Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So fucking stupid, and still doing a tremendous amount of damage.

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

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

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

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

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

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Friday Evening Open Thread: History Continues

Friday Evening Open Thread: History Continues

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… The request comes as the Taliban seeks international recognition following its rapid takeover of the country and grapples with a dire economic landscape after billions of dollars of international aid to Afghanistan was frozen.

In considering retaining a diplomatic presence, Price said the safety and security of U.S. personnel in that mission would be “first and foremost on our minds,” particularly after Thursday’s deadly suicide bombing.

President Biden has said the United States will help Afghan allies seeking to leave the country even after U.S. troops leave, an effort that could be easier if it retains a diplomatic mission…

The United States is also engaged in talks about the future management of the airport, discussions that involve the private sector, regional partners such as Turkey, and the Taliban…

GOP Death Cult has ‘thoughts’:


As a lying, stunting moron, Kevin McCarthy is truly the Representative for today’s Republicans.

Reader Interactions

140Comments

  5. 5.

    Another Scott

    McCarthy is so transparently awful.

    He wants a bill to use as a cudgel (“Biden must do this!!”), but doesn’t want any actual responsibility (“It’s his fault that he didn’t do it right!!”).

    Speaker Pelosi must have a huge recycling bin filled with crap bills like that…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  7. 7.

    Mike in NC

    Send Pompeo over there just in case the Taliban change their minds and decide to shoot him.

  9. 9.

    Rocks

    McCarthy reminds me of Senator Roman Hruska (R [naturally] – Nebraska).  In 1970 Richard Nixon had nominated G. Harrold Carswell to serve on the Supreme Court.  Carswell was a judge so devoid of intellect, talent or morals that we had to wait until Trump’s three pygmies to see his equal.  Hruska argued: “Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.”

    In those happier days, Carswell went down to a much deserved defeat and Hruska had earned his claim to immortality.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    I’ve found myself wondering over the years; if Congress were to actually use its power to declare war, would the President be required to prosecute that war?  Historically it’s been the other way around, I think, with the President asking for a declaration of war (and they’ve skipped even that for quite a while).

    To be concrete, say that Congress passed a declaration of war against, oh, Canada.  Would the President have to start military action against them?

  12. 12.

    Spanky

    @Tony Gerace: 
    I’m torn between thinking that he would drop like a WKRP turkey and his landing would be a crime against humanity (against the people on the ground), or that that gasbag might actually float out the door. Of course, there’s always the prop blades …

  13. 13.

    West of the Rockies

    McCarthy is basically the Screech of the GOP (minus the charm and optimistic nature).

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: I have been thinking about the flu shot – CVS is trying to get me to schedule it, but I think it’s too early.

    I also need to think about the shingles shot, but I am waiting to see what happens with the booster.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    trump set a trap for Joe Biden in Afghanistan. This may not have been premeditated on trump’s part. I think trump was counting on winning the reelection he desperately needed, and did not think beyond it. But Mike Pompeo surely knew what they were doing.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: That’s a great video!  Then I saw all your food porn.  Damn, I was already hungry, now I’m starving.

    Turns out you have to put the fucking grill together before you can cook with it.  sigh.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    @HinTN: Not sure what your comment means.  You have to take vaccinations a certain amount of time apart, so I don’t want to screw up the timing of the booster b/c of the shingles shot.

    Or are you saying the shingles shot should take priority over the covid shot?  If that’s what you mean, can you explain why?

  26. 26.

    Old Man Shadow

    Honestly, I’m not fond of the idea, but it’s not like the US hasn’t maintained diplomatic relations (and more) with murderous, oppressive autocrats before.

    And we have a common enemy… the other murderous autocratic group that we set up the conditions for its creation in our other forever war.

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    “We only send our best.”

    –California

    Sorry, folks, truly sorry. See also: Nunes, Devin; ISSA-X Darrell; McClintock, Tommy.

  28. 28.

    Jay C

    While I realize dumping on Republican assclowns in Congress is always an amusing and worthwhile endeavor, IIJM, but is Kevin McCarthy the worst Minority Leader in

    a) this century

    b) the last 100 years, or

    c) all time  ?

     

    the man just seems incapable of making ANY public statement that makes any sense outside of cheap partisan nastiness.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    Were any of those pressed topics about the fact that Biden’s actions were in compliance with TFG’s surrender monkey agreement?

    I thought not.

  32. 32.

    the pollyanna from hell

    @Jay C: Most pathetic, but not actually worst for the country. His bomb throwing is more inept than some others.

  33. 33.

    Eric S.

    @WaterGirl: I turned 50 at the end of July. CVS has been recommending I get the shingles shot. I expect I will but I see a new PCP 9/2  so I’ve decided to wait for her advise.

  34. 34.

    Scout211

    @trollhattan:

    Hey, Congressman McClintock is my representative.  Just look at some of the amazing bills he sponsors!

    congress.gov/member/tom-mcclintock/M001177

    Tree Spiking Mitigation Act of 2021

    Criminal Alien Removal Clarification Act of 2021

    Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021

    Second Amendment is Essential Act of 2021

    He is the worst.  The worst!  He is really, really bad . . .

  35. 35.

    Tony Gerace

    If I were cynical I would point out the Afghanistan’s opium poppies are used to produce about 90% of the world’s heroin and the US probably has more customers for that heroin than any other country. Business is business

  36. 36.

    PsiFighter37

    McCarthy’s lesson from not becoming Speaker after Orange Julius quit in 2015 is to be as dumb and as stupid as possible, as often as possible. He still won’t ever be Speaker – Scalise will shiv that useless idiot in the back if the GOP takes back the House.

  37. 37.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Retired CIA on tee vee say the bomb was so big it could only have come from Adam Sandler

  39. 39.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl:

    I am in the middle between the Shingrix #1 and #2.  The advice is to make sure there are 14 days between your Shingrix and your COVID vaccinations.  It really shouldn’t be a problem to schedule them both.  My pharmacist recommended 2-3 months between the two Shingrix shots but the company that makes Shingrix says 2-6 months.

    If you give yourself a day to recover (for me, from all of them), you will be fine to schedule both the Shingles and the COVID shots.

  41. 41.

    trollhattan

    @Scout211:

    He’s an ironic product of term limits. Having termed out in Sacramento he shopped around for a safe seat and “helloooooo John Doolittle!” IDK how we ended up with somebody worse than that crook, but here we are.

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    @Scout211: McClintock may be no worse than my Congressman, Bob Good (VA-5). I think your district is more Republican though. Last year Good won the VA- 5th District by only 5%. Next year Democrats will do their best to send Good back to Lynchburg and Liberty University. He really needs to spend more time with his family

  43. 43.

    Kent

    @Baud:Taliban maybe be the dog that caught the car.

    Something to that.  I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala in the mid-1980s when the military government gave up power to the first civilian elected government in decades.  They were smart to do so because every Guatemalan was blaming the military for every problem in the country from slow mail to sporadic electrical power to crappy phone service to crappy schools.  When you hold power you get the blame for everything.

    By letting a civilian government take power the military more or less receded into the background (while still holding all the *real* power) and let the newly elected civilian leaders take the blame for all the day to day problems in the country.  It worked.  People stopped complaining about the generals and started complaining about the elected president.

    The Taliban is going to quickly find out that they are to blame for every problem in the country (and I’m sure the problems are legion) and as long as any kind of internet and cell service remains in the country they will get endless blame on social media.  The Taliban doesn’t strike me as sophisticated enough to monitor/censor social media like the Chinese might do.  Or even the Iranians.

  44. 44.

    japa21

    I was thinking. If we maintain a diplomatic presence, don’t we also automatically maintain a military presence? Don’t marines guard all the embassys?

  45. 45.

    Kent

    @Tony Gerace:If I were cynical I would point out the Afghanistan’s opium poppies are used to produce about 90% of the world’s heroin and the US probably has more customers for that heroin than any other country. Business is business

    How does keeping the US embassy open help with the heroin trade?  It isn’t like they export it through official channels.

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    @Kent: There are stories that the Taliban is trying to crack down on social media. Reports from one area they took over were that women were being prohibited from having smartphones. Men were generally allowed smartphones, unless Taliban members found music on them. In those cases they smashed the phones.

  47. 47.

    Kent

    @Geminid:trump set a trap for Joe Biden in Afghanistan. This may not have been premeditated on trump’s part. I think trump was counting on winning the reelection he desperately needed, and did not think beyond it. But Mike Pompeo surely knew what they were doing.

    Or you could say he gave him an unintentional gift.  If Biden had inherited an Afghanistan with 15,000 troops still there in a daily fight with the Taliban we probably won’t be in this spot now where we can just tear off the bandaid and move on.  A year from now this will all be forgotten.  As long as the GOP isn’t in power they can’t run endless Benghazi hearings like they did for Obama.  And they would do that anyway no matter what.  Remember “Fast and Furious and the “IRS Scandal?”   They just make up shit to scandalize anyway.

  48. 48.

    Gin & Tonic

    Unrelated, but it’s an open thread on a Friday night.

    Russia’s FSB planted “prohibited literature” at the home of Oleksander Sizikov, a Ukrainian Muslim living in occupied Crimea, then arrested him (and two others) for “terrorism” based on his possession of the books. His trial has hit a bit of a slowdown as his attorney has requested, according to the defendant’s legal rights, that the indictment be translated into Braille so that Sizikov can read it. You see, he’s blind. So he couldn’t read the books he allegedly owned.

    Link.

  49. 49.

    Kent

    @Geminid: It is a country of about 40 million people.  Cell phones are now ubiquitous.    The Taliban probably all have them themselves.  And in a developing country like Afghanistan they basically use cell service to leapfrog wired phone service.  So take away the cell phones and basically there is no telecommunications at all.  No society can function like that.   I don’t see them having the technical ability to actually monitor and censor wireless communications on any sort of systematic way.

  51. 51.

    John S.

    @Kent:

    As long as the GOP isn’t in power

    And they are doing everything they possibly can to make sure they are in power.

  53. 53.

    PsiFighter37

    @Geminid: Not sure that will happen. I am sure that VA’s commission will likely have the impact of drawing more natural district lines, which could mean that Spanberger and/or Luria are made safer, but at the expense of Democrats being able to stretch for VA-05. Will be interesting to see what happens.

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    @Kent: The Taliban may be biting off more than they can chew if they try to suppress cell phones.Young people won’t like it. Taliban authorities may end up imposing so many lashes when a Millenial backtalks in Pashto, “OK Boomer.”

  55. 55.

    Kent

    @John S.: Well no shit.  But media goes at light speed today.  I think by fall 2022 Afghanistan will be long forgotten.  Trump’s FIRST impeachment with Ambassador Yovanovitch and Colonel Alexander Vindman was only 18 months ago.  Seems like forever ago right?  The 2022 mid-terms are still 15 months away.

    And no matter what happens or doesn’t happen the GOP noise machine is just going to make up shit out of thin air anyway.  So might as well just do the right thing.

  56. 56.

    cmorenc

    How ironic that the corrupt officials of the recently-deposed Afghan “government” ran off with tons of cash they corruptly siphoned off from the aid US gave in propping them up.  The new Taliban government is essentially bankrupt and Afghani banks are too broke to be able to honor deposits and have not reopened since the Taliban took over.  And so, much of the citizenry is broke as well, even by modest Afghan living standards.

  62. 62.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kent: Looks bad. If it shifts just a hair east from its current path, New Orleans is going to get crushed dead-on. Even the current path is no bueno. New Orleans and Miami are in a race to determine which one becomes uninhabitable first due to climate change.

  65. 65.

    Geminid

    @PsiFighter37: The Virginia 5th District as drawn by Republicans in 2011 has a very obvious bit of gerrymandering: the western boundary runs along the Blue Ridge except for an eastern detour that throws majority Democratic Lynchburg into the 6th District to the west. Just ironing out that kink would make the R+5 Fifth more evenly matched.

    But the Commission is making noise like they may proceed from a clean slate. That raises the possibility of more radical changes. Both the 5th and the 6th districts extend north in parallel to Northern Virginia. More compact districting would combine the the northern and southern halves of each district into two new ones, with an east-west boundary around the James River. That’s what I would do.

    I don’t know what the immediate electoral consequences of this would be. But I would not worry much if this happened. Both districts are represented by Republicans as it is. Virginia is trending blue, and I don’t see this changing anytime soon. I think Democrats would pick up one or both seats by the end of the decade, probably sooner.

  66. 66.

    dr. bloor

    @Baud: ​
     

    Could be worse. Second prize was gaining control of two countries composed of ungovernable tribes that rely on drug trafficking to keep the population from starving to death.

  67. 67.

    Ruviana

    @Tony Gerace: I read recently that there’s a plant that grows abundantly in Afghanistan that provides one of the ingredients for meth at a lower cost and more safely. Look for local entrepreneurs to enter the meth trade in 3. 2. 1…

  68. 68.

    Lapassionara

    @WaterGirl: Hi, there. Someone once told me to get flu shot in early December, as its effects only last 4 months. When I was in CVS today, they asked me if I wanted a flu shot and I just said no.n

  70. 70.

    Dan B

    @Anonymous At Work: wonderful vignette is a huge stadium type venue.

    We used to go by Dave Grohl’s house in Montlake.  You could park in the yard at the big but not huge house with lots of stonework.  He didn’t seem to live like a star.  Seems to come through in his stage persona.

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    @Ken: I guess the GQP are having similar thoughts about whether Congress can declare war without a President asking for it, according to this thread…

    This whole issue of #NatSecDaily is well worth your read. But be careful when you read a few particular paragraphs. They'll quite literally make your ?.

    <mini-?>— Stephen Miles (@SPMiles42) August 27, 2021

    Grrr…

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    Craig

    @Anonymous At Work: Dave Grohl mostly annoys me, but the back and forth between him and Nandi during the lockdown really amused me. Her Dad screaming his head off as he’s recording this is just awesome.

  76. 76.

    oclib

    with regard to the vaccination discussion:

    I visited my primary at the L.B. VA today and got a pneumonia shot in one arm and a first dose of shingles in the other arm.  I’ll get the second dose in 6 months when I go back to my primary (can be taken anytime from 2 – 6 months after).  I had the old shingles shot back in `14, but they said to get the new one.

    We talked about the flu and booster shots.  They should be taken no less than 2 weeks apart.  I usually get my flu shot in October while the Moderna booster shot won’t be available until sometime between Nov – Jan for non-at-risk Vets (available now for at-risk Vets).

    Took my wife to get her shingles shot at Ralphs today also.  190 buckaroos and she’s fully insured.  They couldn’t say how much the second shot would cost….ouch….

  79. 79.

    hells littlest angel

    I asked McCarthy about the bill- which specifically states that troops must stay in Afghanistan but only if it is safe.

    If it’s safe, why troops? I say if it’s safe, send nuns and Boy Scouts.

  82. 82.

    raven

    My buddy was doing the Washington section of the Pacific Coast Trail. He made 140 of the 500 and had to give it up. Great effort for a 70 year old.

  87. 87.

    Yarrow

    @raven:  Did you see this?

    UGA professor resigns mid-class after student refuses to wear mask

    A University of Georgia retiree-rehire professor resigned on Tuesday after one of his students refused to properly wear a mask in an upper division psychology seminar class held at the psychology building.

    He’s 88. He asked the student to wear her mask properly. She wouldn’t so he walked out.

  88. 88.

    Lyrebird

    @WaterGirl: ​

    Hi WG!
    I thought the comment from
    @HinTN: ​

    ..was just saying “qualify” bc they don’t usually give [ETA: the shingles vaccine] to people below a certain age, and it might be rude to ask someone’s age online. or elsewhere.

  90. 90.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Old Man Shadow: Maintaining diplomatic relations does not mean declaring a country or its government to be our BFF.  Maintaining diplomatic relations simply means that formal lines of communication exist and can be used to prevent and/or solve problems.

  92. 92.

    raven

    @Yarrow: Here’s his work

     

    My research interests focus on the social organization of nonhuman primates with an emphasis on the expression and control of agonistic and reproductive behavior. Work is done in both field and captive settings with a variety of taxa being used in a comparative framework. Ontogeny, dominance, hormones and stress have been central issues.

  93. 93.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl: Get the shingles shot. A couple of years ago I was in limbo when the shots weren’t available and of course I got shingles. Mild, but you don’t even want that. If it’s a choice between the two, let the booster ride. You’re already vacced for COVID.​
     
    ETA your comment #25. This is why you should prioritize the shingles shot. If you don’t get the shot and get shingles there’s a chance you get permanent nerve damage (postherpetic neuralgia) with constant pain that can’t be relieved by aspirin, NSAIDs, etc. You don’t want to take the chance.

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @japa21: Are you suggesting that we maintained a military presence in Moscow throughout the Cold War?  No, embassies are considered sovereign territory of the country they are from and the military there is on home turf.

  95. 95.

    Edmund Dantes

    Just got my notification my recall ballot was received and counted. I assume my wife’s was too as sent at same time. So there’s two “No’s” in the books.

  96. 96.

    lgerard

    There’s this

    The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC “Morning Joe” cable news show, Religion News Service has learned.

    Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, was fired Friday (Aug. 27) after refusing to recant his pro-vaccine statements, according to a source authorized to speak for Darling.

    I simply do not understand the connection between religion and mask wearing or vaccination

  97. 97.

    Lyrebird

    @Anonymous At Work: Awww, thanks for posting that!  I saw her “Rock and Grohl” bit last year sometime and it blew my socks off.

    And I need some inspiration.

    @Baud: I don’t know if they’re the dog that caught the car, but they’re making major plays for international recognition, yes.  Some people I know from Afg say the Taliban are very sophisticated and trained by Pak, they would believe what

    @Geminid:  said about taking away smartphones…

    I can’t link bc this was on private FB conversations, but they were saying, look at these terrorists, they’re not even from Afg, they’ve put on random tribal dress over sneakers and such…

  100. 100.

    Tony Gerace

    @Rocks: In fairness, “Roman Hruska” is one of the coolest names ever.  Somebody should make a “Roman Hruska” video game.

  101. 101.

    prostratedragon

    @Rocks:  I’d remembered the first part of Hruska’s clownish statement —even then it was the thing he was known for— but he really did happen to single out those three Justices, huh?

  104. 104.

    frosty

    @PsiFighter37: Uninhabitable due to climate change? Phoenix and Las Vegas would like a word.

    The mid-Atlantic won’t come off too badly. More precipitation, and if today is any indication, more flash flood warnings. And maybe eventually tornado warnings. But better than 120 degrees, drought, empty reservoirs and fires.

  106. 106.

    Lyrebird

    @Spanky: Yeah you are right, but I wish we didn’t have to hear from him until he has read and taken notes on all of Cheryl Rofer’s posts on diplomacy.

  108. 108.

    Spanky

    @lgerard:

    I simply do not understand the connection between religion and mask wearing or vaccination

    Evangelical Christianity is just a cover organization for the Republican Party, raising funds under the cover of 501c3

    ETA: The connection between Republicans and mask wearing & vaccination is, I would hope, apparent.

  112. 112.

    Mike E

    I got my 2nd shingles vax in early ’20 when the ‘rona was starting to hit the fan, and I had waited to last minute up against the recommended deadline of 2 months after the 1st shot because it kinda kicked my ass. The 2nd gave me no discernable side effects. Pfizer was the opposite for me in how I reacted to the doses but neither were as bad as shingrix #1 (far better than getting shingles tho as I keep hearing)

  113. 113.

    J R in WV

    @Gin & Tonic: ​
     

    His trial has hit a bit of a slowdown as his attorney has requested, according to the defendant’s legal rights, that the indictment be translated into Braille so that Sizikov can read it. You see, he’s blind. So he couldn’t read the books he allegedly owned.

    OK, this is absurd in the Kafka sense. Not funny, tragic, but also absurd.

    Russian absurdity…

  118. 118.

    James E Powell

    @lgerard:

    The so-called evangelical christians are all about white supremacy & patriarchy. They are the core of Republican Party.

  119. 119.

    J R in WV

    @Lyrebird:

    it might be rude to ask someone’s age online. or elsewhere.

    Have you visited Balloon-Juice before? They call us Jackals~!!~!!..hahaha.

    I confess — I’m really old, and got my #3Moderna shot today [ I suspect lest it expire at the Health Dept ]. No questions asked but “Have you got your shot card from the previous shots”?

    Even that didn’t really matter, Wife’s wallet wasn’t in her purse, backwoods WV county health dept could look up our shots in the state DB!! Now we each have two shot cards…  Quite a relief!​

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    @Kent:

    I don’t know about overlooked, but …

    Officials decided against evacuating New Orleans hospitals. There’s little room for patients elsewhere, with hospitals from Texas to Florida overwhelmed by COVID patients

    If the forecast holds, Ida would hit on the 16th anniversary of Katrina’s landfall t.co/rDKvkeXHtG

    — Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 27, 2021

    Our national infrastructure is too fragile in far too many ways.

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  122. 122.

    J R in WV

    Of topic, but topical:

    My money is on Hurricane Ida goes to Cat 5 by landfall, the Gulf is 90 degrees to a depth on 100 feet, so even as the storm churns the ocean it will still be hot enough to feed the storm.

    Not that I’m in favor of that happening. Back in 1972 my USN ship was in in the Ingalls yard at Pascagoula MS and Wife and I drove to New Orleans to see the French Quarter. We were driving along the coastal highway, I forget the US # and we saw ships on our right, north of the Gulf beaches, in the woods!

    After a couple of minutes, we looked at each other and said “Must have been Hurricane Camille!” Ships up in the woods! Ever since we have had a ton of respect — fear ! — for hurricanes that could do that.

    Love NOLA, hope it isn’t a direct hit. But wherever it hits, Cat 5. The Gulf is too warm for anything else.

  123. 123.

    Tony Gerace

    @Another Scott: The problem is that Louisiana is in the south — and apparently every one of the states left over from the Confederate States of America are train wrecks in terms of covid (and, really, train wrecks in general).   My own dear state — New Jersey — is not too bad in contrast.  ICUs in general are about 43% used.  So we could take some of our ignorant, unvaccinated southern brethren.  That would be fine with me — I have a soft spot for stupid people — but I’m not running things here.  covidactnow.org/us/new_jersey-nj/?s=22241150

  124. 124.

    Tony Gerace

    @Tony Gerace: Interesting.  Even in my esteemed state vaccination rates are lower and “risk level” is higher in the southern half of the state.  What is it about stupidity and latitude?  Do people actually get stupider as they approach and cross the Mason Dixon line?  Somebody should research that.

  125. 125.

    Fake Irishman

    @Old Man Shadow:

    just to add to Omnes’ observant comment in #90, there are varying levels of relationship: maybe we have a consulate or mission or interests section of some sort that doesn’t fully recognize the Taliban but keeps the communications lines open to do things like trade intel, get US folks and dissidents out and very quietly distribute COVID and polio vaccines in exchange for releasing assets over time, fight ISIS and perhaps use Americans as an honest broker between the Taliban and the remains of the northern alliance folks to foster some cooperation in areas of mutual interest (like fighting iSIS).

    Jimmy Carter has gotten results more than a few times by talking forever with a loathsome dictator, both as president and as a private citizen (often much to his successors’ chagrin and frustration)

  126. 126.

    James E Powell

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Well, there is an election between now and then so something can be done about it.

    We won’t be able to do a district by district analysis until the new districts are drawn.

    We lost three really agonizingly close ones out here in LA & Orange County in 2020.

  127. 127.

    Steeplejack

    @J R in WV:

    That would have been Highway 90, which runs right along the coast. Basically replaced now by I-10, which wasn’t completed in Mississippi until 1982.

  128. 128.

    Yarrow

    @raven:  Seems fitting. I loved this part of the article:

    Bernstein, who was already informed that two of his absent students tested positive for COVID-19, then announced his resignation on the spot and left the class immediately.

    “At that point I said that whereas I had risked my life to defend my country while in the Air Force, I was not willing to risk my life to teach a class with an unmasked student during this Pandemic,” Bernstein said in an email to The Red & Black. “I then resigned my retiree-rehire position.”

    Huff said she sat at the front of the class on Tuesday in shock, anger and silence for a few minutes, like the rest of her peers, as she tried to comprehend what happened.

    “Professor Bernstein said, ‘That’s it. I’m retired,’ and we watched him pack all of his papers into his bag and walk out of the classroom,” Huff said.

    Legend.

  129. 129.

    marklar

    @Yarrow: Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I just sent Professor Bernstein a thank you note, telling him that as a fellow Psych Professor, he’s now my hero!

  133. 133.

    StringOnAStick

    @gwangung: A brat, and this class was a senior level class needed to graduate so she screwed over a few who were in what they thought was their last semester.

  134. 134.

    Matt McIrvin

    @WaterGirl: If I recall correctly, with Shingrix the window to get the second shot is something like 2-6 months after the first one, so you’ve got a lot of leeway.

    However, when I was trying to get my second one I was surprised to find that CVS doesn’t carry it any more–I had to go to my doctor’s office.

    At the time, the CDC was recommending that you leave at least 2 weeks between COVID vaccination and any other shot, and that actually prevented me from getting a surplus dose of the J&J COVID vaccine ahead of my official eligibility. But they’re not saying that any more.

  135. 135.

    dww44

    @James E Powell: ​
      God help us all. I refuse in 2021 to accept that the power obsessed, ethically challenged GOP will take control of the House. Please, let there be some sweet justice and help us and our democracy avoid that happenstance.

  136. 136.

    Coloradoguy

    I wonder if the Taliban will ask the Chinese to take over their communications infrastructure and set up a nationwide firewall. But there are two big problems with that: the Chinese method requires a huge staff to monitor everyone and close off VPNs, and more seriously, that effectively turns over control of Afghanistan to the Chinese Communist Party.

  137. 137.

    J R in WV

    @StringOnAStick: ​

    A brat, and this class was a senior level class needed to graduate so she screwed over a few who were in what they thought was their last semester.

    That will make senior level brat really popular with all the other senior Psych students… and with whoever is funding her education, which may have suddenly become 25% more expensive. Also, job prospects? Looking pretty bad.

    Perhaps the Dean could expel problematic students and reacquire professor with actual standards?

    I think high level psych students with serious psychological issues like adult oppositional disorder regarding plague precautions are a drag on the academic community stuck with them! They should not be allowed to complete the degree program, because they will bring nothing to any org that eventually winds up dealing with them as employees. They are unfit for the program they are in and damage all the other students’ academic experience.

    Imagine them as a school counselor being required to help kids deal with a more serious disease spreading, for which a well tested vaccine exists — like measles or encephalitis, both common in educational settings. “No, Jenny, you should take sheep-dip instead of the CDC vaccine! Don’t let your parents save your life with standard medical practice!!” OMG!

  138. 138.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Kent: Late to the thread, I know, but just wanted to comment on this:

    [I]n a developing country like Afghanistan they basically use cell service to leapfrog wired phone service.

    I saw this on a 1996 visit to Turkey. Mobile phones were everywhere, waaay more common that in the US at the time. It was a helluva lot faster and cheaper to toss up cell towers rather than string copper wire to every village and household. Throw in a modest solar panel to recharge the phones & wallah, a distributed communications infrastructure.

    (NB the Turks were also ahead of the game in solar. I stayed in a Seljuk pansiyon where the water was heated in a rooftop collector. Normally in inexpensive lodging you want to rise & wash up early, before the hot water runs out, but in this case the smart play was to shower near dusk, after the solar heater had had all day to work.)

    FWIW, I liked the Turks I met – I saw a lot of the go-getter attitude we used to have here (and may yet again); if circumstances knocked them down, they’d pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try something else. (Unlike too many countries that make a national pastime of finding someone to blame for their alleged misfortunes.**) Damn shame they’re stuck with Erdogan for the foreseeable future,

    ** Not naming names – I might want to go back to those places once Miz ‘Rona gets tired of fucking with us…

  139. 139.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Tony Gerace: ​In fairness, “Roman Hruska” is one of the coolest names ever.

    Even cooler when noted that

    Hruška (feminine Hrušková) is a Czech and Slovak occupational surname, which means a grower or seller of pears, from hruška (“pear”).

    and pronounced properly (hrooshka). (ETA: G&T got there before me, #109 supra. But he didn’t include the pronunciation, so there’s that…)

    A Roman roamin’ pear-peddler. Maybe that’s where the euphemism “[something] going pear-shaped” comes from… naah.

  140. 140.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Was wondering about that.  Then again, I post from 4 different computers at 3 physical addresses on different hard-lines plus wi-fis.  I am disliked (at least) by more IT services than I can count.

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