Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

We still have time to mess this up!

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

You are here: Home / Popular Culture / KULCHA! / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Recreate the Beauty You Want to See in the World

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Recreate the Beauty You Want to See in the World

by | 141 Comments

This post is in: ,

… to the best of one’s ability, under the current circumstances. Where would we be without our stubborn sense of beauty — and humor?

(Probably helps that I have fond childhood memories of the original Unicorn in Captivity tapestry, which is now in the ‘reimagined’ medieval-castle Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum annex in beautiful Tryon Park, just a bus ride away from my home in the Bronx.)

My favorite at the link below is the artist imitating daVinci’s Lady with an Ermine with the help of her cross-eyed Siamese:

 
But (semi)srsly:

… As the trend has continued to spread online since starting in March, helped by social media challenges broadcast by institutions including the Getty Museum in California and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, it’s become a welcome distraction and source of humor for audiences and creators alike. Step back, viral TikTok dances, livestream concerts and quarantine memes; this intensive form of expression is a whole new world of creative labor. In the middle of global uncertainty, it’s even become an important anchor for some.

Just take Chiara Grilli, a teacher at the Università di Bari in Macerata, Italy. Grilli, like many in Italy, has been working remotely. “This gives me plenty of time — too much, actually,” she told TIME. She lives in a two-room apartment with her boyfriend — “no balcony, no garden” — and after two weeks, she says she felt “asphyxiated.”

“One day right before lunch I went into my bedroom and I saw this beautiful sunbeam entering the window and stretching over my bed. The first thing I thought was, ‘How I wish I could go out!’ but the second thing was Hopper.” That’s a reference to Edward Hopper, the 20th century American painter known for his dramatic yet minimalist scenes of daily life…

“I thought that it represented the quarantine-like condition of many of us without using many words, hashtags or mottos,” she said. Her friends were enthusiastic, and Grilli went on to create social media pages under the name “Quarantinart.” She now has over a dozen photographs up, and intends to continue the project well past the impact of the coronavirus. “I found something that really helps me to have fun, and at the same time express my creative side,” she said…

… The creativity required — and the fact that you don’t need specific art materials to make these projects happen — is a big reason why it’s been such a global hit, says another creator, Holly Bess Kincaid, an art teacher in Harrisonburg, Va., and the president of the Virginia Art Education Association.

Kincaid’s school closed for the year on March 23, the same day she launched an “#ArtEdPortraits” challenge on social media. She shared her idea on a Facebook group of 9,000 art teachers, all trying to figure out how to teach art to students remotely, and many have picked it up. “I’m getting these little smiles in my message box daily of students who are reenacting artwork and playing and finding joy — just with the things they have around the house,” she told TIME. Kincaid’s own creations draw on her reactions to the conditions of the coronavirus; she’s made a Chagall out of a pile of laundry, drawn on the longing theme of Andrew Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” while reaching toward her school while safely at a distance and used an iPad instead of a sketchpad to reflect our new reliance on video chatting in “Young Woman Drawing” by Marie Denise Villers…

Anybody else got a favorite or three in this genre to share?

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  4. 4.

    Van Buren

    I have a The Unicorn In Captivity print on the wall by my desk, so it was a surprise to see it on my screen. For a split second I was wait, what?

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: @Baud: We’ve always gotten our refunds via direct deposit but this year we ended up owing (and already paid). I can’t help wondering if that might delay ours.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    From Floriduh: WWE deemed essential service in Florida – alongside hospitals and fire departments

    Florida has ruled that WWE is an essential service, putting professional wrestling on an equal footing with hospitals, law enforcement and grocery stores.

    WWE, which films shows and events at two locations in Florida, was initially shut down after Republican governor Ron DeSantis put the state under a shelter-in-place order during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Orange county mayor Jerry Demings said that after “some conversation” with DeSantis’s office, the decision was changed.

    In an order signed on Thursday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management ruled that essential services now include “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience – including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production – only if the location is closed to the general public”.

    A spokesperson for DeSantis’s office told ESPN such services are “critical” to Florida’s economy. WWE started to run live shows, without an audience, on Monday.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    Love these recreations. Now I’m trying to think of some famous work to stage with the dogs. They might cooperate if I bring enough cheese.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: That’s my hope but my long history of getting screwed in governmental interactions has me paranoid. It will be nice having that around in case my laid off youngest and his laid off wife who’s laid off mother lives with them needs it.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Preet Bharara
    @PreetBharara
    I hereby authorize the squirrels in my neighborhood to scamper across my property in accordance with Squirrel Law

    Jim Acosta
    @Acosta
    · 12h
    Trump says he is authorizing governors to make their own decisions on when to reopen. Ok.

  15. 15.

    satby

    Morning (not feeling the good part). My stimulus $ hasn’t come but SS did, so at least there’s that. I was up at 5:30, and the dogs had clawed up the old wall to wall rug in front of the back door so that I couldn’t open the door to let them out. I pulled enough of it up to open the door, but they’re afraid to come up the stairs and jump over the hump of rug. I have to find something to cut the rug segment out, but not until I finish my coffee. We should hit peak bladder discomfort in another cup (I keep trying) and they should be ready to just step over the hump and go out. Almost made it last time, but the cats keep trying to run out while the dogs dither, and when I chase the cats back the stupid dogs run back down the stairs. I’m regretting my entire rescue life right this minute.

  21. 21.

    satby

    @Baud: well, it’s “going to be a blow out, Biden’s the favorite to win, and they just want to cut him down to size a bit”. Same shit, different year.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    Kamala may be the trifecta.

    Voters overwhelmingly want to see Joe Biden choose a vice presidential nominee with governing experience, and they’re far less invested in whether he chooses a woman or a person of color as his running mate, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

     

    The survey — conducted just after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, making Biden the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee — found that about two-thirds of voters said it was important Biden choose a running mate with legislative and executive experience. While Biden has vowed to select a woman to join him on the ticket, only 29 percent of voters said it was important for Biden to choose a woman, while 22 percent said it was important that he choose a person of color.

  23. 23.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine is my favorite painting ever.  I was beyond fortunate in that I saw it in person when it was in the National Gallery in DC back around 1995.

    For decades now, art historians have wanted to remove the back background feeling sure there’s a landscape panorama underneath.

    So cool that somebody recreated it this way.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: I don’t know, but at this point I get anxiety attacks signing my tax returns because I just know I did something not quite right. And we have an accountant I’ve been using ever since I moved out here do them for us.

  32. 32.

    FlyingToaster

    This was last week’s Middle School project!  The kids were pretty creative (we also had a Lady with an Ermine), but one of the highlights was a portrait that looks EXACTLY like HerrDoktor.  So he put on his brown fuzzy sweatshirt and they re-created the stance.  I heard WarriorGirl’s adviser’s belly laugh when he saw it.  We’re now suspicious that he might be a time traveler (the portrait is over 400 years old).

  33. 33.

    gene108

    She is 3 hits away from a record. Now? ‘Just one more game would mean the world to me’

    She wanted to be remembered as the greatest softball player in the history of her town. Isn’t that how all of the best young athletes think?

    Bridgette Gilliano was a starter as a freshman for Buena High, topped 100 career hits after her sophomore season, and then led her team to the best season in school history as a junior.

    She was three hits — three measly hits — from breaking the school record, an accomplishment she would have crossed off in the first few days of this season. Then, each time she stepped to the plate this spring, she could have built the kind of athletic legacy that might have lasted for decades in her small South Jersey town.

    SNIP

    I think the group that has lost the most is much smaller, and quite frankly, it’s not even close. Because who among us are missing out on a more important, irreplaceable part of their lives than our high school seniors?

    Proms. Graduations. Yearbooks passed from friend to friend. It is devastating to think about the memories that the Class of 2020 won’t get to make — and, yes, that includes the events that should be taking place on baseball diamonds, tennis courts and running tracks in every town.

    https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/she-is-3-hits-away-from-a-record-now-just-one-more-game-would-mean-the-world-to-me.html

    It does suck for the Class of 2020, because they will likely not get a chance to have a graduation ceremony, prom, etc.

    On the other hand, they will have something in common to bond over. The class that didn’t have prom, yearbook signing, etc. Doesn’t matter where in the world these kids come from, they will all be able to bond over being the “quarantined class”.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Agreed, but the focus appears to be on both legislative and executive experience. Plus, I knew not to bring up the E&W combo.

  35. 35.

    germy

    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Renowned sculptor and painter Glenna Goodacre, who created the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, has died. She was 80.

    Family members said Goodacre died of natural causes Monday night at her Santa Fe home. News of her death was posted to the Instagram page of Harry Connick Jr., who is married to her daughter, Jill Connick.

    Born in Lubbock, Texas, Goodacre was known mainly for her sculptures. Her work included the Irish Memorial in Philadelphia and the Sacagawea Dollar Coin.

  36. 36.

    beth

    I had a question about the stimulus check that maybe someone here can answer. My husband passed away last year and I filed a joint return with him listed as deceased since he had earnings to declare. His SSN and account  have been cancelled since his death. Today I received $2400 in stimulus money. It seems like I should only get $1200.  I can’t find any answers on this.  I guess I’ll just have to call the IRS.  You would think there would be some sort of way to filter out payment for dead people.

  37. 37.

    germy

    Is this article poorly written?  Or is my comprehension off this morning?

    SCHOHARIE COUNTY — A treatment developed by a Schoharie County researcher that’s shown effectiveness against COVID-19 is days away from entering an important clinical trial that could be the next step forward.

    John McMichael, Ph.D, president and CEO of Beech Tree Labs, developed treatment across multiple lines (TML)  more than two decades ago, and it’s passed two phase-2 trials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for herpes infections.
    Recently, physicians in the Beech Tree Labs network have begun using TML as an off-label therapy for coronavirus patients, and it’s shown strong results with all reported patients recovering within 48 hours.

    “Our anecdotal work, not under any trial conditions, shows that people usually get better, certainly within 48 hours,” McMichael, who holds Ph.Ds in both immunology and virology, said in a phone interview Tuesday. He lives in Schoharie County. The company’s main lab is in Rhode Island.

    I mean, what is the name of the drug?  Surely not TML?

  38. 38.

    WereBear

    @satby:

    Almost made it last time, but the cats keep trying to run out while the dogs dither, and when I chase the cats back the stupid dogs run back down the stairs. I’m regretting my entire rescue life right this minute.

     
    Oh yeah. Been there. Make a decision! You know you want to!

  39. 39.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: @NotMax: well, the first 6 cup (three mug) pot of coffee almost done. It’s going to be a royal pain to cut that rug segment off the landing. And I don’t want to have to run to Lowe’s or Menards to get the corner step piece that would nail down the remainder to prevent the stairs to the basement becoming a trip hazard / death trap. So frustrating.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    @gene108

    Used to be that the final approved proofs for high school yearbooks had to be sent back to the printer around mid-March so, curiously, if that’s still the case almost none of what’s going on will show up in them.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Christine [email protected]
    Trump is lying, people are dying, and Madam Speaker is NOT here for it: “The truth is a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.” #TruthMatters

    (includes a letter from Nancy in which she wields her scalpel with great expertise)

  43. 43.

    satby

    @germy: TML in the article stands for the “treatment across multiple lines”, which sounds like gobbledygook, as does the “a couple of drops on the tongue” and “almost miraculous recovery”. Think somebody is trying to get some funds.

  45. 45.

    raven

    @gene108: We’re doing a facebook thing where folks are posting their graduation pics in honor of the 2020 grads. Since I got my GED in Korea I posted a picture of me and one of my GED diploma. I don’t think I’ve ever got so many “likes”!

  48. 48.

    germy

    @satby:  That was my suspicion as well.  Why not name the drugs?  And the reporter calls it TML, as if that’s the name of the drug.

    Maybe it’s valid, and the journalist just didn’t have the scientific background to report it correctly.

  49. 49.

    Immanentize

    @germy:

    Our anecdotal work, not under any trial conditions, shows that people usually get better, certainly within 48 hours

    Anecdotal, not under trial conditions, usually, certainly.

    Norman, coordinate!

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    @beth: I am so sorry for your loss. Just hang on to it. You might need it, and the federal government barely works.

    Let them figure it out, and if they don’t, let them know when this are “normal.”

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Maybe I’m strange. The only thing I wanted out of high school was out of there. I would have skipped the graduation ceremony except for the fact that my parents never expected me to make it. Never bought a yearbook, never even sat for a photo. Never went to a dance either. WTF for? The only people worth hanging out with sure as shit weren’t gonna be there.

    My HS was cliquish in the extreme and I was a complete misfit, didn’t belong anywhere.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    Normally pay in person the one credit card I still keep, but that store is closed for the duration. So used the return envelope included with the bill to mail it. Sent it priority mail in order to have a tracking number. Took 6 days to get there rather than the normal 3 or 4, delivered on the exact due date per USPS.

    Don’t know how regular or efficient their payment processing is now but according to their automated phone tree they have not credited the payment yet, several days after it was delivered. Gave up trying to reach a real human after 45 minutes on hold.

    If there’s a late payment charge I’m sure I can eventually get that reversed. More concerned about a late payment report (even though it wasn’t late) impacting my credit score. Any advice on how to handle this?

  53. 53.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I think it’s multiple drugs. A cocktail.

    I found it odd, though, that they didn’t bother naming any of the drugs.  Maybe they want to keep it a secret until further testing, Or maybe their major concern is owning the patent?  We’ve come a long way since Jonas Salk.

  55. 55.

    beth

    @WereBear: Thank you. I’m not sure how a dead person is supposed to stimulate the economy. The way our current government works I’m concerned they’ll want me to pay it back with interest!

  56. 56.

    Immanentize

    @beth: first, I am sorry about your spouse.  And the tax stuff just sucks.  I am in the same position.  I wonder if they sent me anything.

    Meanwhile, I would not contact the IRS.  They will ask for overpayments back in next year’s taxes, so use it or save it then apply it to your refund etc. next year.

  58. 58.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: The only thing I wanted out of high school was out of there.

     
    Not that strange. If I showed up at any reunions, I wouldn’t know them and they wouldn’t know me. I was not treasured there and I returned the favor :)

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @germy:Why not name the drugs?

    Because 99.9% of the people reading the article would neither know nor care what they were. The reporter certainly should have explained what exactly TML stood for tho.

    After thinking about it there is another reason not to mention the drug/s: What has happened since trump started pushing chloroquine. All of a sudden those who really need it can’t get it.

  62. 62.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I remember sometime in the ’90s, my wife handed me the phone and it was one of the mean girls from my high school, who apparently was tasked with drumming up interest in a Reunion.  She was going down the list of graduates.  I don’t remember exactly what I told her, but it was something to the effect that I would rather spend the time in a dentist’s chair undergoing root canal. She made an unpleasant laugh I remember hearing in the hallways between classes.  I haven’t been notified of any class reunions since.

  63. 63.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    What has happened since trump started pushing chloroquine. All of a sudden those who really need it can’t get it.

    Good point.

    I hope it turns out to be an effective treatment.  But a vaccine is still necessary, long term.

  64. 64.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I had friends and was on the student council, but I pretty much hated high school and couldn’t wait to get out. My dad tried to bribe my then BF to take me to prom and the poor guy had to tell my father he had already asked me and I refused to go. Didn’t buy or want a yearbook, only went to the graduation ceremony because it was so important to my parents as their firstborn. I find the current agony of the 2020 HS seniors stuff to be mystifying.  It’s a worldwide pandemic the likes of which hasn’t been seen for 102 years, and the big tragedy is missing prom? GTFO

    complete first world privilege on display, and not in a good way.

  65. 65.

    Kattails

    What great fun these recreations are. It’s also telling that art really does have meaning to people. How wonderful.
    Anne Laurie, the Cloisters are amazing. Haven’t been there in many years, but seeing the unicorn tapestries up close and personal, and grasping their scale, was stunning. Only seeing pictures in books one is not prepared to be in a huge room with several of them, each measuring something like 12 x 14 feet. I was there with a midieval recreation group for an event, and we were in garb. Walking down a long flight of stone stairs, a little girl coming up exclaimed to her Mom “Oh look a princess!” Naturally, I bowed to her & stayed in character. Fun. Loved the herb gardens too.

  66. 66.

    satby

    @NotMax: just write up what you said above and put it in your credit record of it shows up on your report. And I’m betting it won’t, but all credit reporting agencies have to include your rebuttal of it does.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    @NotMax:

    They’ll have to wait for the check to clear before they credit the payment.  That’s another 3 to 5 business days.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @germy: I have never heard of a HS reunion, not even through my parents who lived in the same house until they died. I guess those people cared as much as I.

    I did get an invite to my Catholic grade schools reunion, even tho I never actually graduated from it (left it after the 6th grade). I went to the Friday night warmup at a bar. It got kinda funny. They had reserved the patio for it and when I showed up I didn’t recognize anyone, so I just went to a picnic table off to the side and sat by myself watching the folks. Coming straight from work I was still in carpenter whites, a sleeveless T, work boots and the bandana I always wore under my hard hat. It wasn’t long before I started getting nervous side glances. After a while some folks showed up that I did in fact recognize but at that point I was enjoying the effect my silent presence was having on them a little too much. So I waited. And waited. And waited.

    Until finally one guy (I half knew it would be him him) walked over and said/demanded, “Are you with us?”
    I nodded my head, grinned and said yes.
    “Who the fuck are you?”

    After that it was old home week and it was kinda nice to see some of them again.

    High school? The folks I wouldn’t mind seeing again were every bit the misfits I was. All 3 of them.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @satby: Also, credit card companies do not report late payments to the credit agencies until they hit 30 or 60 days late — but they make you pay the extra interest immediately!

  71. 71.

    beth

    @Immanentize: Thanks but I wonder if that’s just for qualified recipients? This is clearly an oops, most likely system wide. I’ll be curious to see if many more people in my situation turn up.

  72. 72.

    satby

    So update: I ruined my sharpest scissors edge cutting a big enough hunk of icky old carpet off to make a clear path to the door, but the dogs were upset my my muttered swearing and are now hiding in the basement. Have upgraded the last cup of coffee with my DiL’s homemade Bailey’s, which is stronger than the real stuff.

  74. 74.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax:More concerned about a late payment report (even though it wasn’t late) impacting my credit score. Any advice on how to handle this?

    How old are you?

  75. 75.

    Immanentize

    @beth: No, it is as not an oops.  Because your spouse died, you are by law allowed to be treated as still married for (I think) two filing years).  That’s because of all the lost income, costs, etc. associated with losing a spouse.  When my wife died in 2017, our household income was cut in half.  The feds give everyone in our situation a little breathing room as a part of tax law.  They know someone who was alive is no more.  And they also have decided to help the survivor just a little bit.

  76. 76.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @satby: Unasked for suggestion for sharpening scissors quick – use them to cut a folded in half piece of aluminum foil, over and over, don’t cut all the way to the end, so that you have a piece of aluminum foil that has a long “fringe” when you are done.  You can recycle it OR you can crumple it up and use as a scrubber(works like steel wool).

  77. 77.

    Punchy

    Probably way late to this party, but an Indiana Repub is just fine with a shit ton of olds, youngs, and god knows who else dying if the pretty little Dow and NASDAQ climb a bit higher.

    This is just…….ghoulish.  Just….horrific.  To be OK with Americans dying….for any reason….seems treasonous.

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    @Immanentize

    That makes me feel better.

    @Baud

    Other payments I occasionally send by mail are credited immediately. Physical checks are processed electronically.

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Let’s just say I was born when Truman was prez and leave it at that, okay?

  81. 81.

    beth

    @Immanentize: That makes sense – it’s just that expecting humanity from the Feds is something else that I’ve lost in the last three years.  It’s sad how we’ve been conditioned now to accept crappy results as normal. Sigh.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    Haven’t checked that. Good idea. Thanks.

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    Wadded up ball of aluminum foil dipped in Coca Cola works for cleaning chrome in tight spaces such as the grooves in the bottom runner or saddle of shower doors.

  85. 85.

    satby

    @Punchy: key quote from that (and him first):
    Hollingsworth argued that looming economic losses are far too severe to continue with sheltering-in-place orders designed to limit the person-to-person spread of coronavirus.

    “It is always the American government’s position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life, of American lives, we have to always choose the latter,” he said

  86. 86.

    satby

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: thanks, but I have a sharpener that will work, and unlike most of my tools other than screwdrivers, I even know where it is. Later I’ll put a new razor blade in the utility knife and finish the job, but right now I’m going to just cool off a bit.

    this is not going to be an enjoyable day, I’m thinking. Edit: hard freeze last night and now it’s snowing. ??

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    US for-profit healthcare sector cuts thousands of jobs as pandemic rages

    Maureen Zeman was a registered nurse for 29 years at a hospital in San Jose, California, before she was laid off with dozens of other nurses – amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    Many states across the US have stopped elective medical procedures as part of emergency shutdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, hospitals and medical clinics are implementing layoffs, furloughs and cuts to salaries and work schedules in response to declines in revenue.

    The for-profit company that owns the hospital where Zeman worked decided to shut down the maternal delivery department at the end of March. It put Zeman and many others out of a job, and left patients with far fewer options.

    “They say it’s not related to Covid-19, but it’s a huge disservice to the women of the east side of San Jose. Doing this during a pandemic is terrible,” said Zeman. “They said it wasn’t financially stable to keep the unit open, and so they’re closing. Our big concern is we’re a trauma center and there are no hospitals in this area that can take care of women and children’s services.”
    ……………………..
    “We have a healthcare system where you excel in normal times by stressing what’s needed the least, and then when we have an emergency and the need is greatest, you’re in financial trouble because you’re geared to do what’s profitable.”

    Greatest. Health. Care. in the World.

  91. 91.

    Gin & Tonic

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Maybe I’m strange. The only thing I wanted out of high school was out of there.

    You and me both. When I walked off the campus at the end of graduation, that was the last contact I had with the school or anyone in it.

    I’m not a looking-back type anyway.

  93. 93.

    germy

    In this moment of crisis, it’s more important than ever that the next president restores Americans’ faith in good, effective government—and I’ve seen Joe Biden help our nation rebuild. Today, I’m proud to endorse @JoeBiden as President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/VrfBtJvFee

    — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 15, 2020

    Now it’s up to all of us to help make @JoeBiden the next president. Let’s get to work. Go to https://t.co/HrbPj2qctA right now, and chip in your $5, make some calls, send some texts—because we are all in this together.

    — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 15, 2020

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby:

    but they’re afraid to come up the stairs and jump over the hump of rug 

    They’ve disturbed the vug under the rug.

  95. 95.

    Spanky

    In case you haven’t already seen (via WaPo):

    The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump’s name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that could slow their delivery by a few days, senior IRS officials said.

    The unprecedented decision, finalized late Monday, means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks the IRS is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, “President Donald J. Trump” will appear on the left side of the payment.

    It will be the first time a president’s name appears on an IRS disbursement, whether a routine refund or one of the handful of checks the government has issued to taxpayers in recent decades either to stimulate a down economy or share the dividends of a strong one.

    Treasury officials disputed that the checks would be delayed

    ETA: I’m sure the administration will just blame the delay on those lazy-ass postal workers.

  98. 98.

    germy

    Watching Obama today, I remembered being at the White House in fall 2014. The place was buzzing and my meeting was running late. A young staff assistant apologized and told me, "It's been crazy here. It's Ebola 24/7."

    That focus, in the early days, prevented a U.S. outbreak.

    — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 14, 2020

  101. 101.

    mrmoshpotato

    Twenty-eight degrees.  That’s only 4 degrees below freezing, right?

    Happy mid-April everyone! (pulls the covers over his head)

  105. 105.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: I agree. Biden needs a younger VP.  The best job for her would be Treasury secretary. Capital market regulation has lacked teeth since forever. I don’t just speak of consumer finance. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

  111. 111.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby: No, ABC 7, it is not a “Winter Weather Advisory.” It’s a “What The Shit Is This?!” Advisory.  Be advised that if you go outside today, you’ll say to yourself, “What The Shit Is This?!”

    Glad no one was seriously injured.

  113. 113.

    Immanentize

    @Gin & Tonic:Mastery of undestatement still on the job.

     

    I think the order of roll out was wise.  It had to be Bernie first, ending the race.

    Obama is the strongest possible signal of party unity.

    Warren was the third strongest candidate behind Biden and Sanders.  It gives each his or her due.

  114. 114.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    @Baud: We dropped some cash on the local food bank and immigrants rights coalition this morning.

    That’s our plan for the stimulus monies as well. Food bank here, as we don’t have much in the way of immigration here compared to most places. Also compared to poverty and hunger.

    Will Trump allow us to go digging ramps in the woods? What if we don’t ask him? Does he even know what that is — the woods, ramps?

  116. 116.

    J R in WV

    @Punchy:

    Probably way late to this party, but an Indiana Repub is just fine with a shit ton of olds, youngs, and god knows who else dying if the pretty little Dow and NASDAQ climb a bit higher.

    This is just…….ghoulish.  Just….horrific.  To be OK with Americans dying….for any reason….seems treasonous.

    Congressman Hollingsworth is displaying his total dedication to greed over humanity, a perfect example of Trumpian Republicanism in action. Perhaps he may have some trouble convincing expendable people from his Indiana district to vote for him. One hopes, anyway.

    What a wurm !!

  118. 118.

    satby

    @Baud: I think I read that Clyburn liked Rice as a possible VP. She’s had Cabinet level experience. I think Harris would be a better choice though.

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @Baud: She’s finally going to bend the knee, I see.

    Please don’t use that hateful term. It’s feudal and anti-American in every way, which is why that vile and despicable little wurm of a troll uses it. Americans don’t kneel to any man nor woman.

  123. 123.

    J R in WV

    @Gin & Tonic:

    @J R in WV: It was a joke.

    OK, no hard feelings. Not a very humorous morning for me, given the shocking obit pinned up top. Sorry for jumping on you!

    Plus yesterday my young dog ate my Samsung tablet — screen shattered as if it were shot multiple times, no data found when attached to a laptop.

    Now I have to / need to attempt to replace it during the epidemic. New Samsungs run up to $685, and Apple iPads run up to $1300… holy bat-shit, batman.

  124. 124.

    CindyH

    @gene108: My daugher is a senior in high school and all things considered, she’d have preferred the more conventional memories (i.e. prom, graduation, senior beach trip)

  127. 127.

    evodevo

    @germy:  sounds like pseudoscience in action to me….the actual “drug” is marketed as a cold sore remedy….I can’t find ANY info on what it actually is…which has my ScoobyDoo (skeptical) sense tingling

  128. 128.

    Tenar Arha

    @Spanky: has someone already asked if you can cross out or alter a memo line on a check & still cash it yet? Bc I’m seriously wondering about if I can do it.

  129. 129.

    Origuy

    I got the membership renewal notice for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco yesterday. This is a good thread to remind people that your favorite museums aren’t taking in any money right now. If you become a member now, it’s more likely they’ll be able to open their doors later.

  132. 132.

    Lacuna Synechdoche

    @satby:

    Biden’s the favorite to win, and they [WaPo] just want to cut him down to size a bit”.

    Because cutting down Trump’s opponent when she was favored to win worked so well in 2016.

  133. 133.

    J R in WV

    @NotMax:

    Thanks!! The eaten tablet was small at 8″… it replaced a previous Google 10″ tablet that had a battery death.

    I do want lots of memory, though. And I’m limited in where I can go to buy one right now. Best Buy or Verizon shop…

  134. 134.

    Sab

    @satby: This VP will likely be the next candidate. I want a politician for that. Susan Rice would be excellent in many other positions, but she is a DC preppy, not a politician.

  135. 135.

    Sab

    @Sab: We are looking forward to a wonderful tulip harvest. The litle guys stole all our neighbors bulbs and planted them in our yard. I have never planted a tulip, but we have lots. Bumper crop this year, judging by the leaves coming up.

  136. 136.

    Monala

    @Immanentize: you can only file as a qualifying widow/widower for two years if you have a dependent child. If you lose a spouse in the current tax year, however, you can still file a joint return whether there is a dependent child or not.

  137. 137.

    Monala

    @beth: just so you know, you can only file a joint return for the tax year your spouse died (my husband died in 2018). The two additional years are only available for someone who lost a spouse and also has a dependent child.

  138. 138.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    @satby: Treatment across multiple lines usually means trying more than one thing at the same time, if I’m understanding the articles using that approach on other conditions correctly.

  140. 140.

    debbie

    @NotMax:

    I will try and find you later, but in case you peek back in, lots of companies are forgoing late payments for 90 days or so. Your best bet is to be proactive and call or go online to inquire about options that may be available because of coronavirus.

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