Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Too little, too late, ftfnyt. fuck all the way off.

Stand up, dammit!

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

In my day, never was longer.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

The revolution will be supervised.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

You cannot love your country only when you win.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Second rate reporter says what?

T R E 4 5 O N

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

So very ready.

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Not A Tough Choice, Actually

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Not A Tough Choice, Actually

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This afternoon:

Speaking of space cases…

Reader Interactions

207Comments

  4. 4.

    Baud

    @debbie: Right. My comment was based on the information in the text of the tweet.  I have no interest in hearing Graham’s voice.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    re: NASA

    Can’t help but be suspicious about the why of it. We don’t know – it could be something in his personal life totally unrelated to the job – but one doesn’t normally duck out of such a high profile position after only a few months.

    The head of NASA’s human exploration program, Doug Loverro, has resigned less than six months after assuming the position within the agency, according to a NASA memo. The drastic change in leadership comes just a week before NASA will launch its first astronauts from the US in nearly a decade, on top of SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spacecraft.
    [snip]
    Loverro resigned on Monday, May 18th, however NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine did not mention the change to Vice President Mike Pence during the meeting of the National Space Council, which took place on Tuesday, May 19th. In a memo to staff, Loverro attributes his resignation to a risk he took earlier this year, but doesn’t explain what it was.… Source

  6. 6.

    Baud

    I’m not going to be furious at the president all the time if Biden is president because the policies will actually be substantially different.

    Plus, we not furious at Trump simply because of his policies.  His character, incompetence, rhetoric, and corruption are a big part of it.

  7. 7.

    satby

    Not that there’s a particular topic to go off of but this happened yesterday. My youngest sister sent me a surprise that had me verklempt a bit. Turns out my mom had bought a necklace for me and told my sister she was saving it for my “big birthday”. Mickey knew I was already 61, and she said this was when mom was still with it, so she assumed my mom had meant my 65th birthday. So Mickey has saved it for me for four years and through three house moves so that she could send it to me as my mom planned. 4 years after her death, mom had one final gift for me.? So in spite of the pandemic, it was a great birthday!

  8. 8.

    Baud

    @satby: That’s so sweet. I’m glad you were able to have a good day. And that your sister didn’t lose the necklace like I would have.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    Switching gears to something far less politically ornery.

    Seeking something, anything with which to fill the relentless march of empty hours stuck at home? Practice, practice, practice until it’s perfected could fill the bill.

    Although it might well take a toll on the crockery.

    :)

  10. 10.

    satby

    @Baud: Rump’s character, incompetence, rhetoric, and corruption are a key reason for his policies. But I’m not picky, I hate him for all of the above, plus for breathing.

  11. 11.

    SFAW

    I started to write a comment about wishing “moronavirus” on all the Rethug officeholders, and most of their enablers, with the concomitant symptoms and results. But then realized what I was wishing for.

    I don’t know if I hate all those motherfuckers more for what they do and have done, or for what they’ve turned me into. I mean, I’ve always been an asshole, but not a (virtually) murderous one.

  15. 15.

    satby

    @Baud: It was sweet. I really didn’t have the heart to tell my sister (because she never accepted my mother’s cognitive decline until years after it started) that my mom probably had purchased it intending to give it to me on my 60th birthday. And since my sister doesn’t read this blog, she’ll never know I’m fairly sure of that. It’s a beautiful gift by both of them.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    What, is he-man trumpov going to lift the blessed economy on his manly shoulders and carry it up a mountain?  Lindsey baby, come ON.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    I didn’t want to give this story a click, but this came across my feed.

    Matt Lauer responds to rape allegation from Ronan Farrow’s ‘Catch & Kill’

    CNN: Most Recent / 27min

    Matt Lauer had been looking for an opportune time to publish a piece responding to Ronan Farrow’s “Catch & Kill,” which contained a rape allegation that he denied. In the wake of Ben Smith’s New York Times column scrutinizing Farrow’s work, he went ahead.

     

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby: Remembering about it after 4 years, 3 house moves, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear treeeee.

    Impressive.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    @NotMax:

    And you are right to be suspicious.

    This group doesn’t do this unless someone is about to.uncover.serious wrongdoing. Plain wrongdoing, they would stay , and just shrug the shoulders.??

  27. 27.

    satby

    @SFAW: a lot of us are somewhat appalled by the rage and hate the entire vicious Republican party and their figurehead have awakened in us.

  28. 28.

    debbie

    @satby:

    I always wanted sisters! I’ve got three brothers and those idiots would never, ever be that kind of thoughtful.  ?

  32. 32.

    Baud

    Republican political operatives are recruiting “extremely pro-Trump” doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

  34. 34.

    Spanky

    @satby: Now that’s a sister worth hanging on to.

    re the OP: Who is Sema Hernandez, and why should I give one tiny wet fart what she thinks?

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    @rikyrah:

    But they need communion!  (And some will need last rites.)

    Dark, yes, but most likely true if they reopen.

  36. 36.

    JPL

    @Baud:  Those are the same docs that believe abortion causes cancer and vaccines cause autism.    We are way down that rabbit hole.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    Politicizing everything. Would be enlightening to track if and by how much their practice’s patient rosters subsequently diminish.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @Spanky:

    It’s an eternal question how tweets get selected for attention.  Sometimes, it’s obvious because it’s a viral tweet. But other times the tweet seems to be plucked out of obscurity.

     

    ETA: Comment not limited to AL. Includes all front pagers and commenters.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So this happened in the suburban STL town I grew up in: Grandmother and son wrongly accused of TV theft sue police over beating I am soooooo proud. Making it all the way to the pages of the Guardian.

    A 68-year-old Missouri woman has filed a lawsuit against four police officers and their suburban St Louis department after they were captured in a since-viral video beating and arresting her and her adult son over a claim that the pair had stolen a television.

    The allegation turned out to be false. All four officers are white; the mother and son are black.

    The lawsuit alleges that while Marvia Gray and her 43-year-old son Derek were attempting to get a refund for a television they had purchased at a Sam’s Club when the police officers grabbed them, “throwing them to the floor, beating them, handcuffing them, then arresting them”.
    …………………………..
    The elder Gray suffered severe injuries to her tailbone, back, rotator cuff, knees and arms. The son shattered three front teeth, had a concussion and face injuries that required nearly 20 stitches and seven staples, according to the suit.

    Des Peres police department released a statement following the incident in March, maintaining that store personnel had told them that products were stolen. They also insisted that the Grays were arrested for failing to comply.

    From KSDK:

    The release confirms officers were dispatched to the store less than an hour later for a reported theft. Officers were made aware that the call was for the same suspects involved in the prior incident, but the officers said this time they were notified the items were stolen.

    The narrative released from the department on March 25 states the scuffle between Derek Gray and the officers started when Gray was told he was being detained. The press release described the incident as a “struggle” involving Gray attempting to remove a fire extinguisher from the wall “in a manner to attempt to use it against the officer” before it was removed from his hand as he was wrestled to the ground.

    Des Peres police confirmed their officers were assisted by neighboring agencies. The department stated four officers were transported to a medical center for treatment.

    Derek just wouldn’t stop hitting their hands with his face.

    I’m a little surprised the Gray’s would shop there. That place is whiter than white. It’s gotten so bad that I’m not welcome there anymore. I’ve spent time in their jail on 2 occasions. Haven’t been back since my father died. These days I tell most folks I grew up in Kirkwood, the neighboring town where I went to school. It’s not near as embarrassing.

    The name being French in origin the “s”es are silent, but but when I entered my sarcastic teens I began pronouncing it as “despair”. Yes, I was raised in Despair, Misery.

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

    Must be a suppository!

  41. 41.

    satby

    @debbie: ? one day while both my kids were in their early 20s and while my middle sister was visiting, my younger son reminded his older brother  that the next day was “Sweetest Day”, a day we never paid attention to in my house as they were growing up. My sister marveled aloud at how thoughtful my youngest son was and that his gf was lucky because most men wouldn’t be romantic enough to think of getting a gift for that. My son’s answer to his aunt: “remember, I was raised entirely by women” ?

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    So…Trump is terminating deployment of the National Guard. One day before they would be eligible to receive benefits. So MAGATs…tell me how Trump is pro military?? I’ll wait. @maddow ?— Original312 ? (@RHeightsFinest) May 20, 2020

  43. 43.

    low-tech cyclist

    Some random thoughts:

    1. You know how ‘generic Democrat’ always does quite well?  Biden’s extremely low profile has basically turned him into ‘generic Democrat’ in the public’s mind.  This is NOT a criticism – this is actually quite effective!  It’s much harder to launch a smear campaign against ‘generic Democrat’ than against a specific Democrat.  And smear campaigns are pretty much the only way for Republicans to win nationally.
    2. As a Warren backer, Biden was something like my sixth choice for the nomination.  But even as he comes across to the general public as ‘generic Democrat,’ I can’t help but notice that he’s saying all the things I’d want my Presidential candidate to be saying. He’s clearly realized that mere restoration of the status quo ante is insufficient to the challenges of this time, and that’s really really important.
    3. Sen. Lindsey Graham: “You’ve got Trump and Biden. Those are your two choices. Who do you think is most capable of restoring a strong economy?”  Certainly not the guy who twiddled his thumbs while the coronavirus killed 100,000 Americans in two months.
  47. 47.

    Starfish

    @Baud: Oh, so Ben Smith is not ax grinding just due to jealousy. He is trying to help a sexual harasser with a door locking button under his desk make a come back. Gross.

  49. 49.

    Chyron HR

    I hope you also stay just as outraged and politically engaged no matter who is president in 2020

    It’s Trump. Trump will continue to be president for the remainder of 2020. But thanks for tipping your hand that you’re going to start blaming Biden for everything as soon as November 4, you demented freaks.

  51. 51.

    satby

    @Baud: maybe we should have had more faith. After all, a pretty smart guy we all respected picked Biden to be his VP. And considering the crazy in this country, I’m sure Obama realized there was a possibility that Biden might have had to finish his term. I honestly feared for Obama’s safety daily.

  52. 52.

    germy

    Joe Biden pledges to not fire any inspector general if he is president. “Inspector generals were designed to make government honest,” he says."

    — Henry"Joe Biden will be POTUS"Djoutsa (@D_jeneration) May 20, 2020

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    As Trump threatens to withhold money from Michigan because they’ve expanded mail-in voting it’s important to remember he’s already explained why: He thinks it hurts Republicans if more people vote. It has nothing to do with fraud. t.co/XTODS7rduU— Lis Power (@LisPower1) May 20, 2020

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud: Starbucks guy exceeded my expectations by……(busts out the backhoe, dig dig dig, oh there’s the bar!)….not being a traitorous, kidnapping, Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @satby:

    maybe we should have had more faith.

    I feel like I had the correct amount of faith, which was greater than zero but less than complete.  I never felt that he would be incapable or horrible as president, even though he was not my first choice in the primary.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    We’ve seen Susan Rice’s memo. We’ve seen the list of requested unmaskings by Obama officials.Now could we see the transcripts of all the Kislyak-Flynn calls?— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 20, 2020

  60. 60.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: What a nice thing for your sister to do, even if she was likely wrong on the “special birthday” your mom meant to honor! :)

  61. 61.

    mrmoshpotato

    Friend just sent the Mid-Michigan NOW videos of the Edenville dam break.

    “I’m no scientist. But that ain’t good”

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @Spanky: @Baud:

    Sema Hernandez was a Democratic Party candidate for the Senate seat from Texas. She lost the primary. She is generally aligned, I would say, with the Justice Dems. So, a way bigger player in a big state’s politics than most.

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    @low-tech cyclist: Same. I found the co-authored op-ed with Senator Warren very encouraging, and Biden gets that the pandemic upended everything, which will require…wait for it…big structural change. Now, like FDR said, it’s up to us to make him do it!

  65. 65.

    low-tech cyclist

    @OzarkHillbilly: Good Lord.

    I’ve given up on American police.  If these incidents were just ‘a few bad apples,’ well, it’s a hell of a lot of bad apples.

    And if it’s just some bad apples, where’s the outrage from the rest of the law enforcement community that these guys are giving them a black eye?  I certainly haven’t seen any of that.  Instead, we see cops having temper tantrums when a mayor or other elected official suggests that one of those ‘bad apples’ might’ve overstepped the bounds, when yet another unarmed black man dies at the hands of the cops.

    Not sure how we can make it happen, or even when we’d be in a position to do it, but dammit, there needs to be a housecleaning.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    @germy: That’s better.

    @Immanentize: Thanks for the info. Glad she lost the primary. Running for a big seat doesn’t mean that much to me. Any nutjob can file papers to run for any seat.

  68. 68.

    Sally

    @Baud: I agree. I wish Dems would not make these promises. Especially while the administration is full of incompetent mafiosi. Many people need to be sacked. As in, razed.

  71. 71.

    low-tech cyclist

    @Betty Cracker:Now, like FDR said, it’s up to us to make him do it!

    Yeppers. Too many of us stood down too soon after Obama was elected.  We can’t make that mistake again.

  72. 72.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Spanky:

    I know not this Sena Hernandez, but they are accurately representing the attitudes of Rose Twitter.  I see it regularly, and they live in a ‘not a dime’s worth of difference’ fantasy world.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think we are helped this time by the fact that the House has already authored and passed a lot of good legislation. Much of the legwork has been done, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

  74. 74.

    Ohio Mom

    Mean Jean Schmidt (remember her?) is staging a comeback, though instead of Congress, this time the Ohio Statehouse is her goal — she just won the Republican primary for State Representative (took a long time to hand count the mail-in votes).

    Schmidt says she’s running because Columbus isn’t helping counties enough, referring to the cuts to the Local Government Fund made by Kasich and continued by the current governor, DeWine.

    Even Republicans don’t like Republican policies.

  75. 75.

    Soprano2

    @SFAW: I didn’t know how thoroughly I could hate someone until Donald Trump became president. Every time I think I’m topped out on hatred, he does or says something else and it gets even deeper. It kind of scares me, actually, to know I can hate someone so much.

  78. 78.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @satby: That reminds me of lines from one of my favorite novels, Fredrick Backman’s BEARTOWN. The speaker is commenting on how people say Benji gets into so much trouble because his father is gone.

    “You may not be an angel, Benjamin, I know that much. But, dear God, you haven’t lacked a role model. All your best qualities come from the fact that you’ve been raised in a house full of women.”

  79. 79.

    clay

    @rikyrah:

    As Trump threatens to withhold money from Michigan because they’ve expanded mail-in voting…

    I’m no political genius, but publicly threatening to starve a state that is critical to your re-election chances during an election year doesn’t seem like the best strategy.  He should be throwing money at them, one would think…

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @clay:

    The default GOP assumption is that voters will blame Democrats for GOP behavior.  It’s not an unreasonable assumption.

  82. 82.

    mrmoshpotato

    Haha

    I like the way the Pompeo corruption stories are coming out in serialized fashion, like a Dickens novel.— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 20, 2020

  83. 83.

    clay

    @Baud: I guess, but he’s saying it out loud.  I don’t know why he insists on cutting ads for Biden, but more power to him.

  84. 84.

    danielx

    Well, Sema Hernandez, we are going to have to agree to disagree. For one thing, Trump doesn’t have policies. He has impulses. The only policy he has is that whatever the issue is, it’s about him and how he benefits from it.

  90. 90.

    satby

    @Baud: I feel like I had the correct amount of faith

    Well, you’re a better person than me, because though I’ve always thought he was a decent guy, I had very little faith that he’d be more than a caretaker president while we got over the Rump disease.

  91. 91.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: Almost completely back to normal! Whew! I’m going to ask about an epi-pen though. You never know, and I am very far from medical attention out here in the swamp.

  92. 92.

    prostratedragon

    @rikyrah:
    Wow, sounds a lot like that thing –was it Crimeastan or something?– from 1932 maybe, that I read about in my h.s. world history class.

  93. 93.

    TS (the original)

    @Baud:

    I want him to fire the Trump IGs.  Disagree with this.

    There won’t be any left to fire. Trump won’t replace those he fires.

  94. 94.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, I really think that was a signal that you’re getting more sensitive to something you may have barely noticed before. Wasp or spider. And keep fast acting Benedryl on hand too, especially until you get the pen.

  95. 95.

    germy

    open thread?

    Question:

    What (in your opinions) is the best way to train a … large … puppy not to jump up on everyone she meets?

    The owner told me “I heard you’re supposed to ignore them, but that doesn’t work.”

    Surely there’s a better way?

  96. 96.

    kindness

    That tweet from Sema is a throwback.  I don’t tweet so I’m not on twitter.  I read the blowback from around the media though.  It had seemed than most the BernieBros got a little smarter and stopped selling outright bullshit, but with Sema and her followers who replied to her, I am disappointed.  Those people are truly scum of the earth because they are ostensibly on our side but they really aren’t.  They are on the side of shitheadism.

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A photograph of a migrant labourer, his face contorted with anguish as he sits on the roadside in Delhi speaking to his wife about their sick baby boy, has come to symbolise the ordeal of India’s daily wage workers; penniless, and unable to get home to their families because of the lockdown.

    Rampukar Pandit, a construction worker in the Indian capital, had heard that his 11-month-old son was seriously unwell. With no public transport to reach his home in Begusarai in Bihar, 1,200 km (745 miles) away, he started walking. He reached Nizamuddin Bridge where, exhausted and hungry, he could go no further.

    Atul Yadav, a photographer with the Press Trust of India, was heading home from work on 11 May when he saw Pandit, 38, sobbing his heart out. Pandit refused his offer of biscuits and water, saying food would “choke” him because he couldn’t eat while his son was unwell. “He was so emotional I had to stop shooting. He had been sitting on the road for three days,” said Yadav.

    ‘We labourers don’t belong to any country,” Pandit told Yadav. “All I want is to go home and see my son.”

    Later that evening, he reached a nearby police station. He was still waiting for the police to help when a group of well-wishers, having seen Yadav’s tweet about Pandit, arrived in the area and managed to find him at the station.

    By now, he was full of grief. His wife, Bimal Devi, had just called to say their son had died. One of the well-wishers, a woman, paid for and arranged for his train ticket home. “He wept with gratitude at strangers helping him,” said Yadav.

    Yadav’s photograph illustrates the anguish of millions of migrant labourers in India who are desperate to get home to their families. After waiting in vain for the government to provide them with transport (belatedly some trains are now being laid on for them) they have embarked on astonishing odysseys, from cities all over the country, journeys that have left Indians transfixed and distressed.

    Whether by truck, bicycle, auto-rickshaw or on foot, they have been heading out under their own steam, some making journeys of nearly 1,000 km to reach home. Hunger, thirst, and the scorching heat of the Indian summer are slowing them down. Some have died of exhaustion and sunstroke. Last week a group of 16 who fell asleep on a railway line they had believed was not being used were killed by a goods train.

    “If I am to die, I want to die with my parents,” said one young daily wage labourer leaving Indore, a city in Madhya Pradesh.

  98. 98.

    mrmoshpotato

    @OzarkHillbilly: “The big meany Democrats made us vote for a Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby instead of an extremely-qualified woman with a lifetime of service to others!”

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    Just catching up on last night’s threads, and I have to say one thing.  I ?Sheldon Whitehouse.  I first noticed him in the Kavanaugh hearings.  His line of questioning was most excellent, and I heard him promise that he was not going to forget about Christine Blasey Ford, or about Kavanaugh.

    In case you missed it, this is a link to a 4-minute video posted by Another Scott.  None of the blathering we sometimes see from politicians.  This is a brilliant 4 minutes of Whitehouse laying bare, step-by-step, the coordinated planning to take over the US Supreme Court.  If you haven’t watched it yet, I do not believe you will regret there 4 minutes of your time that it would take to watch this video.

    Oh, and only because his style kind of reminds me of Katie Porter, laying something out methodically until the situation is clear as day, I have to say that I finally listened to her interview last week where she talks about the “bitches” who mock her minivan and then want to borrow it.  I had not idea she was such a swear-er – she said her peeps have to rein her in all the time.  I could not love her more.

  105. 105.

    satby

    @germy: two ways: the first is to bump their nose hard enough to be a little uncomfotable with your palm when they jump up on you while saying “Down”.*

    *Edit, this replaces the old advice to knee them in the chest when they jump. Less mean and easier for the dog to understand.

    The second is to have a long leash on them when people come over, and while  keeping your end under your foot, pull up sharply on the leash when the dog goes to jump up on the visitor, while loudly saying “Down” (or sit, whatever command you use). Because the leash runs under your foot, pulling it up at your end pulls the dog down, not away, so they learn the action they’re expected to perform.

    And patient persistence. A treat every time the dog responds to his command always is a motivator while learning.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @satby: In fairness, the president he was going to be when the primary began os different than the president he will have to be given current conditions.

     

     

    @Immanentize: Paperwork is an establishment tool to keep the people down.

  110. 110.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    When people here worry about all the minions Trump is installing in careerist positions, I remember that one of the major problems of the Trump administration is that he prefers to leave as many federal positions as possible empty.  Hundreds of important jobs that have deliberately never been filled are a big reason why everything the administration has done has been a clusterfuck.

  111. 111.

    Baud

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yes, I didn’t realize that he wasn’t appointing new IGs (which are not career positions).  Between the economic situation and Trump’s departure, I hope decent people start applying for government jobs and Biden is able to restock the deep state bring back a functioning government.

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Yeah, if someone credibly accused me of rape, or some other horrible thing, like baby-killing, I would definitely wait until that person seemed vulnerable 2 years later before I would speak up and deny the allegation. //

  113. 113.

    rikyrah

    .@PaulaReidCBS: Why haven’t you announced a plan to get Americans back to work? President Trump: “Just a rude person you are…The plan is that each state is opening.”Note: The Q was fair and Trump didn’t answer it directly.— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) May 19, 2020

  114. 114.

    PST

    @satby: I thought, when I read your original post, that the gift might have been intended for your 60th. What a wonderful, sad/happy surprise. It reminded me how lucky my wife and I are that her mother has never lost a beat mentally. Our first venture out into the gradually opening world will be a long drive to visit her for her 96th birthday in a week. Obviously we have to think about the risk to her, but this is a woman who has returned to driving herself to the grocery store to shop, and who can explain to family member who protest exactly what the store has done to make this reasonably safe. So we respect her choices and plan to come see her. At her age it seems perfectly reasonable to take a few risks to enjoy life rather than just await its end.

  116. 116.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: I’m not a great dog trainer (except on house training; I am great at that!), but here’s how we’ve done it, and ignoring the dog does have a role to play because dogs will keep doing things that bring attention (even negative attention), but the ignoring part is for the guest who’s serving as guinea pig.

    The owners can prep the dog by training it on a command — sit and stay — with lots of treats until it becomes second nature. Then, when the guest (or owner) arrives, use that command. It takes a while, but our dogs seem to get it eventually. The thing about dogs (in my experience anyway) is that they WANT to do what you want them to do; you just have to communicate what that is. That can take a while, so you have to be patient.

  117. 117.

    germy

    @Immanentize:  Train the owner and the dog will follow.

    I have a big scratch on my hand and wrist from the dog’s claws.

    I worried about infection all day yesterday.

    Beautiful young dog, but she wants to jump up on everyone she meets.

  118. 118.

    hueyplong

    Who is the biggest suck-up to Trump?

    a. Mike Pence (lapdogs shake their heads at his servile nature)

    b. Jon McNaughton (Tump’s poker-playing dogs Leni Riefenstahl)

    c. Susan Collins (the brow-furrowing is just foreplay)

    d. Lindsey Graham (the 180 from 2016 gives off a gimp/slavery vibe)

    e. Ron DeSantis (killing his own citizens to please his master)

    Please don’t show your work unless you think someone not on this list is the actual winner.

  120. 120.

    germy

    @Betty Cracker:

    you just have to communicate what that is.

    That’s the challenge.  I’m concerned I was encouraging the behavior because I’m always happy to see her, but the jumping up and scratching is a problem.

    I’m a cat person.  I don’t really like yelling at dogs.  I’ll pass the advice on to the owner.

    My biggest worry is that this ugly gash on my hand gets infected.  I don’t want to deal with a doctor’s office right now.

  124. 124.

    hueyplong

    @germy: It’s difficult to articulate how much joy it gives to realize that those people had slipped my mind.  [And that you didn’t show work.]

  126. 126.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Someone retweeted this from Trump. The man has no self-awareness. At all.

    Some wacko in China just released a statement blaming everybody other than China for the Virus which has now killed hundreds of thousands of people. Please explain to this dope that it was the “incompetence of China”, and nothing else, that did this mass Worldwide killing!

  127. 127.

    trnc

    @germy: Joe Biden pledges to not fire any inspector general if he is president. “Inspector generals were designed to make government honest,” he says.”

    If he clarified that he wouldn’t fire them just for doing their jobs, great. If he stopped with the statement above, that’s a stupid promise.

    Also, IGs serve across administrations, right? He needs to fire all the ones DT put in place.

  128. 128.

    germy

    @WaterGirl:

    I had originally intended to release this piece in November of 2019, but personal considerations at that time, and later news events impacting us all, delayed those plans. This week The New York Times published a piece that was highly critical of Ronan Farrow’s journalistic methods and standards. Ronan stood by his reporting in response. The Times story prompted me to move forward with my own findings.

    “My own findings”  ??  He makes no sense.

    But I bet he’s deluded enough to think he can worm his way back onto a network where he can rub his hands together and “take Biden down a peg” during a town hall debate.

  129. 129.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: Yeah, if you greet the dog while she’s misbehaving, that is encouraging the bad behavior. Victoria Stilwell (“It’s Me or the Dog” lady) trains owners to tell volunteer training guests to cross their arms and turn their back on the dog until it behaves, then greet it when it’s calm. We’ve tried that with some success.

    Most of my dogs have been boxers, who are known for their exuberance. They’re hard to train out of behavior like that, but if you keep at it, they’ll understand eventually. Hope your cut heals quickly! Put some antibiotic on it right away! :)

  131. 131.

    Barbara

    @Betty Cracker: As a dog trainer explained it to me, when a dog is consistently misbehaving, it is usually responding to signals that the owner doesn’t even realize they are giving.  In my experience, the hardest behavior to train a dog out of is barking.  Making them sit or lie down on command is probably the first step to dealing with most other inappropriate behaviors, like jumping.  The only time I really had to give up with a dog is when it became aggressive for reasons no one seemed to understand, not even the trainer or dog psychologist.

  133. 133.

    germy

    @Betty Cracker:

    trains owners to tell volunteer training guests to cross their arms and turn their back on the dog until it behaves

    That technique worked on Bill de Blasio.  Just ask the head of the NY police union.

  134. 134.

    The Moar You Know

    What (in your opinions) is the best way to train a … large … puppy not to jump up on everyone she meets?

    The owner told me “I heard you’re supposed to ignore them, but that doesn’t work.”

    Surely there’s a better way?

    @germy:  Ignoring your pup’s misbehavior is the worst.  And about half the people the dog jumps on think it’s cute.  Well, you get an 80 pound retriever jumping on your 75-year old mom and the resultant hospital trip ain’t so cute.

    Leash correction (look it up, it’s not strangling your dog with a leash, just a little attention-getting pop) will do the trick.  Put the dog on leash EVERY TIME before someone comes over.  Dog gets ready to jump (you can see them getting ready) you get ready.  Dog starts jump, just a little pop and a quiet “no”.  Reminds them “hey, I’m here and watching and that’s not ok”.  Takes a while, as do all dog trainings.

    Get the “Monks of New Skete” books and read up on what it takes to be a good dog parent.  It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, because all I want to do is snuggle the big fucker and feed him snacks, but when you own a dog, you have an obligation to make sure your dog is not an inadvertent danger to the public.  Or even annoying.

  135. 135.

    germy

    @trnc:

    Also, IGs serve across administrations, right? He needs to fire all the ones DT put in place.

    Maybe I’m naive, but I would hope those IGs DT put into place would resign rather than serve a… democrat administration.

    But then again, these people love power.

  136. 136.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    The implication in that article is that Trump has been working with ‘acting’ IGs, and presumably intends to keep doing that.  So, Biden won’t have to fire those.  He just needs to appoint actual IGs.

  137. 137.

    Citizen Alan

    @Soprano2: As I’ve said before, I honestly don’t hate Shitgibbon as much as his supporters. 63 million or so countrymen, and I literally don’t consider them to be functionally human. I honestly don’t think they have souls.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: Ah, the pizza report.

    I’ll start by saying that I’m a pretty good cook.  Not fancy, but people like what I make.

    Having said that… holy cow, the deep dish pizza last night was NOT GOOD.  In fact, I would say this was the second-worst thing I have ever made.

    The first being a broccoli casserole I made when I moved out of the dorms.  We had only frozen broccoli spears when I was growing up, so I didn’t know to cook the broccoli before I put it in the casserole.

    Do you know how long it takes to cook raw broccoli spears in a casserole on a Sunday afternoon?  It took 7 hours, I think, and the whole casserole was a disgusting sad-overcooked-green-bean color.  I offered some to my cocker spaniel – who ate everything – corn on the cob, including the cob, pineapple, she would even eat lettuce if it had touched taco meat – she turned her nose up and walked way.

    Back to the pizza… I ate two pieces, and there were probably 6 or 7 servings left.  I started to put it in bags for the fridge, but I ended up putting everything that was left in one bag and walking it right out to the garbage.

    There was NOTHING redeeming about it.  Flavor?  The deep dish crust?  No flavor, texture was bad.  Nothing like a deep dish crust is supposed to be.  The roasted onion / kalamata olive / spicy pepper combo that is PERFECT in my super-skinny flat curst pizza got totally lost with all the bread.

    Even the cheese was awful – I always buy really good mozzarella but when laying in supplies for lockdown i got some shredded mozzarella, ugh, texture was bad.  I am trying to think of one redeeming thing about it, and I am coming up empty.

    Don’t even tell me how yummy your lemon chicken with tarragon was!   (Okay, you can tell me.)

  139. 139.

    Barbara

    @germy: I have small, highly excitable dogs, so I don’t worry excessively about this issue — they only come up to knee height even when standing — but if it is when you are home and answering the door, I would start with making sure the dog responds to your command to sit or lie down, which you will tell it to do every time you open the door.  You can practice this by having a second person come to the door and you give treats, etc. until you instill the desired behavior. I have never found ignoring undesirable behavior to have much effect, although maybe it works better for dogs that are highly sociable, like goldens.  My view has always been to make sure the dog listens to you so that you can substitute a desired for an undesired behavior.

  140. 140.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Biden has exceeded my expectations.

    I have a hunch that he benefits from all the Sleepy Joe crap from the trumpies and the “he’s senile!” screeching from the Berners, then he shows up on TV and sounds pretty much like a normal person. Not an Obama or a Clinton, but remember trying to follow John Kerry through an unscripted response? and I like Kerry, but…

  141. 141.

    PST

    @germy: My approach for a jumping puppy — and mine was big even when young — was to turn and walk away without ceremony, saying over my shoulder, “Sorry, but I have to teach her that the fun ends the second she jumps.” Ignore all protestations, “It’s okay, I don’t mind.” The jumping puppy gets a kick out of meeting people and will quickly get the point. Handling inside visitors is tougher. Gotta mention that we had our first curbside pickup vet appointment this weekend. Bernie usually loves going, but not having us with her must have been strange. When she came out she stood up and put her paws on my shoulders, something I literally can’t remember her ever doing. I forgave her under the circumstances.

  143. 143.

    Barbara

    @WaterGirl: I have never understood the appeal of deep dish pizza, even when I had it in one of the primo locations for deep dish pizza in Chicago.

  145. 145.

    germy

    @The Moar You Know:  Thank you for the advice.

    It’s not my dog, she was adopted by a family member who lives nearby.

    I’ll pass on all the good info I’ve gotten here.

  147. 147.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: I not only get to see her as BatWoman, but I get a repeat of my favorite line of all time:  “Let me show you IN THIS TEXTBOOK THAT I FUCKING WROTE.”

    thanks.  I also love that she dressed as BatWoman without regard to her body shape.  It’s always the slender, hot girls who dress in costumes like that.  Go Katie!

  148. 148.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    then he shows up on TV and sounds pretty much like a normal person.

    Which, let’s face it, is what most of the country craves right now.  We’re traumatized by three years of a screaming toddler as president.  I think Biden’s “I’m a nice guy” reputation and charisma is going to be overwhelmingly important in this election.  In particular, I think the normally non-voting population who absolutely hate Trump will flock to vote for Biden’s promise of stability and decency.

  150. 150.

    Aleta

    @germy:

    Emily Latham’s  (Dogmantics) ideas have worked well for us for grown dogs and puppies.  Short videos and reading that are free.  (Using a clicker is optional–we didn’t.)     With puppies she points out other initial training that makes a big difference.  (Her advice on teaching Settle was key for us. with an untrained adult.  (Worked on our dog too. : ) )

    Examples:

    Stop jumping up!

    What to Train Your Puppy First

    Stop unwanted behavior without INTIMIDATION
    (Beginning explains why ignoring undesirable behavior and punishment can go wrong.)

  151. 151.

    PenAndKey

    @Frankensteinbeck: “The implication in that article is that Trump has been working with ‘acting’ IGs, and presumably intends to keep doing that.  So, Biden won’t have to fire those.  He just needs to appoint actual IGs.”

    This was my thought too. If they’re just acting he doesn’t even need to fire them. He just needs to give them a smile, a “thank you for your service” letter, and tell them where the door is. The only real need is the door part, but he’d do the rest and then scold anyone who tried to give him grief over it.

    As far as I know he’s under no obligation to keep a single person who is serving in an “acting” capacity on in their roll, and since they never received congressional approval for their job it’s not like Congress can tell him he has to keep them.

  152. 152.

    trnc

    @Soprano2: I didn’t know how thoroughly I could hate someone until Donald Trump became president. Every time I think I’m topped out on hatred, he does or says something else and it gets even deeper. It kind of scares me, actually, to know I can hate someone so much.

    I think W was a terrible president in so many ways, but he provided a lot of support to Africa to fight AIDS and he seemed to understand a couple of things late in his 2nd term. On a personal level, he seems like he might have been an OK guy if he hadn’t ever held public office.

    DT has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In fact, the go-to statement of “Well, he has a lovely family” from political opponents is also down the drain because every adult in his family is thoroughly awful.

  154. 154.

    raven

    @germy: The Monks of New Skete recommend you hold them up by their front paws and don’t let them down for a good bit. They no likey

     

    from a review

     

    “What a fantastic book, we have a 6 month old Rottweiler, who has a habit of pawing you n jumping up, we did what the book said n held her paws, ( not to hurt her but to make her slightly uncomfortable, it has worked,”

  155. 155.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, I’ve been thinking for a while that Trump & Co. are making a huge mistake by ratcheting down expectations for Biden. He does tend to ramble sometimes, mispronounces words, etc., but have you seen the ads they’re running? My God. If he shows up and sounds like a normal person — which he generally does — that strategy blows up in their faces.

    I thought that evil bastard Rove was pretty damn sly to talk up Gore’s debating skills up during the 2000 campaign before the first debate. All GWB had to do was not publicly soil himself, and the media fell all over itself about him exceeding expectations. The Trump people are doing the exact opposite, which is dumb.

  156. 156.

    WaterGirl

    @Barbara:  I grew up in Chicago, so I would kill for good deep dish pizza and good Italian beef.

    Luckily, we have a  great deep dish pizza place in Champaign – Papa Dels – but no great marks for any of the Italian beef.

  157. 157.

    germy

    @Betty Cracker:  Did you see Rove’s latest remarks?

    He called Obama’s graduation speech a “drive by shooting” because he was critical of the adults in charge, without mentioning trump’s name once.

  158. 158.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Betty Cracker:

    The comparison in debates is going to be shocking.  Trump has lost an enormous amount of ground in his ability to even fake being coherent since 2016.  The debates will be a visceral emphasis to the public that they’re choosing between a stupid, gibbering asshole and a nice guy who knows what he’s doing.

    For those who say Trump will refuse to debate, I point you to his COVID press conferences and what disasters they’ve been.  Trump can’t help himself.  He must get in front of the cameras, and he is absolutely convinced that he is a phenomenal public speaker and deal maker.  This seems to be one of the only issues he’s actually self-confident about.  When he fails, he just gets pissed at the unappreciative people who won’t admit how great he is.

  160. 160.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @trnc: Bush’s silence about trump is another failure to protect this country, and one made out of calculation and clan interest (George P Bush has ambition, and he’s probably not the only one among his cousins) rather than laziness or complacency or arrogance, and I wish some of my new friends among the never-trumpers would notice.

    Credit where due, I never would’ve bet Romney would stand up to trump at all, for the sake of President Tagg. And I hate to say that his vote to convict trump would look like a fart in the wind, but….

  162. 162.

    Cameron

    @trnc: Yeah, W’s statement to the country about the pandemic was so superior to anything the swinish oaf has spewed forth, I nearly fell out of my chair when I was listening to it.

  163. 163.

    germy

    Trump is moving into the Late Elvis stage of presidency. Everyone around him trying to make as much money as they can fast and doctor giving him whatever he orders up.

    — stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) May 18, 2020

  164. 164.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax: space.com/nasa-human-spaceflight-chief-doug-loverro-resigns.html

    Loverro’s departure continues a string of recent shakeups at the top of HEO [Human Exploration Operations].

    The division’s longtime leader, Bill Gersteinmaier, was reassigned in July 2019. Bowersox then took over as acting HEO chief until Loverro was announced as the successor in October.

    The top HEO job obviously comes with high expectations and a lot of pressure, especially these days. NASA is working to land two astronauts near the moon’s south pole in 2024, a tight timeline laid out by the administration of President Donald Trump just last year.

    That tight timeline may have played a large role in Loverro’s departure. While NASA did not give a reason for Loverro’s resignation when announcing it today, sources told The Washington Post’s Christian Davenport that the wheels were set in motion when Loverro broke a rule during NASA’s procurement of human landing systems for the agency’s Artemis lunar-exploration program.

    “It had nothing to do with commercial crew,” Loverro told Davenport, referring to the reason for his resignation. “It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don’t want to characterize it in any more detail than that.”

    (Emphasis added.)

    Breaking rules is bad, especially at NASA, especially with regards to human space flight.

    politico.com/news/2020/05/19/nasa-human-spaceflight-director-ousted-268327

    While the agency officially announced Loverro’s departure as a resignation, two industry officials told POLITICO that he was pushed out by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

    One cannot take anything from the Administration at face value, of course. Presumably Congress will try to investigate what happened and why.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  165. 165.

    MagdaInBlack

    @WaterGirl:

    Many (many) moons ago my SIL worked as a graphic designer for Flying Tomato Brothers…Garcias Pizza, in Champaign. I loved their pizza, but I think they no longer exist?

  166. 166.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: That’s PURE GOLD! Or maybe black velvet. Anyway, a great analogy.

    @Frankensteinbeck: Trump seems to be laying the groundwork for chickening out of the debates by complaining about network unfairness in advance, but you make a good point. Honestly, I won’t be surprised either way, but I agree if he shows up, the contrast will be shocking, and in a good way for Biden.

  167. 167.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Betty Cracker: If the debates do happen, I am hoping for a moment when Biden just looks at Trump and says, “What the fuck are you even talking about?”

  168. 168.

    Another Scott

    @low-tech cyclist: Agreed.  I wanted Warren, and though Joe should have stayed retired.  But he’s done well.

    When we emerge from this crisis, we can’t just go back to the way things were before. We need to take this country to a place we’ve never been. Where we finally live up to our highest ideals and everyone gets a full share of the American dream.

    — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 20, 2020

    +1.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  170. 170.

    dopey-o

    @germy: the best way to train a puppy not to jump up on everyone they meet is to rap their muzzle. twice was enough to stop an energetic border collie puppy brought home by mistake.

    puppy also liked to stick her muzzle in my face when I sat down, paws on the edge of my chair. Blowing hot foul human breath at the dog has discouraged that. Both actions accompanied by a firm “No!” The dog responds even when cautioned from across the room.

    Spouse and child don’t engage in this negative reinforcement. Dog still jumps up on them to receive their affection. Consistency might be an issue.

    when the wayward puppy hears me rise in the morning she waits to be invited to jump up on the bed and greet me. Sits at my elbow to be scratched and praised.

    It takes very little trouble and effort to live with a good dog. I’m sure she wishes the same were true of me.

  171. 171.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Betty Cracker:

    What really cemented my view of Trump on this matter were the letter to Erdogan and the ‘transcript’, and how he reacted to the public’s shock at both.  In both cases, he actually thought they made him look great.  He was showing off what a great deal maker he is for America!  He kept insisting people look at the documents because he could not see how he came off as anything but The Greatest President Ever.

  173. 173.

    prostratedragon

    @WaterGirl:
    My condolences. I’ve had a few such experiences, the most recent being a chili in which the beans never got near soft, while everything else just simmered to mush. Canned or at least precooked beans for me in the future.

  175. 175.

    Betty Cracker

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’d also love it if Biden asked Trump why he never renegotiated vibranium mining agreements with Wakanda because you know dumbass would try to bluff his way through it.

  176. 176.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s well within the realm of possibility.

    I’m still laughing about “his age group and shall we say his weight group.” Both Pelosi and Biden are capable of mordant wit when the occasion requires.

  177. 177.

    Kathleen

    @Baud: Betty nailed it yesterday by referring to their ilk as a pro virus movement. We (rhetorical) should start beating that drum on social media. And create a  cartoon MAGA hat wearing mascot for them. “HI! I’m Covid the MAGA Microbe!” It’s all about the branding. BTW I’m available if you need a Marketing Director for your campaign.

  179. 179.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If the debates do happen, I am hoping for a moment when Biden just looks at Trump and says, “What the fuck are you even talking about?”

    Which will doubtless be portrayed by the RWMFs as “See? Biden is senile! He doesn’t even understand the BEST words coming being spoke by Dear Leader! Suck it, libtard!!! Har!!”

    And Facebook Truth Squad will given Biden’s statement 47 Pinocchios, and Politifact will rate it as “pants on fire.”

    [Apropos of nothing: Part of me wishes that Politifact (or whoever it is), instead of giving the Murderer-in-Chief “Pants On Fire” ratings, would instead give him “Adult Diaper Soiled” ratings. Just to piss off that motherfucker. ]

  181. 181.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’d also love it if Biden asked Trump why he never renegotiated vibranium mining agreements with Wakanda because you know dumbass would try to bluff his way through it.

    Yet another reason I love you. [Figuratively speaking, of course.]

  182. 182.

    Betty Cracker

    @Frankensteinbeck: That childish letter — I’d almost forgotten it! Same dynamic with the “perfect phone call” with the Ukrainian president. He kept shrieking “read the transcript!” Uh, we did, that’s why you’re getting impeached, idiot. He really is stone stupid.

  183. 183.

    SFAW

    @Kathleen:

    BTW I’m available if you need a Marketing Director for your campaign.

    Thanks for the offer, but I do all my own grocery shopping.

  185. 185.

    Hoodie

    @Frankensteinbeck: Another thing is that many people may be underestimating Biden in a debate with Trump based on the Dem candidate debates.  He was on stage with a lot of very good debaters (Harris, Klobuchar, Warren, etc.), and Joe got a little flustered and tongue-tied with them at times because he’s not a formal debater.  Formal debaters, however, often have a hard time with bullshit artists like Trump because the formal debater tends to be psychologically limited by the habits associated with formal debate.  In contrast, Joe can be particularly effective when dealing with a pure bullshit artists like Rudy, Sarah Palin or Paul Ryan.  He can trot out the grandpa-isms like “malarkey” and telling facial expressions, which work because they refuse to even engage with the nonsense.  

  186. 186.

    Kathleen

    @Ohio Mom: I can’t stand that woman but I will give her two things. First she’s  a hell of a runner ( I can’t eat her dust in races) and I saw her one morning coaching a running group for recovering from alcohol or drug addiction which is sponsored by a local Gospel Mission. She was our of office and it was not a photo OP. I respect her for that. I’ve seen them in various races and they are inspirational.

  187. 187.

    ryk

    @WaterGirl:  Papa Dels is still around? It was the best pizza in town when I was at U of I back in the early ‘80s. Still among the best I’ve ever had. I may have to make a road trip to try them again.

  188. 188.

    WaterGirl

    @MagdaInBlack: I worked at Garcia’s in the 80s, when they were in their prime.  They still have a small place (not on campus) but I haven’t eaten there in decades because they went downhill, big time.

    We all knew one another – I wonder if I would know your SIL?

    For their sauce, they went from using 1/2 high-quality crushed tomatoes and 1/2 high-quality tomato puree TO using 1/2 crushed tomatoes and 1/2 purple beet powder mixed with water.

    They went from high-quality mozzarella cheese to fake cheese that turned purple-is from the beet powder.  Ugh.

    But they were great in their prime!

  190. 190.

    WaterGirl

    @ryk: Still around!  You can also order a partially baked frozen pizza on dry ice and have it delivered to you anywhere.  Costs an arm and a leg, though!

  192. 192.

    J R in WV

    @Betty Cracker:

    So this morning while on our first cuppa coffee wife notes today’s date.

    Then she says, in a kind of surprised voice “OH! Today’s our anniversary!” and so it is. 49 years ago today we were wed.

    Amazed, yet we are still married today!   ;-)

    That’s an ASCII emoji for those that don’t recall those.

  193. 193.

    MagdaInBlack

    @WaterGirl:

    It would have been the early 80’s, so you may have known her. Havent spoken to her in years tho shes still in that area. You may email me at the google address if you wish ☺

  195. 195.

    Barbara

    @prostratedragon: Regarding precooked beans:  What I have read — and experienced — is that beans basically stop getting softer when acid (e..g. tomato sauce) is added to the cooking liquid.  You should always precook the beans in order to avoid this problem.  I sometimes wonder when I read recipes that say something different whether they have actually tested what they are putting in the book.

  196. 196.

    J R in WV

    @prostratedragon:

    My condolences. I’ve had a few such experiences, the most recent being a chili in which the beans never got near soft, while everything else just simmered to mush. Canned or at least precooked beans for me in the future.

    I tried to cook dried garbanzo beans once… total failure, took 3 days of simmer/soak to get anywhere close to edible. Way past the day I wanted to make Hummus. Don’t recall what we ate instead of Hummus. Was a long time ago — canned garbanzos are the ticket!

    And navy beans are a close second in the uncookable lane!

  197. 197.

    MisterForkbeard

    @trnc: That’s my thought – there shouldn’t be an assumption that Trump (who fires people and puts loyal toadies in their place – ‘loyalty’ to him and the Republican Party is literally their first priority) has any good hires.

    Make people interview for their jobs.

  199. 199.

    JPL

    @Ksmiami: What seems like decades ago now, but in reality the year before last, I told my son that republicans used to be  sane.   Recently i told him I was delusional and to forget what I said.   They always deserved to be …………. (fill in the  blank)

  200. 200.

    Geeno

    @germy: My friend (who raises the best behaved dogs ever) told me to tell them to “SIT!” – if you just say “NO!”, they don’t know what you want them to do – so give them the command so they know what to do. As you keep doing they will come to understand that this is a situation where master wants me to sit, and you won’t have to tell them explicitly anymore.

  203. 203.

    Origuy

    Glad to hear Papa Del’s is still in business. I used to live only a few blocks from there. Garcia’s was are regular stop, Papa’s was for special occasions. One time I stopped in Chicago on my way back from Indiana after Christmas. I decided to try several deep dish places. Lou Malnati’s came out ahead, although Giordano’s was pretty close. Geno’s East wasn’t bad either. I think PIzzaria Uno has been riding on its fame.

  207. 207.

    sgrAstar

    @The Moar You Know:  second the recommendation for the Monks of New Skete. Their philosophy is based on respecting your dog; their approach is strict, loving, and effective.

     

    ?

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