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You are here: Home / Books / Odds and Ends (Open Thread)

Odds and Ends (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  May 4, 20212:17 pm| 239 Comments

This post is in: Books, Open Threads, Politics, TV & Movies

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The New York Times has a nifty interactive thingie where you can plug in your address and find out if you live in a political bubble or not. It analyzes your 1,000 closest neighbors and renders the political diversity where you live as a percentage. Here’s mine:

Bubbling Up (Open Thread)

Honestly, I’m thrilled about my result because I assumed it was way worse. Trump got 70% of the votes in my county, and I would have guessed my neighborhood (if you can call a two-mile dirt road with isolated swampy residences a “neighborhood”) would be more like 80/20, judging by the signage and MAGA truck swag.

In other news, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is having some fun at her Republican colleagues’ expense:

Odds and Ends (Open Thread)

THWACK!

God, I love that woman. If American democracy survives, there will be buildings in the US Capitol complex named after her in the coming years.

Speaking of THWACK, do you want to see a dead body?

Damn!

Today’s foray into political bubbles and admiration for heroic Democratic women curb-stompers aside, I’m deliberately paying less attention to politics lately, though probably still an unhealthy amount. Thanks be to Biden-Harris for the breather!

I’m reading more. Currently, I’m revisiting the works of an old favorite, Shirley Jackson, and that’s been ghoulish fun.

I’m also pointedly NOT watching the news and instead streaming cooking shows and checking out other content, like “Mare of Easttown” on HBO, which stars Kate Winslet as a detective in a small Pennsylvania town. Anyone else watching that? Got any other new TV shows or movies to recommend?

I wish Wes Anderson would release “The French Dispatch” on streaming already. I love his films, and the release of this one has been delayed twice due to the pandemic. I know nothing about cinematography, but if any filmmaker’s work would be translate naturally to a smaller screen, it seems like it would be Anderson’s. Oh well. He’s the artist.

Anyhoo, open thread, and any topic is welcome!

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Reader Interactions

239Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    May 4, 2021 at 2:19 pm

    I’m deliberately paying less attention to politics lately, though probably still an unhealthy amount. Thanks be to Biden-Harris for the breather!

    Greetings, fellow normie-in-training.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2021 at 2:20 pm

    My sister, the skeptic, went and got her first shot (Pfizer) ??
    She went with her adult son and daughter??

    She called me, at work, and I took her call immediately, cause she never calls me at work.

    She called ’cause she knew that I would be happy ?

     

    Now, I’m just waiting for that official word that Pfizer’s been approved for 12-15 year olds…

    Oh please oh please oh please oh please.

  3. 3.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2021 at 2:20 pm

    I was actually surprised to learn that my neighborhood is, narrowly, plurality Democratic–I’d thought of it as a red island in a weakly blue town, because the Trumpy people around here are so loud and proud about it.

  4. 4.

    mali muso

    May 4, 2021 at 2:20 pm

    Having a work from home day, and I’ve been roasting up veggies (omg, roast fennel!) in between taking care of emails and zoom calls. Since we signed up for Misfit Market, I have had more organic produce than I really know what to do with…a good problem to have, I suppose.

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2021 at 2:22 pm

    Purple, baby!

    Your neighbors are a pretty diverse bunch, politically.
    About 47 percent are Democrats, 52 percent are Republicans and less than 1 percent are independents.

  6. 6.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2021 at 2:24 pm

    @rikyrah: I’ve been hearing more stories like that lately–people who were initially reluctant deciding to get vaccinated after all, because they saw people around them doing it, or found a reason to. A substantial chunk of the opposition might be soft.

  7. 7.

    Scout211

    May 4, 2021 at 2:24 pm

    That “interactive thingie” was great.  We live in an area that is 73% Republican per that thingie.  It told me that we were “not exactly” in a political bubble.  I realized that we are “exactly” surrounded by Republicans.  Sigh.

  8. 8.

    Old School

    May 4, 2021 at 2:24 pm

    My neighborhood is 61% Republican, but like yours is not “politically diverse.”  How close does it have to be for the NYT to consider the neighborhood diverse?

  9. 9.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    The Joy Reid thing is so beautiful. His repetition of “Harvard” — she skewers that so beautifully. What a sad piece of s–t.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    I have 2% Republicans in my neighborhood.

    YES :)

  11. 11.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2021 at 2:26 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I envy you!

  12. 12.

    Baud

    May 4, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think Republicans get a lot of mileage by being loud.  Most Dems just go about their business, and end up thinking there are fewer Dems than there are.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    May 4, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    Speaking of THWACK, do you want to see a dead body?

    That should be a rotating tag!

  14. 14.

    Baud

    May 4, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    @rikyrah: Find the heretic!

  15. 15.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 4, 2021 at 2:30 pm

    My neighborhood is 78% democratic.

    The tool spent a fair amount of its interactive portion admonishing me for being so politically isolated before implying that the parties don’t like each other now because we’re physically separated – and not because one party has been on a 25 year jihad against Democrats. Or that one party tried to overthrow the election. Or that one party is relentless in its lying, and that’s empirically proven at this point.

  16. 16.

    egorelick

    May 4, 2021 at 2:31 pm

    The political bubble where I live is one of the best things about it. I couldn’t stand knowing I had Trumpers as neighbors. As a bonus, people wear masks where I live and they say “sorry” if they forget. Plus, over 90% of the people on my block and at work are vaccinated.​
    ​
    ​

  17. 17.

    Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)

    May 4, 2021 at 2:32 pm

    I’d really like to see the Winslet show–I grew up not far from Easttown–but sadly, we don’t have H.B.O.

  18. 18.

    Nicole

    May 4, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    That was fun!  I’m in the bubbliest of bubbles- 5% of my neighbors are Republicans.  I’m surprised it’s that high, to be honest.

    How is Mare of Easttown, Betty?  I’m thinking of checking it out, not least because I’m impressed Kate Winslet took on the accent of the region.  I grew up less than 2 hours from there and that accent stumps me.

    I started season 4 of Handmaid’s Tale, but it’s a slog of repeated beats so far.

  19. 19.

    JPL

    May 4, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    Holy shit..   Seventy percent of my neighbors are democrats.

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    May 4, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    We’re into Season 2 of Swedish Dicks, a sitcom on Amazon Prime. The great Peter Stormare and a buddy play a couple of Swedish dudes trying to succeed as private investigators in Los Angeles.

  21. 21.

    geg6

    May 4, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    Fascinating. I would never know there are this many Democrats around here. I think some of them voted for Evil Cheeto, though. Can’t be sure, of course, but I think that’s true.

    Many of your neighbors — 62 percent — are Democrats. You don’t quite live in a bubble, but we wouldn’t say your neighbors are politically diverse, either.

  22. 22.

    Jackie

    May 4, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    Surprisingly, in my very Red county in SE Washington, it’s more narrowly Republican than I would have guessed! 53% Republican, 45% Democratic, and the rest Independent. Like you, Betty Cracker, the Trumpies are loud and in-your-face MAGA.

  23. 23.

    mary s

    May 4, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    I don’t have to look because I live in San Francisco — Bayview Hunters Pt. I think there’s a lot of “narcissism of small [or not so small] differences” that is not captured by this kind of measure. But anyway, I’m fine with living in my bubble and I like voting for Nancy Pelosi  (and never voting for DiFi).

  24. 24.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 4, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    Where my house is, it is 63% GQP

    Where my office is, in the CBD and beating heart  of the People’s Democratic Soc!alist Peoples’ Kenyan Shariah Republic of Louisville, there are only 16% of the voters with GQP identification, and that includes  of Clarksville, Jeffersonville and New Albany Indiana.

    Now I must lay out my Hammer and Sickle Rainbow rug and offer up daily prayers toward the LGBTQI atheistical communists in Mecca.

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 2:39 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yeah, “You went to a fancy school so shut up already” is not a dictate I can get behind.

    Love her return volley and REALLY love Nancy SMASH’s love letter to House Republicans. It seems the theory that if you ignore Republican and Fox idiot lies they’ll just go away, might have been discarded at last. It was never going to work.

  26. 26.

    squid696

    May 4, 2021 at 2:40 pm

    75% Republican.  Not really surprising since this is NW Harris County.

  27. 27.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    May 4, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    Smurf blue Denver: only 6% of my neighbors are GQP.
    Given where I lived in Misery for 22+ years, this result is a feature, not a bug.​ Back there, it’s 11% Dems.

  28. 28.

    Stuart Frasier

    May 4, 2021 at 2:42 pm

    9% Republican here.  Kinda surprised it’s that high.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    Hey, Republicans are below 27%, how did that happen?

    Release the hounds, let’s find that 20% for reeducation purposes.
    ETA, lobbyists don’t like driving in from the burbs regardless of party.

  30. 30.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    My neighborhood is a mere 7% GQP.  Well, I do live in Seattle.

    Alas, one of the places I’ve contemplated moving to after retirement – Ocean Shores, WA – is 61% GQP.

    South Whidbey Island rates much better: 76% Democratic.

    This is a very fun tool!

  31. 31.

    Ben Cisco

    May 4, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    You live in a Republican bubble. Only 14 percent of your neighbors are Democrats.
    You live in a state where people don’t pick a political party when they register to vote. We’ve estimated your neighbors’ political parties based on their voting history and demographics.

    Not really surprised at the guess, but I must be around the non-fire breathers. Small favors.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    @Nicole: I like it so far, three episodes in. One reviewer claimed  Winslet didn’t pull the accent off flawlessly, but I’m not familiar enough with the dialects in that area to judge whether that’s true or not. Jean Smart plays Mare’s mom, who lives with her; the two feud constantly. It’s sort of a police procedural/character study in the tradition of BBC’s “Happy Valley,” though it has a lot of work to do to live up to that high (IMO) standard.

  33. 33.

    theturtlemoves

    May 4, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    56% GQP right around me but I’m 10 miles from hippie commune turned city Eugene, OR, so I can fairly easily escape to sanity when necessary.

  34. 34.

    JoyceH

    May 4, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    My area is 70% Republican. But I knew that. I remember in 2008, that adorable guy who came in from the Obama campaign to organize us for phone banking explained that there were three kinds of counties in Virginia, shield counties, sword counties, and arrow counties. Shield counties were your base and you defended them. Sword counties were mixed and it was hand to hand combat. Arrow counties were enemy territory and you shot arrows into it to try to pick off a few. Our county, we were told, was an arrow county.

  35. 35.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    @Jackie: Where is that? Spokane?  Outside of Spokane, I’ve been considering Eastern Washington a lost cause.

  36. 36.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    How does an enclosed environment like a birds egg support a growing animal compared to a mammalian womb? How are waste products removed, are there hormones involved and how does the embryo receive oxygen?

    I don’t know.

  37. 37.

    craigie

    May 4, 2021 at 2:46 pm

    The NYT thing told me something I knew (most of my neighbors are Democrats) and something I did not – that my zip code is roughly 50/50 Red/Blue.

    So there! No bubble for me!

  38. 38.

    Nora

    May 4, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    Not surprised that my neighborhood is 85% democratic.  I’m surprised there are that many Republicans around here, frankly.

    And what’s with the scolding about living in a bubble?  Do you really want to live next door to loudmouthed assholes who don’t believe in a common reality?  Do the writers of the NYT article live in such an ideologically diverse neighborhood?  I bet not.

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    @Mike in NC: Sounds interesting! Subtitles or nah?

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    May 4, 2021 at 2:48 pm

    God, I love that woman. If American democracy survives, there will be buildings in the US Capitol complex named after her in the coming years.

    Her daughter should take some lessons from Mom. As part of the Democratic Establishment(tm) in California, she advocated for “recognizing the validity of the hurt” of people who signed the recall petition of the governor:

    [Christine] Pelosi was the most prominent delegate who urged party officials during their virtual convention on Sunday to strip language that referred to the recall as “Republican” and “partisan” from a resolution opposing the effort to oust Newsom from office.

    The effort was unsuccessful, with 593 delegates voting to eliminate the descriptions and 627 voting to keep it.

    “This is a Republican recall, this is a partisan ploy,” said state party Chairman Rusty Hicks, who authored the resolution with Sen. Alex Padilla. “As I led off our convention by saying, [the recall is] an attempt to get around the barrier that California Republicans can’t seem to overcome, and that is winning statewide office in California.”

  41. 41.

    MazeDancer

    May 4, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    TV Series that live up to the hype: Ted Lasso on Apple TV and Invincible on Amazon.

  42. 42.

    LivinginExile

    May 4, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    Just call me bubble boy.  Only 17 percent of my neighbors are democrats.

  43. 43.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    I bought some cat food from Aldi.  I hadn’t thought of doing that because I believed it would be some fatty gravy recipe with corn, wheat and soy as the first ingredients, but it turned out to be a high protein paté with no fillers.  And she likes it.

    Produced by some Canadian company, and the price is right.

  44. 44.

    AnotherBruce

    May 4, 2021 at 2:51 pm

    I’m in the Peoples Republic of West Seattle, where Republicans are at 9%. And fix the damn bridge please!

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 2:52 pm

    I’m not sure how reasonable the results are for me:

    Many of your neighbors — 62 percent — are Republicans. You don’t quite live in a bubble, but we wouldn’t say your neighbors are politically diverse, either.

    You live in a state where people don’t pick a political party when they register to vote. We’ve estimated your neighbors’ political parties based on their voting history and demographics.

    Why should they use “demographics” rather than actual voting behavior??

    My precinct is strongly Democratic – upwards of 65%, IIRC.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  46. 46.

    Betty

    May 4, 2021 at 2:52 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Their loudness continues to give them an outsize role, both within the party and with the media.

  47. 47.

    laura

    May 4, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    In the People’s Collective of East Sacramento only 21% of neighbors are Republicans and a very scant few are Independents. Had it not been for Russian interference, I would have a Taco Truck on my corner.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    @Betty:

    Any thoughts on Charlie Crist’s announcement today that he’s going to run for Governor (again, this time as a Democrat)?

    Also, funny you should mention Shirley Jackson. I just reread The Lottery, for the umpteenth time, just about a week ago. Every time I read it, I find something new to admire in the way she quietly crafts the horror. She was a magnificent writer.

  49. 49.

    Mike in NC

    May 4, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    71% Republicans in our community, which is about what to expect where almost everybody is white, retired, and refugees from NY and NJ. Our previous location in Alexandria, VA was listed as only 13% GOP.

  50. 50.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 2:55 pm

    What do you get when you offer a Republican a penny for his thoughts?

    Change.

  51. 51.

    Urban Suburbanite

    May 4, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    Unsurprisingly, I live in a Democratic bubble (Seattle). I could point out that means little – just because Republicans don’t stand a chance doesn’t mean political factions don’t exist (including the dread Antifas), but that’s a bit too complicated for the Both Sides narrative the Very Serious People love so much.

    I started watching The Nevers on HBO. It’s steampunk wank with the stench of Whedon all over it (the wife does like the outfits, though). I’ve also been rewatching Deep Space 9.

  52. 52.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I went through a Shirley Jackson phase last year and devoured as many of her books as I could find.  The novels, short stories, essays.  She’s one of my favorites now.

  53. 53.

    Kristine

    May 4, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    My neighborhood is labeled “pretty diverse” at about 38 percent Democrats, 47 percent Republicans and 15 percent independents. Thing is, I am pretty sure that the 15% believe the Republicans are too liberal, so I am thinking this shakes out to 38% sane, 62% varying degrees of Trumpist.

  54. 54.

    guachi

    May 4, 2021 at 2:57 pm

    I don’t actually interact with my neighbors, though Presidential voting in 2020 indicates my district in Augusta, GA is lean D and the district on the other side of the tracks is heavily D. My district is also racially mixed in a way most districts in Augusta aren’t.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 4, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I love everything about this comment.

  56. 56.

    japa21

    May 4, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    First of all, my area, which used to be strongly GOP, is now 70% Dem.

    Secondly, some personal COVID news. Some of you may remember that on Dec. 30 I tested positive then found out 5 days later that it was a false positive and I merely had pneumonia. Water under the bridge, as they used to say. Having now been vaccinated we hoped that would be the last we would personally have to deal with that.

    A little background before the punchline.

    My 7 year old, first grader grandson is in a hybrid schooling situation. Online in the morning and then in person if the afternoon. Since September we have been getting up around 5 every weekday morning to get to his house before both parents have to leave and we help him monitor his classes (science, art, social studies, music and PE) and make sure he does any assignments before dropping him off for school. His mother teaches at a combo daycare/pre-school and his 3 year old brother attends that place. His father teaches HS in Chicago.

    Until recently, everything has gone smoothly. He gets tested weekly for Covid as all the students do. Everything is closely monitored and all precautions are clearly adhered to. Apparently not as much at the facility is brother is at, however.

    Three weeks ago (plus 2 days) his parents were notified that one of his roommates had tested positive and that particular classroom was shut down for 2 weeks. So for two weeks, instead of coming home after dropping off the older brother we had to wait with the younger until one of the parents got home. He returned to the pre-school last Monday. Tuesday night another kid in the same room tested positive and had actually been at school that day, so that room was again closed down.

    This school has 9 classrooms, day care rooms. They have a room just for under 2 year olds. In that last room they have 12 kids. Well they did until they had to close it down because 9 of the 12 tested positive. Of the 9 rooms, only 3 are currently in operation.

    On Saturday our 3 year old grandson tested positive. He is running a slight fever and coughing. Nobody else, including the first grader tested positive, although the older brother will be tested again in a few days. The father and first grader are currently staying at our house so at least we don’t have to do a 5 AM wake-up. Hopefully he will stay negative.

  57. 57.

    karen marie

    May 4, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    @Old School:  I can’t imagine what they’re thinking is the magic number.  I live in a neighborhood that’s 54% Dem, with no breakdown of the other 46% between Republican and “independent.”  Judging by the amount of space the “independent” bubbles take up, it’s less than 5%.

    Maybe the message is “there’s no such thing as diversity”?

  58. 58.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 2:59 pm

    One of my favorites is Shirley Jackson’s short story, “Elizabeth” from the 1940s. It mentions a scam that just about every aspiring writer has encountered:

    She turned back to the letter in the typewriter. An encouraging letter to a new client; it fell into a simple formula in her mind and she wrote it without hesitating, typing clumsily and amateurishly, but quickly. “Dear Mr. Burton,” she wrote. “We have read your story with a good deal of interest. Your plot is well thought out, and we believe that the character of –” She stopped for a minute and turned back to the manuscript, opening it at random — “Lady Montague, in particular, is of more than usual merit. Naturally, in order to appeal to the better-paying markets, the story needs touching up by a skilled professional editor, a decisive selling service we are able to offer our clients. Our rates –“

  59. 59.

    FridayNext

    May 4, 2021 at 3:01 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    The comparisons to Happy Valley (Tenacious female police officer in a small, post-industrial town with a drug problem, a child who killed themself, and custody fights over a grandchild. Until this last episode. No way Catherine Cawood would do THAT!) are obvious. But so are the comparisons with Broadchurch. (Small town murder of a minor leads to everyone’s laundry being washed in public, everyone knows everyone else, or thinks they do, suspects include the local pastor/father/deacon, a spouse of he female detective who, not coincidentally is also shown up by a male detective outside the small town who has his own demons.)

    it’s a mashup really, and yes I am enjoying it.

    The only difference is that no one on this show has been on Midsomer Murders……yet

  60. 60.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    @Baud: I think Republicans get a lot of mileage by being loud.

    It helps tremendously when they’re constantly amplified by the media.

  61. 61.

    Glory b

    May 4, 2021 at 3:02 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:  Well, I live in an overwhelmingly African American neighbourhood, and I am sure that it’s one of the biggest bubbles out there. I’ve only seen 1 sign for George Bush During his 2nd run for president. Otherwise, nothing but democrats.

    Also, I like it here just fine and have no problems with staying in it. I’d recommend it to anyone, including getting adopted by an African American family so you’ll have lots of fun during holiday dinners rather than talking to your sour puss Republican friends and family. Bonus, sweet potato pie, collard greens and cornbread!

    Third, seriously funny and I’ll try to find it, “The Caucasian Guide to Black Cookouts.”

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2021 at 3:03 pm

    @japa21:

     

    Praying for everyone. Do they do antibody treatments on children?

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    @japa21: What a nightmare.  :-(

    Hang in there.  Best of luck to everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    Ejoiner

    May 4, 2021 at 3:05 pm

    @Urban Suburbanite: Yes, my wife and I are thoroughly enjoying it – including the Whedon formula…if you liked any of his other efforts (Firefly, Avengers, Doll House, etc.) you’ll really like this one although his actual invovlement is very limited thanks to his general douche-baggery these days.  Beautiful production, great caste, and some neat creative “powers” (the water fight was a lot of fun + we’re getting defiinte “Travelers” vibes from the dropped hints about True’s real identity/story).

  65. 65.

    karen marie

    May 4, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:  I’d never heard of Shirley Jackson before last week – not a big surprise given I’m not into horror – but after reading this article, I’m inclined to give her a go.  She appears to be much more than one might expect of someone slapped with the “horror” label.

  66. 66.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    NEW YORK (AP) — Nothing like a prominent life in public service to help your other career as a romance novelist.

    At least that’s the case for Stacey Abrams.

    Berkley announced Tuesday that it had acquired rights to three out-of-print novels by Abrams that she had written nearly 20 years ago under the name Selena Montgomery. Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint, will begin reissuing the books — “Rules of Engagement,” “The Art of Desire” and “Power of Persuasion” — in 2022.

    “As my first novels, they remain incredibly special to me,” Abrams, 47, said in a statement. “The characters and their adventures are what I’d wished to read as a young Black woman — stories that showcase women of color as nuanced, determined, and exciting. As Selena and as Stacey, I am proud to be a part of the romance writing community and excited that Berkley is reintroducing these stories for new readers and faithful fans.”

    https://apnews.com/article/stacey-abrams-romance-novels-entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-government-and-politics-56f0fadba1b279d0476f10e07a4bd5c2

  67. 67.

    Mike in NC

    May 4, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    @Betty Cracker: The two P.I.s mostly speak in English but switch to Swedish (with subtitles) when they want to keep the conversation private.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    May 4, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    @guachi: Since I live in Newt’s old district, 70 percent democratic is huge.   No wonder why he moved to FL.

  69. 69.

    japa21

    May 4, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    @rikyrah: ​
      Not sure, but their pediatrician told them just to monitor for the time being. If temp goes high (low grade right now) and the cough turns into breathing problems, go right to ER.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 3:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think we need a really strong candidate to dislodge DeSantis, and I don’t think Crist is it. I hope someone better jumps in and beats him in the primary, but I don’t know who that would be, unless Val Demings throws her hat in the ring.

    I think Ag Commish Nikki Fried (the only Democrat elected statewide currently) will definitely run, but I don’t know if she could win the primary, and I definitely don’t think she would beat DeSantis. She has some baggage Republicans will exploit ruthlessly, similarly to what they did to Gillum.

    Caveat: I’m almost always wrong and don’t understand politics in Florida despite having followed it closely my entire life!

    You’re right: Jackson was a magnificent writer. It’s such a shame she died relatively young. She was so attuned to warped social mores. I’ll always wonder what she would have made of post-1965 America.

  71. 71.

    Doc Sardonic

    May 4, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Charlie is going to lose badly if he gets out of the primary. Odds are good that his district is going to get redrawn more GQP as an FU from his former colleagues. The Dems won’t turnout for him in large enough numbers to get him a close election ie Gillum and the sane Republicans won’t cross over and pull him over the line because they despise him for switching parties. He’s only running to maintain that sweet get paid by the taxpayers for little to no work gig, he found out when he was forced work at the lawyering, that real work was hard and he did not like that.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    @japa21:

    If  it gets to that point, definitely mention the antibody treatment.

  73. 73.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 3:10 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Did you see the recent movie?  I missed it.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    Weird, I’m in an R bubble, 73% Republican, but IIRC Bush narrowly beat Kerry in my town, and county, and it’s been D all the way at the presidential level since then. I was amused to hear a couple of old timers grousing about it after the 2012 election in the booth behind me while out to breakfast. I’m mentally counting houses to figure out how large an area those thousand voters cover. There were a lot more Biden (or anti-trump) signs than trump last all.

    @dmsilev: I remember seeing Alexandra Pelosi on Bill Maher years ago and I was surprised how both-sides she was, IIRC it was around the time of the Tea Party

  75. 75.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 4, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    @japa21: I hope the kid’s case continues to be mild. I’m sorry though. To me, that’s scary

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    May 4, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    Don’t have Apple+ (and unwilling to shell out for yet another service at this time) but curious if anyone here has watched For All Mankind. Bits and pieces I’ve caught here and there are intriguing.

    Otherwise, nothing viewed recently has risen to the level of being a recommendation I’d stand behind. Periodically check as to whether 8 Women shows up streaming anywhere; thus far no go. Has been on the things to be on the lookout for list for quite a while. Have an inkling it will join other titles in the favorite movies set at Xmas time file.

  77. 77.

    karen marie

    May 4, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    @Gravenstone:  After CNN had to rescind its offer to Sarah Isgur Flores (she’s since dropped the “Flores”) because of her association with the Trump administration (she was press flack for Trump’s DOJ, specializing in softball interviews for Rod Rosenstein), George Stephanopoulos proudly announced ABC has hired her to do “political analysis.”

  78. 78.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: I’m no expert, but I suspect you’re right.  Marginally attached voters don’t suddenly like multi-time losers.

    Here’s hoping someone on Team D catches fire and wins.  Politics is a funny business.  Remember that nobody thought Clinton would win against Pappy Bush, but he got it done when the stars aligned and HW fell from his 90+% approval rating (as he was guaranteed to do).  That only happens when someone with talent actually jumps in to do the work even when things look bleak…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  79. 79.

    Urban Suburbanite

    May 4, 2021 at 3:15 pm

     

    @Ejoiner:

    That fight scene was a neat one. What bugs me about this show (and this fantasy series whose title I’m blanking on – it had fairies and satyr people in it) is how it goes deep on the visual details, but dances around the the ingrained bigotries of that time. It’s trying to be steampunk X-Men without any of the racial tensions.

  80. 80.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2021 at 3:16 pm

    The widget claims only 54% R in my current neck of the woods. I’m not inclined to agree. Checked the address of the family farm back in Ohio and not surprisingly it’s only 13% D, about 15% I (bullshit, they’re coward R’s who refuse to identify as such). One amusing aspect of the widget was the “there’s a nearby area code that is majority R/equally divided”, and in both cases it turns out to be this nearly barren chunk of rural land with only a handful of people occupying it. Go ahead kids, continue to torture those numbers to make your so called argument for you…

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:16 pm

    @Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): ​
     
    It’s really good. Grim, but really good. Winslet occupies the role like she thinks she’s Streep or something. Parents of teens will find the teen characters very relatable, not Hollywood’s idea of what they’re like.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    May 4, 2021 at 3:16 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    She has some baggage Republicans will exploit ruthlessly, similarly to what they did to Gillum.

     

    What kind of baggage?

    Cause, Gillum’s real baggage came out after the loss. They associated him with Bernie during the actual campaign.

  83. 83.

    Nicole

    May 4, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @japa21: I’m so sorry.  Sending good thoughts everyone comes through okay and quickly.

    Your post reminded me- I am still ostensibly friends with an Orlando right-winger on FB (I’ve blocked him, but I can still see his public posts).  Recently he proudly showed video of his elementary-aged daughter speaking at a school board meeting saying that kids shouldn’t have to wear masks in school because, “kids don’t get Covid.”  AUGH.  It’s not just that the kid is brainwashed, it’s that she’s brainwashed by someone who is already dumber than a bucket of hair.

  84. 84.

    Doc Sardonic

    May 4, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    @Another Scott: We have 2 very good possibilities, both with the last name of Demmings.

  85. 85.

    Jackie

    May 4, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @CaseyL: Kennewick! I’m stunned – and – newly hopeful for our region! Especially since Trump-wannabe Culp is primarying Dan Newsome – who voted against Trump’s attempted coup.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @karen marie: I said the other day, Chris Christie, who was morbidly obese and severely asmathic, was having meetings in the famously mask-averse White House, and damn near died of Covid. He was intensive care for a week and trump had to authorize that then-still-experimental treatment for him. In other words, he damn near died of stupidity and fealty to trump. So of course ABCNews pays him to give political opinions
    ETA: I know he was at the Amy Covid Barrett/Dance On RBG’s Grave parties, I can’t remember the timeline, if that’s where he got the bug.

  87. 87.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    @japa21: Poor kid! I hope he recovers quickly and completely.

    @FridayNext: You’re right — it is a mashup.

    @karen marie: Jackson transcends the genre, IMO. Worth checking out.

    @Mike in NC: Thanks! Will check it out!

  88. 88.

    marduk

    May 4, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    Only 5% of my neighbors are Republican.

     

    Good.

  89. 89.

    natem

    May 4, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    So I live in a very white suburb with dollar stores, roadkill, and a lot of pick up trucks with thin blue line stickers. Yes I am in Texas, how did you guess? Anyhoo, according to the Times tool, I am in a deep blue bubble. So whatever crosstabs or metrics they are using to determine this is anyone’s guess.

  90. 90.

    eclare

    May 4, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    Only 15% of my neighbors are Republican, seems accurate.  Currently watching PSG v Man City.  Mbappe didn’t start due to injury, damn.

  91. 91.

    dmsilev

    May 4, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    @NotMax: I have (had a free sub because I bought an iPhone a year or so ago). I enjoyed the show, though I thought the second season wasn’t quite as good as the first (some character arcs didn’t quite click with me, and some of the alt-history space tech geekery was implausible at best). On the other hand, sometimes the alt-history space tech geekery was spot-on and glorious.

  92. 92.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 4, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    Only 11% of my neighbors are Republican lol

    And that’s fascinating considering attitudes in Silicon Valley

  93. 93.

    Ohio Mom

    May 4, 2021 at 3:22 pm

    Supposedly my neighborhood is 56% Democratic, 44% Republican and 2% Independent.

    But as The Times points out, voters here do not have to register a party when they vote so they based this number just on election results.

    What those numbers tell you is that I have plenty of Republican neighbors who hate Trump. They are still voting Republican in every other race.

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    May 4, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    @dmsilev

    That is freakin’ bee-yoo-tee-ful. Thanks.

  95. 95.

    smith

    May 4, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    Unsurprisingly, I live in a Dem bubble (it’s Chicago after all). Nevertheless, I have a fascist next-door neighbor who flies a thin blue line flag. Sigh.

  96. 96.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    @rikyrah: Before the election, Republicans used the apparatus of the state to hound Gillum as corrupt, and the truth is, he did do some hinky shit as mayor that gave them the ammunition.  It was small potatoes compared to what Republicans routinely do and get away with, but it gave Republicans an opportunity to gin up a public corruption investigation, which kept a cloud over Gillum’s head during the campaign.

    Gillum, like every other Democrat, knows or ought to have known that there’s a double standard. It’s not fair but it is real. The Bernie association was also mostly bullshit. Sanders had a rally or two for Gillum, but IIRC, Gillum co-chaired Hillary Clinton’s campaign in FL in 2016, and she definitely campaigned for him when he ran for governor in 2018.

  97. 97.

    natem

    May 4, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    Our Mags here to remind us that Rudy is still around doing Rudy kinds of things:

    NEWS – Giuliani allies have been pressing for Trump team to have Trump’s legal defense money cover Rudy legal bills Ben Protess and me https://t.co/sqXTTzZFCm
    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 4, 2021

    Golly, you just hate to see this, don’t you? All these people who set fire to our country going around begging each other for money to lawyer up.

  98. 98.

    SFBayAreaGal

    May 4, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    You live in a Democratic bubble. Only 16 percent of your neighbors are Republicans. That’s the way I like it.

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Speaking of FL politics: A few weeks ago there were twitter rumors– so maybe bullshit and maybe a flag run up by campaign ops– that David Jolly was going to make an indie run at DeSantis.

    Also, I’m getting emails from Alan Grayson (boy is he barking up the wrong tree– I wonder what list he bought) apparently he’s going to run for Senate.

  100. 100.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    @Nicole: We like it even though it didn’t get great reviews.

  101. 101.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 4, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    44% Democratic and 52% Republican with 4% independents. That makes sense, especially since my state doesn’t have political party registration, with preference is instead determined by primary voting history

    In other news, I’ve decided to open a Roth IRA with Vanguard “soon” (need to raise the initial investment capital, probably a few more months down the road). I’m planning on investing in the Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund

    It’s a target date mutual fund that has 4 “total” index funds: the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, the Total International Stock Market Index Fund, Total Bond Market II Index Fund, Total International Bond Index Fund Investor Shares 1, etc

    It’s well-diversified and automatically rebalances the closer to retirement I get. I remembered asking about this a few years back and started researching on my own again. I remembered the 3 fund portfolio concept that was mentioned. I figure the target fund will suit me fine.

    I’ve been building up my savings, which will primarily serve as an emergency fund. Up to $8000 now. The $1400 and $600 stimulus checks helped out tremendously. I do plan on dipping into this fund to pay for a new lease vehicle and repairs on current car, however. My tax return for this year should help too.

    ATM, I’ve been able to plow $500-600/month into my savings account for the past few months since I’ve been working more.

    I’d really like to park the EM/savings into an online high-interest savings account to make more money on interest but since the Fed cut rates, the highest rate I’ve seen has been 0.50%. Better than my bank’s 0.02% interest, but not worth it to move money over, especially since my current accounts don’t have monthly maintenance fees and are connected to cover overdraft

    The one concern I do have is whether there’s a point to be doing all this saving given the likely political climate for the next several years/decades?

  102. 102.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    @CaseyL: I have wonderful clients and friends on South Whidbey…. and there is this thing about the area: “Island Time”.  It’s a combo of Manana and No Ambition.

    Of course since I gave up on running a business there’s been a lot of Manana in my life.  I’m glad I’m not surrounded in it.

    Now about Ocean Shores – No!

  103. 103.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    Um, D bubble inhabitant here. 9% of my immediate neighbors are Republicans.

  104. 104.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    May 4, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    I just picked up the recent biography of Shirley Jackson on the Daedalus remainders book site for a good price. $7.98 for a $35 book. From just dipping into it, it looks really good.

    Blurb: With this biography—winner of the Bram Stoker and Edgar Awards, as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award—critic Ruth Franklin shows us how Shirley Jackson struggled all through her life to be a writer, and why she is so unjustly overlooked. “If ever there was a great writer of the 20th century who fell victim to ‘How to Dismiss Women’s Fiction,’ it was Shirley Jackson,” notes Neil Gaiman. “What A Rather Haunted Life gives us is a way of reading Jackson and her work that threads her into the weave of the world of words, as a writer and as a woman…. Ruth Franklin is the biographer Jackson needed: she tells the story of the author in a way that made me want to read every word Jackson ever wrote.”

    A friend and I adored We Have Always Lived in the Castle when I was in high school, and she became “Merricat” (from Merri – her given name was Meredith).

    My husband and I have been watching and greatly enjoying Mare of Easttown. The acting is uniformly good, Kate Winslet is of course great, and all the main characters in the show are real people, not just cardboard characters with plot points.  Everyone in the show knows or is related to everyone else so it is getting rather complicated. Great!

  105. 105.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 3:40 pm

    Yay! I live in a bubble. Only 16% of neighbors are Republican (poor sad puppies, move to suburbs soon.)

  106. 106.

    Roger Moore

    May 4, 2021 at 3:40 pm

    @natem:

    Giuliani allies have been pressing for Trump team to have Trump’s legal defense money cover Rudy legal bills

    I hope Trump is too cheap to do it, and Giuliani rats him out.  It would be fitting.

  107. 107.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Move to Akron. You will like it.

  108. 108.

    gene108

    May 4, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    My condo development is 19% Republican. I find such a low percentage of Republicans surprising.

    My town and county were dominated by Republicans for most of the 20+ years I’ve lived here. These are low-key NJ Republicans. In the last 5 years Democrats have made inroads into city council and flipped the county board.

    Guess it’s just luck all these Democrats live on my street.

    Edit: I put in my mom’s address, who lives maybe half a mile down the street from me, and her neighbors are 21% Republican.

    Edit 2: I put in my first address I moved to in this town, which is about 2-3 miles down the road. It’s 72% Democrats, but unlike where I live now it’s not a bubble,  but it’s not politically diverse either.  I find it curious how registration changes within a few miles of where I am now.

  109. 109.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    @germy: I did! It was interesting, and Elizabeth Moss was fabulous. I was kinda ticked about the way the movie portrayed Jackson as a neurotic but talented writer who needed people to look after her when in fact she was the primary breadwinner in her family and managed to raise four children while being a neurotic and brilliant writer at the same time. But it wasn’t meant to be a biography; it was sort of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Werewolf” — that should have been the title! :)

  110. 110.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 3:43 pm

    Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton told me in an interview Tuesday that she's not had conversations with Senator Joe Manchin and calls him a "Democrat in name only." I asked her what if he takes offense to her words & Norton says "he won't take offense, he's a grown up Senator." pic.twitter.com/T7G8YsGllt

    — Kyle Mazza (@KyleMazzaWUNF) May 4, 2021

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    On an NPR weekend show a couple weeks back he popped into a Luntz COVID focus group (on Zoom) of konservatives unconvinced to get the shot. Luntz was getting nowhere with them, trying to move the needle. Christie related being in Trump reelection meetings with a group, most of whom then came down with covid including Hope Hicks, who evidently got really sick despite being young and healthy, as did he (who is neither of those things). He then described a couple he knows, both of whom got covid. He discussed their lives in some detail and ended with “they both passed away.”

    And that managed to push the needle, hard, with several of the “no-ways” who were then considering getting the jab, all after a lot of methods that flopped.

    Make of all that what you will.

  112. 112.

    Roger Moore

    May 4, 2021 at 3:45 pm

    OT: Woot! As predicted LA County has now brought its COVID numbers low enough to be moved into the least restrictive “minimal risk” tier in California’s COVID plan. It’s an amazing turnaround from January, especially because we managed to get there at least a couple of weeks ahead of neighboring counties, which had been doing better than us for basically the whole pandemic.

  113. 113.

    Spanky

    May 4, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear that Alan Grayson is sure he can beat Li’l Marco if only I would send him some cash.

  114. 114.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    @germy: ​
     
    I LOVED Norton’s appearances on the old Cobert show, where she would address him as “Mister Col-bert” pronouncing the T. She’s very direct and very funny. Stephen clearly loved her to death, but still stayed in character.

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    @trollhattan: if he limited himself to Covid evangelism and went off to quietly graze in the tall grass of Wall St, I would say live and be well. But I heard him snarling and spewing stupid about Biden’s address, and I think I saw him pledging loyalty to The Beast on a Fox clip the other day (Subtext: “If you’re too lazy to run again in ’24, please give me your endorsement, my corrupt racist lord”)

  116. 116.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    @Roger Moore: ​
     
    IDK why but Oregon’s numbers are jumping, after doing quite well. Yesterday their positive rate was 5x California’s, and restrictions on outdoor gatherings are being reapplied. The state refused NWSL’s request to host the Cup Final in Portland this Saturday.

  117. 117.

    divF

    May 4, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    6% Republicans.
    In the little circle chart, they have purple circles for independents. There are two that show up in my neighborhood, and I’m certain that one is my nephew who was living with us until recently.

  118. 118.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    He’s still a Trumper. There’s a useful aspect to him that doesn’t counterbalance the bad and nobody can ever trust the guy.

  119. 119.

    natem

    May 4, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Inshallah, may it be so

  120. 120.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 4, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    @germy:

    Exactly. Manchin is pissing me off with his bullshit about the DC statehood bill and the 1/6 Commission. I think it’s time to push a Puerto Rico statehood bill. They voted for statehood last year. Let’s see Manchin argue that PR needs a constitutional amendment to become a stat

    I thought this prick was supposed to be with us on the “important” votes? What’s more important than getting two more guaranteed senators for the party and rewarding an important Dem constituency, African Americans, who make up much of DC’s population? Or passing a Voting Rights Act?

  121. 121.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Christie fell hard for Trump. I don’t get that, but it’s a fact.

  122. 122.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    May 4, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    The map pretty much echoed my suspicions. This area is pretty purple, with my immediate surroundings almost equally red and blue dots, mixed together. In fact the areas I would have tagged as red based on lawn signs over the years, have more blue dots mixed in than I would have guessed.

    “About 53 percent [of your neighbors] are Democrats, 46 percent are Republicans and 1 percent are independents”

    Also as I kind of already knew, there are three pockets of deep blue nearby: The area around the college, the city of Chester, PA, and the region around Tina Fey’s hometown, Upper Darby (a close-in Philly suburb). And Philly itself of course.

  123. 123.

    Nutmeg again

    May 4, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    I’ve been watching Mare of Easttown.Kate Winslet is terrific, as is the rest of the cast. I read a few bits of review/commentary on the show, and the issue of regional accent always comes up. Speaking as a Masshole, who lacks the accent, but still… I’m glad it’s somebody else’s turn! One frequent comment is that there are few examples of that DelCo accent in the world–I’m thinking, How about the First Lady, Jill Biden? She has a whopping Philly accent, awfully close.

  124. 124.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    May 4, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    @Nutmeg again: I was so happy to hear people talking about the Delco accent in connection with that show, and how it’s almost impossible for actors to do it or the Philly accent. I’ve been fascinated by the local accent since moving here 20 years ago. I can tell instantly if somebody is a local, but I am completely unable to put my finger on what the characteristics are.

    I love imitating accents and I would do Delco if I could. I’m glad to hear even the pros struggle with it.

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    @MattF: it’s ambition, and the whole Udall observation about embalming fluid being the only cure for the disease, but I get the sense it’s even deeper. Some kind of Alpha Bully/Beta Bully dynamic I can’t grok.

  126. 126.

    divF

    May 4, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):

    Madame divF and I are great fans of Shirley Jackson, including her two fictionalized memoirs about her family, Life Among the Savages, and Raising Demons.

  127. 127.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 4, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    My town is 53% Democratic, which is more than I expected because the senior community I live in is very Republican. I must live in a bubble!

  128. 128.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    May 4, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    @karen marie: I’m not inclined at all to horror either, but love We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

    I have never read a Stephen King novel, but loved his columns in Entertainment Weekly that he wrote for a while, quite a while ago now. He was great on popular culture.

  129. 129.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    Digby summarized Santa Monica antimaskers picketing a high school, then the students picket the pickets. Hilarity.

    Interesting bookend to the Bend, OR protestors at a HS vaccine clinic. Their beef: “Vaccine has aborted fetus cells.” Uhhhh

  130. 130.

    Jeffro

    May 4, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    75% or so Dem here in Central Virginia – LOVE IT!

    I’m going to try to work “monetizing my amygdala” into some sort of conversation later this week. LOL. God bless Joy Reid, she is the bomb!

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    May 4, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    I looked up both my current and last address here in socal and there is more red than I expected. The red is either the wealthish or have more than nothing, less than comfortably safe areas. And there was more than I expected.

  132. 132.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2021 at 3:58 pm

    @natem: Saw a  blurb (yesterday?) that said Dersh had invited Trump hisownself to help in Rudy’s defense. If true, all I can say is – please continue.

  133. 133.

    SFBayAreaGal

    May 4, 2021 at 4:01 pm

    I forgot the rest of the information/words of wisdom from the NYT

    “Not everyone’s as politically isolated as you.There’s a zip code 23 miles away with a roughly equal mix of Democrats and Republicans.”

    “The film critic Pauline Kael once said that she lived in a “rather special world” because she only knew one person who voted for Richard Nixon. People in the Bay Area, the country’s most Democratic metropolitan enclave, may have felt similarly after Donald Trump won in 2016.”

    Pretty true about 2016.

  134. 134.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:03 pm

    Yay, the neurosurgeon moved ups my appointment from next Monday to tomorrow!

  135. 135.

    TriassicSands

    May 4, 2021 at 4:05 pm

    My “neighborhood” is slightly bluer than Betty’s, but move out farther and my county went narrowly for Biden. However, my state, Washington, was an easy victory for Biden/Harris. The Republican nominee for governor was a male Lauren Bobert and Inslee was easily re-elected for a third term, but by a slightly smaller margin than Biden/Harris had over TFG/Pence. That disappointed me, because I considered Inslee to be better than Biden and his opponent to be every bit as bad as TFG.

    My closest neighbors are young lefties and old lefties. However, across the street is a 60s white male “I never go anywhere without my gun” Trump cultist and an 80+-year-old white woman whose political beliefs are as incoherent as are her beliefs on the pandemic — she thanked me for getting vaccinated and making her “a little bit safer,” but she sees no reason for getting vaccinated herself. Moving out a bit is a very nice couple – – lifelong Republicans — who voted Democratic in the last two general elections.

    Someday, I want to sit down with the woman (late 70s) and ask her to explain how she remained a Republican for so long given the Gingrich, Bush-Cheney, McConnell trajectory of science denial, racism, unnecessary war, and tax cuts for the wealthy. She’s intelligent, always upbeat, reasonably articulate,  and very open. I would expect that conversation to be interesting and pleasant. I suspect her Republicanism was rooted in “hereidity,” her social circle, and a much less than fanatical attention to what was going on inside the party. Somehow, lots of people who supported Rockefeller and his sort in the 60s and early 70s failed to notice the disappearance of those kinds of Republicans. I always enjoy seeing and talking with her and never would have pegged her as a Republican. But she’s not the kind of woman who would tolerate boasts about ” pussy grabbing” and she certainly was repulsed by old what’s his name. I very much want to hear her take on the current reality-denying GOP.

  136. 136.

    Redshift

    May 4, 2021 at 4:05 pm

    90% Democratic here! No surprise, I’ve been watching it shift that direction (and working to help it along) for twenty years. Well, a little bit of a surprise, I didn’t know it had gone that far. But I do know that it’s been a good seven or eight years since the Republican across the sidewalk from me on Election Day was someone who lived in the neighborhood.

    I also liked the “there are neighborhoods near you that are much less of a bubble.” Surprise, surprise, all of the redder areas are where the big fancy houses and people with money are,

  137. 137.

    Betty Cracker

    May 4, 2021 at 4:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I also received a Grayson email and added it to the spam list. He and Jolly can both fuck right off.

  138. 138.

    NotMax

    May 4, 2021 at 4:07 pm

    @raven

    How fare the ribs?

  139. 139.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    @Jackie: ​
     

    That *is* good news, and astonishing news. I wonder if it would be helpful for many people living in that area to see those results – being a Democrat in an area generally assumed to be deep Red can be lonely and discouraging.

  140. 140.

    Kathleen

    May 4, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    I’m in a blue bubble. Only 16% of my neighbors are Republican. I live 5 minutes from the heart of downtown Cincinnati. I saw more Trump signs in a 5 mile radius than I did Biden/Harris signs. I guess Democrats aren’t yard sign performative. Sorry, Peggy Noonan.

  141. 141.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    @Baud: Also, I noticed that Democrats around here were notably more muted in 2016 and 2020 than they’d been in previous cycles, maybe just because they were scared.

  142. 142.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:09 pm

    @NotMax: Getting better thx. I saw my GP for a regular checkup yesterday and she wanted to know if I wanted x-rays. I asked what difference it would make in terms of treatment and she said “none” so I didn’t. This appointment change may allow us to go to the beach early and that will be the real test.

  143. 143.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 4, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    @SFBayAreaGal:“The film critic Pauline Kael once said that she lived in a “rather special world” because she only knew one person who voted for Richard Nixon. People in the Bay Area, the country’s most Democratic metropolitan enclave, may have felt similarly after Donald Trump won in 2016.”

    Nixon, for all his awfulness, wasn’t the self propelled internet mem that is Donald Trump. As it has been noted, Trump can’t even drink a glass of water correctly, yet they voted for him.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2021 at 4:12 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: The pocket of very deep blue that it mentioned near me… yes, that would be the city that Donald Trump specifically called out on the campaign trail as a horrifying lair of frightening immigrant hordes. I doubt they like him very much.

  145. 145.

    BC in Illinois

    May 4, 2021 at 4:12 pm

    Many of your neighbors — 56 percent — are Democrats. You don’t quite live in a bubble, but we wouldn’t say your neighbors are politically diverse, either.

    That’s the word for my part of St. Louis County. I would have thought there were more D’s than that, based on the neighborhood yard signs.

  146. 146.

    2liberal

    May 4, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    i’m in a democratic bubble,  24% republicans.

  147. 147.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    That map didn’t work worth a damn on Safari.

  148. 148.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2021 at 4:13 pm

    O/T, but has TPM now gone subscription only? Just tried clicking a half dozen headlines for stories not labelled a Prime, and to a one they prompted me to sign up for an account.

  149. 149.

    Kathleen

    May 4, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    @Redshift: Funny – I saw more Biden/Harris & BLM signs in one of the city’s priciest zip codes than I did in my community, which is truly a mix of incomes and races. (I believe it’s been deemed one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country but my data are strictly anecdotal. Someone “told” me.) But my own observations tell me that could be correct.

  150. 150.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    Here in 80% minority SE Seattle (56 languages spoken, mostly dialects though) it’s 91% Democrat.  We’ve not seen a QOP sign in forever.  Our neighbors told me, after the Chauvin verdict, they’ve had “driving while black” issues in other parts of the city.  Political bubbles may not help much against cops that don’t live in the bubble.

  151. 151.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    Giuliani is apparently hoping that TFG will help pay for multiple current legal problems. I’m thinking ‘Umm, no’ and ‘Har-de-har’.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    @Gravenstone: as I recall, JMM opened up the site to provide pandemic news for free. Maybe he put his paywall back?

  153. 153.

    lowtechcyclist

    May 4, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    My exurb in northern Calvert County, MD is 66% GQP.  I knew it was probably at least 60%, so I’m not terribly surprised.

    As long as we don’t talk politics, we’re good.  If they’re stupid enough to try to talk politics with me, how they feel afterwards is their problem.

  154. 154.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    @raven: Worked for me on iPad Safari.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    May 4, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    Many of your neighbors — 59 percent — are Republicans. You don’t quite live in a bubble, but we wouldn’t say your neighbors are politically diverse, either.

  156. 156.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    May 4, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    @divF: I was so startled when I realized it was the same Shirley Jackson who wrote WHALITC as who wrote the family memoirs.  I first encountered Life Among the Savages as a Reader’s Digest Condensed book, IIRC.

  157. 157.

    danielx

    May 4, 2021 at 4:19 pm

    Amazing – 47% Democrats, 46% Republican, 7% independent in the one of the most Republican counties in the state.

    Also, Nancy SMASH knows how to troll.

  158. 158.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @Dan B: ​
     

    Now about Ocean Shores – No!

    Does that “No!” mean “No, I don’t believe it!” or “No, don’t move there!”? So many Seattle folk have a place in Ocean Shores, but it might not be their primary residence, and so they don’t vote there. It was on my list because I have friends there, and because the housing prices were very reasonable.

    But that was before every city and town in Western Washington became a Highly Desirable Neighborhood. I’ve been watching housing prices since last year, and they’re going up, up, up. 20% or more in Grays Harbor County; much more than that on Whidbey (where they were already pretty damn high.)

  159. 159.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 4:21 pm

    Checked Marshall’s twitter feed for news about his paywall, but didn’t see any. I did find this. Is this David Barton history?

    The Recount@therecount · 3h
    TN State Rep. Justin Lafferty (R) claims the three-fifths compromise — counting Black people as less than a person — was included in the Constitution “for the purpose of ending slavery.”

  160. 160.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m hoping Manchin is doing his usual game of making moderate noises for his constituents and voting with the Dems when needed.  If we don’t get DC statehood the ALEC / QOP voter suppression and the Supremes “We don’t legislate voter rights.” stance will put us back in Tea Party nightmare land.

  161. 161.

    Delk

    May 4, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    9% Republican

  162. 162.

    batguano

    May 4, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    You live in a Democratic bubble. Only 20 percent of your neighbors are Republicans.

    I love my city, too bad my state is turning redder with each election.

  163. 163.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    @MattF: I can’t get the adress entry thingy to move, it doesn’t matter, Athens is blue.

  164. 164.

    Gravenstone

    May 4, 2021 at 4:24 pm

    @raven: Scroll down and the report will play out. Took me a bit to sort it out too.

  165. 165.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 4:24 pm

    Speaking of criminals, … KrebsOnSecurity:

    When normal computer users fall into the nasty habit of recycling passwords, the result is most often some type of financial loss. When cybercriminals develop the same habit, it can eventually cost them their freedom.

    Our passwords can say a lot about us, and much of what they have to say is unflattering. In a world in which all databases — including hacker forums — are eventually compromised and leaked online, it can be tough for cybercriminals to maintain their anonymity if they’re in the habit of re-using the same unusual passwords across multiple accounts associated with different email addresses.

    The long-running Breadcrumbs series here tracks how cybercriminals get caught, and it’s mostly through odd connections between their online and offline selves scattered across the Internet. Interestingly, one of the more common connections involves re-using or recycling passwords across multiple accounts.

    And yes, hackers get their passwords compromised at the same rate as the rest of us. Which means when a cybercrime forum gets hacked and its user databases posted online, it is often possible to work backwards from some of the more unique passwords for each account and see where else that password was used.

    […]

    [ womp, womp ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  166. 166.

    Glory b

    May 4, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    So, I looked for my address, 3% republican,  and that seems high.

    Then again, I  doubt anyone here would admit it.

  167. 167.

    ellie

    May 4, 2021 at 4:27 pm

    I live in a Democratic bubble. And I’m fine with that.

  168. 168.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    @raven: Works for me on both iPad and Mac. Gives different answers, though, so, go figure.

  169. 169.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Just voted for the library (pronounced liberry in these parts) bond issue.  I voted for it although it will cost me $5 per year.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    May 4, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    @raven: I had that problem, too, in Safari.  Then I tried chrome, and it still wouldn’t move, but then I realized that if you ignore that box and just scroll on the page, the box goes away.

    (It’s a really bad design.)

    Then once I knew what to do, I was able to go back to Safari.

  171. 171.

    Jeffro

    May 4, 2021 at 4:32 pm

    @germy: win

  172. 172.

    MattF

    May 4, 2021 at 4:37 pm

    @WaterGirl: NYT has these ‘interactive’ things where text is scrolled behind static stuff. I guess I’ve gotten used to it.

  173. 173.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 4:38 pm

    @Glory b: Wow. Where do you live? ( After all these years I should know, but I forgot.) I was impressed with my 16%.

  174. 174.

    jnfr

    May 4, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    I knew my neighborhood was mixed (northern Jeffco in CO), but we came out 63% Dem, which surprised me. Of course the neighborhoods up around Boulder are nearly 100% and other parts of Colorado swing 100% the other way, so I consider that pretty mixed.

  175. 175.

    Revrick

    May 4, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    I live in a diverse working class neighborhood that’s 63% Democratic in Allentown PA. The neighborhood was actually built for workers in a nearby aircraft factory in WW2.

  176. 176.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    The New York Times has a nifty interactive thingie where you can plug in your address and find out if you live in a political bubble or not. It analyzes your 1,000 closest neighbors and renders the political diversity where you live as a percentage.

    I live in a Democratic bubble. Only 17 percent of my neighbors are Republicans. A lot more seem to hang out at a couple of restaurants/coffee shops where I eat, according to overheard conversations.

  177. 177.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    @Gravenstone: Got it! 10% pukes!

  178. 178.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    @Jeffro: I live in rural/exurban Greene County, Va., and Greene is red. I consider my 5th VA Congressional district to be purple,  since the Republican won by only 5 points (we are coming up on dinner time, so I won’t name him).

    But Virginia is Blue! Joe Biden’s margin of victory in the state was highest for a Democrat since 1964, almost ten points. Virginia has gone from red to purple to blue in the last twenty years.

  179. 179.

    Soprano2

    May 4, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I think a lot of people aren’t reluctant as much as just not nearly as interested as we are. Here they’re starting to have walk-in clinics. They’re having a clinic at the Springfield Cardinals opener tonight, and they’re having a “family fun day” at one of our fire stations on Friday. They need to do more stuff like this – set up a tent in the parking lot at Wal Mart and Target, for God’s sake!!

  180. 180.

    Seanly

    May 4, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    That was neat! Surprisingly, my Boise, ID, neighbors are 73% Democratic. Once again, this is in IDAHO. I figured my neighborhood was mixed with maybe a small D lean

    There is a healthy contingent of Democrats in Idaho, but the government is dominated by Republicans.

  181. 181.

    Soprano2

    May 4, 2021 at 4:42 pm

    My analysis said my neighbors are 52% Democratic. That kind of surprised me, although I do live in the poorer part of town where there are more Democrats.

  182. 182.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 4:44 pm

    @Soprano2: And Bass Pro!!!

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 4, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    stuart stevens @stuartpstevens

    Here’s the thing about the Republican Party: stop thinking of it as a “normal” American political party based on ideology. It has crossed over to an autocratic, anti-democratic force in opposition to American experiment. Look at Hungary. Republicans are Viktor Orbán

    ETA: and nobody had to bribe me to get vaccinated, and quite frankly Joe Biden owes me a donut. One of them fancy ones.

  184. 184.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 4:46 pm

    @CaseyL: We’ve been to Iron Springs, a dozen miles north of Ocean Shores once or twice a year and go to Ocean Shores every time for groceries or to see if there’s something to see or do.  It’s regularly depressing.  I believe Kennewick would be better but ask Yutsano.

    We’ve got a friend who moved to Tieton, a couple miles north of Yakima.  It’s less windy than other areas, like Wenatchee is less windy.  Tieton has an enclave of artists.  It’s where our friend moved when the artsy town in Mexico didn’t work out.

    A friend’s nephew got a job in Grey’s Harbor and after a few months there drove to Seattle every weekend.  He had a killer apartment in Grey’s Harbor but was very glad to leave.

  185. 185.

    laura

    May 4, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):  Do It! Save now, today tomorrow next week and next year. You will not regret investing in your future security.

  186. 186.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 4:54 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: My city has the oldest Krispy Kreme north of the Mason Dixon line.

  187. 187.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 4:55 pm

    @sab: I think GloryB wins.  I was surprised that my 80%+ minority neighborhood was only 91% Dem.  Could be some Filipino Marcos holdovers.  There are some wealthy Jews who may also hate tax and spend liberals and some Seventh Day Adventists but we have a couple liberal evangelical churches that churn out activists.

  188. 188.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    @Jackie: ​
     

    I just checked some Kennewick addresses on the NYT thingie, and you must live in a very specific part of Kennewick. The ones I’ve tried are all *very* GQP. Alas.

  189. 189.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    @Soprano2: the Virginia Department of Health is setting up a covid vaccination clinic at a defunct J.C.Penneys in a shopping mall just north of Charlottesville. I think they will be jabbing walkins.

  190. 190.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Do it!! We survived our fifties on the IRA we planned to spend in our seventies.

  191. 191.

    BruceFromOhio

    May 4, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    Many of your neighbors — 62 percent — are Republicans. You don’t quite live in a bubble, but we wouldn’t say your neighbors are politically diverse, either.

    Le sigh.

    My neighbor to the east is a Trumper. Flew the flags, had the yard signs, even one of those stupid cutouts. I put my Biden-Harris sign right where he could see it when he pulled in his driveway. He kept most of his swag on display after the election. Daylight on 1/7, all that stuff was gone.

    Caught him and another neighbor out the other evening, went over to say hello. They said, grab a chair, have some wine. Tipped a glass, chatted for a few, then said my goodnights.

    Being friendly is easy enough, though we’ll never be friends.

  192. 192.

    Yutsano

    May 4, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    @Jackie: ​ Out here in Fintucky it’s 80/20 Republican.

  193. 193.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: Looks like Wonkette is on the same page:

    […]

    Sorry, Charlie, but I’m petty AF and will never forgive your failure to math helping gift the Senate with the Rubio-Bot 9000.

    Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who’s actually won statewide with a “D” in front of her name, is expected to enter the governor’s race. Polls show her roughly tied with DeSantis, and while she performs better with independents than the governor, she’s not doing as well with Democrats as DeSantis is with the MAGA base.

    I like Fried, especially after she refused DeSantis’s order to lower the flag in honor of dead racist Rush Limbaugh, but I looove Val Demings. (It’s the difference between my Skechers and my Prada backpack.) The Florida congresswoman who publicly disemboweled Jim Jordan a couple weeks ago is considering bringing the ruckus to DeSantis or Rubio.

    […]

    Crist (and Grayson) should stay home and let the next generation fight it out for Team D.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  194. 194.

    Unique uid

    May 4, 2021 at 4:59 pm

    @NotMax: Don’t have Apple+ (and unwilling to shell out for yet another service at this time) but curious if anyone here has watched For All Mankind. Bits and pieces I’ve caught here and there are intriguing.

     

    I watched it and enjoyed it. I do sort of worry about programs that change history, seems like that might cause issues later. (for example, dialog in The Crown that is totally speculative)

    Umm, Apple does offer a free 7 day trial. Or I’m pretty sure you can just buy one month for $5 and drop it.

    Just started watching Mosquito Coast, enjoyed Dickinson (again with altered history…) and Tehran earlier. Some major science fiction program is coming out in a few months, I forget, of course. Foundation?

  195. 195.

    FlyingToaster

    May 4, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    I live in a bubble.  19 percent of my neighbors are Republicans.

    What’s truly fucking amazing is that my current zip code (Watertown, Massachusetts) is the MOST diverse place I’ve ever lived.  I checked every single fucking residence I could remember (back to two years old).  Although my pre-Masshole days were spent in the Bible Belt (KCMO and Bloomington, IN), those zip codes have fewer (R)s as a percentage than Watertown.  Somerville, of course, still wins with 8% R.

    Maybe I’ll retire to Provincetown (5% R) one day.

  196. 196.

    JustRuss

    May 4, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    12% of my neighbors are Republicans.  Still too many, but I’ll take it.

  197. 197.

    JoyceH

    May 4, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    We Have Always Lived In The Castle! Has anyone but me found themselves saying “Today we neaten the house!” … Just me? (Not to mention that I live alone, which makes it a bit odd…)

  198. 198.

    BruceFromOhio

    May 4, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    Holy smokes, that Joy Reid clip is awesome.

    “Tuckems” LOL

  199. 199.

    Jackie

    May 4, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    @CaseyL: I plugged my actual address in, so I’m told the 1000 neighbors around me aren’t “as Republican” as other neighborhoods in the region.

  200. 200.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    Soon we will be bickering over what constitutes a bubble.

  201. 201.

    raven

    May 4, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    @Unique uid: Dickinson was wonderful! I’m not sure about Mosquito Coast, I was ok till the stupid dance scene. The, why in the hell didn’t they take the vigilante truck instead of walking???

  202. 202.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    My response to that guy who wrote about selecting our neighbors by politics: my husband lives in town because he did not want to raise his kids in white-flight America. And his kids turned out great. Some of our suburban nephews not so good.

  203. 203.

    Jackie

    May 4, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    @Yutsano: I’m not the least bit surprised. We’re practically neighbors – I live right by the fairgrounds.

    What do you think about Culp primarying Newhouse? I had hoped he’d disappear…☹️

  204. 204.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 5:10 pm

    DeSantis has been studying Turtle.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) says Alcee Hastings’ (D) former congressional seat will remain unfilled for more than nine months after Hastings passed away following a cancer battle in early April, Florida Politics reports.

    DeSantis announced the General Election to replace Hastings will take place on Jan. 11. Primaries will be held on Nov. 2 to decide the respective parties’ nominees.

    “Nice little House margin you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.”

  205. 205.

    Laura

    May 4, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    Republican majority here which I knew since this area ought to be called Kalikak County. Low vaccination rate, high rate of head-on collisions on what ought to be a safe road, cigarette fires every summer, and the 4th of July is terrible. Terrible and goes on for days and days.

  206. 206.

    Another Scott

    May 4, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    In other news, …

    https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-religion-government-and-politics-a21c738633a196bb4149fe3054ee75b3

    (Bibi missed the deadline to form a government.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  207. 207.

    Brachiator

    May 4, 2021 at 5:15 pm

    I wish Wes Anderson would release “The French Dispatch” on streaming already. I love his films, and the release of this one has been delayed twice due to the pandemic.

    I appreciate the hell out of Wes Anderson. This is slightly lower than love and affection. I didn’t know he had a new release in the wings.

    Even though the studios seem to be leaning in to streaming, and even though a lot of people indicate that they prefer streaming, the box office business model is not quite there yet. Might not get there. There are tons of movies lined up like jets at a over-busy airport, waiting to land somewhere. Hollywood still seems reluctant to stream big budget movies like the Top Gun sequel or new Ghostbusters reboot or the last Daniel Craig Bond movie because they fear that the revenue stream will be too small. I also think that the contracts with the directors and stars were based on potential grosses. There were some hard feelings when Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot got renegotiated deals for “Wonder Woman 1984.” Also, I think ScarJo for the still upcoming “Black Widow.”

    Studios for now would still prefer to get butts into movie seats. That’s why they are trying to entice fans with the new Marvel Phase 4 trailer. But it’s a tougher sell with reduced seating and other restraints.

    I am hesitant about returning to a movie theater, even though I used to love to go. And the theater nearest me, the ArcLight Cinemas, closed down, leaving me bereft.

    I know nothing about cinematography, but if any filmmaker’s work would be translate naturally to a smaller screen, it seems like it would be Anderson’s. Oh well.

    I really enjoyed “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” And Anderson was playing with all finds of screen formatting in depicting various scenes.  This was really fun on the big movie screen, but also worked in a different way on a smaller home video screen.

  208. 208.

    James E Powell

    May 4, 2021 at 5:18 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I did the same. Used to live in a very blue bubble in Culver City, now in a very red corner of Riverside County.

  209. 209.

    germy

    May 4, 2021 at 5:23 pm

    White House Officials Watch In Horror As Major Biden Pulls Marine One Straight Out Of Sky

  210. 210.

    zhena gogolia

    May 4, 2021 at 5:24 pm

    Paul Rudnick does the best analyses of Meghan McCain’s hairdos.

    And now:1) Springtime for Meghan's head2) Pin the tail on the rightwing co-host3) Rapunzel with OCD4) When your Mom asks, "Why can't I meet your friends?"5) Playing Sandy in Swedish production of Grease6) When your thoughts escape by knotting your hair and climbing down pic.twitter.com/ErgEScdLsP— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) April 30, 2021

  211. 211.

    eclare

    May 4, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    @zhena gogolia:  That’s awesome!

  212. 212.

    J R in WV

    May 4, 2021 at 5:30 pm

    WOW!!!

    57% Democratic, 43% R… I’m shocked. Many of these Dems are pretty conservative country folks, though. But still a relief as there were so, so many Trump signs and flag. Proud to be obnoxious Trumpers, screw everyone else, right?

  213. 213.

    CaseyL

    May 4, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    @germy:

    At press time, Major had been apprehended after he got distracted by a nuclear warhead he had buried weeks earlier on the White House lawn.

     

    Love it!

  214. 214.

    Mike in NC

    May 4, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    @Brachiator: I really enjoyed “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

    We never get tired of that movie. Another comedy masterpiece is “I, Tonya” with Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding and Allison Janney as her abusive mother.

  215. 215.

    VeniceRiley

    May 4, 2021 at 5:34 pm

    @FridayNext: That’s a nice sum up. I am watching Mare as well and loving it.

  216. 216.

    Unique uid

    May 4, 2021 at 5:34 pm

    @raven:

    Dickinson was wonderful! I’m not sure about Mosquito Coast, I was ok till the stupid dance scene. The, why in the hell didn’t they take the vigilante truck instead of walking???

    Must confess that I’m a 60-ish YO guy who hadn’t seen a single Dickinson poem before the TV+ show. Really enjoyed it, thought it was very artistic the way they floated the words over the video. And, for me, the poetry still worked ~170 years later.

    Will wait and see on Mosquito Coast. I did like the dance scene. (starting an adventure, flirting?) Also wondered about the perfectly good truck, maybe concerns about being more visible to the cartel people in the hills?

  217. 217.

    J R in WV

    May 4, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    @J R in WV:

    BUT~!!~ our county went for Trump by 76.8% ~!!!~

  218. 218.

    sab

    May 4, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    Old news to y’all but new to me. Yamiche Alcindor got named host to Washington Week on PBS after Robert Costa has been allowed to desecrate Gwen Ifill’s old stomping grounds for several years. ( I know: block that metaphor. I cannot, because I am so happy.) Pledge week is over, but I will toss them some bucks because they have come to their senses.

  219. 219.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @J R in WV: The NYT app must be going by party registration. It sounds like your rural neighbors harbor a traditional animus towards Republicans, but dislike the national Democratic Party even more. So they vote for the lesser of two evils. None of the few people I know who voted for trump liked the guy. They just bought into the propaganda that demonizes Democrats. It’s the phenomenon of “negative partisanship.” Of course, the people with the trump swag may be true believers. But some of their Republican voting neighbors may be giving them the side eye.

  220. 220.

    debbie

    May 4, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    It seems 21% of my neighbors are Rethuglicans. That 21% too many.

  221. 221.

    Uncle Cosmo

    May 4, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    You live in a Democratic bubble. Only 3 percent of your neighbors are Thuglicans.

    Frackin’ A-men! (But considering that maybe 10% of my 1,000 nearest neighbors are white – roughly the same as when I bought this place >30 years ago – not entirely unexpected.)

  222. 222.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 4, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    Just because you are a registered Democrat/Republican doesn’t mean that’s how you vote. This is a good first approximation but not 100% accurate

  223. 223.

    opiejeanne

    May 4, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Where the heck do you live?

    I live in a bubble that’s 75% Democrats, per registration. Most of the Democrats here keep pretty quiet about their affiliation because, well, you know why. I’m in Western Washington, just outside Seattle.

  224. 224.

    Quiltingfool

    May 4, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    Huh.  Only 11 percent of my neighbors are Democrats.  I am in a GQP bubble.  Not surprised, this is rural Missouri.  89 percent like cutting their noses off to spite their faces, I guess.  The land of Guns, God and No Abortions.

  225. 225.

    opiejeanne

    May 4, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Good point. We have a cluster of Jewish families who voted for TFG, both times. I suspect at least half are registered D.

  226. 226.

    TheronWare

    May 4, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    Since I read some  posts discussing streaming tv series, I would strongly recommend “Penny Dreadful” on Netflix. Superb cast , acting and character development along with story telling and set design. There has never been a better series.

  227. 227.

    glory b

    May 4, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    @sab: Pittsburgh, my neighborhood is called Homewood, in the eastern end of the city, classic “urban, inner city” neighborhood.

     

    Fun fact, a few years ago, some of the PA Republicans in the state legislature were grousing about voter fraud here because over a few elections, our voting precincts showed 100% Dem votes. They couldn’t believe that not one Republican vote was cast.

  228. 228.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    @JoyceH: Ha ha, I love that description. 66% GQP over here, we are definitely an “arrow” county!

  229. 229.

    Dan B

    May 4, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    @glory b: HA!  You win the Golden Bubble*!#♡☆¤~》

     

    And it does sound Golden!

    Our “most diverse zip in the PNW” is just a piker by comparison, but we love it.

  230. 230.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    @Glory b:

    I’d recommend it to anyone, including getting adopted by an African American family so you’ll have lots of fun during holiday dinners rather than talking to your sour puss Republican friends and family. Bonus, sweet potato pie, collard greens and cornbread!

    Oh, man, sign me up!

  231. 231.

    Nutmeg again

    May 4, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I suspect it’s even harder to put on that accent than a MA accent — notwithstanding the many varieties of MA accent, which is rarely parsed properly in popular culture. Used to be, the Julia Child “Butter!!” was the flutey accent of choice for upper middle class over-educated women. (Even though JC was from Pasadena, she was a Smithie, and it was a common 7-Sisters accent of a generation or two ago). An Irish Catholic gangster from Southie would speak very differently from an Italian gangster (also Catholic) from the North End. The Kennedy’s had their own, uh, schtick. Sui generis. And so on: I’m a “westie” (swanky western suburbs of Boston), so I don’t really have the accent (class linked).

  232. 232.

    trollhattan

    May 4, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    As a postscript, the graphic generated for my area showed only Democrats and Republicans. While the word “Independent” is there in purple, no purple circles display so one cannot conclude too much. Fun fact: California independents (“decline to state”) outnumber Republicans.

  233. 233.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 4, 2021 at 6:51 pm

    @J R in WV: I think the “in WV” in your tag neatly explains that discrepancy…

  234. 234.

    Miss Bianca

    May 4, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    @trollhattan: Seems to me that his constituents ought to be able to sue DeSantis on the grounds of depriving them of representation.

    On the other hand, it *is* FL…sigh.

  235. 235.

    Mary G

    May 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Savings is never a bad idea. I ignored all the people who sold stock in 2008/9 and after 2016 and stayed with the low administrative costs. no load mutual funds I have been in since pushed into a 401(k) in the 80s and it has been spectacularly successful. I pinched pennies ruthlessly for 30 years and always had a bit going into a savings account straight from my employer so I never saw the money in my checking account. Every time I got a raise or a bonus I put half into one of my retirement funds or my home repair savings.

    Target funds were a big part of it – I have 2020, 2025, and 2030 even though I stopped working in 2001. They don’t return as much as some of my other funds, but left to myself I would not rebalance my portfolio as much as I should, so I let them do it

    ETA: I know past performance isn’t predictive of future returns, but I think you are right where you need to be, and I commend you for getting started young, because compounding anything over 30 years has spectacular results.

  236. 236.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2021 at 7:17 pm

    @trollhattan: this may have happened in Virginia. The state does not have registration by party, but the Wason Center conducts regular polls of registered Virginia voters, and one question they ask is party self-identification. In a poll published November 2019, the numbers were Democrat, 34%; Republican, 31%; Independent, 31%. A poll released February of this year showed Democrats, 37%; Independents 33%; Republicans, 25%.

    Some Republicans like to say that trump has brought new voters into the party. The trend at least in Virginia indicates that they are whistling past the graveyard.

  237. 237.

    J R in WV

    May 4, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    When I was deciding to retire, in 2008, my 457 investment account was plunging in value, by nearly half, thanks to Bush/Shrub’s mismanagement of the world. I did transfer the investments to my financial advisor’s accounts, but didn’t sell anything. Never sell during a low if you can avoid it at all.

    I have a cousin who was better off than I was, but she got terrible advice from her investments guy and sold her hi-tech investments during the 2000s dot.com bust. Granted some of those companies just went away, but Corning is still a fine investment to hold. She sold it for pennies on the dollar.

    i just left everything be, and thanks be to Obama, everything came back just fine in time. So far we haven’t drawn those investments down much at all, have been able to travel, invest in the winter camp in AZ, etc.

  238. 238.

    Geminid

    May 4, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    @Geminid: Correction: the Wason Center’s November 2019 numbers were Democrat, 34%, Republican, 31%, and Independent 30%, not 31.

    When Arizona voting rolls closed four weeks before the November election, it was found that Democrats had hit a milestone. They edged past Independents by a fraction of a percentage point. Democrats had been in third place for decades.

  239. 239.

    Frank McCormick

    May 5, 2021 at 5:49 am

    Yeah, late to the thread as usual.

    But I definitely wanted to share that I recently finished watching season one of “Doom Patrol”, quirky, smart comic book stuff, this show is definitely one for you. Thumbs and big toes up!

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