Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Keep the Immigrants and deport the fascists!

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Be a wild strawberry.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

When we show up, we win.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

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Archives for 2020

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Another Day, Another Nontroversy

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… Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, who will join the Biden administration as a senior adviser, also participated in the nearly two-hour virtual meeting with seven civil rights leaders. The talk touched on how racial justice will be a common thread as the Biden administration works to address policing and criminal justice reform, COVID-19, the nation’s racial wealth gap, voting rights and more.

The meeting, which was closed to the news media, follows increasing pressure Biden has received to ensure that his Cabinet is diverse and representative of the nation. Black voters were a driving national force pushing the former vice president to victory over President Donald Trump. Other voters of color have also been credited with helping secure Biden’s win in battleground states like Arizona and Nevada.

“You cannot move the needle when it comes to racial justice in this country unless you have people at the table at the highest levels who have had lived experiences … and there are Black people qualified for every single position in the government,” National Urban League CEO Marc Morial told reporters after the meeting. ”We saw today a passionate Joe Biden and a passionate Kamala Harris. We will judge this administration by the actions it takes and by its results.”

The civil rights leaders said they made clear that Biden’s supporters expect him to deliver on his promises. They said Biden agreed to meet with them regularly to discuss progress on key issues…

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On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – Sunset at Del Cerro Park

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?BillinGlendaleCA

The plan was to get to the park early (I was late to the meetup at Red Rock), shoot a bulb ramped timelapse, and get a couple of extra pictures; only one of these things happened. I arrived with plenty of time to spare, but parking was not to be had anywhere close to the park. I ended up parking about 3/4 of a mile down the hill on Crenshaw.

Once I’d parked and retrieved my camera gear and my lightweight tripod, I noticed the possibility of making some lemonade for my lemon of a parking situation. The view looking north, while obstructed in many places by trees was incredible. I snapped a few photos with my cellphone on my hike to the park. Arriving at the park, I found one other person from the group already there. We waited for about 15 minutes for others to arrive and hiked up the hill to find a few more members waiting up there (I said to meet at the bottom of the hill by the parking lot).

We setup our gear and started shooting. I soon discovered that bulb ramping wouldn’t work with my camera (the fastest exposure on my camera via the cable release turns out to be 1 second), so I switched to the basic timelapse and set my camera to aperture priority. I’d brought a graduated neutral density filter to darken the sky (and Sun) and started shooting the timelapse.

I also brought my Galaxy NX camera so I used that to shoot bracketed photos of the setting sun hand held as well as some of the landmarks around the area. As the Sun set in the west, the Moon rose over the homes to our east providing an added bonus to the shoot. On the way back to my car, I took a few minutes to set up the camera and tripod to get a shot of the city from the same location as I’d shot the daytime shot 3 hours earlier.

Remember any photo you see in one of my On The Road posts is available for purchase at my store: http://www.billinglendaleca.com. They make excellent Christmas gifts. I also have a Patreon if you like my work and want to see it continue: https://www.patreon.com/BillinGlendaleCA.

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On The Road - ?BillinGlendaleCA - Sunset at Del Cerro Park 6
Del Cerro Park, Palos Verdes, CANovember 29, 2020

I’ve been trying to find a good view of downtown LA from the south and there are very few places that have a good view that are accessible (much of Palos Verdes is private), so it was nice to find this vista.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, Dec. 8-9

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Late Night FTFNYTimes Open Thread: Ross DoubtThat Volunteers As Drum Major for the Anti-Biden-Administration Parade

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The expensively tailored empty suits on the NYTimes editorial board are not gonna come out against Xavier Beccera, because that way lies angry glares and snipes about fearing diversity at all the best elite cocktail parties. (You don’t think there are cocktail parties, in this pandemic winter? Ha, foolish little prole — restrictions mean nothing to People Like Us!)

That’s why they pay inflated salaries to a pampered veal-pen of Very Serious columnists, who live for opportunities to show their whole… prejudices:

… In the best-case scenario for Biden, the Trumpian voter-fraud narrative could set in motion a Tea Party redux on the right, with fringe characters and Trump loyalists successfully primarying established G.O.P. figures — but without the high-unemployment economy and the Obamacare fight that enabled the Tea Party Republicans to take the House in 2010. Instead, a radicalized Republican Party campaigning on a supposedly stolen election while the Democrats campaign on prosperity and normalcy could set up the rare midterm scenario in which an incumbent president’s party actually picks up seats.

If you want to know how the Biden administration could blow this opportunity, though, look no further than his just-announced choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra.

No cabinet agency is likely to be as prominent as H.H.S. during the first year of the Biden presidency, given the upcoming vaccine rollout and the slow unwinding of public-health restrictions. And for a campaign that placed so much emphasis on the idea that disinterested expertise and capital-S Science should guide the coronavirus response, Becerra is a peculiar choice: a partisan politician from a deep-blue state whose health care experience is mostly in legal battles with the Trump White House over Obamacare, rather than in health policy or medicine itself…

Or then again — hear me out — maybe that’s why Biden chose Becerra: Because he’s got the experience to fight the battles the GOP Death Cult is already starting against any mitigation of pandemic-era misery!

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On The Road – Alison – Tahoe National Forest

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Alison

Every winter morning in Tahoe National Forest is a gift. We wake up, beat the sun and get to ride the wave down to do it all again. I was lucky enough to get to ride this morning with some of the best. My best friend Iris Lazzareschi and Moss Holliday. We watched the sun rise over the clouds. It was brutally cold but we got some of the best powder I’ve ever ridden. This place is magical, special and surreal. I hope it stays that way. We always leave no trace except our tracks that will one day disappear for us to rewrite the next story as we continue to Live the Life we Love.

Photos by Moss Holliday

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Tahoe National ForestFebruary 13, 2018

Sunrise mission for the goods.

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Sad Trombone Noises

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Dude sounds like he’s been wailing all afternoon… Dear Leader will be SO disappointed…

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Biden Introduces His Health Team

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Someone asked below what Xavier Becerra had to say.  I’ll let him speak for himself.  He is first up after Biden.

Them: I have Power!

Us: These are awesome responsibilities and I will try every day to serve the American people to the best of my ability.

(Stepping in for TaMara, who usually posts these.  Having lost Penelope Pearl yesterday, she surely has other things on her mind.)

Now I see why you guys love Xavier Becerra.  I am halfway through, and they are all inspiring.

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