New Biden ad. Keep them coming.
We are building the movement that will beat Donald Trump.
Join us: https://t.co/gnaFCACYrW pic.twitter.com/pHIXCHZ0cm
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 15, 2020
Also, I walked into the living room to find this:
No idea why Gabe has fixated on Scout these days, but he’s all in. Wherever she is, he’s not far away.
We are expecting between 6-12 inches of snow tonight. I’m not happy about it. The ducks will hate it, but the dogs will be overjoyed.
This was them during our Easter snowstorm. Happy, happy puppies. Also, here’s their annual Easter Dane photo.
ETA: Facebook reminded me that exactly one year ago today, Bixby met me at the door, standing, and then insisted on going outside for the first time, on wobbly legs. After that his recovery was unstoppable.
Open thread
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t doubt the Mercers and Adelson and who knows who else will come through with cash, but…
and in other news:
Bollier is also doing quite well in fund-raising
CaseyL
Joe’s ads have been consistently excellent. Love the all-Democratic candidate montage!
And I love that Gabe is crushing so hard on Scout, the same way I got such a kick out of the ducks’ crush on Jake. Animals forming interspecies relationships – on their own initiative and decision – just delights me.
When I was a kid, I was mad about race horses – and one of the quirks I found so relatable* was how so many of them had non-horse companions they couldn’t bear to be without. Chickens, goats, all kinds of little friends who traveled and stabled with them.
*Possibly because I was terribly shy back then, and it was easier for me to be friends with animals than with other humans.
trollhattan
Six, hell, two months ago I saw no path to taking the senate. I’m vastly more hopeful now. Too bad it’s costing [checks] 136,938 unnecessary deaths.
Joe will be fine. The math to compare Joe versus Donny has not been invented.
TaMara (HFG)
@CaseyL: I know you typed Bixby originally. And it wasn’t really wrong, because when Gabe first arrived, he was all Bixby, all the time. Someone said it was because he decided to make friends with the biggest guy on the block first.
This is one of my favorites of him sleeping on Bixby.
StringOnAStick
I live in the same area as TaMara, and I measured 10″ of snow on Monday. I fooled mother nature though by protecting the daffodils and species tulips, let everyone out yesterday and just covered them all back up again 40 minutes before the first flakes started.
Ohio Mom
Trollhattan: Shush! Don’t jinx us!
Seriously, I remember when I though Trump was a nonstarter. I split my sides laughing at his debate performances. I wince at that memory.
trollhattan
@Ohio Mom:
Do you recall Cole’s “Tweet like Trump” threads? Hilarious. (Seriously, I was an enthusiastic participant.)
I gave him 0.001% chance. Duh….
Lesson learned. Fight like fuck; beat the bastards.
Another Scott
Good videos. (I’m always distracted by webcams that focus behind the subject, but that’s me.)
Just sent Joe my first donation to him.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
CaseyL
@TaMara (HFG): Oh, good, I wasn’t totally wrong :). Had to do a lot of editing on that comment, though!
That’s definitely a new-kid kind of thing: find the biggest, toughest guy and be his friend. (New inmate thing, too, now that I think about it.)
dmsilev
So, everything is going Just Fine.
Trump’s attempt to enlist businesses in reopening push gets off to rocky start
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: Well, that’s going swimmingly! Ugh.
Fair Economist
Some good news on the family front. My sister-in-law-in-law, who was diagnosed with COVID a while back, is recovering (never hospitalized, “just” really sick at home) and seems not to have given it to my brother-in-law, who has some chronic lung diseases. So, disaster avoided for us it seems.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev:
Let me help Trump out here…WE DON’T WANT TO DIE YOU CLUELESS MOTHERFUCKER!
Barbara
@dmsilev: The average CEO has to be at least a bit of a cold fish to get to where they are but they are rarely stupid. Anyone fairly assessing the facts has known since February that widespread testing is imperative and that it is still not happening.
Second day in a row with 2500 deaths.
ETA: I had a dream last night that I suddenly felt ill and was having a hard time breathing. And then I woke up.
dmsilev
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What, you’re not willing to lay down your life in the greater service of hedge-fund profits and a marginally higher rate of return on the Dow? You unpatriotic monster you.
Barbara
@Fair Economist: What a relief. I hope things return to normal for them.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev:
I guess I’ll just have to LIVE with that.
dmsilev
@Barbara: That showed up, several times, in the parts of the article I didn’t quote. Basically, you get the sense that CEOs of actual companies are doing their best to tell Trump no no no, and it’s the right-wing “economists” and the finance types that are egging him on (though, for the latter, the CEO of Goldman went on the record as saying go slow and test thoroughly).
dmsilev
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, guess so.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dmsilev: not just CEOs
trollhattan
@Fair Economist:
Please accept a hearty “Phewwww!” for all.
Nobody needs this mess.
laura
@dmsilev: the billionaire class just cant seem to catch a break with BillInGlendaleCa – that dude’s been holding a grudge since the great bankster getaway of ’08, possibly earlier.
Sirkowski
I was scrolling and I thought I saw a burned dog… That dog is charcoal.
Amir Khalid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The CEOs and others named to Trump’s imaginary council of advisors will probably never be asked for advice, or hear about the panel again once he finds some other distraction.
mrmoshpotato
Vincent Price double feature
The Last Man on Earth and The Masque of the Red Death
ETA – don’t be afraid of massive amounts of garlic. :)
?BillinGlendaleCA
@laura: Earlier, much earlier…I blame my Money and Banking prof.
Jay
We are at 85% VOC, today. 15 days into the month and despite trying to limit the store to 50 customers, cutting 4 hours off the day, we are 2 days away from setting record sales for April, any April ever. Despite having 50% fewer staff, ( shelter at home, self quarantine, generous sick days, over 65 and immune compromised on partially paid furlough).
My Department hit 122%, and yesterday I pulled a 16 hour day, ( no staff), no breaks, no lunch and 342 contracts along with 461 phone calls (in).
We have “customers” deciding that their “essential need” is an ornamental cactus.
Stay home, shelter in place, don’t touch your face, stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands you dirty filthy animals.
We have “customers” deciding that their “essential need” is to recreationally shop for appliances that they have no intention of buying.
Stay home, shelter in place, don’t touch your face, stay 6 feet apart, wash your hands you dirty, filthy animals.
Today, I saw clusters of “socially dressed” teens, not socially distancing, blocking the isles, on their phones, pretending that hanging out in flooring was like being at the mall.
Just because we are open, doesn’t mean you are supposed to go there.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
I was reading the post on South Dakota—for some perspective, Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County has about a quarter of the population of Nashville itself (not counting the rest of the metropolitan area). However, they have about 3/4 of the confirmed cases Nashville does.
That is some truly bad management, from a public health perspective.
I always love seeing your pups & their cohabitees, TaMara. I don’t know that I’d want to live with a couple of Great Danes, but yours are magnificent.
mrmoshpotato
@Jay: Ornamental oven ranges.
Jay
Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
2 of our coworkers have already died.
Jay
Jay
CaseyL
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio:
I’m a sucker for YouTube videos about animals, any animals. I’ve seen posts from people who have entire dog teams of Huskies living in their homes, folks with six or more Goldens, Danes .. and households with multiple (big) dogs and cats!
I honestly don’t know how they do it. On the one hand: so many furkids to cuddle and love, and be loved by. On the other: so much dogfood, so much poop to pick up and dispose of, so much doggie bathing, walking (though they probably, hopefully, have huge yards), vet bills…!
I would love to have a menagerie…. if I lived in a massive house with a massive yard and more money than I knew what to do with. Without those things, I just don’t know how people manage. I salute them.
Amir Khalid
A repost from the semi-respite thread:
China Global Television Network spotlights three doctors who have become unlikely media stars in the pandemic: Anthony Fauci, New Zealand’s Ashley Bloomfield, and Malaysia’s own Noor Hisham Abdullah. Dr Fauci you guys already know; Dr Bloomfield and Dr Noor Hisham are the directors-general of their countries’ respective health ministries.
Mai naem mobile
My fantasy Nov 5th is to see AZ, CO, NC, ME, MT, KY, IA, SC, TX and GA and keep AL in the Senate. I didn’t even have Kansas in the mix. I would love to see another shocker. The Dakotas or Nebraska. It’s a pity Ron Johnson isn’t running this year. I think his ass would be grass.
Jay
Jay
Jay
mrmoshpotato
@Jay: Well thanks for initially mentioning that.
Duane
@Jay: Smash and grab robbery is so much easier than it used to be. It’s like getting away with murder.
Mnemosyne
My mask wardrobe is nearly complete — I now have 6 cloth masks and only need 1 more so I don’t have to wash them more than once a week. I got a couple for G as well so he doesn’t have to walk around in a bright orange bandana, which is the only one I have that he was willing to wear.
Oh, and I’m being furloughed, so that’s fun. At least they’re keeping my job in place and are paying my entire health insurance premium. God only knows when we’ll be able to re-open.
Jay
@mrmoshpotato:
tons of minimum wage “essential” workers have died, are dying and will die.
Doesn’t matter if “the economy reopens” or not. They are deemed “essential” and completely disposable.
Jay
rikyrah
@Fair Economist:
That’s good???
rikyrah
So, I have my first tele-medical appointment tomorrow.
I have eczema. Usually, it’s under control until it turns very hot or very cold.
But, with all the hand washing and using hand sanitizer, I had a breakout. But, since I have been home and using all natural oatmeal soap, it has gotten under control. But, I will be going back to work soon, and I need a renewal of the prescription.
My hands look ok now, but in two weeks, they will be a disaster.?
I need that prescription?
rikyrah
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio:
they don’t have the healthcare infrastructure to handle this??
Krope, the Formerly Dope
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was on Fox today making a really strong case for our Glorious
Supreme LeaderPresident Trump, long may he reign, that his greatest and most important skill is that he listens carefully to a wide range of viewpoints, can grasp complex information, and use it to make the wisest possible decisions on behalf of the American people.Oh, never mind.
NotMax
@rope, the Formerly Dope
“I’ve overseen more testing for Covid-19 than all previous presidents combined.”
//
Krope, the Formerly Dope
If he actually said this, I know logically it must be true and yet…
Sab
@Jay: What is VOC?
frosty
@Sab: Volatile Organic Compounds? I’m stumped. Thanks for hijacking the “I’m with him” post, Jay.
Villago Delenda Est
Start hitting Fuckface von Clownstick with chairs. Lots of them. Never stop.
NotMax
@Sab
Venusians of Color?
Very Odoriferous Cabbages?
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev: Newt’s head should have been on a pike a quarter of a century ago.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
So DeSantis did us a favor allowing the WWE to open?
Mary G
NotMax
@Mary G
Yeah, I’ve had pizza like that.
:)
Sab
@frosty: It says right there in the title that it’s an open thread.
WereBear
I am in that boat, and I’m not complaining about that boat, but it is a lonely boat :)
WereBear
@dmsilev:
Did the truth just slip? His “instincts and his sense of what the American people want” is in opposition to the infectious disease experts?
Amir Khalid
@WereBear:
Somehow, I don’t think the American people are all that keen right now on being out and about, going to work and school and the grocery store etc., during a pandemic that might kill them.
Krope, the Formerly Dope
His authority is absolute. He’ll make us.
TS (the original)
@rikyrah:
I had to stop with the sanitizer and go back to the bar soap with minimal additives. I also got some hand balm from the pharmacy. So far, so good.
As an added advantage – the soap is seriously cheaper than the hand wash in a bottle I used to use.
Baud
@Krope, the Formerly Dope:
Fixed.
Just One More Canuck
I believe in coincidences, I just don’t trust coincidences- Garak from DS9
Just One More Canuck
@Just One More Canuck: meant to be a reply to Jay @30
rikyrah
@Mary G:
????
Uncle Cosmo
Par for the course for our resident Knucklehead Of The Frozen North. Did he manage to misspell any common English words in the process?
And yeah, WTF is VOC? Vermin Of Canada??
Jager
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio:
My niece is a doc in Sioux Falls. She is a neo-natal specialist, with this she’s been pressed into service in the ER. Jodie has Chrons disease, never the less she persists. We are so damn proud of her.
BTW, She’s 38 and looks like a 9th grader.
James E Powell
Are we ever going to learn what VOC is? And is 85% VOC good or bad? would 100% VOC be the best or the worst?
Scuffletuffle
@rikyrah: go to healingearthvt.com and order the Eczema Salve for your hands. It works like a dream and smells awesome.
WaterGirl
@Scuffletuffle: would that work for someone who doesn’t have eczema, but current has rough, red hands from all the hand washing?
Also, wondering what it smells like because I am allergic to a lot of scents.