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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Olympic Snippets

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Olympic Snippets

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  2. 2.

    Baud

    I don’t know if it’s a false impression, but it seems like more countries are competitive in this Olympics than ever before.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    It is such a sport where you’re trying to reach perfection but perfection is unattainable

    Much like Balloon Juice.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    @Baud: I was thinking “unlike every other sport, where competitors phone it in and a half-ass job is usually enough for the silver.”

    Or rather, I was thinking “that reporter is an idiot,” but that was why.

  9. 9.

    MomSense

    I loved the Olympics as a kid.  I loved watching the Olympics with my kids.  At some point and I’m not entirely sure when, but it changed.  The IOC seems to be corrupt as hell.  The burden it places on the host countries is ridiculous.  The participation of professional athletes doesn’t seem right to me either.  I do respect the athletes and root for them.  Not sure why I have soured on everything else about the games.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    The burden it places on the host countries is ridiculous

     

    I can’t blame the Olympics. Host countries are sophisticated parties who ask to serve as hosts.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    @MomSense: 

    I think it’s the way the competitions are edited and broadcast. Huge emphasis on popular sports like swimming and basketball, along with focusing on American teams. When I was a kid, the coverage seemed more rounded.

  15. 15.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I think it’s corruption.  I don’t think the average citizen of the host country wants to take on those burdens.  I think there’s a lot of money changing hands between politicians, the IOC, developers, etc.

  18. 18.

    germy

    I am not a Luddite

    But if antitechnology radicals would emphatically promise that adopting their ideology would lead to the end of all leaf blowers I could be convinced

    In me they would find a powerful ally

    Ball's in their court

    — Cormac McCarthy (@CormacMcCrthy) April 7, 2021

    There’s a guy a few houses away who has apparently signed a contract with a landscaping company. They show up every three days or so to mow and leafblow. The mowing takes about five minutes. Then the leafblowing goes on for a half hour, and the air is hazy with dust and dried dogshit.

  20. 20.

    Just Chuck

    @MomSense: The “amateur” distinction in the Olympics was historically a way to keep the athlete population populated by the upper crust who could afford to train full-time on their own dime or that of a wealthy patron.  The integrity they were preserving was that against having to mingle with lower-class riff-raff who might actually be something as unthinkable as a manual laborer.  The best are pros when there’s a pro market for their sport, and they’re not lesser athletes for it.

    Still, I’m not big on the Olympics in general: there’s inspiration to be found in individual Olympians, but the institution is an ugly, corrupt, jingoistic spectacle slathered in endless inane commentary and phony gravitas verging on religiosity.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    I haven’t seen polling except for Japan this year, and that’s an outlier because of the virus.  You may be right.  I just don’t know.

  22. 22.

    J_A

    @Ken:

    with respect to reaching a perfect score in a sport, gymnastics is not my thing, but equestrian dressage is. The same thing happens. On a scale to 100, only a handful of times a score over 90 has been attained. 65 is the minimum Olympic qualification, and a score of 75 on the elimination trials will surely take you to the final round.

    Half the time I’m frustrated by that, but half the time I think “what if someone had a 100 score? What would be the point of anyone competing ever again. Instead we can all watch the video of the 100 showing. Nothing will ever possibly be better than that.”

    So a part of me wants to keep it this way. Judges nitpicking, so that others have a chance to do this thing or that thing a little bit better in the future.

  23. 23.

    oldgold

    First, television brings us what we want to see. It is wildly popular.

    Then, over time, television guts the very thing that made the event compelling.

    The Olympics is going the the way of political conventions.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    @Just Chuck: +1

    I haven’t watched much of it this time.  I did see the 400m swimming event won by the Tunisian in lane 8 that the commentators completely ignored until he was declared the winner.  :-/

    Dear NBC — would you please tell your fencing PBP dude to tell us what the freaking score is?????#Olympics

    — Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 1, 2021

    I know a lot of (non-Olympic) tennis coverage these days seems to involve commentators watching video from another city (or continent).  I wonder how much of that is happening in Tokyo…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    @Just Chuck: 
    The selection for upper crust athletes starts way before the Olympics. Only people with money can buy ice time and coaching. Did you ever check into how much it costs to get your kid into a travel team in soccer?
    It’s the same with the arts. We do not make it possible for people to pursue sports and arts unless their parents have money.
    Sure some kids do make it – but most do not.

  28. 28.

    Mike in NC

    The front page of the local Sunday rag notes that “Pompeo Endorses McMaster’s Reelection Bid for Governor”, as if the current shitbird chief executive of South Carolina didn’t care about getting the endorsement of another fat fascist clown whose existence matters less and less with each passing day.

  29. 29.

    germy

    My nurse’s latest boyfriend has a tattoo on his left forearm

    ***

    What branch were you in, I said

    Branch of what

    The service. Your tattoo of kilroy

    Oh that’s ziggy

    Ziggy

    Yes ziggy. He’s a comic strip dude. I hate him. It’s ironic

    ***

    He is a good match for my idiot nurse

    — Cormac McCarthy (@CormacMcCrthy) February 8, 2021

  30. 30.

    BC in Illinois

    While looking at the Cormac McCarthy tweet, I encountered this in the comments:

    How do you comfort a grammar nazi?

    There, they’re, their.

  32. 32.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Dunno.  Just thought it was funny.

    Charlie is also a sports reporter and his Twitter bio says “epee hack” so I think would have noticed it on the screen.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  34. 34.

    JMG

    I have watched the Olympics in a foreign country (France 1984) and their TV coverage is also skewed towards events in which the French do well. Many hours of fencing and kayaking. I suspect that is a universal truism and that China shows one hell of a lot of table tennis and badminton.
    PS: The best Olympic TV is, well, Olympic TV, the in-house feed for media and officials. It has live broadcasting of every sport with no sound, only pictures.

  36. 36.

    raven

    @JMG: Of course it is, all this whining is so fucking stupid. If someone doesn’t want to watch it don’t watch it.

  37. 37.

    Just Chuck

    @MomSense: All very true, there’s nothing cheap about being a full-time athlete.  May as well not exclude the people who actually do make a living from it, and it’s not like the institution has integrity to degrade by doing so.  We’re already treated to wall-to-wall corporate sponsorship with “Official Hemorrhoid Cream Of the US Olympic Team” ads anyway.

  40. 40.

    JWR

    @MomSense:

    The participation of professional athletes doesn’t seem right to me either.

    That was when I lost interest in at least the Summer Olympics. Granted, the change was allowed by the IOC, (or whatever powers that be), and had been pushed for for years, but I’ve always blamed Preznit Insane Anglo Warlord for the U.S. fully embracing the change, which made the joke that was The Dream Team possible.

  42. 42.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    If like me your heart skips a beat when a beloved older celebrity starts trending: Willie Nelson is trending because of this:

    Consequence @consequence
    On Saturday, @WillieNelson made his first public performance since the beginning at the pandemic on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in support of voting rights:

  45. 45.

    laura

    This Olympics is just jam packed with amazing women athletes from everywhere and I am here for it! I can’t remember any prior Olympics that weren’t a total sausage fest. Vive la femme.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the trump presidency really ripped the mask off Susan Collins, she’s as partisan and cynical as Mitch McConnell, and that dithering affect only helps her cover it up. And she’s said to be Joe Manchin’s closest friend in the Senate.

    Jan Wolfe @JanNWolfe

    Collins says Pelosi shouldn’t have blocked Jim Jordan and Jim Banks from the 1/6 committee. Jake Tapper responds: The reason she did that is [they] are election liars. One of whom, Jim Jordan, is possibly a material witness. He spoke with Trump that day.”

  48. 48.

    karen marie

    @debbie: It was also all in one place. My understanding is that some events are on paid streaming platforms, some on broadcast. I have no idea. I do not own a TV and don’t subscribe to anything but Prime because TV ain’t my bag.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    @JWR: OTOH, when the East Germans and the Soviets were allowed to have factory-farmed professional – athletes – in – all -but – name compete, while the West had to pretend to respect the Principles of Amateur Sports, well…

    If the Olympics is about the best in the world competing, then let the best in the world compete.   If it’s about something else, then at least be honest about it and have uniform rules.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: my hot take as a rando on the internet is she’ll do anything and everything she can to get the Rs back in the majority, because she’ll be head of appropriations, and unlike a lot of her colleagues she knows she’ll never be President, that chair-ship is as high as she’s ever going to rise, and she wants it. Bad.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @karen marie:

    You’re right. I’m on broadcast and the coverage is very different. I can’t figure out why advertisers pay for time on broadcast since there are so fewer viewers.

  54. 54.

    karen marie

    @germy: I saw a tweet from McCormac yesterday to the effect “my agent told me to tweet more because engagement is down.”  It’s just sad.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @karen marie: is it really him? I went and looked at the feed, and it’s a hoot, but I have a hard time reconciling that “salty old coot” persona with the guy who wrote The Road, a book from I have not and probably never will recover almost ten years after having read it. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie.

  59. 59.

    karen marie

    @Baud: TV viewing has always been problematic because of time zones but it sounds like they considered past problems and said “hold my beer.”

  60. 60.

    germy

    A Belarusian sprinter competing at the Tokyo Olympics released a video on Sunday calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help her avoid being returned to her native country against her will.

    Athlete Kristina Timanovskaya said in the short video released on social media: “I was put under pressure and they are trying to forcibly take me out of the country without my consent. I ask the IOC to intervene.”
    It appeared online after Timanovskaya was told she will no longer be able to compete for Belarus and that she must return to its capital Minsk immediately, according to Anatol Kotau, of the Belarus Sports Solidarity Foundation. The group represents Belarusian athletes repressed by Belarusian authorities.
    https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/sport/belarus-kristina-timanovskaya-removed-olympics-airport-intl/index.html

  62. 62.

    germy

    @karen marie:

    All writers nowadays are expected to maintain robust social media accounts to boost sales.

    With new writers, it’s in their publishers’ contracts.

    I really thought McCarthy had enough name recognition to be exempt from that.

  63. 63.

    PsiFighter37

    @MomSense: I haven’t had broad-based interest in the Olympics for a long time, but part of that (for me, at least) is being busier (e.g. having a family) and TBH not terribly interested in a number of the esoteric sports that can populate the Games. I would be very curious just how many of the athletes competing derive any (if any) meaningful income from their accolades.

    As for the IOC being corrupt, that’s a given. Seems to be the case for any international sports organization…just look at FIFA.

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    My Olympics coverage complaint are the copious ads for prescription drugs, including several they don’t manage to tell what they’re treating before diving into the contraindications list, a list that frequently includes “do not take X if allergic to X.” Also, too, the ads for some dumb as rocks Disney movie with the Rock that seems to be based on a Disneyland ride and includes cross-marketing with Applebee’s. When did Disney buy Applebee’s?

  65. 65.

    CaseyL

    Mornin’, everyone!

    I’ve always been more of a Winter Olympics fan, with the ice skating my favorite event.  But I used to watch the gymnastics at least for the Summer games.  This year I’m just *meh*.

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    @debbie:

    You’re right. I’m on broadcast and the coverage is very different. I can’t figure out why advertisers pay for time on broadcast since there are so fewer viewers.

    Good question. Advertising may still be catching up to the modern age. Or it may be that some advertisers are okay with a smaller but guaranteed audience.

    I have not had time to watch a lot of the coverage in large chunks. So I have watched YouTube clips. Some of these are quite good. I had never watched fencing or archery at any Olympics before. But here I was able to watch some key matches from start to finish. Great stuff.

  69. 69.

    J R in WV

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​
     

    Me too. I read The Road years ago and have worked hard to forget it ever since. I’m not putting the book down, understand, was a masterwork, which makes it hard to forget.

    But so… horrible is the best adjective, I guess.

    Now I recall more of it, sad.

    Will stop thinking of it now.

    OK, now!

    Now!!!

    Pink elephants, I’ll think about the pink elephants NOW!

  70. 70.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I always felt like there should be a rotating list of permanent Olympic venues for summer games – Athens, Rome, Paris, Montreal, Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Capetown, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Rio.  No more slapdick bribe wars, plenty of time for planning, you know who is getting them for the next 40 years.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @J R in WV:

    Me too. I read The Road years ago and have worked hard to forget it ever since. I’m not putting the book down, understand, was a masterwork, which makes it hard to forget.

    But so… horrible is the best adjective, I guess.

    Brilliant but crushing.

  74. 74.

    JWR

    @Another Scott: Yeah, I get that, and I couldn’t agree with you more. Even still, NBA pros being allowed to compete in the Olympics, at least in the early years, made the competition for which team would win the gold a bit of a joke.

  75. 75.

    Kayla Rudbek

    Blech. Whole chia seeds make a lousy vegan substitute for eggs in French toast. Out on a walk now to try to convince my stomach that I didn’t eat the equivalent of a lead weight, instead of vegan French toast using the very dense banana honey wheat bread…

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The problem with rotating like that, similar to the problem of regional political primaries is – who goes first?  Who knows what will happen in 2 years, let alone 40.

    The World Championships in various sports are held annually.  Why not make the Olympics the same?  It would be fairer to the athletes (“I trained for 5 years to get there, but X happened and I’ll be too old and past my peak for the next one.  :-(“)  Use existing facilities, or ones that can be upgraded in time.  There would be less pressure to knock down neighborhoods to build grandiose facilities that will be nearly useless to the future residents.

    As long as the IOC controls it, and country committees allow it to be run the way it is, nothing sensible will change.  The IOC will continue to demand their kickbacks, site voting will still be hinky, judging at the events will still be hinky, increased on-line gambling will make competitions even more hinky, etc., etc.  I don’t expect any meaningful changes for the better.

    YMMV.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    @JWR:

    Early on it was quite lopsided but now so many NBA players are from outside the US you can see us be smacked around by the likes of France.

    China and diving are more automatic than the US and hoops.

    Of the new sports so far I got the biggest kick out of BMX cycling. They park they built looks CGI, like something on WII sports. The mixed team spots have been fun, too.

  79. 79.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia: the trump presidency and the last election made me see that I had long overestimated her character– I’d always thought she was a sincere but weak ‘moderate– and underestimated both her cynicism and political talents. And Collins is said to have some of the best constituent services in Congress, something she learned from Olympia Snowe.

    As with Lieberman in ’06, we should never underestimate the advantage of incumbency, especially a long-term incumbent. I remember all those Normie CT voters: “Well I hate Bush and I hate the war, but Joe kept the New London base open, so…”

  81. 81.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Another Scott:

    Use existing facilities, or ones that can be upgraded in time.  There would be less pressure to knock down neighborhoods to build grandiose facilities that will be nearly useless to the future residents.

    I know of an Olympic host city that does this.

  82. 82.

    The Pale Scot

    @Baud:

    Host countries are sophisticated parties who ask to serve as hosts.

    It’s not countries, cities make the bids. The bids are the creation of RE developers. New amenities, and a good reason to clean up those areas filled with those people are the advantages promoted

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    @trollhattan: We watched a bit of the archery last night.  There’s hope for chunky guys to be Olympic champions!! (Though Kim didn’t win in this case.)

    The heart rate indicator was interesting. I’d heard long ago that the best archers and marksmen could (somehow) calm their heartbeat at the magic moment they fired the shot (to minimize vibration). It didn’t look like that was happening there (but maybe the resolution was too low). The 145+ bpm numbers were surprising to me – they’re working hard, even if it’s mostly nerves!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    The Pale Scot

    @germy:

    They show up every three days or so to mow and leafblow.

    Here in the synthetic Fl suburb I find myself quarantining, every house has landscaping El Grande. Fukin landscapers 7-6 every day of the fukin week. My apts in NYC were quieter (except for Saturday)

  87. 87.

    debbie

    @The Pale Scot:

    Didn’t realize until I started working remotely, but leaf-blowers are being used before 7am, in violation of the city’s ordinance on noise. I’m already up, but I’d be livid if they were waking me up.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    @The Pale Scot:

    Was utterly unaware of the 7-day/week leaf-blower onslaught in the neighborhood until working from here for a year. There is no day without and there’s clearly a competition among the mow&blow set of who has the loudest and smokiest. Winning!

    How do any of them hear? ¡Que!

    Because we get no rain for six straight months the amount of dust and crap that accumulates is substantial by September. Since lawns shut down mid-summer they’re just moving the crap from house to house, waiting for the leaves to drop.

  89. 89.

    trollhattan

    Murkowski’s dream opponent.

    August 1, 2021 at 12:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said she may yet jump back into politics, teasing the possibility of a Senate run in 2022 against incumbent Lisa Murkowski, the New York Post reports.

    Said Palin: “If God wants me to do it I will.”

  91. 91.

    Geminid

    @trollhattan: Alaska now has a singular electoral process. First a ranked choice jungle primary. Then a ranked choice November runoff between the top four primary finishers.

  92. 92.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @trollhattan: When I recall what a huge media phenomenon Palin was back in the day, it brings me hope that Brobert and MTG will eventually join her into a well-deserved irrelevancy.

  94. 94.

    Another Scott

    @The Thin Black Duke: She must be running low on cash.  I find it hard to believe that she would actually be taken seriously.

    “You quit as governor.  Why should we believe that you won’t quit as senator??”

    :-/

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  98. 98.

    Fair Economist

    @The Pale Scot: There was substantial country involvement, to the tune of tens of billions, in many recent bids, including Beijing 2008, Sochi 2014, and Tokyo 2020. The corruption has become truly massive, to the point that even badly corrupt places are becoming afraid of the burden.

    Building all the massive necessary infrastructure every 4 years is pretty wasteful. Even in Barcelona, where the games are considered successful advertising for the city, that big mostly desolate Olympic park is pretty sad. Alternating between LA and Paris might be a good solution. Maybe Beijing will hop into the mix because China will pay for it.

  99. 99.

    Amir Khalid

    @trollhattan:

    It’s a pity that Sarah Palin would be crushed by Lisa Murkowski. I would have liked Tina Fey to have a longer revival for her fondly remembered Sarah impersonation.

  100. 100.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @Baud: the dirtbaggers just want to know if she gave thanks n’ praise to hugo chavez for using his spirit to imbue her with the means to reach greatness.

  101. 101.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @MomSense: so, you’re telling me, the strokes aren’t the greatest band ever?

    was buddyhead-dot-com right when they tagged the strokes tour bus with “$uckin d*ck$”?

  102. 102.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @Another Scott: charlie p. pierce isn’t the worst thing about marquette university, but then again, he’s up against howard fuller, charles franklin, mike gousha, julia azzari, scott walker, ex-state senator mike nearman (q – or)*, & proto-trump chris farley for worst.

    *still waiting for the school of govt at mu to offer nearman a guest fellowship as reputation laundering.

  104. 104.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @germy: blame sean fanning & napster & filesharing for that, with an assist from genocidaire mark zuckerberg & phallonaut jeff bezos.

    the market for creators & entertainers irrevocably changed in 1999… & it wasn’t all bill climpton n’ the neoliberals fault. (plenty of battler in seattle types embraced the idea of free media, to the detriment of their favorite creators way of life n’ wellbeing.)

    … it’s only a matter of time before an enterprising author does a paid substack or onlyfans only release of his or her latest book.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    Medical authorities said that Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a sensation anyway. Diana Green saw this drug made from apricot pits as her son Chad’s best chance to survive leukemia. Her shocking actions, and the little boy affected by them, became the focus of a heated national debate over freedom of medical choice.

    Really good, if you like podcasts. You’ll see the connection between this and the Right’s response to covid immediately even before the John Birch Society enters the picture (but the John Birch Society does enter the picture).

    I worked at a (failing) health food store in my late teens. I hated the job – hated the half of the store that was devoted to End Times prepper food storage, hated the owners who were cynical people who could have been selling any scam but just chose this one, hated how it wasn’t busy enough to distract me and how I knew it was going to fail as a business. We used to sell huge bags of apricot seeds for what seemed to me to be outrageous prices and I had no idea that was laetrile or that it was a pet project on the Right (and the far Left).

  108. 108.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Meanwhile, Florida breaks record for COVID-19 hospitalizations. What a surprise.

  109. 109.

    Ohio Mom

    @Another Scott: 
    I see that in Cheryl’s bio at Duck of Minerva, she does not mention that she blogs here. What to make of that, did she turn in her key to the blog?

  110. 110.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    My dad was dying while that was going on. I remember coming home and seeing a bottle of whatever it was they were calling apricot seed extract, and my heart sunk. I got the doctor to speak with her about it, and the bottle disappeared. I believe it was responsible for making Steve McQueen even sicker than he already was from cancer.

  111. 111.

    James E Powell

    @MomSense:

    The IOC seems to be corrupt as hell.  The burden it places on the host countries is ridiculous.

    The hosts are cities and they seem to view hosting as an opportunity to get in on the corruption.

  112. 112.

    James E Powell

    @Another Scott:

    Last year, watching Korean & US baseball with announcers who were not at the game, it was like listening to two or three guys watching the game at home, talking about the games and the girls they remember from high school.

  113. 113.

    James E Powell

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Did Collins then respond to Tapper explaining why Jordan & Banks should be on the committee? No.

    Did Tapper press the question and get an answer? No.

     

    ETA – I am more angry with the voters of Maine than I am with Senator Sinema.

  114. 114.

    jonas

    @MomSense: All the sports with the pro ringers are pretty lame — tennis, golf, basketball, etc. I can see these same people in their pro tournaments all year long every year. Why not let some up-and-coming amateurs shine once every four?

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    @Ohio Mom:   I am not so sure that is an author photo of Cheryl, either.

    Am guessing (1) she listed Nuclear Diner because it’s a professional subject matter writing project and (2) maybe she wants to protect us?  Or, maybe she’s protecting her other set of readers?  Perhaps “skullfucking a kitten” is too weighty a matter for those engaged with geopolitics and weapons of mass destruction?

  116. 116.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    The Boston pediatrician story is amazing- same targeting and smearing except on a much smaller scale- came by letter rather than Tweet and Facebook.

  118. 118.

    James E Powell

    Remember when Collins said Democrats needed to delay one week on the infrastructure bill? That was two weeks ago, wasn’t it?

    We need to attack these people in every press/media venue we can reach. Right wing anger always gets front page treatment and we’re always supposed to be applying empathy & understanding. Does our anger matter?

  120. 120.

    germy

    Interesting fact about the actress Julie Newmar:

    An avid gardener, Newmar initiated at least a temporary ban on leaf blowers with the Los Angeles City Council.

  121. 121.

    HumboldtBlue

    You can watch any live Olympic event on NBC Olympics dot com. You don’t need to rely on NBC.

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    ObOpenThread – A reminder that talk is different from action.

    Houston General Hospital employs over 25,000 people. When it mandated vaccines, Texas Governor & Republicans threatened that there would be mass resignations. Only 25 people quit. The rest took the vaccine. Companies, military, federal government- mandate vaccines. Save America.

    — Jerry Saltz (@jerrysaltz) August 1, 2021

    +1

    I’m kinda surprised that it was that many, TBH.

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: This one isn’t open enough??

    I figure we should just keep posting whatever we feel like here.  If the comment counter goes to 35,323 and the dB crashes, maybe Cole will notice.

    ;-)

    I kid.

    New topic:  Resolved – White men are too moody and impulsive to be trusted with power and authority unless they have a BIPOC at their right hand.

    Fragility is real https://t.co/CnekXtSSf3 pic.twitter.com/2dYkEkJNON

    — T. Greg Doucette (@greg_doucette) August 1, 2021

    (via Popehat)

    [eta:] New open thread upstairs…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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