Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Come on, man.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

This really is a full service blog.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Economics / Free Markets Solve Everything / Open Thread: ‘Tis the Season for Giving!

Open Thread: ‘Tis the Season for Giving!

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137Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    I clicked over to see what Mrs. Sherrod Brown was up to and came across this tweet. Perfect for the season of giving!

    Formerly homeless veteran dropped off a note at @VCP_HQ‘s Outreach Center this week: “You put me up in one of your tiny houses for a year. Your team got my life back on track, and I’m doing well now, so I wanted to help with your mission.”The note included a check for $5,000— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) November 26, 2019

  4. 4.

    Senyordave

    I’ve been looking at various polling sites and it really does seem like Warren is in trouble.  I think she made a terrible mistake in going in all in n M4A.  It is very popular with a portion of the Democratic party, otherwise has at best marginal support.  Eventually we’ll have to go there, but as long as the Def printing press is in full gear the budget problems don’t affect the average person at all.

    Warren is my favorite candidate, and right now the only one in the top four I really want at all.  Biden will not do well in the GE, Buttigieg seems to have a hard time getting POC,a and Bernie is Bernie.

    At this point if it isn’t Warren, I want Buttigieg, he’s much sharper than Biden or Bernie, and I think he’ll chew Trump up in a debate.

    But I think Warren made an unforced error – she put too many of her eggs in one basket, and the return did not match the risk.

  8. 8.

    Bill Arnold

    Trump posted a photo of himself Photoshopped to look like Rocky Balboa, and hoo boy (Michelle Mark, 2019/11/27)
    The tweet:

    pic.twitter.com/11nzKwOCtU— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2019

    I am amused. At least it’s not Rocky IV[2], which would make it an image of Bizzaro Rocky who helps the Russians fight America. (I’d be irritated for this and other reasons.)
    Also, DJT does not know how to make a fist[0], at least in some photos. He knows nothing of combat, physical or otherwise. Soft, slow, cowardly.

    [0] Or his thumbs are very short, barely qualifying as opposable. [1]
    [1] proper fist
    [2] It’s said to be a Photoshopped Rocky III poster image. I have not confirmed this.

  9. 9.

    germy

    @debbie:  Enter your home town into their search field.

     

    You might see some interesting stuff!

     

    I entered my town in there, and saw a street my wife and I often walk on.  In 1908 it was lined with giant elm trees.  All gone now.

  10. 10.

    germy

    Texas republicans are in a giving mood

    NEW: The Texas GOP mistakenly sent their 2020 plans to Democrats last night in embarrassing detail, including a target list of districts they're focusing negative ads on and warning of Trump's unpopularity with moderates. https://t.co/hFz2kCmNXA— Matt Rogers ? (@Politidope) November 26, 2019

  11. 11.

    debbie

    @Bill Arnold:

    I don’t think it’s Photoshopped; I think it’s a painting from that clown who painted Trump as Washington crossing the Delaware and other “Trump works of art.’

  16. 16.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @germy:

    Christ, is there some prion disease causing Republicans to send sensitive info to Dems going around. First the WH, now the Texas GOP.

     

    But seriously, I’d be leery. As stupid as Republicans are, they can also be crafty and ratfuck. This could be a trick

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    Mini-shopping for last minute stuff done. Supermarket was a breeze – fast in, fast out, only two people ahead of me at the express lane.

    The parking lot, on the other hand….

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): 

    But seriously, I’d be leery. As stupid as Republicans are, they can also be crafty and ratfuck. This could be a trick

    I think this is why the Democrats loudly announced what had happened, rather than trying to keep it a secret so they could benefit from it. It’s very likely to be more valuable as a way of embarrassing the Republicans than as a guide to their plans.

  21. 21.

    Steeplejack

    When your friend shows, drive to another restaurant, get out and loudly say “keys are in it” as you walk inside.

    Pay Drive it forward.

  23. 23.

    Yutsano

    @Roger Moore: I’m pretty sure that was the reason the House Democrats loudly announced the Republicans released their talking points to them accidentally. Strangely enough the Republicans still ran with it.

  24. 24.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Yutsano:

    Strangely enough the Republicans still ran with it.

    Joke’s on you libtards! We released our talking points on purpose! We were only pretending to be stupid.

  25. 25.

    Catherine D.

    William Ruckelshaus died today. First EPA director, deputy AG during the Saturday night massacre in 1973 (resigned rather than comply), and EPA head again in 1983 to clean up after one Ann Gorsuch. The last principled Republican?

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    Once I was lunching with friends in a restaurant. As I got up to go to the buffet table, this dude at the next table took one look at my black trousers and white shirt, and asked me to bring him a spoon. I turned to my friends and announced, “Guess what, guys? I’ve just been mistaken for a waiter!”

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    Got the feeling this supermarket may have overestimated the demand for fresh yams, as there was a multitude piled high and wide and the price per pound was unusually, surprisingly low.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    @Yutsano:

    Not so strange, I think; that really is all they got, and there is nothing for it but to plough ahead regardless of how daft they look. This is why they have been wasting the impeachment enquiry’s time by asking witnesses to confirm  their crackpot theories, and getting no joy.

     

    Today’s Republican party is best and most simply explained with Trump’s Razor.

  34. 34.

    Mandalay

    I have to give Sondland credit. He’s a versatile sexual predator:

    • The Charlie Rose approach:

    Sondland had asked Solis to evaluate his personal art collection, even though she didn’t have expertise in art valuations. At one point, Sondland asked her to meet him in the pool house. “I get out to the pool house, and he is now naked from the waist down,” Solis told ProPublica.

    • The Harvey Weinstein approach:

    According to Vogel, she lavished praise on the rather mundane room and was turning to leave when Sondland asked for a hug. “And as I pulled back, he grabs my face and goes to kiss me,” Vogel said.

    • The Mark Halperin approach:

    Sondland insisted on walking Sept back to her car and then leaned in for a hug. “So I give him a quick hug and he holds onto my shoulders and looks at me and pushes himself into me and tries to kiss me,” Sept said.

    Good job Gordie! You’ve already given Mrs. Sondland a Thanksgiving she’ll never forget.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    Turkey is progressing nicely, up to about 165 and smokey brown (mesquite). It’s getting dark and we have Champagne (brut) and zin to accompany it. Kid is going to regret the whole “piscatarian” thing before the night’s done.

  36. 36.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @FlyingToaster:

    Ain’t just here, it happens damn near everywhere, which makes me think that the ‘Net is breaking.

    Oh yeah? I haven’t noticed. The new BJ site is super nice but it still has some kinks to be worked out. Despite that, it’s still better than the old site, thanks to Watergirl and the others

  37. 37.

    Raven Onthill

    And here we have a David Neiwert Tweetstorm on the Bloody Summer of 1919, our very own racist pogrom. Beware: it is 149 tweets and the collected version is 67 pages, though much of the space is images. I think we had best face up to the possibility that it could happen again, with better weapons, and ourselves as the targets.

     

    If you want to be even more depressed, I’ve updated my “Amazon Warehouses Are Little Hells” post with two new links.

  38. 38.

    JoyceH

    Here’s a question. Has Trump gone golfing today? Because he’s at Mar a Lago, right? If he didn’t go golfing today, I’m going to start believing those rumors that there’s something physically wrong with him. (More so than usual, I mean.)

  39. 39.

    chris

    Got my free money today, a free car wouldn’t go amiss ;-)

     

    Got up this morning and found that my very first Old Age Security payment had landed in the account. Woohoo! Now I can afford the good cat food!

     

    Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  40. 40.

    satby

    Happy Thanksgiving eve everyone. I hope everyone has a good day tomorrow, quiet if you want, or social if that’s your choice.

    The market was enjoyably busy today, we vendors were treated to a turkey and trimmings lunch by the cafe, and when I got home it was almost 29° colder than when I left and the high winds had flipped over a large wooden bench on my porch. Only damage was to a beautiful Asian flower pot that shattered when the bench landed in it. I was able to secure a dog sitter for the beasties so San Antonio is on! Though I haven’t booked any hotel rooms yet, so I may have to have Qunoot smuggle me into the dorm.

  41. 41.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Raven Onthill:

    though much of the space is images. I think we had best face up to the possibility that it could happen again, with better weapons, and ourselves as the targets.

    Yeah, but there’s more of us than there are of them. Do you think for a second such a thing were it to happen again today would go unremarked upon? That there wouldn’t be a massive backlash?

  43. 43.

    Mandalay

    @chris:

    Now I can afford the good cat food!

    No need. Just move to Bali…

    In 2012, at age 62, Bronson took early retirement and moved to Ubud, after having spent the previous two years downsizing (by the time she moved to Ubud, all of her remaining possessions fit into four plastic bins, she says), paying off debt and saving money…

     

    …Bronson says Bali is fairly inexpensive, noting that you can “live simply on $1,000 a month” and “live very, very comfortably on $3,000 a month,” which, she adds, means you go out to dinner with wine multiple times a week. (Other blogs provide similar calculations of the cost of living, with most people said to be living pretty well on about $2,000 a month.)

    Bronson says her monthly expenses include $100 for electricity, city water and internet; $25 for gas for the house and drinking water; $15 for laundry. Her groceries cost about $75 a month, she says, noting that she purchases them from a traditional market and has “simple tastes,” eating mostly fruits and vegetables.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @Senyordave:

    But I think Warren made an unforced error.

    ‘Woman’s lot’ — once she made the mistake of agreeing with Bernie’s Medicare for everyone, immediately! sloganeering, she was stuck trying to propose some kind of halfway-workable framework.  Which is as impossible as A unicorn for every American, by 2021!; there’s no way to change the entire American healthcare system without disrupting a lot of peoples’ lives.  This impossibility was never held against Sanders, because he never had to propose an actual implementation — it was just a lovely slogan to mark off him and his supporters as purer and better people than the rest of us muggles.

    On the bright side, at least now it’s clear to anyone with a modicum of sense that implementing universal health coverage really will be a heavy lift, because if the best-intentioned candidate with the best track record on financial matters couldn’t find a quick’n’easy plan, it’s not just inertia that keeps the current system limping along.  And it’s still relatively early in the campaign, so there’s plenty of time for Warren to recover (and others to stumble).

    Conversely, it may have discouraged people from voting (or at least volunteering) because if it’s not easy, it can’t be done, right?  (The bots & bankers propping up St. Bernie’s campaign want you to believe that, at least.)

    To quote one of my favorite lines from Lord of the Rings: Then we must live without hope — there is always vengeance!

  49. 49.

    different-church-lady

    As far as the primary polling goes, I’m really sick of this “flavor of the month” shit.

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Anne Laurie: The unforced area was not being honest with everyone by simply explaining that it is impossible to achieve because of how the Senate functions even with a Democratic majority in the Senate. Most of what needs to be done cannot be done under the reconciliation rules. From there she should have pivoted to “I have a plan to shore up the ACA and add a public option to it for those who want it. And once that is done, I have a plan to begin to do the long, hard, slow, frustrating work that will one day allow us to move to Medicare 4 All.” That’s all she had to do. It’s all any of them had to do.

  52. 52.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    But in a campaign, isn’t that exactly what you don’t do? You want to inspire people, not discourage them, even if it’s true. However, you don’t want to promise the moon either. It’s a fine line to walk

  57. 57.

    Jay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

     

    telling ‘Merkins that the reason they can’t have nice things is threefold,*

     

    1) the Rich and Corporations don’t want it as it loosens their control over the serfs,

     

    2) the Serf’s have no interest in a hamburger today instead of the promise of three hamburgers tomorrow, and don’t understand that tomorrow never comes,

     

    3) the American political system is broken and no longer has any interest in working for Americans.

  58. 58.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Elections where the incumbent is on the ballot are a referendum on the incumbent. Not three dozen other things no matter how important. The upcoming presidential election is about one thing and one thing only: does the President get a second term and what that second term would be and mean for the country. That’s it. And it will be contested not in all fifty states, but in about 12 to 15 states, give or take, that will determine the Electoral College outcome. That’s it. Nothing, not a damn thing, that any of these candidates want to do, let alone what it is actually possible to do given the institutional realities of American politics, will happen if the President is reelected. And if a Democrat is elected absolutely nothing they’d like to do is possible if the Democrats don’t take the majority in the Senate. And even if they do that, what can actually be accomplished is severely limited. If a Democrat manages to win and the Democrats manage to retake the Senate while holding the House, and we need to be honest with ourselves that both of those will be a heavy lift, the next administration is going to have so much triage to do, followed by so much repair work to do, that it will take two full terms just to get things fixed and running properly as well as building institutional and legal safeguards into the repairs so what we’re experiencing now can not happen again. If your basement is flooding, you don’t decide to renovate your kitchen and bathroom and put a pool in the backyard. You stop the flooding, repair the basement, and do so to ensure it doesn’t flood again. The republic is balanced on a knife’s edge right now. Getting it off of the knife’s edge is what the election is about, not a bunch of stuff that we should do if things were normal. Things are not normal.

  61. 61.

    SectionH

    @Anne Laurie: Um, well the first part, yes, but no such line like “there is always vengeance” in LotR. Only mention of vengeance I can think of is in Denethor’s part of Pippin’s swearing service to Gondor (“…oathbreaking with vengeance.”

    ETA: I see Sab had the same reaction. I don’t recall a line about vengeance in the movies either, but am less sure of that.

  63. 63.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    1:06:19 in the Lord of the Rings movie, following the loss of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria.

     

    it’s not in the books.

  64. 64.

    different-church-lady

    THE FACT THAT LOOMIS IS AGAINST TURKEY DINNERS IS PROOF HE IS INSANE.

     

    (DCL +2.5…)

  65. 65.

    Ruckus

    @chris:

    Don’t get too cocky, numbnuts is trying to cut the fuck out of SS. And  Medicare. And typical, he’d fuck not just the under 30 or 40 crowd, but everyone will get fucked equally. And massively. I expect to find that an ungrilled, grilled cheese sandwich is lunch and dinner real soon. On alternate days.

  66. 66.

    different-church-lady

    Hey, so, everyone! Close observers (or people with otherwise mis-wired brains) might remember that two years ago I was saying, “If you had a choice between fixing your car problems, your roof problems, or your dental problems, which would you choose?”

     

    I can now happily report that as of last week I (a) am in a lease for a new economy car, (b) have a brand-spanking new roof over my head, and (c) have had #31 extracted and am healing well.

  67. 67.

    Anne Laurie

    @Sab: Where is that vengeance line in LOTR?

    I actually remember it from the Bakshi movie version, but I’m fairly sure it was taken from the first book.   Frodo whines at Strider, “Why even bother?  We know there’s no hope!” 

    And Strider (the inimitable John Hurt) replies “Then we must do without hope — there is always vengeance!”

    (Suspect Ralph Bakshi may’ve stripped down a much longer J.R.R. speech, though.)

  68. 68.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Martin: I was told when I first visited a manufacturing plant that no human has ever won a forklift/human collision.

    In totally unrelated news, they never let me drive around on a forklift.

  72. 72.

    chris

    @Ruckus: It’s okay, I’m in Canada. Our conservatives who would like to emulate yours keep losing followers when they open their mouths.

  76. 76.

    Sab

    @Steve in the ATL: Sorry Steve. Just put you in the pie filter for no reason whatever except that want to see the new pie filter comments. I hear that they are clever. I will unpie you later and read your comments in an untimely fashion.

  80. 80.

    SectionH

    Lexington had really high winds earlier today, resulting in some thousands of people (including us) being without power for a few hours, luckily no longer for anyone afaik. It’s just the two of us for the holiday tomorrow, so no cooking pressure, but I was feeling utterly incapable of packing even an overnight bag to go a hotel, never mind the prospect of emptying the fridge, or at least the important/perishable stuff.  So I’m definitely thankful tonight. ;->

    @trollhattan: We’re going more Piscatarian, if lobster tails count, but are with you entirely on the fizzy white wine (well Cava, not Champagne, but brut) and Zin for the red. The lobsters were an impulse buy today – we’re practically camping in this house – but we do have a toaster-oven, so we can broil the lobster.

    @Jay: PJ strikes again. I actually love the movies too, but there are elements I still really dislike – the vengeance line is minor enough I never noticed it as a spoken line.

  82. 82.

    Steve in the ATL

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: wow. I never thought you’d stick up for the Man over me.  That stings!

     

     

     

    @Raven: you’ve turned into quite the night owl as well!

     

     

     

    @Sab: I am happy to be of service in any way I can.  For the record, I like chocolate cream.

  84. 84.

    Bill Arnold

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Christ, is there some prion disease causing Republicans to send sensitive info to Dems going around. First the WH, now the Texas GOP.

    Don’t forget Giuliani’s butt-dials to reporters. Those were some Grade-A random errors.

    (Heavy “entropy debt”, perhaps. :-)  A meaning that you’ll not find used many places on the internet.)

  86. 86.

    JAFD

    Hello again, Jackals !

     

    Been going through the pictures on this computer, found a bunch of my friends’ cat, wondering yf there’s a Balloon Juice 2020 Calendar planned ?  if it’s happening, what the status of that projetc is ?  does Mr. Cole want more cute cat pictures ???

    The world wonders…

     

    Irrregardess thereof (and to repeat myself), want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving, and to thank you for your support – moral and otherwise – thoughts, prayers, etc, this past year.

  92. 92.

    Sab

    @Jay: That’s why I hate the movies. Made it through the Council of Elrond movie with my new fiance. Hated the movie. He had been fidgeting, because he hated the movie but didn’t want to upset me. I realized that I hated the movie also. Not reflecting the books that I had read. Decicided that I was not going to fuck up this new relatiomnship for this movie I hated.

    That’s just my take. Other loyal readers saw it otherwise. Jackson’s concept just didn’t fit mine at all. It was hugely succesful, so I won’t say he was wrong. He just got diferent  things from the books than I did.

    Also, Turkey day, I got both my pies baked, also my mushroom wild rice casserole ( wild rice is delicious but takes forever to cook.) Also got the dressing (not stuffing, since not stuffed in the bird.) My grand-daughter thought I was being pedantic about that distinction. Yes, but I have a public health distinction to make.

    Tomorrow , spouse does bird and all I do is green bean casserole.

    We are SO midwestern. It would be embarrassing if I didn’t actually like the place.

  93. 93.

    satby

    Ok, this was something I didn’t know:

    In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Buttigieg has 4% of the black vote. Harris has 5% and Booker has 2%. Buttigieg’s black support is on par with the two black candidates in the race. I hope that “blacks won’t support Buttigieg because he’s gay” thing dies. <a href=”https://t.co/Q4nNtM4Wfd”>https://t.co/Q4nNtM4Wfd</a></p>&mdash; Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow)

  95. 95.

    satby

    @satby: evidently another thing I don’t know is how to copy tweets effectively. Would edit, but no option to, sorry folks.

    Edit: ok, some improvement obtained in previous comment ?

  96. 96.

    Raven

    Has anyone here worked for the census bureau? I applied just for the hell of it and they have sent me encouraging emails on account of being a veteran.

  97. 97.

    trollhattan

    @SectionH:

    Lobstah! Lobstah and Cava would make a fine T-giving tradition for any decent folk. We’re on the wrong coast and Dungeness crab season hasn’t started, but soon….

    BIL does Christmas paella, which he’s basically tasked with now. Has a pan the size of a snow disc.

  98. 98.

    Sab

    @Steve in the ATL: Did it wrong. Pied you but did not get you into the old pie filter. Got you into the new pie picture filter. I love that, but  I miss the old witty statements by known trolls.

    Great new pie filter. I love it a lot. But do to my error I learned not much, and I don’t like pieing you. You can be interesting if misguided.

    Maybe I will try NotMax. His stuff is timeless.

  100. 100.

    Duane

    @Raven: You should do it. Going to football games and fishing all the time, when you could be confronting angry citizens about their personal life? Now that’s fun!

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    Cranberry sauce made. 2 lb bag of cranberries which had been lolling about in the freezer for months. Just have to let the mixture cool and then find someplace in the fridge to stow it.

    Lurve that the stuff takes all of maybe 20 minutes tops to prepare.

  107. 107.

    Sab

    New pie filter with random quotes is a bit weird. Whole new typeface. And different comments/quotes. Not so funny.

    I think I would only use this for particularly fierce or offensive trolls. Not suitable for being annoyed this particular hour.

    I will try it for tonight, but it is different, and not in a good way. Kind of emphasizes that I am blocking someone. Okay for trolls, but weird for a regular commenter.

    I do think this unpleasant aspect to pieing is agood 5hing.

    The pie picture is easier. Good object lesson for me. Censorship is censorship. Take note.

    Also, I don’t pie people much at all. What is the point of being here at all otherwise. Which makes this experiment even more unpleasant.

    But useful.

  108. 108.

    JAFD

    Worked for the Census in 2009, checking if buildings and addresses were still there, whether anyone was living in ‘garden sheds’ (“Sir, half the world would think that was better than their current dwelling.”) or garage lofts, etc (Had actual job in ’10).  Was pretty good job, tho ‘wrist computer’ we carried then was cumbersome.

    Have applied for job there again, get chance to get outside, walk around, get exercise – m’aswell get paid for it.

  110. 110.

    SectionH

    @trollhattan:  We live near the same coast as you, but we’re back in the midwest making a major push to sell the house we still own in LEX, so the lobster tails were a real eye-catcher, and they were really cheap. It seems the local Krogers (that’s Ralphs to you) get Lobster tails fairly often, and srsly try to sell them quickly. So they regularly go on sale after a few hours of being put out.

    I love my adopted state, city, neighborhood, but I still don’t get Dungeness crab. It’s Blue Crabs with Old Bay all the way, Hon.
    ——-

    General comment: There’s no internet in this house, so we’re rationing ourselves on a mobile hotspot device. It works fine but AT&T is fucking with us bigtime now, changed our plan without permission, and it gets more  complicated, so for now I’ll see what we’ve used and maybe check back later tonight.

    Happy Thanksgiving all of y’all!

  111. 111.

    Sab

    Raven, pied you also as an experiment. It was weird and unpleasant. Sorry.

    Unpied you. It was weird and unpleasant.

    I think that is a very good thing.

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    @Sab

    Said it before that I find it somewhat bizarre that the very first thing one encounters on a comment page is a way to block comments.

  116. 116.

    Another Scott

    You’re living in your own private Idaho with your own private satellite…

    Today I found out the most fucking insane thing and that's George Clooney did all those Nespresso ads so he could spend millions of dollars keeping his own private satellite in orbit over Sudan for years to keep track of war crimes being committed by the Sudanese government pic.twitter.com/NJpvahqabE— Cormac Browne (@SimplyTome) November 26, 2019

    Interesting.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  118. 118.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JAFD:

     

    garage lofts

    On your next visit to Joplin, MO, check out the one Bonnie and Clyde stayed in. It’s the biggest tourist draw in the quad-state/tornado alley area!

  120. 120.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Sab: I have a wife and two daughters and I deal with labor unions all day. There’s nothing you can say that will hurt me!

  121. 121.

    Another Scott

    Martin O’Malley just drove Ken Cuccinelli out of the Dubliner in DC w/ a passion-laced and shame-invoking tirade on behalf of immigrant refugee children!!!— Siobhan Houton Arnold (@siobhanphilly) November 27, 2019

    Good for MOM!

    (This, and the previous one, from nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  123. 123.

    chris

    @SectionH: I don’t know if it still holds but a few years ago the biggest lobster pound in the world was in Louisville. Think gigantic pool full of icy salt water and live lobsters. And the tails were cheap because the Chinese put a big retaliatory tariff on American lobster. Mainers have to sell them however they can.

  124. 124.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Sab: I’m pro-union.  I’ve said here before that the pendulum has swung too far in favor of management and labor should have more rights.

    Now if you’ll excuse me I have to tell

    these Pinkerton guards which union thugs to beat up first. Where did I leave my axe handle?

  126. 126.

    Sab

    @Steve in the ATL: I know you are. I was born into two management  family and most of us were also. The only ones who weren’t were lower management and just doing their techniccal jobs and not following the politics. My grandfather was thrilled to be management, but that was just a label. My other grandfather was one of the incorporaters sons. Whole diferent world.

  127. 127.

    Mary G

    I am very depressed tonight. Kavanaugh wrote something that is very bad; I haven’t been able to concentrate enough to watch any news, binge watch something, listen to music or read. It’s cold as fuck for here  (47 degrees) and my joints hurt. Guess I’ll make dinner and get in bed with the cats.

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    @Mary G: It’s a tough time of year, and the horrible politics doesn’t help.  Be good to yourself.

     

    Hang in there.

     

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  129. 129.

    Sab

    @Steve in the ATL: I have a niece who is pro-labor and a labor lawyer. When I read you online, you could be her. But you are older and more experienced. You aren’t a traitor. You are just trying to get the system to fucking work again.

  130. 130.

    Jay

    For those interested, in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings, version, he basically paraphrases and sums up 20+ lines of dialogue from Tolkien, you know, to try to keep the series down to being under 19 days, 14 hours and 37 minutes long.

     

    http://www.henneth-annun.net/events_view.cfm?evid=1495

     

    I thought the movies were fine, but then I never expected them to be the books.

  131. 131.

    SectionH

    Back online because Mr S had problems with his chosen internet machine…

    @chris: Wow, I had no idea. But I haven’t lived in LEX for over 12 years, so missed that

    . When I still lived in Lexington, we had a go-to fish seller who had amazingly fresh fish, and he told us the fish was flash-frozen on the boats, and then put on a plane, so makes sense. UPS hubs in Louisville*, so not perfect just off the boat, but damn good seafood.

    *I could have said at SDF, but that’s one of those airports that I almost always translate ;-p

  133. 133.

    The Lodger

    @Raven: I was an enumerator in 2010 and I have some stories… veterans have a better chance of being field supervisors than non-vets, that is how my boss got his position. Field sups made marginally more than enumerators. Also 98% of the people in my field office were temps. We could get all the hours we wanted, plus mileage. I heard more than my share of anti-government shit from the people I visited, one of my co-workers had a guy come to his front door dangling a handgun.

    If you have other questions, I can probably answer them.

  134. 134.

    SectionH

    @Mary G:  I know, I do. But I’ve mostly been out of my little condo in Hillcrest for almost 2 months now. Have driven SAN-LEX once and LEX-SAN twice, well twice since July. Changing the routes, and I see a LOT (that’s emphasis, not a damn airport code) of hope. In Odessa, TX, I mean the heart of evil oil – and the air stank – waiting for a table, we got to talking to the couple near us, and they are certainly gonna vote against Trump, she just I’m gonna vote for the Democrat. And he was weaseling about being Independent but I could see her making sure…

    In Springfield MO (Gateway to *gag me* Branson), our hotel had 3 electric charging stations. Well, 2 were Tesla’s but there was one we could use. And we’ve stayed in Springfield before, and the real modern American civilization is getting a hold there.

    This is getting long, but I see a very different picture in some very conservative places than y’know, media poseurs from the east coast. I’m actually a lot more optimistic about Democratic chances now than I was before.

    Yes, I know the Courts. But it almost felt like the Soviet Union in the years before the Wall came down – there was so much leakage – and here I hope I mean around the fucking Media bubble – that, well, I’m a true-born pessimist, but right now, I don’t care. There is still hope. (Ok, sue me, that was a Rings line… )

  136. 136.

    WaterGirl

    @Raven: I know someone who has done the census thing multiple times over the years.  She seems happy enough with it. Drop me a line if you want to know something specific.

  137. 137.

    Richard Guhl

    @Adam L Silverman:  You may have just made the best argument for Joe Biden. If job one for the Democratic President will be repairing the damage which Trump has done to our institutions and relationships with our allies, wouldn’t that suggest we elect the person with the most experience and political capital, both at home and abroad?

    And wouldn’t that also suggest that that President should appoint non-politicians to the key Cabinet positions of State, Defense, Treasury, and Attorney General, since Trump has politicized them as personal instruments?
    Perhaps Fiona Hill for State, Ben Rhodes for Defense, Sally Yates for AG, and Paul Krugman for Treasury?

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