Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Memories Made Visible

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Memories Made Visible

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… [A] city commission voted on Monday to erect a monument depicting three pioneers in the fight for women’s rights: Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth.

The likeness of Truth, an escaped slave and abolitionist, was belatedly added to the sculpture in response to criticism that African American suffragists were initially excluded.

“This statue conveys the power of women working together to bring about revolutionary change in our society,” said Pam Elam, president of the monumental women not-for-profit of volunteer advocates, historians and community leaders, which has gained key support from the Manhattan borough president, Gale Brewer.

The organization’s statue fund privately raised $1.5m to create and maintain the new monument and for an associated educational program.

The work will be dedicated in August 2020 on the Mall, an elegant park promenade lined with American elm trees. Next year marks 100 years since American women won the right to vote…

[The 19th Amendment was passed in 1919, but not ratified until August 1920.]

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Reader Interactions

191Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A little long, but a very good read: “I Would Only Rob Banks for My Family”

    Just after sunrise on the morning of August 9, 2012, in the Houston suburb of Katy, Scott Catt, a fifty-year-old structural engineer, was awakened by the buzzing of his alarm clock in the master bedroom of the apartment he shared with his twenty-year-old son, Hayden, and his eighteen-year-old daughter, Abby. The apartment was in Nottingham Place, a pleasant, family-oriented complex that featured a resort-size swimming pool and a large fitness center.

    Scott took a shower, dried off, and ran a brush through his closely cropped, graying hair. He put on a T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and some work boots and walked into the living room, where Abby and Hayden were waiting for him on the couch. Hayden was also wearing a T-shirt and jeans, along with some slip-on tennis shoes. His short dark hair was brushed forward, splayed over his forehead. Abby, whose highlighted blond hair fell to her shoulders, was wearing a blouse, black yoga pants, and flip-flops.

    “Okay, kids,” Scott said. “You ready?”

    Hayden and Abby both nodded. The family headed out the back door and walked toward Abby’s 1999 green Volkswagen Jetta in the parking lot. Scott was a big guy, six-foot-four and 240 pounds, and he had to bend forward at the waist and duck his head to squeeze into the Jetta’s passenger seat. Hayden, who was six-two and 200 pounds, crammed himself into the backseat, pulling his knees up to his chest.

    Abby started the car, pulled out of the complex, and made a couple of turns. In five minutes, she was driving into the parking lot of a strip center filled with small businesses—Fitness Unlimited, Shipley Do-Nuts, Weddings by Debbie, RadioShack, and Texas Mesquite Grill, among others. Abby parked the car about fifty yards from a Comerica Bank.

    Scott grabbed a black garbage bag from the floorboard and took out two pairs of white painter’s coveralls, two white painter’s masks, two pairs of blue latex gloves, and two Airsoft pistols, which look like real guns but shoot only plastic pellets. In the tight confines of the Jetta, he and Hayden squirmed as they put on the disguises. Scott clipped a walkie-talkie to the lapel of his coveralls and handed another one to Abby.

    It was nine-thirty. For the next thirty minutes or so, they sat in the Jetta, staring at the front door of the bank. Finally, Scott said it was time for them to make their move. Abby dropped her father and her brother off a few stores down from the bank and then drove around to an alley in the back. Just minutes later her dad’s voice crackled through her walkie-talkie.

    “You there, Abby?” he said. “We’re going in.”

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Facebook News is a separate section of the company’s mobile app that will feature articles from about 200 publishers. Friday’s launch is a test and will only be visible to some users in the US.

    The initiative is designed to quell criticism on two fronts: by promoting higher quality journalism over misinformation and by appeasing news publishers who have long complained that Facebook profits from journalism without paying for it. The company will pay some publishers between $1m and $3m each year to feature their articles, according to Bloomberg.

    Participating publications include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg and ABC News, as well as local newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News.

    Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnddddd….. Breitbart News.

    Facebook declined to provide a full list of the participating publications or offer further comment.

    Asked about the inclusion of Breitbart News at a launch event for Facebook News in New York, Zuckerberg declined to comment on “any specific firm” but added, “I do think that part of having this be a trusted source is that it needs to have a diversity of … views in there. I think you want to have content that kind of represents different perspectives, but also in a way that complies with the standards that we have.”

    By your own admission, you don’t have any standards, asshole. That is well established fact.

  6. 6.

    RAVEN

    I’m reading “The Yellow House” by Sarah Broom and she mentions the slave revolt.

    20 fucking mph winds today so no fishing again! We had a water pipe burst in our rental and spent an entire day waiting on the plumber so the owners (our friend) are letting us stay two extra days gratis so I’ll just watch football and fish later!

  9. 9.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren all attended Elijah Cummings’s funeral.

    You know who couldn’t be bothered to attend.

  10. 10.

    RAVEN

    @tybee: Yep, I look at the Edisto Charter page and they are killing it. This is the worst I’ve seen it here. I went on a charter and for $300 bucks we went 4 miles out and caught Re Snapper and Trigger that had to go back and little mingos. There is seaweed in the water so, even when the wind subsides, surf fishing is awful. I’m now trying to decide whether to go on a 6 hr “state boat” trip that can keep snapper tomorrow or an offshore Monday and hunt AJ’s.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: I’ll tell you how it ends:

    As for Abby and Hayden, they didn’t seem to know what to think of their father. “He should have been protecting me, instead of the other way around, having me protect him,” Abby said, a forlorn look on her face. But a few minutes later, she mentioned that she had accidentally run into her father just a day or so earlier in the county jail’s infirmary. “He told me he loved me, to be strong, and to be patient. And then he said he was so sorry. I broke down and started crying. I mean, like I’ve said, he is my dad.”

    Abby plans on becoming a nurse, her lifelong dream, when she is released. After he serves his sentence, Hayden wants to go to college and get a degree in advertising, architecture, or engineering—“that’s right, engineering, like my dad,” he said with a smile.

    Scott told me that his one hope for the future is that his children will come visit him when they are free. “I heard that maybe the state prison will let me do a hardship thing, spend a weekend with Abby and Hayden.” When I told him that I did not believe the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had such a program, he sighed and told me he’ll be 62 years old when he’s first eligible for parole.

    “If I get out, I want to have a homecoming dinner that night, me and the kids,” he said. “We’ll go to a good restaurant, tell stories about the old days.” He paused.

    “About the days when we were a family.”

    If you want to know about everything in between, you’ll have to read it. You won’t be sorry if you do.

  17. 17.

    Raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: It actually worked out for the best. I didn’t really want to pay for extra days and our friend was so thankful that we took care of it that she was glad to have us stay on. The weird thing is that we wanted to cut the breaker to the WH and this same plumbing and electrical outfit had put in a box where the meter and the breaker box were sealed!

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    When Eminem claimed on his 2018 song The Ringer that he had been visited by the Secret Service over lyrics perceived to be a threat to Donald Trump, it was easy to assume he was using a bit of characteristic poetic license.

    “But I know at least he’s heard it / cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service to meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin’ him / or ask if I’m linked to terrorists,” he rapped.

    But documents obtained by Buzzfeed this week through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that he was in fact speaking from direct experience, and that the agency interviewed him in December of 2017.

    In question were lyrics from his 2017 album Revival, among other disparaging remarks he had made about the president and his family.
    ……………………
    After meeting with the musician and his lawyers, the Secret Service ultimately declined to refer to matter to federal prosecutors.

  21. 21.

    RAVEN

    @Quinerly: It’s a bit hard to follow who all the people she includes are but, yea, very interesting. Have you read “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration”?

  23. 23.

    Quinerly

    @RAVEN: I know what you mean about following all the people. I read it one rainy weekend all at once, so probably a little easier to follow that way. Seriously, check out the Fresh Air (NPR) interview from September. Well worth it as a companion listen to the book. Have not read “The Warm of Other Suns.”

  26. 26.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: I did. I actually want to know what their future looks like and whether or not you can start over.
    It was such a fascinating story, that they could sell it.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: Ah, good. America is the land of 2nd chances… For some anyway. I would bet the daughter will get her shit together quicker than the son. He seems like a bit of a lost soul, but he might succeed as well, if he can stay away from drugs and alcohol. The father… He may get his wish for a sit down dinner with his children but it’s not gonna be like he envisions it.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    @Nelle: I wonder if she’s working on another book. Google tells me that Wilkerson graduated from Howard in 1983 and Harris in 1986.

  33. 33.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Meet Nelloptodes gretae, a tiny beetle named after climate activist Greta Thunberg.

    Dr Michael Darby, a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum, said: “I chose this name as I am immensely impressed with the work of this young campaigner and wanted to acknowledge her outstanding contribution in raising awareness of environmental issues.”

    Maybe there is an unknown leech or dung beetle out there they can name after trump.

  39. 39.

    Quinerly

    @rikyrah: just got a John Lennon, fearless rescue kitty and former tribe member, update. Still loving his new home with my good friend and her kitty, Tinker Bell. He and Tinks were wrestling for a couple of hrs this AM. My friend finally got up. At that point, kitties were exhausted and snoozing and she was wide awake at 6AM on a Saturday.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Huh: Blood pressure drugs work far better if taken at night, study shows

    After taking into account factors such as age, sex, smoking status, history of cardiovascular events and typical decrease in blood pressure when asleep, the team found patients who took their medication at bedtime had a 56% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, a 49% lower risk of stroke and a 44% lower risk of heart attack compared with the other group.
    ………………………………
    Besides the effect on blood pressure, the team found those who took the medication at bedtime also showed better kidney function and cholesterol measures, both of which are important factors when it comes to cardiovascular disease.

    As always, “more studies need to be done,” but I think I’ll start taking my BP meds in the evening anyway.

  45. 45.

    MattF

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m a bit doubtful— there’s a dozen different kinds of BP meds… they all work better if you take them in the evening? Speaking here as someone who takes three different types.

    Also of note: Ms. McArdle considers the WeWork debacle, says something positive about regulation. In WaPo, no linkee.

  46. 46.

    Barbara

    How do we get the DNC to stop giving Gabbard free publicity through debates, or ask her point blank in front of the whole country about why she has campaign workers soliciting signatures from voters to put her on the presidential ballot? Like this morning at my local farmers’ market.

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    Trump just tweeted the greatest tweet that Trump ever tweeted:

    He was trashing Kamala Harris in the prior tweets. I’m always hoping he’ll stroke out on the can while rage-tweeting. It’s been about a half an hour without follow up. Dare we hope?

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: I take atorvastatin for my cholesterol so I guess Ill continue to take it in the morning. My BP med is lisinipril so I’ll switch it to night.

    I am really bad about taking my meds, I forget both AM and PM at least once a week. I don’t know why. I have to give Woof his meds morning and night, which I always remember to, and I tell myself to take mine at the same time and… I forget to anyway.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    What legislative agenda?
    All they have done is a tax cuts bill and vote for right-wing judges.
    They certainly haven’t voted or even discussed the over 100 bills that the House has passed that Moscow Mitch won’t allow to the floor.??

    WTFGOP? #ImpeachmentIsComing (@DogginTrump) Tweeted:
    On todays episode of I DONT GIVE A FUCK

    The Hill is reporting that Republican Senators are worried impeachment will consume their legislative agenda

    Too bad, so sad. Should have thought about that B4 supporting a criminal

    Anybody care these GOP Senators are stressed? https://twitter.com/DogginTrump/status/1187834319009546240?s=17

  55. 55.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MattF: Read the article, and like I said “more studies need to be done”, but as far as my meds are concerned, I was not instructed to take it at a particular time of day, just to take it once a day. I am not a betting man but if I am given no specific instructions otherwise, I’ll follow the odds.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve been down Hope Road many times before, and at this point in time my fear is that he takes us with him.

    BTW His great event yesterday was attended by seven students according to D. Dale

  61. 61.

    TS (the original)

    @OzarkHillbilly: Unfortunately there are other reasons to take the bp meds in the morning – which I have discovered. I much prefer taking any meds in the evening – for some reason I never forget them – but no can do with my b.p. meds.

  65. 65.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MattF: I’m allergic to aspirin. I can’t take any anti-inflammatories due to cross reactions. So when it comes to pain meds my choices are acetaminophen and opiates. One is hell on the liver and the other is… What difference, nobody will prescribe one. As one who lives with chronic pain I’m basically fucked.

  66. 66.

    TS (the original)

    @JPL:

    His great event yesterday was attended by seven students according to D. Dale

    And one wonders what they were paid to attend.

  67. 67.

    Ken

    @JPL: According to one of the comments last night, the event reserved ten tickets for students, but three couldn’t attend because of other priorities. There were more than seven people, though, because the rest of the tickets were given to Trump supporters who were bused in.

  71. 71.

    Ken

    @debbie:

    ticked off he wouldn’t be the center of attention.

    Definitely a “meet us half way” situation.

    BTW I’m still a little vague on who was meant by “you know who”.

  79. 79.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I certainly don’t have your level of it, but I have chronic pain. Tylenol takes the edge off until I can get to an ice pack or heating pad. Lidocaine patches have helped a bit.

  86. 86.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    about why she has campaign workers soliciting signatures from voters to put her on the presidential ballot? Like this morning at my local farmers’ market.

    They all have to do this. I’ve signed a Beto ballot petition and a Harris ballot petition. If they win the primary they’ll need to have followed each states rules to be on the ballot and it has to be in and approved prior to deadline. The nightmare scenario as far as incompetent campaigns is they didn’t file the paperwork properly and have to be a write-in.

  87. 87.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MattF: I have known I was allergic to aspirin since I was 20. I went on blood thinners for good about 8 years ago after a 2nd bout of clots. Did not know about the aspirin/blood thinners connection. Acetominiphin doesn’t do much for me either.

    @debbie: I have a stash of vicodin left over from my last shoulder surgery about a year ago. I take it when I feel a bad night coming on, but I think it has started to lose some of it’s kick. Either that or my body just isn’t reacting to it like it used to. ETA I make love to ice packs several times a week, they do help.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    @debbie: Kamala’s response
    My whole life I’ve fought for justice and for the people — something you’d know nothing about. The only part of criminal justice you can claim credit for is the “criminal” part.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @Barbara:

    To be clear, I think Tulsi is 1. full of shit and 2. a wholly malicious actor who switches positions constantly – she hasn’t even been consistent over the last month- so I think her promise not to run is third party is worthless, but if they want to be on the D primary ballot they all have to pass petitions to qualify, so this isn’t that.

  91. 91.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Steeplejack:

    or was specifically disinvited.

    If Trump was told he wasn’t welcome, he would be whining about it. He doesn’t want to go, and if any of his aides asked and were turned down, they didn’t report it to him.

  92. 92.

    Aleta

    Symbol of ’80s Greed May Profit From Trump Tax Break for Poor Areas

    (NYT) (Michael) Milken, it turns out, is in a position to personally gain from some of the changes that his institute has urged the Trump administration to enact. In one case, the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, directly intervened in a way that benefited Mr. Milken, his longtime friend.

    … In addition to the favorable tax-policy changes, some of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers — including Mr. Mnuchin, Jared Kushner and Rudolph W. Giuliani — have lobbied the president to pardon Mr. Milken for his crimes, or supported that effort, according to people familiar with the effort.
    …
    The former “junk bond king” has investments in at least two major real estate projects inside federally designated opportunity zones in Nevada, near Mr. Milken’s Lake Tahoe vacation home, according to public records reviewed by The New York Times.

    One of those developments, inside an industrial park, is a nearly 700-acre site in which Mr. Milken is a major investor. Last year, after pressure from Mr. Milken’s business partner and other landowners, the Treasury Department ignored its own guidelines on how to select opportunity zones and made the area eligible for the tax break, according to people involved in the discussions and records reviewed by The Times.

    The unusual decision was made at the personal instruction of Mr. Mnuchin, according to internal Treasury Department emails. It came shortly after he had spent time with Mr. Milken at an event his institute hosted.

    “People were troubled,” said Annie Donovan, who previously ran the Treasury office in charge of designating areas as opportunity zones. She and two of her former colleagues said they were upset that the Treasury secretary was intervening to bend rules, though they said they didn’t realize at the time that Mr. Mnuchin’s friend stood to profit. The agency’s employees, Ms. Donovan said, “were put in a position where they had to compromise the integrity of the process.”

    The opportunity zone initiative, tucked into the tax cut bill that Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017…allows investors to delay or avoid taxes on capital gains by putting money in projects or companies in more than 8,700 federally designated opportunity zones. Mr. Trump has boasted that it will revitalize downtrodden neighborhoods.
    …
    From the start, the tax break targeted people with capital gains, the vast majority of which are held by the very richest investors. The Treasury permitted opportunity zones to encompass not only poor communities but some adjacent affluent neighborhoods. Much of the money so far has flowed to those wealthier areas, including many projects that were planned long before the new law was enacted.

    Investors and others — including Mr. Milken’s institute — have been pushing the Treasury Department to write the rules governing opportunity zones in ways that would make it easier to qualify for the tax break. That campaign worked, and Mr. Milken is among the potential beneficiaries.
    … …

  93. 93.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    You might want to try patches (5% with prescription). It takes the edge off the pain which helps to stop focusing on it. Once when I had pneumonia, I “broke” some muscle on a rib from coughing so much. At least with the patch, coughing wasn’t accompanied by tears.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @Aleta:

    The agency’s employees, Ms. Donovan said, “were put in a position where they had to compromise the integrity of the process.”

    These are the only people involved in this corrupt mess who I feel sorry for. Employees. They’re real victims. The higher-ranking people are collaborators. There are a shit load of cowardly collaborators.

  95. 95.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jeffro:

    Clearly it’s time to cut entitlements, with the deficit out of control like that!

    I will give Republicans this: They are entirely consistent on this issue philosophically. They do believe in reducing the deficit. They want taxes on the rich reduced to zero, and government spending on anything that doesn’t directly hurt people reduced to zero. We have been just barely able to obstruct the latter, but they do sincerely try, constantly, and when they run deficits it is because they are not able to accomplish gutting social services to match their tax cuts.

  97. 97.

    Kay

    Jeff Stein
    @JStein_WaPo
    ·21h
    NEW: American steel is in trouble. Trump’s tariffs worked – briefly. But steel stocks are collapsing. Prices are collapsing. Plans are closing. And now workers are being laid off
    The culprit: A lack of demand, exacerbated by the impact of the trade war

    I’m not rich but I do plan to retire someday and I moved some of my savings into safer investments last week. Really safe. I’ve never done that before based solely on who was President. I’m not fucking working another 10 years longer than I planned to because of these reckless, entitled douchebags who never worked for anything they have. Donald Trump and his crooked, sleazy employees will not screw me or mine if I can help it. I’m not gonna be one of his victims.

  98. 98.

    BR

    @Barbara:

    If she’s trying to get on the presidential ballot directly, you should definitely report that to the DNC, and maybe to your local congressperson’s campaign (not official) office with documentation of where and when.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    @Jeffro:
    You do know that if they had held the House in 2018, this was the plan. Use the deficit, that they caused with the tax cut scam to cut Entitlements. November 2018 saved the American Social Safety Net.

  103. 103.

    Another Scott

    @OzarkHillbilly: J uses them and they do help. Beware though, that there are different kinds with different adhesives and different backings. And they can cost different amounts. J had one she liked, then the pharmacy stopped carrying it and she had to fight quite a bit to get them to bring the good one back.

    You know, another day ending in “y” in the US healthcare system…

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    Emma

    @Kay: I am within two years of retirement. I just did the same thing. There’s no way in hell that I would risk my solid (but supposedly not enough, according to financial gurus) pile on those idiots’ idea of a sound economy.

  105. 105.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: Read CalculatedRiskBlog.com He’s not seeing a recession in the next 12 months, and he was (quietly) yelling about the housing bubble for years before the crash.

    There are lots of bad things happening, including in the economy, but overall the economy seems to be mostly muddling through…

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  106. 106.

    BR

    @Another Scott:

    Yeah, it seems we’ll have a manufacturing recession but just an overall stall but not quite recession over the next 6 months or so. But as many similar economic commentators wisely point out, that is without any exogenous political shocks, which could tip the economy into recession quite suddenly given that it will already be weak.

  107. 107.

    Another Scott

    Twitter:

    jess mcintosh Verified account @jess_mc

    Imagine if reporters pressed Republicans on their health care plans killing people the way they press Democrats on theirs raising taxes.

    6:22 PM – 25 Oct 2019

    That’s crazy talk!!11

    :-/

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    lamh36

    #Leadership

    One long azz thread when all she had to say was one again Kamala Harris is leading on the attack of Chump…and yet the MSM still trying to right her off?

    So to (try to) break this down:
    1. There was a candidate forum scheduled for today at Benedict College, sponsored by 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Ctr.
    2. That group gave Trump an award.
    3. @KamalaHarris pulled out in protest.
    4. New event scheduled.
    5. 20/20 group no longer hosting.

    https://twitter.com/megkinnardap/status/1188059917611085824?s=21

    Now watch the attempt at erasure continue?

  109. 109.

    lamh36

    Ima just say this and get back to work…if there is one female candidate who’s getting treated the most like the media treated HRC, where the media seems to do all it can to repair a negative angle to almost any story, or don’t give credit her policy plans or just attribute them to other candidates… it’s Kamala Harris.

    Big difference is HRC also had to deal with the years and years if CDS.

    Not only does Kamala have to deal with the misogyny she also have to deal with the racism. She doesn’t have “but her emails” but the “Kamala is a Cop” bullshit is just as untrue and distorted.

  110. 110.

    BR

    @lamh36:

    As one of Harris’s constituents I’d say she’s been pretty good (not amazing but not average either), and I’d be happy with her as the nominee even though she’s not my top choice. I think what would make me excited is to see her grow over the course of the primary in her instincts — she has a great killer instinct during interviews, when she’s on the attack, but when cornered she goes for quick soundbites that box her into weird policy choices that she then has to walk back (random minor example: plastic straws, but there have been others). One of the things I liked the most about Obama was that he really thought ten steps ahead of everyone so he knew whether to grab for the soundbite that sounded good in the moment or hang back and take a short term hit for long term gain.

  111. 111.

    Glidwrith

    @OzarkHillbilly: @debbie: If I may, would any of your pain be joint related? There is a joint supplement out which also helps with muscle cramps called Doctors’ Formula (www.mydoctorsformula.com). It won’t repair missing chunks of cartilage, but it helps a lot with aches and pains.

    Full disclosure: I am the inventor of the supplement, though I don’t get to profit from it. I’ve also been taking it myself for the last five years. I feel cheesy as hell mentioning this, but it sucks to be in pain and I hope this helps.

  112. 112.

    mad citizen

    I’m still hopeful for Kamala–continue to sport her sticker on my vehicle. And she is still sending me around 3 emails every day:)

  113. 113.

    Just Chuck

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Dung beetles clean up crap. Trump doesn’t deserve a species … how about a verb. Hippos mark their territory by spraying shit everywhere. Let’s call that behavior “Trumping”

  116. 116.

    PPCLI

    Add another thing to the impeachment pile. Awarding the $10 billion contract to Microsoft instead of Amazon? Trump already demanded of Mattis in 2018 that he screw Amazon out of that contract. Mattis at the time didn’t do it, but now that he’s gone… Congress should immediately subpoena the procurement records, etc.

    https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1188085028632367105

    Also chalk this up as one more disgraceful Mattis silence. This info is coming from the book by Mattis’ deputy.

  117. 117.

    Miss Bianca

    @lamh36: You’re damn right. Pisses me off.

    Actually, I’m pissed off about just about all the political coverage out there in the MSM right now.

  118. 118.

    Fair Economist

    @Another Scott: Calculated Risk’s argument is basically that housing looks good so there won’t be a recession. Sorry, but there are other causes. There are a lot of “flashing orange” indicators, including the yield curve, capital investments, manufacturing production, and state coincident indicators. Nothing is guaranteed in econ, but there is a substantial recession risk.

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    @Fair Economist: His expertise is in housing and mortgage stuff, sure, but he watches a dozen or more statistics, including nongovernmental data, and is always updating his graphs.

    It’s not just housing.

    It’s a great resource.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  124. 124.

    J R in WV

    OK, So most folks here are aware that wife had a “minor fall” while watering the moss covered rocks during last month’s drought, and broke two ribs. This was probably 5 or 6 weeks ago, I would have to look at the calendar to be sure. So Wednesday she had a Dr appointment in the other local city, a 90 minutes drive as opposed to the 30 minute drive to the closer city.

    In preparing to leave the house, my knee gave out. Totally unable to support my weight at first. So I drove her to town, sat in the car the whole time, but for walking into a snack shop for a gyro for lunch. Was miserable. Thursday was miserable. Friday I was enough better to make it to the family Dr office, where I was told I probably had my meniscus break, that’s the cartilage between the shin bone and the femur

    He contacted Humana for advance permission for an MRI, which he says is needed before the Ortho guy will look at me… Nov 5th, two weeks of limping around the house trying to take care of 2 cats and 3 dogs and the semi-invalid wife and the definitely invalid me. I did get one of those blue handicapped hangers for parking closer to the door, which was nice at the grocery store.

    Maybe, if there’s a waiting period for MRIs, just maybe we should oughta build more of them????? Or is that crazy socialism? And of course, post MRI there will be a waiting period to see the Ortho guy, Manny. Who is a great guy, I want him to look at it, but the waiting is gonna be hard.

  126. 126.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I was thinking the other day that Mnuchin was the one trump crony in the cabinet who had kept his fingerprints off any of the bigger scandals

    David Enrich @ davidenrich
    Exclusive: Steve Mnuchin did what looks like a big favor for his longtime friend, the infamous financier Michael Milken — the latest controversy around the Trump administration’s “opportunity zone” tax breaks

    the upshot of a verrrry long article: Miliken owns 700 acres in an “industrial park” near Reno, in a neighborhood where Google and Tesla are building new offices, and he wants federal tax breaks to subsidize the development. Also, because of course, Trust-Fund Gilligan and the omnipresent sleaze bag who’s drawn to money like a moth to flame

    It is a vivid illustration of the power that Mr. Milken, who was barred from the securities industry and fined $600 million as part of his 1990 felony conviction, has amassed in President Trump’s Washington. In addition to the favorable tax-policy changes, some of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers — including Mr. Mnuchin, Jared Kushner and Rudolph W. Giuliani — have lobbied the president to pardon Mr. Milken for his crimes, or supported that effort, according to people familiar with the effort.

  127. 127.

    ThresherK

    In the fourth minute of stoppage time Brighton Hove Albion forced an own goal by Everton to take a 3-2 lead.

    This is after Everton looked to be in control after 75 minutes until they gave up a tying goal.

  128. 128.

    PPCLI

    @debbie:

    Is Gates known as a Trump supporter?

    Trump didn’t care who the contract went to, as long as it wasn’t Amazon. Bezos is known to hold Trump in contempt, and Bezos owns the Washington Post. The Post’s criticism of Trump is clearly a topic about which Trump is obsessed. And Trump makes no secret of his loathing of Bezos because of the Post (which Trump calls “the Amazon Post” etc.)

  129. 129.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Hillary is right.

    And this is why every monument to treason in the South needs to be ripped down with extreme prejudice.

  130. 130.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @J R in WV: Sorry to hear about your tribulations.

    The VA tried to get my xrays from my fall back in February from local Catholic hospital where the ER was, but it proved to be next to impossible to do so. The records are not local…they’re shipped off to a records center in another state.

    So the VA had to do the xrays, then do the MRI, and finally got me a consult with the local limb-oriented private clinic. This entire process took a fraction of the initial delay.

  131. 131.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Miss Bianca: The Village being the Village…hard wired to the Wall Street/Mega-rich GOP sensibility on the world.

    Wipe them out. All of them.

  132. 132.

    trollhattan

    @BR:
    Pretty much sums up my feelings as well, happy to vote for her should she break through. Many aspects of her are compelling and she also has areas of needed growth. Why her candidacy hasn’t caught fire seems partly due to the ginormous, unmanageable field and partly on her team, which I presume she assembled herself. Also, she didn’t do anything especially amazing as CA AG.

  133. 133.

    Aleta

    It’s going to take T a while to figure out that banning the Post means he shouldn’t keep tweeting about what their stories say.

  135. 135.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Another Scott:

    Read CalculatedRiskBlog.com He’s not seeing a recession in the next 12 months, and he was (quietly) yelling about the housing bubble for years before the crash.

    Oh, so it’ll happen after Trump’s reelection then.

  139. 139.

    debbie

    @J R in WV:

    If you do a search on “Mnemosyne,” she had to wait months for surgery. Her posts might provide helpful coping tips. Hope you’re able to get through this. I know those things hurt!

  141. 141.

    JPL

    @J R in WV: That’s what they do in Canada and you can pay a few hundred dollars to have it done privately. You don’t have to wait if you want to pay out of pocket. The medical equipment regulations have to do with the AMA and other lobbyists.

  142. 142.

    Amir Khalid

    Is anyone here knowledgeable about Church’s Chicken in the US? They operate outside North America as Texas Chicken (presumably to avoid scaring non-churchgoing people who don’t know the chain was founded by a Mr Church) and I rather like what they offer here. Less oily than KFC, less soggy in the crispy coating, not weirdly salty along the bottom. Better sides and non-bone-in options, too.

  143. 143.

    lamh36

    UPDATE >> Because of Kamala’s protest, the sponsor that awarded Trump has been completely removed from this event and it’s been opened up to HBCU student participation. She led, and she got results. She will now participate in Mayor Benjamin’s forum at Benedict today.

    https://twitter.com/iansams/status/1188128169230032897?s=21

    Oh and she’s still doing her own roundtable with Bakari Sellers later in this evening!

    https://twitter.com/daryongeronimo/status/1188120273540788225?s=21

  145. 145.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:
    Given that the world’s events don’t take a weekend break, isn’t there a Saturday/Sunday duty roster at the White House? Or maybe they’ve just given up on reining in his Twitter outbursts.

  150. 150.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: I’m just scrolling through twitter to put off my Saturday chores, and I find this

    Sherrilyn Ifill @ Sifill_LDF
    So I turned to C-Span earlier & Trump was speaking at his Crim Justice forum & he actually said this: “all my life I have fought for fairness and opportunity for African Americans.”

    and since I’m posting things from yesterday

    Josh Dawsey @ jdawsey1
    From pool report of Trump at Benedict: “POTUS is comparing impeachment inquiry with criminal justice experience of people in the audience. ‘You know I have my own experience. You see it’s a terrible thing going on in our country. It’s an investigation in search of a crime.'”

  151. 151.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: We don’t have those in my region of the US unfortunately. However, I have eaten at one and yes their chicken definitely exceeds KFC by a fair margin.

    My go-to however when I can get it is Popeye’s. That’s good stuff!

  152. 152.

    MisterForkbeard

    @lamh36: Agreed. The media is treating Harris badly, minimizing her contributions, ascribing the worst possible motives, taking Republican talking points as fact, etc. Its appalling and the only reasons I can think of is that she’s black, female, and effective.

    On the other hand, if she’s going to get treated like this and cant break through then it might not be the time to be the general candidate. I’m voting for her anyway, but consoling myself that maybe she’d just get HRC treatment and have a difficult time in the general if she cant shake this media treatment in the primary.

  153. 153.

    Ann Marie

    Not related to any news, but may I ask for your good thoughts and prayers for a small kitten and the people who love him? A friend of mine has an adorable kitten named Banjo who is very sick. He’s less than a year old and was having various issues when he started having seizures. She took him to the local veterinary hospital and they diagnosed a liver shunt. It’s treatable, but he is very small and very young. They were going to treat with medicine for a couple of weeks to clear out the toxins in his blood and then fix it surgically, but he had more severe seizures last night and is in the ICU. My friend is very upset and her husband, who totally bonded with the little guy, is a wreck. We are waiting for more news.

  154. 154.

    Amir Khalid

    Christian Pulisic has scored his first Chelsea goal! The USMNT player took the ball off a Burnley midfielder, then dribbled past two defenders before putting the ball in the far corner. Frst American to score in the English Premier League for Russian-owned Chelsea.

  157. 157.

    James E Powell

    @MisterForkbeard:

    On the other hand, if she’s going to get treated like this and cant break through then it might not be the time to be the general candidate.

    I am caught between agreeing with this statement – I’ve said it myself – and hating it as a bullshit justification for allowing our candidates to be treated unfairly by the press/media. That latter view is fueled by the memory of the same thing being said when the press/media were hammering Hillary during the primary while letting Bernie slide.

  160. 160.

    MisterForkbeard

    @James E Powell: The problem is that I’m not sure it’s about “letting” the media get away with it. They’ll just do it. they’re trying to do it to Biden and learned NOTHING from what they did to HRC.

    I

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @Barbara:
    It’s not just TG. I got an email from Tom Perez/the DNC supporting BS and asking for donations, telling me how great he is and how great a president he’d be. It was a straight out, BS only, fundraising email. I could see this after the primary for the candidate. It’s bullshit for any individual candidate before the primary. And I told Tommy that in no uncertain terms.

  164. 164.

    Ruckus

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I’m on atorvastatin as well and my instructions are to take it at night. Different strokes and all that I guess. It may also be my BP med – metoprolol which is supposed to be taken in the morning. Maybe there is a reason not to take them at the same time is my guess.
    ETA I also bought a twice a day, weekly pill box. Once a week I fill it with everything and then it’s easy to see if I’ve remembered before it’s too late.

  166. 166.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @BR:

    (random minor example: plastic straws, but there have been others)

    What’s wrong with banning plastic straws? Canada’s already done so and paper straws are biodegradable. Less demand for plastics is also a good thing since they’re made from petroleum, a fossil fuel

  167. 167.

    StringOnAStick

    @J R in WV: Your current experience is why I smirk when the protectors of the U.S. Healthcare status quo who use the “we don’t want to be like Canada!” tactic . We have close friends inI Canada and their wait times for the same problem have always been less than ours, and without the entertainment of wondering if what we need and the doctor wants to do will actually be covered. Once a friend had to wait 5 weeks for donor tissue to replace a a destroyed ACL, but that was because it had been a icy ski season and the current need out stripped the supply.

    Our crappy system really shows its weaknesses when acute problems like yours come up.

  169. 169.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: On Planet Sanders Bernie doesn’t have to take principled stand; principled stand automatically reaches its arms out and pulls Bernie into a heartfelt embrace.

  170. 170.

    TomatoQueen

    @Amir Khalid: The sole Church’s Chicken location in DC, at L’Enfant Plaza, should be doing box office biz as it is in a prime fast lunch federal office workers spot, yet the Yelp reviews indicate it ought to be closed as a favor to the public for sheer incompetence. Apparently there is a Richmond, VA outlet that’s just as bad. The other reviews of other spots indicate Church’s quality can vary a lot. If you’re looking for consistency, there are other chicken joints (KFC and Popeye’s are the main rivals). If you’re looking for consistency and quality, there’s a Peruvian place right up my street that’s lovely.

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @TomatoQueen: I am dangerously fond of fried chicken. I haven’t had Church’s in years, but as I recall it’s better than KFC (which in fairness, even to me is pretty much inedible) and not as good as Popeye’s. I never did make it to try the sandwich that was either delicious or really, really well-marketed. Or both.

  175. 175.

    2liberal

    @J R in WV:

    I was told I probably had my meniscus break,

    I had some meniscus damage and spent 6 months on a cane. Supposedly they don’t operate on these much anymore. My knee kept locking up for over a year which sucks. Best wishes for you that you have a better treatment available and a faster recovery.

  178. 178.

    Tehanu

    @J R in WV: I had a similar problem, not as bad — I could put my weight on it but it hurt a lot. I hope you have at least a cane (and carry it in the opposite hand, i.e., right hand if it’s your left leg or vice v.) — and try using a recumbent bike to increase the strength of your thigh and butt muscles, so all the pressure isn’t on the knee cartilage. Good luck with it.

    @Amir Khalid: Me too. I think I’ll ask my doctor first though.

  179. 179.

    Ruckus

    @J R in WV:
    From experience. OUCH.
    I tore the meniscus in my knee in half 25 yrs ago and doc said after MRI that the only thing viable was knee replacement. But he didn’t want to do this because of my age, so I went to PT and worked on the knee for quite a while. Still have it and it works and doesn’t hurt. Could I do the work now? Not sure, but it was really worth it at the time. It did fold one time climbing off a ladder but I was with a doc who showed me what to do and it stopped hurting immediately. That doc hadn’t believed that I had a completely torn meniscus and was able to walk and run without any pain. After the fold incident he believed me. It hurt worse than the accident that caused the tear in the first place, being hit by a truck.
    Good luck, good prognoses, good healing.

  180. 180.

    Ruckus

    @Aleta:
    A while in trump time is eternity. IOW he won’t learn, doesn’t want to learn, isn’t capable of learning anything in a normal manner.

  181. 181.

    CliosFanBoy

    From June 1919-August 1920 is actually pretty quick. Not every state legislature met every year back then. Sixteen amendments took longer than the 19th.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:
    Ate at a Church’s once. I agree that it’s better than KFC, but then so is the dog food I fed Bud. Not a big fan of chicken after my stint in the navy. It was featured in the majority of meals and most of it was……less than satisfactory, as in about the level of KFC. Also helped load a lot of it onboard and it was graded the lowest food grade possible, which is not much for chicken.

  189. 189.

    debbie

    @Sab:

    Today’s paper straws aren’t like the ones from our childhoods. They get soggy real quick and it’s a rush to finish your drink before they collapse altogether.

  191. 191.

    TomatoQueen

    For a lunch of greasy chicken thigh and a biscuit, Grandy’s in Fort Myers used to beat KFC and was almost tied with Popeye’s. I thought Grandy’s biscuits were just that much better. Not seen them since 1990. On CBS’ morning show, Gayle King has been pursuing the elusive Chicken Sandwich and all by herself has forced Popeye’s to restock the things and hire a bunch of staff. So next month some of us might get to find out what’s in it. She says it’s good.

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