We’ve raised close to ten thousand dollars today, mostly for Senate races. Thanks a lot to everyone. We started keeping track of fundraising in September 2016. There’s a good chance we’ll hit this amount by the time this cycle is over
Archives for August 2020
RNC Con Leftovers Open Thread: The Rockets’ Red Glare
Trump’s firework display in DC #DCProtests #RNCConvention2020 pic.twitter.com/JGMgxzaxO5
— Jane Recker (@janerecker) August 28, 2020
Joe Biden's acceptance speech at the Democratic convention drew 24.6 million TV viewers, edging President Trump, who had 23.8 million at the GOP convention, Nielsen says. Democrats saw higher ratings than Republicans on three of the four convention nights. https://t.co/onAA9SSoDP
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 28, 2020
RNC Con Leftovers Open Thread: The Rockets’ Red GlarePost + Comments (80)
RIP Huck, the GOODEST DOG, 2005-2020
My sister had to help her beloved dog Huck today end his misery, and he has moved on to join Irie, Russell, Tunch and a host of other very fine animals, and he will be missed very much. Huck was Devon’s best friend, a mere puppy when Irie left us, and has been a VERY good dog since he was a very adorable puppy.
Huck had a wide variety of interests. He liked to boat:
He liked to go for car rides:
He liked dropping the dope beats with his friends (this always looks like an album cover):
He like to roll in goose shit:
He loved to run the trails with Devon:
He was such a good boy, with such an even temperament, and one of the things he loved the most was teaching other dogs how to be a good dog. Huck may be gone, but he lives on in the honest to goodness hundred other dogs he helped Devon train and foster:
This picture of Huck with young Ginny is too much:
Every animal that my sister fostered became a better animal because of Huck. Devon taught them how to be loved, Huck taught them how to be a dog.
But out of all of these things Huck liked to do, the number one thing he loved to do the most was to be with Devon, and she loved it just as much.
RIP, Huck. You were the man. I’m crying.
Furry Friends: Dan B and His Kitties
Tales of Love and Loss, and then More Love
by Dan B
Finally a missive about kittehs from me.
We’ve got two katz with character. They’re a balm for our souls and challenging – but we keep improving our relationship every day, mostly linearly.
Last year we lost three kitties. Mr. Furr Beast, cutest long haired black and white unit with huge white whiskers and a white holy grail on his chest. We had him for almost 20 years. Oscar, a striped cat was young and came down with a mysterious ailment the day after Christmas. It was a traumatic six hours at the emergency vet with a terrified cat. The $2,000 – $7,000 estimate for treatment was out of reach. And we had lost a tiny orange rescue named Miss Peach to traffic. We think our boy cats scared her off the property. Each one left a different hole in our hearts.
Enter two more. My partner Mike has a house on the other side of Beacon Hill that he leases. Across the street is a greenbelt that shelters some homeless and a feral cat colony. They’re neutered, mostly, and spend lots if their day at Mike’s house. A new addition was a 6 pound grey striped kitten who was probably destined to be coyote food since he was much smaller than any of the other cats. He also would rub against Mike’s leg on Mike’s daily feeding trip. So we brought Ba Boo, or Babu (or Doodlebug , Monkeyboy) to our house. After a month of being invisible then sheltering in the top of the cat tree he began to trust us and wants luxury-pets, food, napping on his sofa, food, and running around the garden like a nut.
Meet Babu:
Number two was the grand orange Wobbles. He has some issue with his hind legs. At the rental house he was terrorized by the other cats so he was moved into the house. He marked the tenants beds but was mostly lethargic and dreaded going outside. So in he moved for the obligatory two weeks under the bed. And there was the little, lovely but a terror, Babu. This little grey one would run into Wobbles and knock him off balance. There was hissing and growling that slowly became wrassling and chasing around then napping on the bed together.
And here’s Wobbles!
This summer we let them out for the day in the garden. When we sit outside in the evening they come around and then take turns venturing into our mostly housebound elderly neighbors yards like lions stalking prey on the savannah. The last few weeks they’ve proudly dashed into the house talking noisily. The grasshoppers they’re talking to have not fared well. They’ve also delivered larger furry prey but it’s only been once so far and luckily they didn’t seem to know to eat it,
Babu and Wobbles Having A Chat
Babu is warn out from trying to identify all the birds.
.
And from playing. Playing is hard!
And from being a goofball, apparently.
Wobbles hind legs still wobble but he leaps around and over short fences. He’s gotten muscly in a well fed way and has become guard cat / temple lion / greeter in the drive, while is growing into the purring lovebug role. They’ve made isolation bearable. It’s four personalities in the house instead of just the two of us. Our every other week socially distanced garden visits don’t seem as far apart as they would without our two furry characters. And we have fond memories of our previous three instead of empty places in our hearts.
Wobbles: Can’t you see I’m trying to rest?
Oops, I forgot: Babu has a “Scorpion Tail” There’s a picture of it. I’ve attached another where he’s using it as a prehensile / opposable to grasp my hand. Cute.
I’m not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
I saw something interesting on Twitter the other day that I can’t find now by some data-type person arguing that Democrats should sink a lot of resources into Texas the next few cycles the way they did in Colorado and Virginia a few cycles ago because Texas could become the next Colorado/Virginia. Texas has swung heavily towards Democrats the last few cycles. There are lots of young college-educated people in Texas, just like in Colorado and Virginia. It has a Republican party that used to be moderate in many ways (sensible on immigration and had anti-predatory lending laws that saved it from the worst of the housing crisis, for example) but is now deeply insane.
Turning Texas blue can really happen. And it’s not just the biggest state geographically (EDIT: in the lower 48), it’s the second biggest in terms of electoral votes, more than Michigan and Pennsylvania. If it becomes Virginia, it gets awfully tough for Republicans to win presidential elections.
Dems have a great candidate in MJ Hegar, running against John Cornyn. She was a fighter pilot and you may remember her amazing ad from last cycle. Let’s raise some money for her.
I’m not expecting to grow flowers in a desertPost + Comments (191)
Saturday Morning Open Thread: Smart Move, Players
As part of an agreement to resume playoffs Saturday, the NBA and its players union announced a plan to promote social justice and civic engagement — including converting arenas into polling places for the upcoming election. https://t.co/LtXaNq5koQ
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) August 29, 2020
Expect red state governors to resist the hell out of this, but it may be key for ensuring turnout in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Orlando and Phoenix.
Once again, the NBA proves that it's the most socially-aware, forward-thinking league. No pretend escapism here. https://t.co/HHBp3Ruwlc— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) August 28, 2020
Plus their get out the vote drive will help them turn out people that support good policies. Great all around.
— Nathan ‘Midnight Leader’ Harris (@NathanIHarris) August 29, 2020
1. This was a smart, effective use of the leverage NBA players have at the moment, and the kind of protest no reasonable person could have any problem with. All in all, a pretty remarkable victory for the players. https://t.co/2cE1NqrdyX
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) August 29, 2020
4. The criticism of the players for deciding to go back to work seems foolish. A true wildcat strike would have violated the CBA and been economically devastating, for little benefit. Walking away would have been a statement, but it wouldn't have accomplished anything concrete.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) August 29, 2020
TRUMP: Mail-in voting can't be trusted. IN PERSON ONLY.
NBA: *opens dozens of arenas as polling places in downtown areas with 750,000 sq feet of space each to safely distance and quickly cycle large numbers of voters.
TRUMP: No not like that.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) August 28, 2020
Cosplay socialists agree: Shut up and dribble!
are you fucking kidding me https://t.co/4uL6uIEUCA
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 28, 2020
The players chose a course of action that is both popular and generated concrete benefits so clearly this was a failure by internet leftist standards. https://t.co/NHXgWwrkyC
— Alex Hazanov (@alexhazanov) August 28, 2020
Saturday Morning Open Thread: Smart Move, PlayersPost + Comments (135)
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday/Saturday, August 28-29
A well-known coronavirus model previously cited by the White House forecasts more than 317,000 US deaths from Covid-19 by December — marking an increase of about 8,000 deaths from a previous estimate the model projected one week ago https://t.co/pJbesHP3Gu
— CNN (@CNN) August 28, 2020
I keep hearing this as a talking point on the right.
One look at the numbers will reveal how foolishly mistaken this is. About 1,000 deaths/day and steady.
The virus doesn't care if liberals or whoever you have a problem with are hypocrites about protests or whatnot. https://t.co/I6G9qqoMks
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 29, 2020
It treats this pandemic like it's a political gotcha game, and not a health crisis. And just because someone you don't like may TREAT it as a gotcha game, doesn't make it one.
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 29, 2020
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Friday/Saturday, August 28-29Post + Comments (36)