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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Snow Day Open Thread

Snow Day Open Thread

by TaMara|  October 29, 20193:42 pm| 106 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Looks like we need an open thread.

We are on day two of a three-day snowstorm. Scout is over it:

I am not ready for winter this early.

Open thread

ETA: I feel like I need to add, three consecutive days of snow or rain is very unusual here, so we tend to get whiny about it.

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Previous Post: « Where to expect enrollment swings on Healthcare.gov
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Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    dmsilev

    October 29, 2019 at 3:46 pm

    Come to Southern California, where’s there’s no snow!

    Bear in mind, the state is currently on fire. Yes, al of it.

  2. 2.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 3:46 pm

    This piece from Deadspin captures Trump and his administration pretty accurately I think.

  3. 3.

    SFBayAreaGal

    October 29, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    I am so looking foward to rain. I live in the SF Bay Area and it is dry, dry, dry.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    October 29, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    We are all Scout today.

  5. 5.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 3:56 pm

    @dmsilev:

    The latest alter from PG&E? Power could be shut off at any moment in the next 24 hours with no warning.

    People are now angry and they are getting angrier. The cost of this bullshit is staggering. The local corner store has rented a generator to keep the lights on and that’s fucking expensive. The Co-op and other food businesses have gone above and beyond in keeping their doors open, again at a staggering cost.

    The lack of clear and accurate information from PG&E and subsequently our county OES is baffling and enraging and it’s clear this is the new normal unless some drastic and immediate changes are made.

    It’s only a huge inconvenience for me, I have only myself and my cat, Salad, to look after but there are thousands of others here in mortal peril. Radio stations are coordinating with service providers to assist the elderly who have seen their generators break down or who have seen medication gone bad or WHO DIDN’T HAVE ANY FUCKING WAY TO HEAT THEIR HOMES WHEN THE MERCURY DROPPED WELL BELOW FREEZING!

    I have been peevish and annoyed, but imagine what the people in Puerto Rico must feel? Imagine not knowing when you will have a safe reliable source of electricity, I have endured three days and it’s infuriating, imagine waiting a year?

    This is capitalism run amok and yet another example of how there are no free markets just a rigged market bent on ensuring corporate profit over the common good. People are starting to notice.

  6. 6.

    TaMara (HFG)

    October 29, 2019 at 3:56 pm

    A deer runs in front of woman’s car – she totals the car, but is FINE. Unfortunately for first responders, she was dressed like Carrie for her haunted house job:

    If anyone wants to know how my weekend went I totaled my car while dressed up as Carrie and everyone who was a first responder thought I was dead HAHAHAHA IM SO SORRY pic.twitter.com/22vatX7nGB

    — Sidney (@SidwWolfe) October 28, 2019

  7. 7.

    Kent

    October 29, 2019 at 3:58 pm

    My local GOP here in Clark County Washington (Vancouver WA which is suburban Portland) just elected a party official who is a known child molester: https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/oct/27/election-of-party-official-rocks-clark-county-gop/

    Over a two-month period in 2010, and despite a previously filed restraining order preventing him from contacting her, Clark repeatedly snuck into a 15-year-old girl’s bedroom in the Sherwood neighborhood, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Clark County Superior Court.

    After tapping on the window to grab the girl’s attention and using a folding metal chair to enter the room, Clark — 43 at the time — and the girl would hug and kiss on her bed, the affidavit said.

    Clark and the girl would also read poems and consume alcohol, and he gave her a cellphone that allowed them to communicate, according to the affidavit. The girl told police that, “he loves her, wants to marry her” and provided her with a wedding dress magazine, the affidavit said.

    Sickos and enablers, the entire lot of them. He won election to the party chair with 70% of the vote of party officials. These people need to be burned out of our body politic.

  8. 8.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    October 29, 2019 at 3:59 pm

    Re-upping this

    Here’s the D’s 8 page resolution on impeachment procedures.

    Here’s a one page fact sheet.

  9. 9.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    Poor Scout. I hate winter too. We have a few nice days left in Southern Maryland but looks like the weekend will be much cooler.

    In other news, I guess McConnell didn’t get the memo.

    McConnell on House impeachment witnesses: “I’m not going to question the patriotism of any of the people coming forward”— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) October 29, 2019

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    @TaMara (HFG):
    Oh dear lord! That must have been in interesting conversation.

  11. 11.

    TaMara (HFG)

    October 29, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: If no one front pages it shortly, I’ll do it, since I’m housebound.

  12. 12.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:02 pm

    @Kent: He resigned.
    https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/10/29/convicted-child-predator-resigns-from-leadership-role-in-clark-county-wa-gop/
    But yeah. How hard is it not to eject a pedophile?

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 4:03 pm

    That’s more a bundle of legs masquerading as a dog. Legs everywhere!

    Had to replace the filters and fire up the furnace last week–the nights are getting pretty cold (and too damn long, maybe that’s just me). Don’t mind that so much but the wind and resulting fires (and smoke) are simply horrid.

  14. 14.

    Kay

    October 29, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    We are on day two of a three-day snowstorm.

    I love snow days. I have a new white wool scarf to wear when it gets cold. Very soft. I think I like the change of seasons because the clothes change.

  15. 15.

    Kent

    October 29, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Well, OK, but they still elected a known pedophile. That’s more on THEM than it is HIM.

  16. 16.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:10 pm

    @Kent: Agreed. There’s no excuse for electing a pedophile.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 4:11 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: My sympathies. Gonna be fascinating how California handles PG&E going forward. Crisis is here. The fires are going to keep happening and happening, and that power grid needs a major update.

    Also, ironic that a lot of its customers will not be able to watch Frontline tonight. Their email:

    Multiple blazes are currently raging across California — and 10 of the 20 most destructive blazes in the state’s history have happened in the last four years.

    Tonight’s new FRONTLINE documentary goes inside the deadliest and most destructive of them all: last November’s Camp Fire — which burned an area the size of Chicago, destroyed around 30,000 people’s homes, decimated the town of Paradise, and killed 85 people.

    Ahead of the massive fire’s one-year anniversary — and as new blazes rage across California – FRONTLINE tonight presents Fire in Paradise.

    From director and producer Jane McMullen, the documentary examines how climate change has contributed to making fires bigger and more frequent, and shares tales of both unfathomable loss and miraculous escape.

    “I told my husband, ‘I can’t run through fire,’” survivor Nichole Jolly tells FRONTLINE. “And he said, ‘You’re going to have to.’”

    The film raises tough questions about who and what are to blame for the Camp Fire’s catastrophic toll. It traces how the blaze was sparked by a failed power line belonging to the country’s largest energy company, PG&E — which had previously been warned that its transmission towers were aging and components might fail.

    It examines how, even as the blaze hurtled towards Paradise at a rate of 80 football fields a minute, the town’s residents were being told the fire was not a danger when they called 911 to report smoke and ash.

    And it investigates why many residents weren’t officially alerted to evacuate until it was too late — if at all.

    Don’t miss Fire in Paradise tonight at 10/9c. Tune in or stream on PBS (check local listings), at pbs.org/frontline, on the PBS Video App, or on YouTube.

  18. 18.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:12 pm

    Are Republicans so dumb that they’re still obsessing about the Whistleblower’s identity? The Whistleblower’s claims have all been validated. His or her identity is irrelevant.

    NEW: Rep. Jim Jordan says Adam Schiff has blocked Republican questions that could lead to the unmasking of the whistleblower. pic.twitter.com/QBk3xxXNKi— Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) October 29, 2019

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 4:13 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:
    I deeply fear some Carl Icahn-type swooping in on PG&E’s still-warm corpse and taking over, just to break it apart and sell of the bits while raiding the pension fund (assuming they have such a thing). IDK what control either the bankruptcy courts or the PUC have over the company’s fate. But especially after the last couple months, PG&E as it exists would seem doomed.

    In coal news, Murray Energy files for bankruptcy. Sorta ironic photo of the dude sporting an oxygen hose.

  20. 20.

    Sure Lurkalot

    October 29, 2019 at 4:13 pm

    It’s brightening up in Denver…there are shadows outside…but I’ve gotten a few notifications that this is just a temporary stay and there’s more snow and wind on the way. Like TaMara, I’m housebound as my working spouse takes the AWD vehicle when it snows and the Prius is pretty much a skate on days like these. Still, my sympathies are with all the Californians in harm’s way and/or without power. Compared to that situation, three days of bad weather, while considered a tragedy in Colorado, is a blessing.

  21. 21.

    Sloane Peterson's knee therapist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:15 pm

    Uh, oh. Apparently Devin Nunes’ aide inadvertently revealed the name of the Baghdadi K-9 hero instead of the whistleblower’s. Her name is Stormy. Absolutely no chance of a WH invite now.

  22. 22.

    Immanentize

    October 29, 2019 at 4:17 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks!

    The resolution also continues the precedent of giving the minority the same rights to
    question witnesses that the majority has, as has been true at every step of the inquiry

    Hahhha hahhaahahaha

  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I interviewed too many people impacted by that fire, I can’t bear to relive those stories.

    @trollhattan:

    That’s my concern as well, we don’t actually get a solution but just more moving the pieces around the table and a lot of public policy statements about changes and adaptations and moving forward.

    I admit I could not be more ignorant of the energy infrastructure and how it operates, what I do know is that PG&E fucked this up royally and like all corporate boondoggles the public will pay the price both with their lives and their wallets.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:23 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    NEW: Rep. Jim Jordan says Adam Schiff has blocked Republican questions that could lead to the unmasking of the whistleblower

    IANAL, and I imagine the Whistleblower Protection Act is a pretty specialized area of the law, but wouldn’t that also known as following the law?

    ETA: Nicole Wallace, who even while she’s stinking up my TV with the boorish meathead Donnie Deutsch, just called Ingram, Yoo and Dershowitz “chickenshit”.

  25. 25.

    TomatoQueen

    October 29, 2019 at 4:24 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: That’s a lovely piece that I will shove in the pie-holes of the centrists on my StupidbookFeed who objected ever so slightly to the sudden erm lack of decorum at a baseball game, just as soon as I get off this WORK computer. Mind you, I am still twitching about the adjective “buttery” in the phrase “buttery germaphobe” cos either it’s a reference to a hideous event I have thus far avoided successfully, or it’s a jumped-up way of saying greasy nutjob, which phrase especially in the context of baseball seems more erm proletarian or something.
    I do like the idea of nationalizing PG&E in a California-style, or drowning all their executives in a bathtub, but am mostly scared for all of you, those who are in it, and those who are next, and those who might be in it after that, and my 89 year old auntie, who lives in Pasadena, right off Colorado Blvd., and still drives.

  26. 26.

    Immanentize

    October 29, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Laws like that rarely apply to Congressional investigations. But Schiff is doing so because the Republicans are such dangerous leaking fucks. I swear Gym J. and his ratpack want people killed by the “mentally ill” folks with guns that seem to track their every word.

  27. 27.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    October 29, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    @Sloane Peterson’s knee therapist: Is that true? LOL

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    That was a hell of a morning, even fifty miles away. Saw a smoke plume on the horizon on the way to work, searched fire events and watched updates as it went from a few hundred acres to more than ten-thousand before noon. Scary.

    Neither the Google aerial nor Bing aerial has been updated to show the burn, but if you look for Pulga to the east you’re seeing the ignition point. Paradise is directly west–on a plateau above the river canyon–and given the fire’s path there are perhaps three of four potential routes out of town. The one guy I know who lived there left his home in his truck, pulled into a parking lot due to backed up traffic, and continued out of town on foot. The truck survived, singed, he lost everything else but his very life.

  29. 29.

    Barbara

    October 29, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I just finished reading a book called In Hoffa’s Shadow, which was written by Jack Goldsmith, who you might or might not remember as one of the people working in the Office of Legal Counsel who rejected elements of post 9/11 surveillance permissions. He was kind of sort of one of the good guys, at least he was able to stand up to Cheney and Gonzales and get changes to what he viewed as illegal surveillance, and eventually he went back to being an academic, first at the University of Chicago and then at Harvard.

    His adoptive/stepfather was, for more than two decades, the leading suspect in Hoffa’s disappearance, theorized as having been the driver who took him to wherever it was that he was killed. The book is an easy and entertaining read that covers the history of the Teamsters Union, Hoffa’s role in it, and how the mafia became so involved in the Teamsters, and along the way provides a rather colorful tale of his own upbringing and warm relationships with some of America’s most powerful mafiosi. Which seems pretty crazy when you think about it.

    Anywho, his dad, Chuckie O’Brien, is supposedly the person that the latest Scorsese flick, “The Irishman” is based on. O’Brien’s mother was “LCN” (La Cosa Nostra) from Kansas City and she ingrained in him the code of Omerta, where the biggest sin of all is being a rat or a snitch. To the point that O’Brien will not explain much of what he knew or learned about Hoffa’s disappearance even after nearly anyone who might have been involved was long dead.

    I wonder every day if Jim Jordan and people like him know how much they sound like a secret FBI recording of a meeting among “made men” plotting to kill the people who are talking out of school about their nefarious and criminal deeds.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    @Immanentize:

    laws like that rarely apply to Congressional investigations.

    ah, thanks.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 4:31 pm

    @TomatoQueen:

    I think the author nailed what we are all saying, Trump does not carry the dignity of the office with him, he is literally the shitstain on the office and calling him out is what decent and proud Americans should do.

    Something is going to break in California because this is untenable.

  32. 32.

    germy

    October 29, 2019 at 4:31 pm

    This video game is basically the cat version of 'Grand Theft Auto' ? #NationalCatDay pic.twitter.com/SW0UqggvzQ— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 29, 2019

    PEACE ISLAND.
    Cats wake up in an island where humans have vanished. They (you) prowl around solving mysteries.

  33. 33.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I like Nichole. She’s been pretty steady in her anti-Trump zeal. Will be sad if she reverts after he’s out of office.

  34. 34.

    StringOnAStick

    October 29, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: Hmm, looks like you and I live in the same area AND drive the same car! My Prius is in the shop for the last touches after a failed wheel bearing (the alignment is all that’s left to finish up). I put the snow tires on last week but I’d rather drive the Outback when it is like this, so hubby may work from home or go in later tomorrow since I have to be there by 6:30 am. I work downtown while living west side, so I am so not looking forward to tomorrow’s commute. The first snow/ice storm we had 2 weeks ago was before I had changed tires and every slight touch of the brakes made the Prius start to skate, and then I couldn’t make it up the steep and unplowed ramp to our parking area; at the time the truck with the plow blade on the front was stuck on it too. Of course 1/3 of my patients cancelled, but only after I had already gotten there. I expect tomorrow to be the same. CO State Patrol has issued a statement asking companies to send their workers home early today and allow them to get there late tomorrow because the roads are so bad and the heaviest snow will be evening and overnight. I don’t expect a whole lot of trick or treaters this year given how cold and icy it will be.

  35. 35.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:37 pm

    @Barbara: Thanks for that interesting background on the Irishman film. I was leaning towards seeing it but your comment has sealed the deal.

    And yes, Gym and his Republican ilk are part of a cult led by a bigoted madmen. That’s why they’re chasing down bogeymen like the Whistleblower.

  36. 36.

    tarragon

    October 29, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    @Sloane Peterson’s knee therapist:

    Apparently Devin Nunes’ aide inadvertently revealed the name of the Baghdadi K-9 hero instead of the whistleblower’s

    OK, I was trying to play a game of real or sarcasm and I’m stumped. Really?

  37. 37.

    Martin

    October 29, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    @trollhattan: PG&E is doomed. They’re in a financial death spiral. They can’t do the work they need to in order to prevent future fires other than cutting off power, as each fire costs them billions in damages. Other utilities like SCE and SDG&E are in much better shape to bury power lines, increase maintenance and inspections, and so on.

    I don’t see how anyone can bail them out and run them as a utility. Private equity would love to loot their assets, but it’s not like they’re looting a pension, the courts will always ensure the victims get paid before the investors do. That’s why I think a public bailout is necessary. The taxpayer is always going to be stuck with the tab on this, so why fuck around and pay out the claims while not moving the utility in the direction of the public need. Give the utility to the public and get it over with.

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: the way she talks about Obama and issues like choice and climate, I suspect her conversion began before trump came along

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 4:40 pm

    Did Morning Jokes Joe or Mika ever have anything further to say about their grousing over the booing at the Nats-Astros game?

    Because David Cay Johnston DID revise his article after reader feedback. And he saw our comments on Balloon Juice, and tracked back to yesterday’s blogpost. His story’s original ending:

    previous version: When the Nationals stadium Jumbotron showed Trump and his entourage at the end of the fifth inning the crowd broke into chants of “lock him up.”

    That’s disgusting, an awful illustration of the state of our democracy thanks in good part to Trump’s debasement of civic debate.

    Much as we believe at DCReport that Trump should be removed from office and then prosecuted for his many state and federal criminal offenses, we call out mobs of all kinds as inimical to liberty and justice.

    Here is the newly revised version; it’s long but wanted you to see it: article is Trump’s Lying, Crazy, Self-Absorbed Weekend
    First His Grotesque Account of the ISIS Raid, Then Washington Baseball Fans Chant ‘Lock Him Up!’

    [His Raw Story article has several links embedded.]

    …. ‘Lock Him Up’

    … The balance of this column has been rewritten since it appeared Oct. 28 at Raw Story to more carefully articulate my thoughts. I do this in response to the many readers at RawStory and several other websites [that link is Balloon Juice!!], on Twitter, Facebook and in emails who took umbrage at my observations.

    Trump arrived for the fifth game of the World Series between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros with his wife, but not his 13-year-old son, Barron. Instead, he brought a squad of GOP senators and two Congressmen.

    Florida frat boy Matt Gaetz was in he entourage. Gaetz led the lawless mob of lawmakers who invaded a secure House hearing room endangering national security.

    When the Nationals stadium Jumbotron showed Trump and his companions at the end of the fifth inning the crowd broke into boos into chants of “lock him up.”

    That’s understandable on one level, but also troubling for the long-term health of our democracy. And concern must be with our democracy, never with Trump.

    The spontaneous chant mocked Trump, who moves in a bubble to create the false impression that everywhere he goes Americans universally adore him. A majority do not. The Sunday boos and the chant gave Trump a well-deserved taste of what a majority of Americans feel about him and his lawless administration.

    But as a free people, we must also take care that we do not sink to the level of mindless Trumpism, that we don’t, however unintentionally, embrace his techniques to denigrate opponents.

    Let’s never forget that our founding document was a model of reason and rationality. We must take care so that when Trump is gone we don’t remain stuck in his gutter, but instead take a high road to ensure the viability of our two-century long experiment in self-governance so that the liberties of the people endure.

    As much as we believe at DCReport that Trump should be removed from office and prosecuted for his many state and federal crimes, we call out conduct of all kinds that if pursued without thought can become as inimical to liberty and justice as Trumpism. For sure that is not what happened Sunday with the spontaneous chants, but let’s always be mindful, never mindless, so that we emerge from this short era unburdened by Trump baggage.

    Of course, David Cay Johnston is a very quick study and a solid reporter.

    But keep pushing, Juicers. It gets noticed. At least by the journalists who actually want to get it right.

  40. 40.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 4:41 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    You guys should meet up with this guy enjoying ramen on a snowy day.

  41. 41.

    piratedan

    October 29, 2019 at 4:42 pm

    saw a tweet over on LGF about now that NCAA has made it possible for student athletes to be compensated for their likenesses being used by business promoting their products that Sen. Barr of NC (R) intends to submit immediate legislation to ensure that any amount spent compensating these athletes will go towards a reduction in kind of their scholarships….

  42. 42.

    Patricia Kayden

    October 29, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    As @pbump of @washingtonpost unearthed today, Army Lt. Col. Vindman, who is testifying before Congress today, was featured as a young boy in the @KenBurns Academy Award-nominated doc "The Statue of Liberty" in 1985. Watch the full clip on UNUM here: https://t.co/aLDj0Fpjsx pic.twitter.com/QAMe6BjkAL— UNUMKenBurns (@UNUMKenBurns) October 29, 2019

  43. 43.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 4:47 pm

    But as a free people, we must also take care that we do not sink to the level of mindless Trumpism, that we don’t, however unintentionally, embrace his techniques to denigrate opponents

    .

    Go fuck yourself you self-righteous fumblefuck. Trump is actively breaking the fucking law you simpering git and calling him out is exactly what we should fucking do. Calling out the traitors and the criminals is exactly what decent Americans are doing and yet you sit there and dare to scold the people suffering directly from violence pushed and applauded by an entire political party.

    Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up

  44. 44.

    Ksmiami

    October 29, 2019 at 4:48 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: take over pge, jail the executives and force them to move lines underground – in other words make utilities public

  45. 45.

    Kay

    October 29, 2019 at 4:50 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    That smearing is going well, wouldn’t you say? :)

    They didn’t choose just the average witness to smear. They chose this exemplary person who is better than any of them.
    .

  46. 46.

    catclub

    October 29, 2019 at 4:50 pm

    @piratedan: That just makes it even more clear that they are paid employees.

  47. 47.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 4:52 pm

    I wonder if we should start caching some of the excellent non-sports reporting from Deadspin, that the the venture vulture capitalists are trying to shut down.

    I wonder if they bought the publication/site in order to do just that. Anyone know?

  48. 48.

    Sloane Ranger

    October 29, 2019 at 4:54 pm

    So, don’t know if it’s been mentioned earlier but the UK is headed for a General election on 12 December. Motion passed by about 20 votes.

    Labour had supported a motion to go to the country 3 days earlier on 9 December so we would have had an election either way. Reasons given for 12th, need to wrap up a budget for Northern Ireland and “we always have elections on a Thursday.”

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 4:54 pm

    @Kay: They always overreach.

    I wonder if Vindman has any recourse against John Yoo, for saying he is involved in espionage.

    I wonder even more if Stanford Law UC Berkeley might separate itself from Yoo, once and if things become quieter. (Or even not.)

  50. 50.

    Michael Allen

    October 29, 2019 at 4:55 pm

    Early winter? So, I guess that global warming stuff is indeed a Chinese hoax. Or something. So there.

  51. 51.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    October 29, 2019 at 4:57 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: You have a cat named Salad? Salad?!? That’s awesome. I have a cat named Chipotle. Any other jackals with cats named after food (or cat fud)?

  52. 52.

    Fair Economist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:57 pm

    @Martin:

    That’s why I think a public bailout is necessary.

    I think you meant “public takeover”. A bailout would leave it in private hands and that is not going to work anymore.

  53. 53.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 4:57 pm

    Today a least 30,000 Puerto Rico homes are without roofs two years after the hurricane brought flooding, destroyed the electrical grid and deprived thousands of drinking water and shelter. Many homes now rely on blue tarps stretched overhead to keep rain from falling into their homes.

    Trump is holding back millions of dollars for relief efforts in Puerto Rico but we’re not supposed to call him a shitbag in public because “The Founders” or some such bullshit.

  54. 54.

    Fair Economist

    October 29, 2019 at 4:58 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    So, don’t know if it’s been mentioned earlier but the UK is headed for a General election on 12 December. Motion passed by about 20 votes.

    As I understand it, that’s an unmitigated disaster, because a lot of university students won’t be able to vote.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    @Fair Economist: Does the UK have any provision for absentee ballots? It would seem the universities have a real interest in keeping the EU pipeline open. They could encourage their students to engage in voting.

  56. 56.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 29, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    Hot damn! 15 degrees of bbbrrr in Denver. I’m with Scout on this one. Freezing temps are an after-Halloween thing.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:03 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: You misread David Cay Johnston’s comment. You really did.

  58. 58.

    eclare

    October 29, 2019 at 5:03 pm

    @Elizabelle: Thanks for the notice, will watch.

  59. 59.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    October 29, 2019 at 5:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:regarding Nicole: there’s no zealot like a convert.

  60. 60.

    hueyplong

    October 29, 2019 at 5:07 pm

    @piratedan: Duke and UNC likely already realize the recruiting problem that would cause unless the states of Kentucky and Kansas follow suit. They’ll squash him like a bug.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:07 pm

    @eclare: I will too. Horrified at the toll climate change is taking on beloved California. The silver lining: California has a lot of smart minds who are all about solutions and mitigation. Give them better odds on dealing with this than Texas or Kansas or any red state.

  62. 62.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:07 pm

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    He was originally my neighbor’s cat but mama got sick and he started hanging out with me more and more. That began with him jumping into my apartment through the kitchen window (which was modified to let MY cat, Midnight, come and go freely) and eating some food and them immediately scampering away and jumping back outside when I heard him. Then one day he came in, ate, jumped on the kitchen chair and took a nap.

    He spent a few weeks confining himself to coming and going through the kitchen and sleeping in the chair and then finally into the main room where he had to play second fiddle to Midnight until she passed. Now he’s got the joint to himself. He’s a “let me sleep between your legs when it’s cold” cat.

  63. 63.

    Martin

    October 29, 2019 at 5:07 pm

    @piratedan: So, once again, CA’s economic resolve has national results.

    @Fair Economist: Yes, public takeover. Thanks for the correction.

  64. 64.

    mad citizen

    October 29, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: As a state regulator (staff), interesting comments. You’re saying the Value of Lost Load (VOLL) is very very high there. These episodes will provide data on this at least. Too bad if a lot of spending is needed since rates there are so high already. I agree with Martin, better to make it a public utility. I have a book by presidential R nominee Wendall Wilkie (Win with Wilkie) and state utility ownership of electric utilities was quite the debate in the 1930s.

  65. 65.

    Avalune

    October 29, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I’m really sorry for the BS you are having to endure on top of trying not to be on fire…but I just had to say Salad is a fantastic pet name.

  66. 66.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Did I confuse the italicized parts and the non?

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    New thread up with Impeachment Inquiry Documents.

  68. 68.

    Sure Lurkalot

    October 29, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Ha ha, the AWD car we have is a Subaru too! Actually, the BooRoo is my car and the Prius is my partner’s that I get stuck with on days like these. But…one major difference…I’m retired and don’t have to be anywhere. My last years of work were consultancy and I worked at home on days like these. So, I’ve been fortunate for a while not having to drive in the ice and snow, the result of which is I suck at it now. Safe travels tomorrow, take the “good” car if you can!

  69. 69.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 29, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    last November’s Camp Fire — which burned an area the size of Chicago

    ?

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I think so. DCJ was cautioning US not to become the brainless mob we are up against, but he is down with protest. He’d be the first to point out Trump sticking it to Puerto Rico, and of course that should be called out (and booed, in as many languages as needed).

  71. 71.

    Avalune

    October 29, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    <3 Scout

  72. 72.

    bemused

    October 29, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    @germy:

    I had one of our cats sitting on my lap when I looked at the cat game. She was intrigued.

  73. 73.

    delk

    October 29, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    With a name like Yoho

    GOP Congressman Admits He Could Have Gone to Impeachment Hearings But Didn’t, Hasn’t Read Testimony

  74. 74.

    laura

    October 29, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    @Martin: PG&E sold off their generating capacity in the ENRONing, and when the cost of electricity skyrocketed, they immediately ring fenced the profits in PG&E corporation and set up the PG&E the utility and passed the costs onto the rate payers just as the promised the wouldn’t.
    It should be taken over and turned into a public utility, but the government is specifically prohibited from using public dollars to advocate doing so. However, with the level of ire, it might be do-able.
    I have PG&E for gas, and SMUD for electricity. Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Public power, not for profit, and the ratepayers forced the utility to divest and decommission the local nuclear power plant. Love my SMUD!

  75. 75.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    October 29, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    @Elizabelle: At least in Southern CA, fires are not really more frequent. We had hellish fires when I was growing up, I’ve got lots of stories. What has happened here, and what makes fires more destructive to property and life, is the buildup in former open space. Most of this is luxury homes for the rich and famous.

  76. 76.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:15 pm

    @mad citizen:

    What boggles me (among a LONG list of things that boggle me) is that we have demonstrable working alternatives including the RCEA the internationally recognized Schatz Energy Center at HSU and a working solar plant at Blue Lake Rancheria and a biomass energy-producing facility.

    As Martin has patiently explained, this is not about safety it’s about protecting PG&E, but how have we fallen so far behind that more than 3 million people are either without power or under an imminent threat power will be out again for an indeterminate amount of time?

  77. 77.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    October 29, 2019 at 5:16 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I also like Greg Sargent’s take on the “Lock him up!” chant.

  78. 78.

    laura

    October 29, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    @laura: should have pointed out that even if PG&E was not a royal f-up, climate change IS real, and the ultimate cause of three consecutive years of norCal firestorms.

  79. 79.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:18 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Won’t be the first time I completely made an ass of myself in this forum, won’t be the last.

    @Avalune:

    It is a great name and I wish I could take credit. It always elicits a smile when I introduce him.

  80. 80.

    eclare

    October 29, 2019 at 5:19 pm

    @Elizabelle: I worked at a public utility when CA took that awful vote. We all knew CA was screwed, power wise.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:21 pm

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):

    I enjoyed that one as well.

  82. 82.

    Gbbalto

    October 29, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: They are not dumb. They want his or her name out so they can be slimed and doxxed to discourage anyone else from doing the same.

  83. 83.

    BQuimby

    October 29, 2019 at 5:24 pm

    Yeah, San Francisco here – too hot. Too dry. Too windy. Too burn-y. Need cold, fog, rain…

  84. 84.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:27 pm

    BAUD’S BACK!

    He made an appearance on the Baud thread from this morning. Says he will be back in a few days. Cannot believe we got Cole involved.

    (On his own damn blog. Imagine that.)

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 5:31 pm

    @eclare:
    Pete Wilson’s enduring gift to us all. Remember “rolling brownouts”? I sure do.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    October 29, 2019 at 5:33 pm

    @BQuimby:
    So damn weird to make it through October and not one lingering, soaking early winter storm. But, not weird, rather, the new normal. Shee-yutt.

  87. 87.

    eclare

    October 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    @Elizabelle: Yay!

  88. 88.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    October 29, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    @Elizabelle: Thanks for the heads up, I thought that thread was dead and buried.

  89. 89.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 5:36 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Just happened to have it open on another tab, and what a nice surprise.

  90. 90.

    MoxieM

    October 29, 2019 at 5:37 pm

    Oh my goodness, she looks like a dog who needs a treat, stat. Poor deprived baby, I know how she suffers.

    I can’t wait for ole’ Murphy to get a good snowstorm here (if we even get them? I’m further south and right near The Big River–CT). Being a fur monster, and made to stand guard in the high mountains (Pyrenees!?) she has the coat for it. I still haven’t figured out the annual cycles of coat blow for her, and it’s going on year 3. It seems she has one major coat blow in the spring. (Anyone else who’s had a Pyr, do let me know about their coats, please-thanks.) Newfies are easy–1 spring dust storm of giant black tumbleweeds, and a smaller fall blow. This girl I have challenges me in so many ways–and I love her for it.

  91. 91.

    Sloane Ranger

    October 29, 2019 at 5:38 pm

    @Elizabelle: We call them postal votes and anyone can apply for one. You don’t need to give a reason. The possibility of students applying for one was mentioned in the debate.

  92. 92.

    Sloane Ranger

    October 29, 2019 at 5:41 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    As I understand it, that’s an unmitigated disaster, because a lot of university students won’t be able to vote.

    Was raised in the debate. Apparently most universities don’t break up until the 13th.

  93. 93.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 29, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    USWNT has a new head coach.

    He’s Macedonian which means our women keep on conquering.

  94. 94.

    Miss Bianca

    October 29, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    @TaMara (HFG): oh, wow – same thing happened to me recently! *Not* dressed up as Carrie, however, I hasten to add.

  95. 95.

    Martin

    October 29, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    @Elizabelle: I will note that so far the CA fires haven’t actually been that bad. Mainly they’re getting greater attention. The Getty fire at 600 acres is tiny to the point of not normally deserving of attention other than it’s fucking downtown and every LA TV helicopter can cover it constantly, and nobody knows when a 600 acre fire will turn into a 600,000 acre one.

    The Kincade fire is big, but we have fires that size every year, and thankfully it’s claimed no lives and relatively few homes.

    That said, it would be nice if everyone would redouble their efforts to reduce carbon emissions and please vote for a president that won’t withhold our disaster relief because he’s butthurt about popular vote totals.

  96. 96.

    Sloane Peterson's knee therapist

    October 29, 2019 at 5:53 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Oops, shoulda /s

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 6:03 pm

    @Martin: The LA Times has been screaming about the fires, and has opened its fire coverage to nonsubscribers, as many papers do during natural disasters. Good to have some perspective from you.

    LA Times: The same areas of California keep catching on fire. What about limits on home building?

    Article says vast majorities of Californians (even those north of SFO) favor limiting (re)building in fireprone areas. A story from June with more details.

    Albeit, 1 in 4 Californians lives in a fire danger zone, and they may not realize that; they’re thinking of their rural brethren and other people.

    Weirdly, the LA Times never, ever gives a direct link to the “UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Poll, prepared for the Times”, and I have not gone hunting for it (yet). It was done on or prior to June 18 of this year, apparently.

  98. 98.

    StringOnAStick

    October 29, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: That looks yummy, and the warmth would be appreciated on this 16 degree day!

  99. 99.

    StringOnAStick

    October 29, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    @Sure Lurkalot: For extra values of “fun”, when I tried to get my snow tires/wheels changed last week they were so backed up that I went home and did it myself in the garage. Last wheel had a lug nut so frozen on there that it broke the bolt from the brake drum; all of them were overtightened so I had to stand on the lug wrench to get them loose. Fortunately that was easily fixed for $60 the next day. Now we’re trying to get the mechanic to answer the phone so we can pick the car up from the guy who did the wheel bearings, but just the answering machine currently. Do you have a Prius mechanic you like on the west side?

  100. 100.

    Mr. Mack

    October 29, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: My daughters cats are “pita-chip and pancake.”

  101. 101.

    Dan B

    October 29, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Sargeant’s column is great but what scares me is that Barr may have already set in motion a purge of DOJ so that prosection becomes impossible.

    Annnnd… What is the proper chant that’s a clear improvement on Lock Him Up? Investigate the president? Put Trump on the Stand? Trump is not King?

    Funny how we haven’t seen any suggestions of how the fans should behave except “be civil”.

    Hypocrits.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    October 29, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    And there’s another fresh thread up. Boo Louder. Looks good.

  103. 103.

    J R in WV

    October 29, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Rep. Jim Jordan says Adam Schiff has blocked Republican questions that could lead to the unmasking of the whistleblower.

    Gym Jordan seems to still be unaware that unmasking a whistleblower is stone illegal!! Why is Gym Jordan so willing to break the law, so unaware of the legal boundaries surrounding legal whilstleblowers?

    Perhaps because he is guilty, guilty, guilty of many crimes that young men were too embarrassed to accuse him of at the time???

  104. 104.

    Kent

    October 29, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    @piratedan:

    saw a tweet over on LGF about now that NCAA has made it possible for student athletes to be compensated for their likenesses being used by business promoting their products that Sen. Barr of NC (R) intends to submit immediate legislation to ensure that any amount spent compensating these athletes will go towards a reduction in kind of their scholarships….

    Performance art for the southern racists who are upset that the uppity n***er athletes don’t know their place. Zero chance it would ever make it through the House, much less the rest of the Senate.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    October 29, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:

    We have a cat named Punkin, for Pumpkin, which we fed her when she became a sphere by stealing food from everyone else. She was a starving tiny kitten, 6 months old, when wife rescued her from a bramble bush/culvert many year ago. Was nearly 20 pounds, now a relatively svelte 14 pounds.

    We fed her pumpkin with the prescribed amount of actual cat food so she would feel full — now she just gets her recommended dose of cat fud in the bathroom with all the doors shut, so no one can eat anyone else’s food.

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

    October 29, 2019 at 10:22 pm

    What happens to the ducks during snow days?

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