me but Christian conservatives might want to clamp down on all the lying their leaders do. It’s really out of control. Clean up your own house instead of scolding other people. It’s a pit of sleaze.
Gin & Tonic
@The Dangerman:
I often think about these gun-humping “need to be able to protect myself from a tyrannical government” douchebags who don’t seem to realize that the tyrannical government can put a Hellfire missile down their chimney and turn them into water vapor before they can say “oh, shit.”
Ocotillo
You’re doing a heckuva job Trumpie!
Kay
@SFAW:
Pence was a failure in Indiana. He’s allegedly more popular than Trump but he could probably be attacked effectively. He’s dumb as a fucking rock. No reason to not try going after him. They didn’t even buy his bullshit in his own state.
Yarrow
@Kay: Well, it was extremely positive for her because she went from basically an unknown to a household name. She pretty must has to write a book since she apparently wants to run for Governor of Arkansas. That seems to be what they all have to do before running for office. Seems dumb to me. Who even buys those books?
Gin & Tonic
@Steve in the ATL: I was in Chicago a couple of months ago, and stayed in the Loop. Miraculously, I made it out alive (despite my consumption of probably too many Stan’s Donuts.)
Mike in NC
So is Doonbeg the Gaelic word for “bedbug”?
(Taking a break from hurricane debris cleanup)
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic: Chicago has many ways to kill you (see also: pizza and various meats). Perhaps you got shot but didn’t notice owing to donut-induced shock.
Kay
@Steve in the ATL:
Chicago doesn’t do enough self-promotion. I don’t know- maybe bragging isn’t part of their world view but they should talk it up! If you’re in Indianapolis I’m sure you’ve run into the city boosters.”This is the BEST PLACE in the WHOLE WORLD” Minneapolis is the same way. Chicago people need to boast more.
Yarrow
I see that Howard Schultz has dropped out of the presidential race. Pumpkin Spice season taking too much of his time, maybe?
rikyrah
@Kay:
you know what also angers me….is them trying to use the SECRET SERVICE as the excuse for their grifting.
AS IF we didn’t have 44 previous Presidents
And, that Presidents 17 through 44 were protected without Presidential grifting excuses.
C Stars
@Gin & Tonic: @The Dangerman: I think they love to fantasize about using their guns in acts of righteous violence (which is reason enough that maybe they shouldn’t have the things in the first place), but of course no one will “come to take mah gunz.” That’s not going to happen. What will happen is that fines will be levied and unregistered guns found at crime scenes (or in other criminal investigations) will be removed, which they already are in most cases I believe. It’s actually kind of funny (in a dark way) that they spend so much time imagining shooting up a mob of scary pacifist hippies banging on their front door.
Kay
@Yarrow:
It’s gross how that grifter family owns Arkansas. Ugh. Mike Huckabee with his mean eyes. He’s every “religious” fanatic I had the good sense to avoid as a child. They’re mean. I knew it at six years old, just gut level. Dodge. Avoid. Wriggle away and run.
lgerard
Goodbye Howard Schultz
We’d totally forgotten about you!
Amir Khalid
@Yarrow:
Is that the coffee guy? I didn’t even know he was still in the race.
C Stars
@Kay: I have long held the opinion that Chicago folks don’t want to be invaded by hipster techie types so they intentionally downplay their city. Everyone I know who lives there or has lived there loves it, they have access to great food, interesting jobs, and enjoy a huge and varied cultural/social life.
But I’m scared of snow so it wouldn’t work for me.
Ohio Mom
@Yarrow: This is in If-a-tree-fell-in-a-forest territory. How many people still remember he was in the running?
I half-remembered, sort of like when an old acquaintance crosses your mind and you idly wonder, What ever happened to him anyway?
Can we hope that Tim Steyer will follow his example?
MattF
One does idly wonder what other fuckery is going on. But coverage of Sharpiegate and of Pence’s slavish corruption is a start, however feeble.
jl
@Amir Khalid: Coffee guy suspended his campaign some months ago, after his ego could not longer take the justified ridicule of is empty inanity.
C Stars
@Kay: My kids have been watching the show “Gravity Falls” lately and the evil televangelist character of Gideon Gleeful always reminds me of Huckabee.
West of the Rockies
I hope this is Dense’s last gig with the gov. He is damaged goods. He brings no insight to any proceedings, just stupid religiosity, and furrowed-brow piety.
Yarrow
@Kay: Mike and daughter Sarah both have the mean eyes. Given what we heard about his son abusing the dog at camp, I would not at all be surprised if there’s some other form of abuse in that family. They’re terrifying.
@Amir Khalid: That’s the guy!
@Ohio Mom: Yes, I wish Steyer would quit. He’d be lauded as a hero if he put his money behind one of the voting rights organizations. His vanity apparently won’t allow it.
Josie
I think the anti-corruption angle is a smart one. It is misuse of the people’s money. Nobody likes paying taxes, much less paying money so that rich people can steal it. I hope the Democratic candidates hit hard on the rampant corruption.
jl
I like the way Warren can really express the gist of things in a very intuitive and understandable way, but still be accurate. She also has the ability to blow off corporate media nonsense and canned GOP talking points with good humor. And I think she will get better with more practice on the campaign trail.
Her response to the Cuomo’s canned corporate propaganda whining about the supposed loss of big he-manly liberty freedom light bulbs and sissy emasculating efficient and more reliable light bulbs being forced upon and enslaved population was good.
Cuomo had to add the ridiculous detail about the horrid loss of candle shaped light bulbs. I wish Warren would have started with that nonsense: “Give me a break, the idea that we can’t have energy efficient candle shaped light bulbs is complete nonsense”. But Warren is getting to the point where she can shoot down BS almost every time, with ease and good humor, in one short, simple, very intuitive response.
Hope she can go from SPW and PPW in 2020.
Kent
@Baud:
THIS…
Who the hell would have thought that sharpie-gate was going to consume the media for 2 days but outright illegal graft at Trump’s golf resort would not.
I do think the Dems are absolutely TERRIBLE at fanning the flames though. The GOP crazies held 16-bazillion hearings about Bengazi which probably actually won them the election in 2016 as the whole Clinton email scandal emerged out of the Bengazi hearings. We need our on crazies talking non-stop on TV about this shit and just not letting it go.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kay: Weird thing is the nickname “The Windy City” was bestowed by newspapers from other cities on Chicago, not because Chicago is particularly windy meteorologically speaking, but because people from there were always bragging about how great the place was. This was circa 1870s during the contest to determine which city would host the World’s Fair (aka Columbia Exposition).
rikyrah
@C Stars:
The winters are getting to me, but, if not for winter…yeah, I love it here.
Kent
@jl:
And I don’t even know WTF he was talking about. I replaced all of my incadescent candelabra bulbs in my dining room chandeliers with candle-shaped LED bulbs from Costco 3 years ago. These people are too fucking stupid for words. Look, here they are on the Costco web site right now: costco.com/Feit-LED-Chandelier-Bulb-Soft-White%2c-12-pack.product.100329427.html
Jeffro
It’s almost as if trumpov should have put all of his businesses and other interests into a true blind trust – you know, like Jimmy Carter had to do with his peanut farm? – or forfeit the office.
And THAT, my friends, should be just about the simplest election reform bill in history to write and campaign on. “Everything into a blind trust by Inauguration Day, or you forfeit the office and we swear in the VP” (for the House and Senate, this would be, “…or we swear in your opponent”.). Heck, maybe that should be the case for president, too?
Seriously. Make it automatic. No gray areas there. Make any changes to the blind trust afterwards, so that you can vacuum up your properties’ profits, say, and BOOM: automatically vacate the office
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
Yep…his money could be put to great use helping put certain issues on the ballot:
1. Opening up voting rights; voting rights protections
2. Anti-gerrymandering
3. Medicaid Expansion in all states that don’t have it
4. Ex-Felon re-enfranchisement, WITH the explicit language of NO POLL TAX
Yes, he could be a hero if he helped put these on the ballots in numerous states…
AND…
5. Fully funding Stacey Abrams’ group
6. Paying the POLL TAX for former felons in Florida, who want to register to vote.
but, that’s beneath him
Steve in the ATL
@rikyrah: my sun-loving daughter is moving there in the spring. She loves it. I have warned her repeatedly to visit in winter before committing to the move, but would do I know—I am just a middle aged man who lived there and visits on a regular basis.
rikyrah
@Steve in the ATL:
I grew up here, so I know the winters…it’s just as I get older, they’re getting to me. I’m beginning to understand those who live elsewhere during the winter.
Bex
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Yeah, we have a saying: If you don’t like Chicago, walk east until your hat floats.
Steve in the ATL
@Bex: that’s great!
Baud
@Kent:
See, I don’t think that works. We’re not the GOP, and reflexively mimicking their actions won’t work for us. And, frankly, would we be satisfied because the Dems held hearing after hearing on SharpieGate because that seemed to be what the media and low-information voters found interesting I think a good number of us would bitch about what the Dems were prioritizing.
Republicans basically have to put in less effort to manage the media and their own party than the Dems can get away with. We just have to deal with that reality and figure out our own strengths.
Jeffro
Btw – have we had a thread here yet about how trumpov is holding up $250M in aid to Ukraine in order to force them to ‘investigate’ Joe Biden? “I’m going to hold up vital aid to an ally that is directly opposing a hostile foreign power (albeit a hostile foreign power that completely owns me) until they investigate one of my primary domestic political opponents”
Hey GOP, whaddya think, does that sound like a road you want to go down?
Hey Dems, think we can make some hay out of this? It’s fucking OUTRAGEOUS
Jeffro
@Yarrow: @rikyrah: Would be nice if a prominent national Dem would publicly (open letter, PSA, whatever) ask him: “Tom, you’ve been willing to put up $100M of your own money on, well, you. Could you consider throwing Ms. Abrams’ group just 5% of that amount in order to help protect voters’ rights nationwide? Maybe 10% if you’re feeling generous? The return on investment would be HUGE. And you’d still have $90M if you decide you really need to ‘get in’. Kthxbai”
delk
@Steve in the ATL:
by a gun that made its way across the Indiana border.
soga98
@Kay:
It’s a real darn city full of good folks who come from home
And when I get there I’ll never roam
Far from my little Chi town
Goin to Chicago
Sorrry bu I can’t take you
Quinerly
Special Sharpies now being sold to raise money for Trump 2020
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-2020-campaign-markers-hurricane-dorian-map
Amir Khalid
Look, you guys! John Cole is posting dirty pictures of horseradish on Twitter!
Also too, can anyone recommend a music-theory textbook that’s comprehensive, not too expensive, and suitable for self-study?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Bex: For the record I love Chicago. Just noting that it got it’s nickname because they were perceived as being aggressive self promoters during the contest to host the World’s Fair.
jimmiraybob
I’m surprised that Trump would have his VP stay on the west coast of Ireland what with hurricane Dorian bearing down after bouncing off of Alabama.
On the other hand, I hear that there have been “tensions.”
Gin & Tonic
@Jeffro: Here’s a WaPo opinion piece about it, which is also a pretty good backgrounder. It’s ludicrous that they view (Joe) Biden’s urging to oust Viktor Shokin as somehow actionable. Joe was one of about 10 million people who wanted that guy, who’s as crooked as a 3-dollar bill, gone.
Yeah, Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma, and that looks kind of weird, but he has actually been investigated for that, and found to be clean.
So there’s no there, there. And the US needs to be careful with withholding large sums of money, as China already has major investments in Ukraine, which would be foolish not to look to expand them.
patrick II
@SFAW:
Barr is more proactive. He asked for the job with a plan to conspire with the president to subvert the Justice Department to obstruct justice. He’s doing more harm than we can see. Pence is not as pro-active. He’s a kind of go-along to get-along criminal.
frosty
@rikyrah: Winters in PA/MD have gotten to us too. Last February we hitched up the camper for our 5th Annual Snowbird Road Trip. All month for me, two months for Retired Ms. Frosty.
scav
Definitely miss Chicago (food, neighborhoods, the ‘L, all sorts of things including watching the sheer horror of suburbanites expecting to be shot and terrified when faced with the complexity of ‘L turnstyles). I even miss full-on summer and winter if only they could restrict themselves to about a solid fortnight. The third month really begins to wear . . .
Steve in the ATL
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: for decades, the Cubs kept Chicago bragging to a minimum. The Bears have since taken over that task.
frosty
@Amir Khalid: I like the books from Musician’s Institute, mostly for guitar not necessarily straight music theory, but it’s woven into most of them. Rhythm Guitar was good, I’ll try to find a link.
ETA halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=695188
Brachiator
@Kent:
Sharpie-gate is ridiculous, simple to understand, but emblematic of a larger issue.
Trump is a childish thug who lies all the time about insignificant things and then forces his staff to cover for him. It is an abuse of power that also indicates that the president cannot distinguish between critical and trivial matters.
Uh, no. Hopefully, we represent sanity and a belief in reality over fantasy, delusion, and empty conspiracy.
rikyrah
@Brachiator:
I do think this is different, and the reason why we shouldn’t let it go was made clear to me by Maddow’s segment on this a couple of days ago:
LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS ARE MADE BASED UPON THESE MAPS.
THAT is why it’s a crime to alter them.
LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS.
rikyrah
Trump admin sued over deportation of ailing kids and families
Matt Segal, legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, talks with Rachel Maddow about a new lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from deporting immigrant children whose lives depend on medical treatments they’re receiving in the United States, and to preserve the USCIS deferred action program.
Calouste
@Kay: People are conservative Christians because they want to be lied to. They want to be lied to that they are special and forgiven just because they say a couple of phrases. That’s the core of their personality. They don’t want to think about that their leaders are lying about something because that might suggest that they have also been lying that they are special.
rikyrah
Trump sparks outrage with move to use military funds for wall
Rep. John Garamendi, member of the House Armed Services Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s effort to unilaterally move billions of dollars budgeted for military use to fund his border wall project instead.
joel hanes
@soga98:
Obligatory :
Born In Chicago, Paul Butterfield Blues Band
youtube.com/watch?v=kCjFRNWN3o4
Sweet Home Chicago, people you may have heard of
youtube.com/watch?v=ZEmvBdRLg4k
HRA
By now, it is not absolutely difficult to understand he will come out with anything bizarre to cover what the news has finally focused on something that is totally disgusting to many people and he will continue it until he no longer gets the headlines. It is more than a shame for an adult or anyone to do this for any reason. Fox, Twitter and others should have banned him months ago.
opiejeanne
@Kay: They actually DO interpret the neighbor part literally. The RW Evangelicals are really that bad now.
Kay
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
That’s funny. I find myself convincing them it’s great, just as a visitor. They try to talk me out of it. Minneapolis is really boosterish. I lived there for about a year and there is a lot to like but they try too hard :)
BellyCat
@Gin & Tonic:
Wins internet!
( and should be a rotating tagline)
Betty Cracker
@Brachiator: Jennifer Rubin summed it up in The Post today:
Sounds about right. Hard to spin something so simple and dumb as a crudely altered map.
Ruckus
@Quinerly:
You’d rather he was fucking something up, or tweeting? In a normal world sure you’d never want the president tweeting. This world is not normal.
rikyrah
Isn’t Iowa like one of the oldest states, in terms of age?
It should never be forgotten that the November 2018 elections saved the American Social Safety Net.
Sen. Ernst says lawmakers should discuss fixing Social Security ‘behind closed doors’
By Felicia Sonmez September 5 at 3:23 PM
C Stars
@rikyrah: Yeah, I was there in February once as a young ‘un and just remember the cold on my face being so intense and overwhelming that tears started pouring out of my eyes. It was very strange, like an allergic reaction. Made me realize why everyone else was wearing those furry hoods. On the flipside, I know a person who moved from Phoenix, AZ to Chicago to escape the heat, and she effin’ loves it there, has vowed never to leave.
Uncle Cosmo
@jl:
WTF was Governor Goombah flapping his gums about? Months ago I bought a set of candle-shaped LED bulbs for my ceiling fans at a frackin’ dollar store FFS.
(ETA: What Kent posted at #67 supra.)
Another day, another one of my Italian-American co-originists making a fucking fool of himself… ::rollseyes::
TenguPhule
@opiejeanne:
She has access to a spiked mace. She should use it. On McConnell.
realbtl
@frosty: Thanks for that, just ordered a jazz guitar book.
And Amir, you need an archtop for your collection.
mad citizen
@Steve in the ATL: Hey careful there about Indy. I work here.
Baud
@Uncle Cosmo:
I think that’s referring to the CNN Cuomo, not the governor.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Gin & Tonic:
Oh, they have an answer for that. Vietnam and the Vietcong vs the US military, with gun owners as the VietCong. It’s as stupid as you’d imagine and complete wishful thinking. The US didn’t have flying death robots (aka dronez) in Vietnam
dmsilev
@C Stars:
I worked for several years at the University of Chicago. We got a lot of international grad students, many from tropical or at least temperate climates, and there was an unofficial but quite consistent policy that every fall around October, someone would talk with each of those kids and tell them “Winter is coming. It’s no joke. Here’s a list of all of the clothing you need to buy. Again, this is not a joke.”. Most of them listened. A few didn’t, and then learned better the hard way.
joel hanes
@rikyrah:
Isn’t Iowa like one of the oldest states, in terms of age?
No. Pretty much everything east of the Mississippi (except Wisconsin) came first.
Iowa Statehood in 1846.
For comparison :
Kentucky 1792
Tennesee 1796
Ohio 1803
Indian 1816
Ilinois 1818
Aransas 1836
Wisconsin 1848
Minnesota 1858
dmsilev
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: So in this twisted analogy, who represents the North Vietnamese Army?
Raven
@C Stars: The Hawk, the Almighty Hawk. . .
joel hanes
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
The Viet Cong were willing to live in tiny, dangerous, suffocating tunnels if that’s what it took to expel the foreign oppressors and their puppets from their land.
To a first approximation, zero American civilian gun-owners are as tough, resourceful, and determined as the Viet Cong.
Raoul
It is hard to imagine that media figures still thought Pence was a person who hadn’t put his entire self through the integrity shredder when he agreed to be on the ticket. But I think this Donnybrook may have broken through for several of our more challenged, process-obsessed media figures.
BTW, I can’t emphasize enough what a great writer Ian Dunt is over in the UK. His Friday wrap today is just blistering.
He is simultaneously dissecting the Trump process and our failing media. Amazing.
mrmoshpotato
@Steve in the ATL:
Oh for fuck’s sake! I guess I’ve never been shot since I was born, raised and live here.
Oh, and police scanner Twitter isn’t full of tourists being shot downtown.
?
BlueNC
@joel hanes: I think this was meant as in the age of the inhabitants. Maine is the oldest state based on median age. Iowa is 29th.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_median_age
Raven
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: “Just after the incident involving the US Navy destroyers USS Maddox (DD-731) and USS Turner Joy (DD-951), and even before it escalated into the presidential “Tonkin Gulf Resolution” and war with North Vietnam, the USAF had issued an immediate order for the UAV units to deploy immediately for Southeast Asia on any available C-130s or C-133s.[22] The first birds (drones) would be Ryan 147Bs (AQM-34s) piggy-backed on C-130s, after completing their missions they would be parachuted for recovery near Taiwan.
USAF drones (UAVs) of the Strategic Air Command deployed to the Republic of South Vietnam (RVN) as the 4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing in 1964. In 1966 the unit was redesignated as the 350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.
The Squadron operated Ryan Firebees, launching them from modified DC-130A Hercules transport aircraft, normally two drones under each wing, each Hercules carrying 4 drones total. The UAVs deployed parachutes upon completing their missions and were usually recovered by helicopters which were tasked for those missions.
The North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) utilized U.S. Drone flights to practice their aerial combat skills, and although claiming several successful interceptions, only 6 are known to have been shot down by NVAF MiGs.[23][24]
U.S. Drones (UAVs) Downed by NVAF MiGs in the Vietnam War 1966-1971[25][26]
Date Interceptor[27] Type/Weapon Type Interceptor Unit Drone Type USAF Unit/Remarks
3/04/1966 MiG-21/AA-2 Atoll (K-13) Air to Air Missile 921st Fighter Regiment (FR) Ryan Firebee AQM-34 series[28] 350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS), 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW)[28]/This was the first U.S. drone downed by the NVAF.
3/05/1966 MiG-21/AA-2 Atoll 921st FR AQM-34 350th SRS, 100th SRW
9/21/1968 MiG-21/Unknown 921st FR AQM-34 350th SRS, 100th SRW
12/?/1969 MiG-21/Unknown 921st FR AQM-34 350th SRS, 100th SRW/both December kills were made by Nguyen Van Coc[29]
12/?/1969 MiG-21/Unknown 921st FR AQM-34 350th SRS, 100th SRW
3/9/1971 MiG-17/23mm & 37mm cannon 923rd FR AQM-34 350th SRS, 100th SRW/Shortly after destroying the drone, the attacking MiG and pilot were lost to unknown causes.[23]
From August 1964, until their last combat flight on 30 April 1975 (the fall of Saigon), the USAF 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing would launch 3,435 Ryan reconnaissance drones over North Vietnam and its surrounding areas, at a cost of about 554 UAVs lost to all causes during the war.[30]
TenguPhule
So Trump took a page from Steve King. What a shit show.
Kay
@dmsilev:
I finally bought one of the longer puffy coats they all wear last year. It’s very warm. Good idea. I guess I didn’t realize my legs were always cold. Just for the really cold months- January and February. I snapped off the hood though. I’ll wear a hat but the hood is too much.
FelonyGovt
@Raoul: Sounds exactly what we have been dealing with on this side of the Atlantic since January 2017.
Uncle Cosmo
@Baud: Um, OK, my apologies for going off half-cocked…
Whoever this Cuomo is, he’s still a goombah & still an embarrassment to anyone whose famiglia escaped from the Boot or La Trinacria or Sardine Land…
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Obviously they didn’t pay attention to the casualty rates of the other side.
Somehow I don’t see a lot of replacements once the first batch of gunhumpers become red smears on the pavement.
Neldob
@Kay: Pence the supposed Christian seems to consider himself Trump’s apostle primarily. He is as corrupt as the rest of this administration. Sold his soul and all that.
mrmoshpotato
@Gin & Tonic: Yup. And that missile can be fired from a drone remotely operated from miles away.
Raven
The Buffalo Drone
joel hanes
@rikyrah:
D’oh! My reading comprehension failed me. Sorry about that.
You meant, “Don’t Iowa residents have one of the highest average ages among states?”
Although Iowa is graying because of brain-drain out-migration, the answer is still “no”. Iowa ranks 29th among 56 states and territories.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_median_age
TenguPhule
@Kent:
I’m gonna need to see a check first.
mrmoshpotato
@Steve in the ATL: Oh, so you know about our legendary pepperoni and salami. You can really wallop someone with a full stick.
Kay
@Neldob:
Right, so let’s explore that, politically. He WAS unpopular in Indiana. Trump would have never picked an actual popular person. He was going to lose his re-elect! Let’s explore exactly what it was that made those who know him best loathe him:
They couldn’t wait to get rid of him. Surely we can help make him that unpopular nationally.
Jim Parish
I moved to Chicago in the fall of 1977 after spending most of my childhood in Hawaii, Arizona, and Southern California. (My father was in the Army, so we moved a lot.) In January 1978, the city was hit by two, count ’em, two blizzards.
The day of the second blizzard, I was downtown book shopping. I didn’t realize anything was unusual; yes, it was snowing heavily, but it’s January, it’s Chicago, what else would you expect? It took the bookstore speakers announcing that they were closing in ten minutes owing to the blizzard conditions to make me realize what was going on.
It took me an hour and a half to get back to Hyde Park, where I was living. The bus driver who finally picked me up (at least two passed by, packed to the gills) got me 2/3 of the way there, then parked the bus, announced that he was supposed to be off shift an hour earlier, and left. I hiked the rest of the way home.
That was the blizzard that brought down Michael Bilandic’s mayoralty.
[I lived there for six more years, and mostly enjoyed it. Love the available cuisine.]
Major Major Major Major
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
We did have overwhelming superiority in manned flying death machines, though.
@joel hanes: In addition to all of this, the VC also spoke the language where Americans didn’t, and they had logistical support from China and the Soviet Union. American would-be insurgents probably speak worse English than the American military, and would at best have PSYOP support from Russia.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Not sure how pure of heart and ability to argue at the drop of a hat can be leveraged to work for us in a rigged game where only we get penalized on the rules.
MattF
@Kay: I spent two post-doc years in Minnesota… yes, very cold indeed. I noticed, at one point, that I was getting an abrasion on my leg- it was due to friction from the cold keys in my jeans pocket.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Depends, how many of them have a southern accent? //
mrmoshpotato
@C Stars:
No walking around in January in shorts – unless you want to be a popsicle. We have a season called winter here.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
Being the only sane people in a world gone mad is not as fun as it should be.
C Stars
@Raven: Well, gracias, kind Raven. You put my morning (and my YouTube) on the right track. I can’t even tell you how much I needed this playlist this morning. Now on to “be thankful for what you got” and feeling very nice.
TenguPhule
Our country is becoming the shame of civilization.
Eric U.
@Jim Parish: My son spent last summer as an intern at U Chicago. He loved it there. I thought the neighborhoods to the west of there looked a little sketchy, but he didn’t have any issues. I really liked the “will pay cash for homes” signs
TenguPhule
And I see that Barr and Trump are now using antitrust statutes to target car companies who agreed to follow California’s emission standards instead of Trump’s dictated standards.
But I’m sure that’s just fine. //s
TenguPhule
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Yes!
It is all a weirdly egotistical game for Trump. He doesn’t care that he is playing with people’s lives.
@TenguPhule:
No. Not fun at all. In fact, it can be absolutely dangerous. Especially if a government and its supporters try to force you to acknowledge their fantasy and delusion.
MomSense
O/T but WTF Joe Manchin. I’m listening to a local public radio call in show with Sen. Collins and Manchin’s Office emailed them to say he would campaign for her in Maine if she wanted. Of course she said yes. I don’t think anybody here gives a damn about him, but I can just hear the talking point about being respected on both sides of the aisle, blah blah blah.
And now she’s blathering on about the Democratic Party being lead by outside groups on the far left. Then she said that she is in the middle with most Americans and that the emergence of outside groups on the far left and far right has caused division. She keeps repeating outside groups on the far left and far right and that she’s in the middle. This was in response to a question asking her if trump represents the values of the Republican Party. Finally she finishes by saying she’s the senator with the most bipartisan record.
Ok, going to barf now and go back to work.
TenguPhule
Bring on the Asteroids.
Major Major Major Major
@MomSense:
Unpleasant and terrible for your teeth, and a strong argument for ignoring Susan Collins!
Duane
@Kay: Mike Hucksterbee has written 69 books, including books for children. Tuck your Chuckie doll under your bed and sleep on that one! //
MattF
@TenguPhule: It’s all code words now. He’s assuming that everyone knows what he’s talking about, but that’s a false assumption.
mrmoshpotato
@Kay:
Narrator:. The hood was reattached January 2nd. It was not too much. :)
rikyrah
@Jim Parish:
I was wondering if you were going to mention it.
Yes, he got taken out by a snowstorm….and, the city’s feeble response to it.
TO THIS DAY,
snowstorms and snow removal haunt Chicago Mayors – they don’t play with it. When they do, they get slapped back so fast, their heads spin.
rikyrah
@MomSense:
Little Susie’s
GOT TO GO!!
Bex
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: No problem. I guess I misread your post. Just wanted to mention one of my grandfather’s favorite sayings!
dww444
@eldorado: I’m with you there. There was a Congresswoman on one of the MSNBC last evening, or maybe the night before, who was asked about the possibility of Congressional action vis-a-vis impeachment. Although she’s in favor, she gave the usual yada-yada about the ongoing investigations, etc. Obviously someone was putting the brakes on her willingness to commit to impeachment. I, just a few years younger than Pelosi, but very much of the same generation, am getting discouraged by her unwillingness to actual DO SOMETHING. I’m with the Mooch, Atrios, and many others, the President is increasingly unfit for the office. Her continuing comments about how evil and unfit Trump is ring increasingly hollow.
As Chris Hayes said the other night, talking about the UK/Johnson/Brexit mess and the state of their democratic institutions,”use it or lose it”. Pelosi NEEDS to wield the Impeachment baton pronto.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: Didn’t he sell most of the major snow removal equipment before that winter too?
dopey-o
@Amir Khalid: i saw a book on amazon titled “music theory for guitarists”
here’s a list.
mrmoshpotato
@dopey-o: It’s a good music book – in theory.*
I’ll see myself out.
*Don’t know if it’s actually good.
misterpuff
@Betty Cracker: So Sharpiegate is Drumpf’s Katrina?
That is so perfect.
J R in WV
@Amir Khalid:
I found a nice one online some time ago. I no longer have that link, but a search for “online music theory data” turns up lots of hits, some look good and free.
Jim Parish
@mrmoshpotato: Chicago had had a bunch of el trains equipped with snow plows. He sold them to Minneapolis the previous summer, and so the el trains were just shut down by the blizzard. (Hence the overcrowded buses.)
jl
@Uncle Cosmo: I meant Chris Cuomo at the CNN town hall. That Cuomo seemed to think that energy efficient lightbulbs could not be flame shaped and thought this was a good point to bring up in his goofy question about lightbulbs that Warren rightfully blew off.
Kay
@mrmoshpotato:
Guffaw. Unlike Chicago residents, I don’t walk that far in a workday. I go from a warm car to a warm buildings so I don’t need the fur-trimmed hood. If I were smart I would wear snow boots but I like nice shoes and I’m too vain to wear ugly ones so my feet are always freezing. The postal service had these heavy, lace-up shoes with a built-up sole so you were kind of on top of the snow and slush. You got a uniform allowance and you had to buy from one of two vendors- it seemed like an obvious “connected contractor” situation, but the shoes really last. I still have a pair. I wear them walking in the woods.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: I have been to Chicago hundreds of times, and I have never been shot once. When you consider that I am me which some would consider grounds enough for shooting in and of itself and I am a vocal Packer fan (quite satisfied with the team’s trip to Chicago yesterday where no Packer players were shot), my lack of being shot is nigh on miraculous.
jl
@Uncle Cosmo: That was Chris Cuomo in his question about the supposedly serious light bulb problem that he posed to Warren at the CNN town hall on climate change, and that she rightly ridiculed.
Raoul
@Quinerly: “10 Trump tweets in less than 3 hrs.” He may be extra sweaty today:
Raoul
@Uncle Cosmo & @jl: Not to belabor, but the law as I understand it has had exceptions for incandescent specialty bulbs. There are still plenty of old fashioned candelabra bulbs at the store. As well as LEDs – I’ve gotten several multi-packs of the latter at Costco.
What is blinkingly obvious here: Cuomo probably hasn’t gone to a hardware, big box home store, or shopped for anything (except perhaps fancy whines) in years. Maybe decades. He’d be like Bush, marveling at self-checkouts and bar codes.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kay: I’ve heard good things about Minneapolis…have only been through the airport. As an American of Scandinavian heritage I’ve always thought of it as sort of a North American homeland and I’d love to visit someday. I have been to Indianapolis (the other city that brags too much) and I wasn’t that impressed. Not sure what folks are bragging about. Admittedly the two times I’ve been there it was just overnight and I didn’t do much research so maybe I just completely missed the highlights.
Omnes Omnibus
@C Stars: Just do you know, Milwaukee has more snow and Madison is even worse.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus:
They must have figured that is punishment enough. //
TenguPhule
Their Freud is slipping.
Major Major Major Major
ThinkProgress shutting down due to lack of funds. thedailybeast.com/thinkprogress-a-top-progressive-news-site-is-shutting-down
Chyron HR
@dww444:
Of course, the fact that Pelosi wasn’t mentioned at all simply proves that all evil in the world stems from her and her alone.
ellie
My take? It’s a scandal with legs because Trump wants to dump Pence and this gives him cover to do so.
rikyrah
@Major Major Major Major:
so sad to read this :(
rikyrah
@ellie:
How is it only a Pence scandal, when Pence was PAYING DOLT45?
Omnes Omnibus
@Kent: I don’t want us to be a left of center version of the GOP. YMMV.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Also, FWIW, the Atlantic Monthly has apparently put in a paywall. You get X number of free articles a month. I am not sure exactly how many.
Have to save my clicks for James Fallows posts. A lot of the rest of Atlantic content skews glibertarian, although they have some good longform journalism too.
scribbler
Moved from Chicago to Milwaukee. Gave up a solidly blue state for the wretched purple-sliding-fast-to-red Wisconsin. Not good.
eric
@Amir Khalid: the single best thing i have seen for a blues player is this very straight forward video from Scott Henderson….
as for theory itself, check out Rick Beato’s videos.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
Tump’s criminality in office has been normalised by now, alas.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: As far as I am concerned, the Bears did just fine last night.
Amir Khalid
@eric:
Beato also sells a music theory book, but it seems quite pricey.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Random thought – near (or on) the campus of any decent-sized university there ought to be a bookstore which sells used textbooks. Mayhaps you could find a tome preferred by the music department there.
mrmoshpotato
@scribbler: You, like us, have a Democratic governor again.
And we both have Republican messes to deal with. Woohoo!
jl
@Raoul: Chris Cuomo’s ignorant light bulb question is evidence that these media news celebrities, even the better than average ones, are really nothing but news actors. They do no research, don’t verify anything, can’t ask their interns to check into anything. Their entire research effort seems to be to remember lazy talking points.
There was evidence from tweet put into a recent post that many of these people think reporting consists of nothing more than waiting for some politician or partisan hack to phone them with a talking point with some sizzle.
Their ridiculous babble needs to be directly called out. Jerry Brown and Barney Frank could do, and I wish more Democratic politicians would follow their example.
TenguPhule
FFS, they’ve weaponized the EPA against the environment.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@dmsilev:
No idea. Pretty sure they didn’t either
@joel hanes:
Pretty much. It’s so stupid, it’s beyond words. As the Malheur refuge debacle showed, these guys wouldn’t be able to organize any kind of effective insurgency
@Raven:
Thanks. However, those were just reconnaissance drones. They didn’t have anything analogous to Hellfire missiles.
@Major Major Major Major:
On top of everything you said, the US military would also have a much better idea of the terrain in their own backyard then they did in Vietnam, perhaps even more so than any gun-nut “insurgents”
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Ha. Ha.
Go Cubs! Go Bucs!
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?:
Let’s be fair, those were the dregs, not the cream of the crop of militant Republican Nazis.
eric
@Amir Khalid: i think the best way to learn theory is to hear it. So if someone says a particular mode sounds a certain way over a certain progression, it is better to hear as well. I think there are lots of you tube guys that do good theory. Just pick what you want to learn and search for it.
Or a lot of play along videos have the chord progressions and suggested modes to play over.
My brother is a big proponent of studying and knowing the chord tones of the chords. Those are the notes that you should be accenting, though which note gets the accent will depend on the sound you want. I am too busy to focus on it, but look for lessons on triads and chord tones.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@TenguPhule:
Nope. This same person was arguing that a Japanese man using a knife and wounding dozens but not killing anyone shows that gun control doesn’t work. It’s lunacy. I argued that if the guy had had an AR-15 several likely would have died. The bullets for those things are designed to shred internal organs and kill people. You can outrun a guy with a knife. You can’t outrun bullets. I used those exact words. Didn’t matter to the gun-nut one bit. I forget their rebuttal, but it doesn’t matter when they can causally brush off such an obvious point
Brachiator
@jl:
Producers and staff are supposed to do the background research. But you’re right that this crap has often degenerated into talking points on parade.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: Bucs?
Honestly, there is no way anyone in the Upper Midwest can ever take you seriously from at least this point on.
Major Major Major Major
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?:
The gun nuts would be likely to have deep knowledge of low-value areas (Florida panhandle) or regions where said knowledge is not helpful (pancake-flat ranchland).
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@jl:
Don Henley, “Dirty Laundry”:
Chris Johnson
…why yes, I think Donald Trump does walk the halls at times. Well spotted.
Kay
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
Oh, go. It’s great. It is “Scandinavian” I suppose – but it’s also chock full of immigrants. They put a lot into schools and libraries and parks. We didn’t have a lot of money when we lived there and it was a good quality of life. I don’t know if it’s still true- maybe it’s wildly expensive now. We lived there when my oldest son was little and he’s 31. I last went back when Balloon Juice sent me for a Kos convention, a couple of years ago.
Brachiator
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?:
Recently in Southern California a deranged man with a machete killed several people, including an armed security guard. But it took hours to do this before he was finally stopped. Contrast this with the vile people who are able to shoot dozens of people within a couple of minutes.
Omnes Omnibus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?: Don Henley?!
youtu.be/Qt81bVae4tQ
JPL
@TenguPhule: But Sir, you said you were receiving hourly updates and you should fire the aide who didn’t show you a timely chart.
He’s a liar isn’t he?
Kristine
@Steve in the ATL:
Funny thing is, many of those folks are shot by guns purchased in Indiana.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@Major Major Major Major:
LOL, can’t forget about the all-important Florida panhandle or maybe the strategically important Bundy Ranch (tbf to the son, he’s not on board with the alt-right freaks or the anti-immigration hysteria)
Raoul
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: As a transplant to Minneapolis, I’ll say: Welcome! Do visit. It’s a remarkably pleasant and enjoyable place. In summer. Also May and September.
I kid a little, but the city and region really show their best in those five months (which could be said of many places, though Phoenix it’d be Nov-April. Ok, thats 6 months but you get the idea).
Anyway – it’s great place, and don’t miss St. Paul too. And side-trip to at least the scenic St Croix river, if not our gritty but oh-so-real Duluth and the stunning North Shore of lake Superior.
(I don’t work in the travel industry, honest!) I just love this place and am happy to boost our region.
zhena gogolia
@BGinCHI:
Hi!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@Omnes Omnibus:
Funny story about that song:
August 2, 1992: Don Henley Surprises Nemesis Mojo Nixon
Props to Henley for having a sense of humor. And he was right about the media in that song.
cain
@TenguPhule:
They aren’t agreeing with each other.. they are complying with California State Law. That’s like saying these companies are in cohoots to follow seatbelt safety laws. Crazy.
Raoul
@Kay: I don’t know where we are on the affordability index, and we have very serious disparities in income and wealth for black households (if you’re thinking, well duh, I mean, we’re well above — or is that below — the median. Our white-black gap is worse than most major metros). That said, we do have great quality of life here.
Terrible hockey hair/dangerous dullard governor Pawlenty tried to blow up our civic culture of shared responsibility, as have our recent GOP legislative skirmishes, but we’ve held the line the past 9+ years via Dem governors.
And jobs pay pretty well up here. One thing I appreciate for people getting established in the work world: no tip credit. Your server makes at least $9.86/hr plus tips. Yeah our menu prices are a little higher, but small price to pay for decency.
TenguPhule
@cain:
Which according to AG Barr, is now an anti-trust violation. As well as an EPA violation.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@cain: @TenguPhule:
I’m sure the Trump admin will propose nationalizing the auto industry to “bring it under red-blooded American control”, having obviously been infiltrated by eco-commies, by Monday. We’ll start making classic American cars like these again.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?
@TenguPhule:
Is this idiocy going to get slapped down by a court so hard Barr will get sent back to the start of law school?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Brachiator:
That’s just common sense and gun fondlers don’t understand that. Or don’t want to, because that would make them responsible for thousands of deaths, as Kay observed
?BillinGlendaleCA
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ?: Yes.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
We hope.
Ruckus
@Yarrow:
I used to think driving the porta pottie truck had to be the bottom of the barrel. Working for the federal government with dipshit in the WH is now lower.
TenguPhule
JFC. Now these stupid fuckers want the EU to pay for the fucking wall.
cain
@TenguPhule:
I don’t think that’s going to fly with the Judiciary.. that would basically mean state law will never apply to anything.
TenguPhule
@Ruckus:
Nah, emptying out the full ones for cleaning is.
TenguPhule
@cain:
Mitch McConnell: Hold my beer, bitches.
Brachiator
OT. The India lunar landing may be happening soon. Cool to see how many women are involved.
Live coverage here
youtu.be/7iqNTeZAq-c
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TenguPhule: 10th Amendment*.
* RWNJ’s second favorite Amendment after the 2nd.
Kay
Horrible people. I like Mark Kelly. I watched his testimony in one of the gun hearings and he’s a decent person. Maybe I’ll add Arizona to my list of senate races to donate to.
mad citizen
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Indy brags? I kind of get that but depends who you meet I guess. Indy is a low cost city and is great at hosting events–turning the city over to whoever: NFL, PanAm games, Olympic trials, etc. And of course the Indy 500, largest one day spectator sporting event. We’re now around the #5 convention city, owing to developing and growing that business, and the central location. Your group can have lower cost and meet in Indy, but I admit it’s kind of boring. Or pay more and meet in Chicago, a great city.
rikyrah
@Kay:
This is who they are, Kay.
This is who they are.
Ruckus
@scav:
My experiences in Chicago suggest to me that it isn’t worse than any other big city and actually is better than quite a few. Yeah the weather can be a bit brisk in winter but isn’t that bad.
Ruckus
@joel hanes:
In their tiny little minds…….
Ruckus
@Jim Parish:
I got two extra weeks of xmas leave in 1970, as O’Hare was closed because of a blizzard and that was the earliest return flight I could book. Didn’t get charged for the extra leave either.
frosty
@Raoul: “Also May and September”
To quote Travis McGee* on hearing this about Florida “Every place in North America is nice in May and September.”
Okay, he said October, but still, same idea.
* via author John D MacDonald
Ruckus
@MomSense:
She doesn’t even lie well. Is there anything positive that she can actually accomplish? Because I cannot think of a thing.
TenguPhule
@frosty:
Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Pirates. :P
mrmoshpotato
@Kristine: I’m good with building a wall around Indiana. Getting to Michigan will be more expensive, but we’ll manage.
scav
@Ruckus: Don’t actually remember it being much worse than Iowa City, but with actual food and etc. Didn’t mind the extreme cold or heat in either place either, although the sheer duration of certain seasons did begin to cloy. Wiiinnntterrrrr – three weeks of spring! – ssuuuuuuummmmmmmerrrr – Month plus of fall — respeat. Luckily there was smaller scale varience. The fourth and fifth months of the errrrr seasons however — stop mucking about! Just give me an actual season!
Howard Beale IV
So Hair Furor keeps violating the emolument clause of the Constitution – we already saw one emolument case dismissed for standing.
Who has standing to bring such a charge before the courts – or are we stuck with Congress having to bring those charges forward?
patrick II
@C Stars:
They all want to be like John Wayne, a man’s man who wasn’t afraid of a gunfight. Except he as afraid of a gunfight. Like their other hero, Donald Trump, Wayne was a draft dodger.
Uncle Cosmo
@jl: @Raoul: Apology at #121 supra, FWIW.
In fact LED candelabra bulbs, which function just fine in air at ambient temperature & pressure, are easier to manufacture than incandescents or CFLs, which require glass enclosures strong enough to confine inert gas (Ar/Kr/Xe/N2) or vacuum, or toxic vapor (Hg), respectively. Sheesh.
(((CassandraLeo)))
…never mind, I’ll try again using proper HTML this time. FYWP
(((CassandraLeo)))
@Major Major Major Major: @TenguPhule:
“Our captain has a handicap, sad to tell
He’s from Georgia, and he doesn’t speak the language very well
He used to be, so rumor has
The dean of men at Alcatraz
It makes a fellow proud to be a soldier.”
– Tom Lehrer
Also Lehrer:
“And, the usual jokes about the Army aside, one of the many fine things one has to admit is the way that the Army has carried the American democratic ideal to its logical conclusion in the sense that not only do they prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, creed, and color, but also on the grounds of ability.”
Frankensteinbeck
@Howard Beale IV:
The problem is there is no answer to that question. It’s a line in the constitution. There is no legal penalty assigned, and no case law interpreting it. Like most laws that apply to the president, it assumes that congress will take care of egregious offenses. Mitch McConnell is far more a danger to this country than Trump, because he could rein in Trump with ease.
Jay
Jay
opiejeanne
@joel hanes: Uh, she meant oldest in age of population. More old people.