Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Second rate reporter says what?

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The words do not have to be perfect.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Life Goes On, Mostly

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Life Goes On, Mostly

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177Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Blech. I didn’t see any marijuana amongst those potted plants and I know MJ enjoys classical music quite a lot. Why this blatant discrimination from the elites?

  2. 2.

    spudgun

    I am pleasantly surprised to discover that Chuck Yeager is still alive! A national treasure—

    Also somewhat surprised to discover that the trumpy NASA admin isn’t completely useless…naming the HQ after Mary Jackson is a wonderful thing.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Heh.

    GOP Sens. Cornyn and Cruz say they don’t understand why federal funds are being pulled from coronavirus testing sites

    Ted should ask his wife why.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    Quite worth carving out a few minutes to read through the linked piece in full. An excerpt to whet interest:

    An Air Force veteran who is a current Maryland police officer said his police academy emphasized “killology,” the training program by retired Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman that coaches how to be mentally prepared to kill.

    “I think that is so toxic,” said the officer, who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    When other police officers suggest that the combat tactics and weaponry the military used overseas are needed to secure U.S. streets, it frustrates him. “We are not fighting an insurgency,” the officer said. “We are not occupying a neighborhood and trying to win hearts and minds.”

    Many police training camps units attend are offered by weapons manufacturers, and led by former military special operations forces…. Source

  5. 5.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    My new book (The Wysman) officially comes out today. The ebooks should be going out, but the paperback is out of stock pretty much everywhere. From what I can tell, Amazon and other online sellers shipped out a few and then ran out, and the printer is slow because of the pandemic. I find this infuriating.

  6. 6.

    spudgun

    Also also very pleased to see Joy-Ann Reid get a prime time slot – it’s about time!

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I am shocked, shocked I tell you: Violence by far-right is among US’s most dangerous terrorist threats, study finds

    Violence by far-right groups and individuals has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorist threats faced by US law enforcement and triggered a wave of warnings and arrests of people associated with those extremist movements. The most recent in-depth analysis of far-right terrorism comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

    In a report released last week, the Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States, CSIS analyses 25 years of domestic terrorism incidents and finds that the majority of attacks and plots have come from the far right.

    The report says “the majority of all terrorist incidents in the United States since 1994, and the total number of rightwing attacks and plots has grown significantly during the past six years”, with the far right launching two-thirds of attacks and plots in 2019, and 90% of those in 2020. The report adds: “Far-right terrorism has significantly outpaced terrorism from other types of perpetrators.” The second most significant source of attacks and plots in the US has been “religious extremists”, almost all “Salafi jihadists inspired by the Islamic State and al-Qaida”.

    The report shows the far left has been an increasingly negligible source of attacks since the mid 2000s. At that time the FBI defined arsons and other forms of property damage as domestic terrorism during a period some have called the “Green Scare”.

    The CSIS study came during a new wave of terror attacks and plots from white supremacist and anti-government extremists.

    If the BLM protests have shown us anything, it is that property is still valued more than lives.

  12. 12.

    Emma from FL

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I know. I have a preorder for the paperback and it’s listed as “currently unavailable.” I just bought the Kindle version so I can have something to read this weekend to counteract the madness of reality (paperback order still stands, of course).

  14. 14.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Emma from FL: Oh thank you! The unavailability of the paperback makes me want to cry. My tiny publisher knocked themselves out to get the word out, and now people can’t get the physical. book. You know some people will look at that and think “well, I’ll check back another time” and then not do it.

    Anyhoo (as Betty says), I hope you enjoy the book.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @OzarkHillbilly: Further down in the article:

    Mike German, Brennan Center fellow, is a former FBI agent who investigated rightwing extremists but is now focused on law enforcement and intelligence oversight and reform. He sees arguments for domestic terror statutes as part of a broader reorientation of the “national security establishment” away from conflicts in the Middle East.

    German attributes this move to a realization “that Isis and al-Qaida were were not as threatening to Americans as they had been, and that foreign counter-terrorism in general was sort of running out of steam”.

    German said: “It’s a way of expanding the target realm that gives the counterterrorism enterprise targets that they can use to to get statistical accomplishments, rather than looking at whether or not the violence itself is reduced.”

    German has argued federal authorities should prioritize the investigation of the violent crimes of far right extremists, and call them terrorist acts where appropriate, but that they should be prosecuted using existing laws, with a consideration of alternative responses like restorative justice.

    He added: “When I worked these cases in the 1990s, no one suggested that we didn’t have sufficient legal authority.”

    Interesting choice of words, that “counterterrorism enterprise”, kind of chilling in fact.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Oooooff: ‘One in a 50m chance’: woman with two wombs carrying a twin in each

    Kelly Fairhurst, 28, only learned she had uterus didelphys, a condition where a woman has two wombs, when she went for her 12-week scan. She was also told she was carrying twins, one in each womb.

    “The twins could be identical. The condition itself is quite rare but they went on to tell me that it was a one in a 50m chance for me to conceive twins in each womb,” she told the Sun.

    Fairhurst, who was also surprised to be told she had two cervixes, already has two daughters, aged three and four. “With my second baby they said that I might have a bicornuate uterus, which means it’s not fully formed. So when I went for this scan, I was really surprised to learn that I have two of them.

    “I just thought, ‘God, that’s a shock.’ It makes you feel incredibly grateful that this has happened to you and you get to have two amazing babies.”

  22. 22.

    Narya

    Good morning! Kitchen electricity is still in process. They work very cleanly and neatly. Walls next week maybe? And floor would be nice but probably optimistic.

  23. 23.

    Peale

    @OzarkHillbilly: I can’t tell if that’s a potential evolutionary step forward or a the expression of a regression. Personally I would have liked us to be heading in the direction of monotremes, but you take what you can get.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: A friend of mine had 2 pregnancies, 2 sets of twins. Was told the next time it would likely be triplets or more.

    Getting her tubes tied was the easiest decision she ever made.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Wow.   I can’t imagine.  I was shocked when I found out you couldn’t get your tubes tied in a catholic hospital without going through a bunch of bullshit.  Life at risk, husband approves, etc.

  33. 33.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Sab: @rikyrah: @MomSense: My publisher and I both thank you! I hope you like this one. One of my goals was to make the women be strong characters without any of them being warriors (which in YA fantasy is the default strong woman character)

    @WereBear: People could put it on their wish lists! That’s a great idea.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: After my kidney stone they sent me to the only urologist out here, at the Catholic Hospital up in Washington. I am really not comfortable using them. I just don’t like my healthcare being viewed thru Catholic dogma.

  39. 39.

    Robert Sneddon

    @WereBear:

    “Oh, write for us a trilogy,

    A five or ten book trilogy,

    oh write for us a trilogeeeeee…

    we’ll publish it NEXT WEEK!”

  43. 43.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    She actually talks to him?

    I figured that he’s gotten four years of the silent treatment.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    @JPL:

    If so, I hope he’s found out. He’s making this like his “sacrifice” for Law and Order. ?

  45. 45.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    Absolutely. He’s sounding far less fumbling than at the beginning. However this is happening, he really needs to keep this up.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Head? Meet desk.

    The UK government’s plan to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in a satellite broadband company has been described as “nonsensical” by experts, who say the company doesn’t even make the right type of satellite the country needs after Brexit.

    The investment in OneWeb, first reported on Thursday night, is intended to mitigate against the UK losing access to the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system. But OneWeb – in which the UK will own a 20% stake following the investment – currently operates a completely different type of satellite network from that typically used to run such navigation systems.

    “The fundamental starting point is, yes, we’ve bought the wrong satellites,” said Dr Bleddyn Bowen, a space policy expert at the University of Leicester. “OneWeb is working on basically the same idea as Elon Musk’s Starlink: a mega-constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, which are used to connect people on the ground to the internet.

    “What’s happened is that the very talented lobbyists at OneWeb have convinced the government that we can completely redesign some of the satellites to piggyback a navigation payload on it. It’s bolting an unproven technology on to a mega-constellation that’s designed to do something else. It’s a tech and business gamble.”

    Giles Thorne, a research analyst at Jeffries, agreed. “This situation is nonsensical to me,” he said. “This situation looks like nationalism trumping solid industrial policy.”

    So why do this?

    Rather than being selected for the quality of the offering, Thorne suggested the investment was made to suit “a nationalist agenda”. OneWeb is nominally a UK business, with a UK HQ and spectrum rights registered in the UK through Ofcom.
    ………………………….
    OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in March in the US, where most of its operations are located, after failing to secure new funding.

  47. 47.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    Someone could do a dark drama about Mayberry. Same level of casual relationships, but they treat their local poors and POC like police Department really acted then.

  49. 49.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @WereBear: Does anyone really believe GRRM anymore? Or care about that overblown crap the mook has actually written?

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    Beyond trivial yet found it amusing.

    Ordered four small items over a week ago from Amazon. Coming in four separate shipments, for whatever reason.

    The one item which had an estimated delivery date between July 9 – 15 showed up here yesterday (the only thing in the order not for me, intended as a thank you gift for whenever I next see the person) . The other three, each with a different delivery date window in June, still somewhere in transit.

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    He never sounded fumbling. He’s always been the same. He does have a stutter, but his mind has always been crystal-clear.

  55. 55.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud:

    GOP Sens. Cornyn and Cruz say they don’t understand why federal funds are being pulled from coronavirus testing sites

    BECAUSE YOU SUPPORTED AND PROTECTED AN INCOMPETENT NARCISSIST FOOL FOR PRESIDENT YOU FUCKING MORONS!

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    Some light reading:

    Just got casually heckled by a stranger in Central Park for being a man with a stroller. Bro, give me a minute to change a diaper and wipe the applesauce off his face, then I will fuck you up.

    — Ted Berg (@OGTedBerg) June 26, 2020

  59. 59.

    Emma from FL

    @rikyrah: Wait and see how they turn on ANY woman of color he picks. It’s the mysogyny-racist stew with nasty innuendo seasoning.

  60. 60.

    Sab

    Trying to bake husband a birthday cake secretly, but he didn’t go to bed until 1 am last night, and he is late for his morning nap. Grrr. I need to schedule it around trip to bank drive-thru window this morning, and that usually takes at least an hour in line.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    @zhena gogolia:

    Not so. It wasn’t the stutter that I’m talking about. It was more unsureness about where the sentence was headed. Regardless, he’s a much more composed speaker.

    Whatever.

  63. 63.

    Emma from FL

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I gave up pretty much half-way through the first book. As I have said before. if I want to read about unpleasant people doing unpleasant things I will pick up a nice fat tome on Italian medieval dynastic battles.

    Though I did get a kick watching youtube reaction videos about Arya killing the Night King. Sheesh. Any YA author or reader worth her salt could have told them the girl would play a big part in the story.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    I went thru a McDonald’s drive thru in Grand Rapids MI last week and the car ahead of me – a young woman in a beat up minivan- paid for my breakfast. I was surprised by this and managed to try to get her attention and mouth “thank you!”, holding my iced coffee up but she sped away.

    I told my youngest this and he said “so you paid for the person behind you” as if that’s the way this drive thru chain letter works and everyone knows it. No. It never occurred to me. I thought I was supposed to reflect on generosity and maybe “pay it forward” sometime in the future (if I remember to- doubtful) but I wasn’t ready for an immediate “pay it forward”. It was all I could do to try to thank her.

  67. 67.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Emma from FL:

    We don’t get HBO, but I was following season one on a discussion list. I’d read 4 of the books by then, so I knew what was coming. I really enjoyed the reactions the day Ned Stark met his fate. Call me twisted!

  71. 71.

    NotMax

    @Kay

    Back before shelling out at a toll booth meant deciding which limb to sacrifice used to often pay for one or two cars behind me.

  72. 72.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Good editors really are the unsung heroes of the publishing world. By the time GRRM realized he needed one to save his ass it was too late.

  73. 73.

    Emma from FL

    @WereBear: Arya met ALL the criteria for the Hero Hidden in Plain Sight. 1. Unusual upbringing 2. Unusual abilities 3. Unusual training 4. Unusual bloody-mindedness.

    Most HHPS have two or more. She had all of them.

    (added) And the bitching from the “What about Jon? He’s the HEEEEROOOOO” contingent made it even more hysterical.

  74. 74.

    Raven

    @NotMax:  we pulled up to an automatic toll booth that had jammed and was full of money and my old man pulled the station wagon up and shoveled away!

  76. 76.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Emma from FL: Sure, Jon Snow is the hero, but he’s also a noble idiot. That’s what some fans didn’t understand. Snow’s cluelessness gets in the way of his good intentions most of the time.

  80. 80.

    EthylEster

    @spudgun: I was surprised, too, when I saw Yeager’s name on the tweet. And I watched Hidden Figures about a month ago. Good movie.

  82. 82.

    Miss Bianca

    @OzarkHillbilly: It’s almost like everything they say is bullshit, isn’t it?

    Meanwhile, because the “Patriots” in my county couldn’t get a waiver for the July 4 parade, they’ve decided to turn it into a “protest”, isn’t that neat? And since the parade usually features open-carry nuts from wherever the organizers can scrounge them up, we’ll probably *actually* have “busloads” – or at least a pick-up truckload or two – of anti-anitifa coming in. Guess who *isn’t* going to be downtown among the howling unmasked?

  83. 83.

    burnspbesq

    @MomSense:

     I was shocked when I found out you couldn’t get your tubes tied in a catholic hospital without going through a bunch of bullshit.

    In many mergers between Catholic and other health systems, it’s written into the deal docs that the Catholic system’s rules about stuff like that govern the merged entity. Sucks, but there’s no obvious legal way to prevent it.

  84. 84.

    Emma from FL

    @The Thin Black Duke: Well, based on what I know (mostly people keeping me updated on the tv show because, you know, I read fantasy and science fiction and of course I would be interested *rolls eyes like a slot machine*) Jon is positioned as the Great Sacrificial Savior or the Leader Without Ambition.

    In fact, the characters all seem to be taken from the Manual of Fantasy Heroes. Mind you, it works at some level, because it springs from old human psycho-types.

  86. 86.

    Emma from FL

    @burnspbesq: Sure it can. Pass a law that says “not everyone is a Catholic so you either follow the requests of the patient or you’re out of the federal gravy train.”

  89. 89.

    Emma from FL

    @burnspbesq: So a woman’s health is conditional to an organization’s desire for more money. Well, then, I think women should prioritize Planned Parenthood as their charity of choice. Screw everything else and save ourselves.

  93. 93.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Emma from FL: Yeah, but what literary character isn’t a stereotype? Good writers add nuance and complexity, bad writers are unable to make their characters step outside of their predesigned boxes. To my mind, GRRM’s Jon Snow is a clever subversion of the Heroic Savior cliche. When folks say, “You know nothing, Jon Snow”, it’s true.

  94. 94.

    raven

    @danielx: I just put the first coat on our front porch after 4 days of prep. The instructions say to wait 7 days to put the furniture back so we’re gonna look like the Beverly Hillbillies til Saturday next (as they say ’round here.

  95. 95.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Steeplejack: @Miss Bianca: @SiubhanDuinne: @pamelabrown53: @FelonyGovt: This is all good. You’re making me feel better about the paperback debacle.

    In the meantime, here’s a fun thing. It’s an interview that this blogger, Rob Kent, did jointly with me and my editor (Sara). There’s a podcast version and a video. We were in 3 different time zones. We talked about the editor/author relationship, among other things. You’ll be able to tell me and Sara apart on the podcast because she’s the one with the British accent.

  97. 97.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Emma from FL: They can’t lay a fecal-finger-of-fate on Uncle Joe, so you know they’ll go after his running mate the second she’s announced:

    Biden is OLD! He’s SICK! He’s GONNA DIE SOON! And when he does, {insert name of VP} will be running the country! You gonna let that {insert long list of gender & racial & political slurs} become President??!?!?!??

    IMO it’s lame & will blow up in their faces, but (like McCain with Palin in 2008) it’s probably the only shot they’ve got. So brace yourselves.

  98. 98.

    trnc

    I’ve gone to the google news roundup to see if the Russia/Afghanistan Murder Squad story was in there, but it’s not. Even searching Russia doesn’t bring it anywhere close to the top.

    Anyway, maybe some of the military money diverted to the wall could have been used to protect US soldiers. It looks like we got a minor win for now on that front, but the TRAGiK (Thomas, Roberts, Alito, etc) will probably throw the Appeals ruling over the side.

  99. 99.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Uncle Cosmo: The Crooked Media guys have a new podcast called like something like “That’s the Ticket.” It’s only going to be 3 episodes about the how the VP selection works. Yesterday the first episode went up, and among other things, they talked about the failure of vetting that led to Sarah Palin.

  100. 100.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Emma from FL: I gave up pretty much half-way through the first book.

    Same here. Couple years back I managed to cop a pristine trade-paperback edition for free from The Book Thing & thought, This is a sign from doG that I must read this … & roughly 300 pages in realized that I didn’t give a flying fuck about any of the characters. (Next week I turned it back in.)

  101. 101.

    danielx

    @raven:

    Took three days for the finish I used after three days of prep. Had porch and deck stuff in the back yard for two weeks and I’m sure the neighbors were tired of it.
    Eta: three days of drying before bringing furniture in, finish took about three hours of hand brushing. Sorta hard on knees and back, but worth it.

  102. 102.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I would imagine they covered (or will cover) the most consequential failure-of-vetting in my lifetime, Tom Eagleton in 1972. If George McGovern had any sort of chance against Tricky Dick, that squashed it. (And IMO the disqualifying factor for Eagleton, a solid youngish Senator from MO, was less his depression than the electroshock treatments he’d had to treat it.)

    (ETA: Apparently Eagleton in an earlier private conversation with Robert Novak said McGovern was “in favor of amnesty, abortion and the legalization of pot.” (Read about it here.) Hiding his mental health history looks pretty cynical & careerist in that context. Too bad that quote didn’t surface earlier – it would’ve kept McGovern (one of the decentest men ever to run for President IMHO) far away from that fatal mistake.)

  104. 104.

    frosty

    @Narya: You know your electrician is good when at the end, the slots in the screws for the switchplates are all in line.

  105. 105.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Uncle Cosmo: I know a couple folks who’ve had electro shock therapy. I’m not sure what you think it is, but it’s not what most people think it is, and it certainly wouldn’t be disqualifying.

  106. 106.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Emma from FL: Going deeper then, it was fascinating to see how Snow’s narrative arc was resolved. True, he was given the opportunity to fulfill his destiny and kill The Big Bad, but the villain was the woman he loved, and he was only able to do by being treacherous. Snow was only able to get close enough to stab Denerys by lying to her. The act was a betrayal of everything in himself he valued. Again, a subtle deconstruction of the usual fantasy tropes.

  107. 107.

    raven

    @danielx: We’ve got a lot out stuff out front but her wonderful flowers draw the eye away. This is a recoat so I’m just rolling it on.

  108. 108.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    This is back in the 1970s, but when my dad was dying, his doctor (a life-long friend) was Catholic and affiliated with a Catholic hospital. Even so, with the full cooperation of the hospital and nursing staff, he made no effort to extend my father’s life or cause him any discomfort. They wouldn’t “mercy kill” my father, but they constantly attended and cared for him.

    That’d never happen today.

  111. 111.

    Alison Rose

    Honestly, GRRM shouldn’t say a damn word until that word is THE BOOK IS DONE AND IS OFF TO THE PUBLISHERS. I don’t remember fuck all about where the last book left off, and I’m sure not going to reread that massive thing to get caught up…but of course I’m still going to buy the new one because I’m trash.

    In other uplifting, positive, happy news, here are two women politicians telling Trump to go fuck himself:

    Oakland Officials Fire Back After Trump Says City is Like ‘Living in Hell’

    Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf didn’t mince words when she fired back at the president on Twitter saying, “Hell is another four years of this racist in the White House.”

    Rep. Barbare Lee (D-Oakland) also sounded off saying, “We understand that a beautiful, creative, strong, enlightened and diverse town like Oakland must seem like hell to you, so please feel free to never come here.”

    Yes please and thank you.

  113. 113.

    debbie

    @Emma from FL:

    Never read the books, but based on having watched the series, Arya was the true hero, and John should not have been banished.

    I would have liked the ending to be someone thanking John and then John ripping off his face to show that it had been Arya the whole time.

  114. 114.

    Wolvesvalley

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I posted this reply to you last night in the Friday Evening Respite thread, but it was already dead:

    Since this is a respite thread, I guess it’s not too OT to tell you how much I’m looking forward to having The Wysman show up on my Kindle tomorrow. While waiting for it, I got and read Deep as a Tomb and enjoyed it as much as The Wind Reader. Maybe even more, in some respects: I loved the concept of The Forest and its feline deity (which I think I might start visualizing as a caracal).

    I checked my Kindle at midnight and there was The Wysman. I read the first four chapters before I had to stop at 1 a.m. I am enjoying it very much — and it really is a respite!

    I think it was C. S. Lewis who said that a children’s book that couldn’t be enjoyed by adults wasn’t a good children’s book. If the YA category had existed when he said that, I’m sure he would have included it in his statement. Your novels certainly are enjoyable by more than their target audience. A good story is a good story, no matter what.

  115. 115.

    Emma from FL

    @debbie: Well, they had different roles. Mind you, from what I have been told, that series ended in cliffhangers all around.

  117. 117.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Emma from FL: Although it might be heresy to say so, I actually preferred the TV series (yes, even in spite of the problematic last season) to the novels.

  118. 118.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Wolvesvalley: I totally missed your comment last night. Thank you so much for telling me that. My publisher got me a lot of Goodread reviews for the new book, and reading them has been an interesting experience. They range from 5-star enthusiasm to 1- or 2-star remarks by readers who need a good slap in the face for whom the book was not a good match.

    CS Lewis was right. I’m currently reading Rick Reardon’s Magnus Chase and enjoying it no end.

  119. 119.

    Steeplejack

    Facemask theater:

    Does this keep happening because all of the community theatres are closed, or …
    https://t.co/91QVdSioOd

    — Niccole Thurman (@niccolethurman) June 27, 2020

    @m_sterling: Saw this guy’s Willie Loman in “Death of a Salesman” with the St. Lucie Rep, and it was a revelation.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: There is a fairly new treatment for depression involving magnetic stimulation of the brain. My landlord tried it and got badly needed relief from his depression.               My own depression self care program is to get plenty of sleep, and stay away from people with negative energy

  121. 121.

    Wolvesvalley

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I found the C. S. Lewis comment. It is in “On Stories,” originally published in Essays Presented to Charles Williams (1947).

    It is usual to speak in a playfully apologetic tone about one’s adult enjoyment of what are called ‘children’s books’. I think the convention a silly one. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty — except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all. A mature palate will probably not much care for crême de menthe: but it ought still to enjoy bread and butter and honey.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    This just in:

    From a nurse friend:

    Greetings from your friend who almost never posts on her own page! How is everybody? Did y’all hear the FDA just approved a drug that reduces your chance of getting COVID-19 by up to 5X—and drastically reduces your chances of spreading the disease, up to 100%?

    It’s trade name is called Wearamaskasshole. Side effects include mild inconvenience, possible fake victim complex, fear of people thinking you are a sheeple, being ostracized by your anti-vax plandemic bros, and the power to stop your own asymptomatic transmission as this country stubbornly dives right on toward that second wave.

    Check with your doctor (or really anyone) to see if it’s right for you.

  125. 125.

    Spanky

    @Geminid:

    My own depression self care program is to get plenty of sleep, and stay away from people with negative energy

    Sounds like bj may not be the healthiest place to hang.

  126. 126.

    Miss Bianca

    @Steeplejack (phone): I like it!

    The little natural foods grocery store in my little town, which is usually very quiet when I go in, was full of cheerful, maskless out-of-towners yesterday. Proprietress and I were the only ones masked up. I felt like spitting, but that would have been a). rude, and b). problematic, what with the facial barrier and all.

    Got a shopping trip this morning lined up for the big city (Canon City, whoo!) and I am not looking forward to it. Fuck Americans and their “you’re not the boss of me” bullshit, fuck the Electoral College for saddling us with a POTUS who encourages this attitude, and fuck Trump most of all.

  127. 127.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly: I know a couple folks who’ve had electro shock therapy. I’m not sure what you think it is –

    What I “think it is” is immaterial – I cast one vote out of >76 million for the two major candidates in that election.

    – but it’s not what most people think it is, and it certainly wouldn’t be disqualifying.

    For electoral purposes, what matters is PRECISELY what “most people think it is.” And what do you think that might have been ca. 1972? John Q Average Voter didn’t even want to acknowledge the existence of “emotional illness” back then. He certainly wasn’t going to vote for someone messed up enough to have had electricity run through his brain to treat it.

    It most certainly WAS disqualifying at the time. And more than likely would be today. And only someone completely out of touch with the average voter would think otherwise.

  128. 128.

    prostratedragon

    @spudgun:

    Also somewhat surprised to discover that the trumpy NASA admin isn’t completely useless…naming the HQ after Mary Jackson is a wonderful thing.

    Wait’ll they find out she wasn’t Andrew Jackson’s mother.

  129. 129.

    The Moar You Know

    There is no one beating Donald Trump better than Donald Trump, @JoeBiden don’t let him bait you. Give him room to defeat himself. #DeadlineWhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/PBecoNxihf— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 27, 2020

    @rikyrah:  First time in my life that I can say I am 100%, no reservations, in total agreement with the good Reverend.

    Biden doesn’t have to do jack shit to win this.  WE do; we need money, election lawyers and GOTV and a lot of all of those.

    But I think this stratagem, if it is even that, of just broadcasting from Biden Studios while Trump decides every day is “step on a lot of rakes day” is working just fucking fine.

  130. 130.

    prostratedragon

    @Baud:
    Of course Barney Fife did buy that German military issue sidecar motorbike. (I’m late as all get out, surely someone has already mentioned this.)

  131. 131.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I respectfully disagree. I don’t think the electorate of 2020 would (on average) be able to imagine that electric shocks to the brain wouldn’t turn it into mush. Certainly not after the Far Right Wurlitzer got through with the candidate.

    (ETA: As Mencken wrote in the Sept. 19, 1926 edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune, “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” You could look it up.)

  132. 132.

    evodevo

    @Emma from FL: Yep.. This..Univ of Louisville hospital and a couple other healthcare entities were supposed to be discussing a merger last year (they’ve been trying since 2012), and our beloved Gov. (Blessed Be His Name) vetoed it, citing “constitutional and public policy questions about the influence of a religious entity on a publicly owned institution, especially regarding reproductive issues.”    Catholic institutions all over the country have been bargaining for mergers with local hospitals for years, and many times don’t receive the pushback needed to scotch their social agenda.  Be careful what ER you go to…you may not be able to get the care you want, if the local bishops don’t approve…

    https://louisvillefuture.com/archived-news/sources-u-of-l-merger-proposals-include-negotiations-with-catholic-health-charities/

  133. 133.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @trnc:

    Even searching Russia doesn’t bring it anywhere close to the top.

    I guarantee the troops know or will find out fast, and if Adam’s reaction is any indication, they will be enraged.  This is worse than all the shit Trump has pulled on them so far combined.  I’ve never seen Adam so angry.

  134. 134.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I was surprised too. They said if it was discovered in vetting, they could probably work around it.

    One of them ran the VP vetting for Obama and described sneaking the three finalists in for interviews. They were told to wear nondescript clothing and flown to where Obama was by private plane. So the woman who met Biden at the airport was horrified to see him get off the plane in aviator glasses and a bomber jacket, waving to a bunch of old folks. She said he looked exactly like himself, but probably thought he’d followed directions.

  135. 135.

    prostratedragon

    @NotMax:  I ordered a book in May that shipped May 28. They claim USPS attempted delivery unsuccessfully on June 12, which is questionable because this is a highrise building where people get packages all the time. Most days there’s a separate run by a package carrier in addition to letterbox mail. They say they will try again, and I rescheduled for last Monday. I am still waiting for my book.

  136. 136.

    Gvg

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Rick Riordan, yes, I started the series to check out a recommendation for my nephews age group. He is dyslexic, and learning to read was a chore for him, so we really wanted to find enjoyable books for him. I really enjoy the series.

  137. 137.

    Geminid

    @Spanky: Yeah, there is a lot of angry venting and some argumentative commenters, but I can scroll past what I don’t like. Overall, I find bj a good hearted community and give credit for that to the front pagers and most commenters. And the founder.

  138. 138.

    Wolvesvalley

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It may not be the printer’s fault. My husband was waiting for the latest volume of an annual periodical (hardbound book) from a publisher in Germany. It didn’t come and didn’t come. When he inquired about it, they said they couldn’t get shipping space because flights were cut back so much that only first-class mail was being accepted. They finally sent him a PDF.

  139. 139.

    StringOnAStick

    Any wood workers here with an opinion about tung oil finishes?  I just stripped my husband’s dresser that was his father’s And has some cool family history.  Under that muddy yellow water stained shellac is gorgeous maple with lots of birds eyes and very tight grain.  It’s from at least the 1930’s.  Rather than varnish it in thinking tung oil finish is the proper choice; opinions?

    thank you kindle for turning ‘woodworkers ‘ into ‘woodpeckers ‘

  140. 140.

    Another Scott

    NEW: Black Democrats are torn between Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren for Biden’s VP.

    To some activists, a diverse ticket is paramount. But polls show black Dem voters prefer Warren.

    Both have reached an advanced vetting stage, per sources familiar.https://t.co/CxTPSnuveq

    — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 27, 2020

    True? Dunno. (I haven’t read the story and checked the polling details.)

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    trnc

    @Frankensteinbeck: I guarantee the troops know or will find out fast, and if Adam’s reaction is any indication, they will be enraged.

    I agree, but it’s the kind of story that no one should have to search for. I’m holding out a tiny bit of hope that it will carried more starting Monday when more people might be paying attention. In fact, all media orgs should have a policy that all Friday night news dumps of any significance get blasted out on the following Monday.

  144. 144.

    L85NJGT

    Trump is fundraising using the sort of email marketers that pop up in empty Class B office space. The copy is pure multi-level marketing. Is he running for re-election, or are they putting an email list together to sell timeshares?

  146. 146.

    L85NJGT

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    McGovern: I know, it was really unfair. What he should have done, he should have taken the responsibility for stepping down rather than putting the responsibility on me.

     

    Is anybody open to the possibility that the problem in 1972 might have been the candidate? Like, maybe… George McGovern was a dipshit?

    At every crisis in the campaign McGovern appeared to be – was perceived to be – and, in fact, was indecisive… for unnatural periods of time.
    — Hunter Thompson

  147. 147.

    Geminid

    @StringOnAStick: oil is better than varnish. Best done under dry conditions as the wood will be more absorbent. It doesn’t hurt to have warm oil. I helped a topnotch furniture maker apply oil several times to a piece. He let it dry and sanded it after the first and second coats (the oil very slightly raises the grain.)  He used very fine sandpaper-maybe 220 and 320, maybe higher. The finish was like glass.            A good thing about oil is that it polymerizes with the wood and hardens it, and is easily applied to scraped or worn places without prep.

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @Geminid: The NBC News story cites several polls but the questions may be of varying quality.

    In a CBS News poll last month, Warren topped the list of prospects that Democrats wanted Biden to consider, followed by Harris. Warren even led among Black Democrats — 72 percent said she should be considered, with 60 percent saying the same of Harris.

    :-/

    The May MorningConsult poll. See the graphic on the left. The story has a link to the cross-tabs.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the differences (outside of the activists) is in name recognition. The debates were in the Before Times oh so long ago.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  151. 151.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I have to confess, after half a year of pandemic, I am showing signs of cabin fever.

    half a year? doesn’t he live in New Mexico? we’re not even at four months

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Another Scott:

    “Descriptive representation is not enough. It’s not enough just to have a Black face in a high place,” Giger said by phone. “We need someone to actually champion our positions in a real way and she’s the best there is.”
    Giger argued that Warren’s policy record, such as crafting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and her aggressive oversight of Wall Street, shows she’s “ready on day one” and resembles what the Black community needs.

    so the cult of the presidency is now the cult of the vice-presidency?

  153. 153.

    Geminid

    @StringOnAStick: re finishing: after sanding the piece was hit with compressed air to remove the dust, then wiped down with some kind of soft white cotton cloth dampened with solvent.  If you don’t  sand between coats the piece will still look fine,just not as shiny which can be a good thing. Several coats are worthwhile, if you can wait a day to let the previous coat dry,and the wood still “takes” the oil.

  154. 154.

    debbie

    @StringOnAStick:

    I’m no woodworker, but I’ve used tung oil on a few unfinished picture frames I painted. It’s almost soothing rubbing in multiple coats until you get the finish you want. I have no idea how difficult it would be for a piece of furniture (especially getting an even coat), but the smooth luster you end up with is beautiful.

  157. 157.

    Geminid

    @Another Scott: Thanks, good info. I voted for Warren in the Virginia primary but I would rather not see her picked as VP for several reasons, not least being that she is an excellent crafter of and advocate for good  legislation, and can do a lot of good as a Senator. I thought her climate change plan was excellent. I wish she had emphasized it more, and spent less time on wine caves and more on windmills.    But then Inslee made it his signature issue and got no traction.         Clean energy, conservation,  and modernizing the grid can be potent generators of economic growth. In 2018 Michelle Lujan Griffen ran on a clean power platform and won the New Mexico  governorship. I hope the next Congress can put through good legislation in this area. Warren’s  plan would be a good template.

  159. 159.

    Chris Johnson

    @Geminid: I know Warren’s the one Russia would least like to see near the Presidency, because I watched their people embedded in progressive circles go BALLISTIC against her, from real early on.

    Around here, I hope it’s not Warren (unless she’d really prefer that to being a Senator?) because I’m not sure I can take schrodinger’s cat for the next four years if it is :D

  160. 160.

    Another Scott

    One for Cheryl:

    Waiting for confirmation. https://t.co/YlADzO6LVj

    — Craig Mazin (@clmazin) June 27, 2020

    (Points to:)

    BREAKING – Sensors in Sweden have detected a rise in nuclear particles from somewhere near on or near the Baltic Sea. The Stockholm monitoring station detected 3isotopes; Cs-134, Cs-137 & Ru-103 associated with nuclear fission at higher than usual levels. pic.twitter.com/tkLsMqZK62

    — Disclose.tv ? (@disclosetv) June 27, 2020

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  161. 161.

    J R in WV

    I just hope Biden and his staff make a wise decision. And the “increased vetting” after the Eagleton pick didn’t help Senator McCain when he picked the Alaskan Sarah.

    Thank dog those two didn’t get elected, would have made trump look good, I think!

  167. 167.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @trnc: This kind of story travels quickly through the military.  They were putting bounties on soldiers’ heads.  It will not sit will.

  170. 170.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Evan Bayh, wasn’t it ? Oy.

    I also want to know who the imperious farter is, who demanded a saucer with his coffee. I thought it was Bayh (because I don’t like him, honestly), but then a couple minutes later she said he was very nice and down-to-earth. I think the flatulent dick was part of Kerry’s search.

  171. 171.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack:  The Daily Mail had a good story on the bounties. The headline emphasized the three month delay in briefing the British government, whose troops were also subject to the rewards. I think this story will have legs.

  172. 172.

    oopzwtf

    Sharing the NASA news about Mary Jackson by way of a little Chucky Yeager tweet is either someones weird sense of humor, or just flat out rude.

    Chucky is to aviation what rampmaster is to real estate, with a lot of the same bloviating and racism and misogyny. Which is to be expected from a 100 year old WV hillbilly. Chuck worked hard to prevent women and african americans from getting anywhere in the Air Force or NASA.

    Also too, he’ll probably try to bill you 50 bucks for using his tweet.

    Also too too, his twitter bio has him claiming to be first to exceed mach 2, which is a flat out lie, as it was Scott Crossfield, who was a better human, better aviator, better english speaker, and way way better test pilot.

    I mean, next we’ll have Buzz claiming to be first to walk the moon, after Neil made sure it was safe.

  173. 173.

    catclub

    @L85NJGT: Is he running for re-election, or are they putting an email list together to sell timeshares?

     

    why not both?

  174. 174.

    catclub

    @Omnes Omnibus: They were putting bounties on soldiers’ heads. It will not sit will.

     

    Well, the Russians are like the scorpion here, so THEM doing something terrible is expected.  OUR side doing nothing in response {including not telling the troops that GRU is putting bounties on their heads} is the bad part.

  175. 175.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Chris Johnson: You can fuck right off.  You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve complaining about other commenters.  She may be a crank about Warren and AOC, but she has provided more substance and insight in any given week than you have in your entire time here.

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