Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

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

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

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

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

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

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

In my day, never was longer.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

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

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Battles Continue

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: The Battles Continue

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Elsewhere… even Forbes has stopped worrying about TFG’s fee-fees:

Reader Interactions

204Comments

  1. 1.

    lowtechcyclist

    Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be in the room with TFG when he hears about this.

    Or maybe I would, so I could laugh at him while he rages.

  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    Love your family enough to protect them from catching an illness that could damage them for life even if they survive. And love yourself enough to protect yourself from having to live with the guilt that comes from knowing they caught it from you.Get the goddamn shots.— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) October 5, 2021

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    I saw the best photo yesterday.  Instead of taking the photo of MVP as she walked by some supporters, they zoomed in on a pre-teen/teen girl watching MVP.  She had the nicest expression on her face.  Combination of admiration, pride and happiness.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    as Democratic lawmakers in Washington squabbled over the price tag

    The House whip or deputy whip was on MJ this morning, and correctly stated that this is the stuff of democratic negotiations — working to reach consensus to get things done. The media belittling the process is essentially an anti-democratic spin.

  11. 11.

    lowtechcyclist

    It’s good to see progress being made towards both the debt ceiling and the reconciliation bill.

    It’s a given that we won’t get everything we want in the latter, but if we can get the climate change stuff, plus at least some programs that will quickly make a difference for a lot of Americans without a lot of red tape, that’ll be good enough for now.

    Wonder how the Beltway media is going to explain how things are coming together for the reconciliation bill.  Wasn’t it supposed to be all but dead, according to them?

  12. 12.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    We had dinner with two other women last night and they were speculating on the 2024 election. They agreed TFG would run, assuming he was alive. But one of them thought he would lose the nomination because Rs were moving away from him. I thought she was wrong, but she’s a normie, so it was interesting to hear.

  15. 15.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I really have no sense of whether TFG or someone else will be the GQP nominee in 2024.

    What I do know is that Trumpism will still dominate the party – they aren’t going to pull back towards some degree of sanity.  So whoever the nominee is, s/he will fly that freak flag, loud and proud.

  16. 16.

    Steeplejack

    Deep thought:

    The trillion-dollar coin doesn’t seem any stupider or more obviously an abuse of the rules than all the stupid abuses of the rules that are creating the crisis that the trillion-dollar coin would solve.

    — Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) October 5, 2021

  20. 20.

    Steeplejack

    I think the Forbes list probably has a fair amount of bullshit all the way through it, but even the limited amount of exposure TFG received made it impossible for them to include him with a straight face. Nelson Muntz “Ha-ha!”

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    Making no claims regarding these items other than it’s kind of fun to scroll through and look (and also see how affordably priced some of them are, compared to the particle board stuff being cranked out nowadays).

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    LOL.  Michael Beschloss tweet about TFFG falling off the Forbes 400:

    Someone has just been kicked off the Forbes list of richest Americans, so his aides had better get the show tunes ready.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: There are so many dead former presidential candidates available, why not seek endorsements from all of them?  “Baud 20XX — William Jennings Bryan would be proud!”

  27. 27.

    Betty

    @Baud: It is just maddening. They must stick to their narrative. The vast majority are trying to appease a tiny minority. That is not squabbling. (Heavy sigh.)

  31. 31.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Some Republicans would like to move on from trump. Most of the leadership would too. In 2016, though, trump showed that Republican elites cannot control a majority of their voters. Next year’s Republican primaries will provide a benchmark for trump’s personal strength among republican voters. But as another commenter says, Republican trumpism will survive trump.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    Got some disturbing news about the state of my retinas during a routine eye exam. The optometrist said it’s probably nothing to be worried about; he’s 95% convinced it’s a condition that affects a small percentage of people age 50 and up that probably won’t lead to noticeable vision loss for many years if ever and doesn’t require treatment except for monitoring.

    But of course I’m obsessing about the 5% chance that it’s a bilateral detachment situation that will require surgery to prevent blindness. It was unexpected and alarming to hear the word  “blindness” mentioned at an appointment for a new glasses prescription. FFS! Getting old sucks!

    Anyhoo, my husband has threatened to throw all electronic devices into the river if I don’t stop looking up gruesome eye surgeries on WebMD and similar sites. There’s one where they remove the goo from your eyeball, tack down the retina, and then replace the goo. What the fuck is that substance anyway? Never mind; I do not want to know! I keep thinking of that scene from “Kill Bill”…

  33. 33.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Ken:

    Good idea! Though, I don’t think someone like WJB would endorse such a progressive freethinker like Baud. Jennings was a bit of a godbothering square IIRC. I always remember him because of his involvement in the Scopes trial

  35. 35.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Betty Cracker:

    To answer your question: aqueous humor.

    That sounds scary, but I think you’re eye doctor is right and you have little to worry about

  37. 37.

    Betty

    @Betty Cracker: I am so sorry to hear that. Your sense of panic is justifiable. The threat of losing your eyesight, no matter how small, has to be one of the most frightening things to contemplate.  Take care!

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    It’s good they caught it early.  If you end up needing surgery, I don’t think this type of surgery is particularly risky as surgeries go.  They do a lot of stuff with lasers these days.

  39. 39.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @rikyrah:

    The creepy big dark money donors are mentally ill, and hoard electronic digits like that nasty weird old Illinois woman on “Hoarders”  hoarded diseased animals and trash. Same disease and mindset, the only difference is the type and scope of the hoard.

  40. 40.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker: Getting old sucks!

    That’s why I refuse to have anything to do with it.

    So is there any way they can tell if you’re in the 95% or the 5%?  Or do you just have to wait and see find out what happens?

  42. 42.

    hueyplong

    “Little to worry about,” like “minor surgery,” is nearly always what one says about someone else.

    But that doesn’t mean it’s not true in BC’s case.  Hoping for and expecting the best.

  44. 44.

    jonas

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
      Or maybe I would, so I could laugh at him while he rages.

    The actual funny part would be when one of his staff has to rush in with a music player to play showtunes to calm him down. I think he likes “Cats” or something?

  45. 45.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The creepy big dark money donors are mentally ill, and hoard electronic digits like that nasty weird old Illinois woman on “Hoarders”  hoarded diseased animals and trash. Same disease and mindset, the only difference is the type and scope of the hoard.

    There’s one other rather important difference. A hoarder’s mess affects the hoarder’s immediate neighbors, at most.  The creepy big money donors mess us all up.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    Fix for rampant inattentiveness prior to posting. Just ignore the original, please.

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    aqueous humor

    Also, in the broadest sense, a pithy description of Spongebob Squarepants. Also too, the Snorks.

    ;)

  48. 48.

    lowtechcyclist

    @jonas: I’d try to see if I could sneak in Kim Stockwood’s ‘Jerk’ into the playlist:

    You jerk (you jerk), you are such a jerk
    There are other words, but they just don’t work

  53. 53.

    sdhays

    @Betty Cracker: My mom had a scare like this a couple years ago – it sounds like the same condition. As I recall, there were some treatments she had to do to rest her eyes, but that was able to stabilize things and she hasn’t needed surgery. I don’t know your age exactly, but you’re considerably younger than my mother and if you monitor it, it seems extremely likely that you’ll be able to avoid blindness AND surgery.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @lowtechcyclist: I will be seeing an ophthalmologist as soon as possible to get a definitive diagnosis. As bad luck would have it, my husband’s company just changed insurance plans, so I have to wait to find out which doctors are in our new crappy health plan.

  55. 55.

    Edmund Dantes

    @lowtechcyclist: this is kind of the rub though, isn’t it?

    Manchin is the stalking horse for other idiot Dems I bet on the whole “need means testing” and other bullshit red tape.

  58. 58.

    Kattails

    That word “squabbling” set my teeth on edge. I’m going to collect a list of numbers and start calling these news organizations out on their framing.

    @NotMax: there’s a chunk of Pinterest devoted to rehabilitating old furniture with paint. Some of it is really well done. A lot of sideboards, and old music cabinets with interesting detailing, glass fronted doors, turned legs, repurposed for China cabinets and bathroom storage. Fun to see, and it can really lighten up some of the old dark wood pieces.

  59. 59.

    sdhays

    @rikyrah: I understood this in the abstract, but what really drove it home for me was doctors ignoring Serena Williams when she told them she wasn’t feeling right after giving birth.

    She’s wealthy, famous, and an athlete so much more likely than the average person in a hospital to understand her own body, and they fucking brushed her off! And they nearly killed her if she hadn’t been persistent.

    I still can’t quite comprehend how that fucking happened, and I doubt that the medical staff involved suffered even the consequences of needing retraining.

    ETA: And her own doctor had warned her about this possible result, so she was on top of it, but all the professionals around her either weren’t aware or just forgot. My point earlier is that on top of this total failure of procedure, just knowing who Serena Williams is should have been enough. And even with all those advantages, they still ignored her.

  60. 60.

    Kristine

    @Betty Cracker: I take pains to avoid the internet when I’m worried about something healthwise. I only remember the slim chances of something happening. I remember looking up thyroid nodules that Saturday morning when I felt a lump in my neck. Another 95/5 situation, but I focused on the 5% and turned into a terrified bundle of nerves with occasional tears  until I saw my doctor later that week. That was 11 years ago. Still here. On meds now. Neck situation monitored at 2-3 year intervals. I may have to have my thyroid removed at some point but as long as things remain steady I’ll be okay.

    Hoping the same for you.

  63. 63.

    CaseyL

    @Betty Cracker: Spring for the extra co-pay if you have to, but see the best opthomologist you can find, rather than whoever is in your network.

    I had a tiny retinal tear a few years back.  Actually, had a tiny bit of the “goo” detach, which was visible to me as a larger-than-normal “floater.” I hied off to the Optho asap, and they said a tear was inevitable, and had me come in every week so they could take a look to catch the tear as soon as it happened. When it did, the surgery was a barrage of laser strikes to essentially sew down the retinal area around the tear.

    It was surprisingly straightforward, non-traumatic, and (knock wood) no problems since.

    Best of luck!

  65. 65.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    “The autocrats of the world believe that the world is moving so rapidly that democracies can’t generate consensus quickly enough to bring people together to get things done.”

    All the more reason to push Democracy, just to slow things down. You aren’t making the correct decisions  if no debate or dissent is allowed.  The CCP letting COVID get out of control when they had the chance to kill the Pandemic in the cradle because the local officials didn’t want to the bearer of bad news to the party leadership is the shinning example of why Autocracies suck ass. Or Russia were the population is refusing the vaccine because as far as they are concerned they would only be given a placebo because some Oblicarch stole the real vaccines.

  66. 66.

    MomSense

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m sorry to hear this Betty C.  My mom has both diseases of the retina and cornea and some other weird ones. She is very popular at the specialists’ offices with all the med students coming in to look.  Of course she loves this and holds court with them.

    She has had probably 25 surgeries.  My advice is to go to the best.  She had some setbacks because she went to someone in Maine who was not as expert as he thought.  For the last 10 years she has been going to Tufts New England Medical Center and it has made all the difference.  I can give you the names if you ever need them.  Seriously go to the absolute best even if it means traveling.  The recovery and outcomes will be so much better.

  68. 68.

    Lapassionara

    @Betty Cracker: they use lasers these days. I had a torn retina. Took 30 minutes for the doc to pin it back with the laser, and I had to pretty much do nothing but rest for a week. Never had another problem.

  69. 69.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Steeplejack: Forbes mentioned that the list is mostly guess work since most of the people on it hide their money,  don’t like attention and looking back, it should have been a warning sign that Trump was boasting about his money to them.

    Anyway, Frau Blucher will need to warm up her violin for The Creature.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    @Kattails

    One grandmother had this very Capehart phonograph/radio combo cabinet (circa 1946).

    I once rescued a beautiful (either mahogany or maple, I forget which) vintage Stromberg-Carlson home entertainment cabinet (all components still in working order) from parents of a friend who were about to consign it to the dump, with the intention of stripping out the innards and converting it into a home bar, but life intervened and never got around to it. Sat for years and years in my parents’ garage. When Mom got rid of the big house I made a point to telling the workers she hired to move truckloads of stuff to be junked not to toss it. About a week later they came back and slipped me a small finder’s fee.

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    @Betty Cracker:

    I am a naturally pessimistic person and a hypochondriac, so I’m the last person to tell you that you are wrong to look up the worst case scenario.  Prepare for the worst, so that when better news comes, you aren’t disappointed. Will keep a prayer for good news.

  72. 72.

    Betty Cracker

    @CaseyL: & @MomSense: Y’all’s advice about the importance of seeking a top-notch doc squares with what I’m told by family members who are medical professionals. I plan to heed it!

    @Betty: Yep. It sucks.

  74. 74.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah: ​

    Do the dark money forces who prop up McConnell actually want a default?

    McConnell does not give a shit. McConnell likes hurting people. He laughed when he was told about the devastation Covid causes, to people and the economy. He performs unnecessary acts of petty spite regularly. Most importantly, when the needs of the rich conflict with hurting the poor, he has repeatedly chosen hurting the poor. Maybe he has looked at how the rich have backed down every time they haven’t gotten what they want, and isn’t scared of them anymore. McConnell is the only game in town for them. Whatever, cruelty trumps plutocracy for him.
    @rikyrah: ​

    20% of Blacks say they have been treated unfair by the health care system in the past year. The number is higher (37%) for Black mothers specifically.

    I have heard so many stories from women, especially black women, about how doctors ignore them and the health horrors that creates.
    @Geminid: ​

    Next year’s Republican primaries will provide a benchmark for trump’s personal strength among republican voters.

    They already had that benchmark in the Texas election. Trump’s guy lost, which is surely why some Senators broke away from McConnell and Trump and voted for a Covid package. Trump does not control whether they get reelected, he and the media only think he does.

    Republican trumpism will survive trump.

    Unfortunately, spot on. It predated Trump. It continues without him. He was merely the apotheosis of their shitty base voters the true slothful, corrupt, fascist, and most importantly stupid and hateful white man. Trump was a symptom.

  75. 75.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     
    Sorry to hear about this, Betty. I am having the opposite reaction to finally getting an appointment to get an eye exam, which I haven’t been able to do since March 2020 and should have done long before that.

    Last time I had an eye exam, they told me I was developing cataracts (no surprise as both of my parent had them), but they were not yet “ripe” enough for surgery. They also informed me that it is almost certain that they would be able to correct my vision when I did have the cataract surgery. Since I’ve been wearing glasses since second grade, that would really make me happy. So I am hopeful that the doc tells me that I’m finally “ripe” and can have the surgery.

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: I know exactly what you mean. Thank you!

    @geg6: I’ve worn glasses forever too but never contemplated laser surgery because [Dr. Evil voice] “frickin’ laser beams” in my eyes? No thanks! But if I have to be lasered anyway, hmmm, maybe it’s worth asking if they can fix my damn nearsightedness too? Anyway, good luck with your quest for improved vision! :)

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @SFAW

    Amidst the oppressive doom ‘n’ gloom I try to keep it light in morning threads. Call it an order of ham on wry.

    Not always successfully, by any means. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t.

    :)

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    @NotMax:   And I appreciate you, tremendously, for that. You make me laugh out loud from time to time.

    Tipping my coffee mug to you.

  79. 79.

    Frankensteinbeck

    It may be worth noting:  Conservatives are whining about the new My Little Pony movie on Netflix.  Its major moral message is that racism and fascism are evil.  It makes no overt references to any politics other than ‘racism and fascism are evil’.  Conservatives are offended specifically by that message, and say so.

    Caveat:  The fascist leader is comically stupid and blonde.  These are standard archetypes anyway, and if they are references to Trump I’ve seen no sign conservatives recognize it.  It’s the anti-racism and anti-fascist message they are up in arms about.

  81. 81.

    Ohio Mom

    @NotMax:Looking at decor eye candy is my default for when life/politics become too much. I will be scrolling through your link.

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: the dark money forces a) think that by sticking with McConnell, they can get the hated soshulist Dems to cave, and b) see a)

    Just like the election of trumpov, they don’t see the danger to the whole enterprise here, because if they did, they’d have to share power with or possibly even fully empower Democrats.  Horrors!  So, well…they’d rather risk the whole country’s well-being.  Why not?  It’s not like they don’t have enough money to ride out whatever befalls the rest of us.

  84. 84.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     
    Can’t hurt to ask. My doc told me that correcting my nearsightedness will be a side effect of the cataract surgery. The new lenses they will insert will correct it almost automatically. When my parents had the surgery, that was not an option. So I’m kinda psyched to have the surgery, although I usually despise having any sort of medical procedure.

  86. 86.

    frosty

    @Betty Cracker: ​I’m with you on this. Ms. F got the same story at her last eye exam, not the same diagnosis, I think something related to glaucoma. But it was “You need to come back for this easy laser surgery immediately to prevent blindness.” Yikes!​

  87. 87.

    James E Powell

    @Jeffro:

    The fact that they are dark money forces means they are evil. Chaos & the suffering of ordinary people are seen as necessary to the defense of their status.

  88. 88.

    Ohio Mom

    @Betty Cracker:

    Please find a retina specialist in a large city, preferably a physician associated with a teaching hospital ASAP. They will have testing equipment not available in a smaller office and the expertise to really tell what is going on.

    Optometrists are great for lens prescriptions but they are not highly trained in anything else. Asking them about retinas is like asking the lawn guy about the health of your old maple tree. Totally out of their league.

    Yes, even eyes have sub-specialists. My ophthalmologist is a cornea specialist, and how tiny are corneas?I The fellow in the next room over only does retinas. He is on tap in case my RA med causes a rare side effect that can destroy retinas. So far, so good after five years.

  89. 89.

    MattF

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve had a fair amount of eye surgery (six procedures, three on each eye), and yeah, it sounds unbelievably gross. “We’re going to scrape off the outer layers of your corneas. And then they will reorganize themselves and it will all be hunky-dory. Eventually. We Promise.” But… that’s what actually happened. And my vision is now pretty good.

  90. 90.

    frosty

    @Betty Cracker: ​Our new not-really-so-crappy health plan is Medicare and Medigap, which doesn’t have vision or dental benefits. I think this all might be covered under medical though. We shall see.

    I should probably open the mail and see if I got a bill.

  91. 91.

    NotMax

    @James E Powell

    Ages ago remember coming across a transcript (19th century?) of a conversation between a shaman in an African village and a missionary about imploring for rain in which the shaman essentially expressed the same line.

    :)

  92. 92.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker: vitreous humor

    I agree with Ohio Mom — see a retina specialist. I hope it will be okay, but you don’t want to mess around with this.

    Yeah, eyes are icky. I know what you mean.

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:

    I’m not going into the details but I know with 100% certainty that there is good reason for this. Was just thinking/reminiscing about it this morning. Hell, I don’t trust all doctors to actually know what they are doing and I’m so white I actually almost reflect sunlight. As an aside to that, I do know that a pretty good percentage of them actually do know/understand. But I have enough ongoing experience with the medical field to know that there are exceptions and enough stories of my own to prove it. I’ve just been through one of those exceptions myself.

  97. 97.

    Redshift

    @Betty Cracker: And if you can manage it, don’t wait. Your situation is different because you don’t have a definite diagnosis, but if it is that, it’s best to get it dealt with as quickly as possible, because it only gets worse.

    I went in to get a funny thing in my field of vision checked, and my eye doctor made me cancel my dinner plans and arranged for me to see the good retina doctor even though his office was actually closed, and I had surgery a few days later.

    The surgery really was no big deal (however gruesome it may look from the outside). Having to sleep in a particular position (sitting up in my case, though it varies) for a week was a pain, but other than that, it was easy.

  99. 99.

    WereBear

    @Betty Cracker: I’m with rikyrah. The more you know, the better off you are.

    Skip the gruesome, but find out what you need to know about this possible condition. That will help you evaluate the next medical professional you engage.

    I see myself as a partner in this: and the one with the most at stake. WE are the ones who live with these decisions. If we can bring perspective to the situation, we have to.

    In a time and place where people’s lives are played with for crass profit, we have to be an advocate to negotiate the dangers. Frankly, I’d worry about choosing wrong and creating problems from pompous or profit-driven practioners than I would about the 5% chance of serious issues.

    Careless and inadequate care frightens me more.

    Also, there’s the added crap factor of you being in Florida; with perhaps the loosest license laws in the nation. Get someone board-certified, in a position where other doctors trust him.

    Then, you’ll know what questions to ask.

    The age of “doctor says” which so hypnotized our elders has changed. Science can move faster than the less competent. There’s possibles that haven’t passed into “standards of practice” yet that might make a huge difference at crunch time.

    Just be prepared. That’s my antidote to worry.

  100. 100.

    Ohio Mom

    @geg6:

    That “ripe” stuff about cataracts is outdated. It used to be that cataract surgery was a more involved, riskier procedure. On occasion, you could be left in worse shape, so it made sense to put it off as long as possible.

    Nowadays, it’s a simple procedure and with extremely, extremely minimal risk. There is no reason to wait if you are having trouble seeing at night or reading, or the cataracts are interfering with your life otherwise.

    You will have the option of having prescription lenses that restore distance vision implanted. You will still need reading glasses though. There is such a thing as bifocal implantable lenses but they cost a lot extra — my insurance would not cover — so I can’t tell you much about that option.

    I went with only partial correction of my distant vision because I value my close vision. It’s not as good as it used to be — before my cataract surgery, up-close vision was my super power. But I’ve adjusted.

    TL/dr: See another ophthalmologist and get a second opinion.

  101. 101.

    MattF

    @Redshift: Better than in the old days. I knew a guy who had retinal detachment surgery pre-laser— his head was screwed to a wall for six weeks.

  103. 103.

    Redshift

    @Betty Cracker: They don’t fix your vision as part of the retina surgery (different part of the eye, different laser), but I was told that if you have retina surgery, you have a 90% chance of developing a cataract within a year (I was ahead of the curve, only three months!), and they can fix it as part of the cataract surgery.

  105. 105.

    Redshift

    @MattF: Yeah, retina detachments run in my mother’s family, and my grandmother got surgery pre-laser. She had to keep her head down in her lap, and recovery was a lot longer.

  107. 107.

    cain

    @Kristine:

    Yes – what doctors do is eliminate possibilities. When you go to WebMD – there are lots of shared symptoms on a variety of things – that’s why everything seems to lead to cancer. But a doctor knows how to navigate all that with the right tests.

  110. 110.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Betty Cracker:

    Anyhoo, my husband has threatened to throw all electronic devices into the river if I don’t stop looking up gruesome eye surgeries on WebMD and similar sites. 

    You’re unnecessarily scaring yourself.  Not a good idea (unless it’s watching a good (or horribly bad) scary movie).

  111. 111.

    zhena gogolia

    This is hilarious. Stephanie Grisham keeps giving me these brain-bleach visions. Lindsay Graham hoovering up the hors-d’oeuvres at Bedminster. He confirms the story here.

    Thanks for confirming the story, Lindsey https://t.co/qh3ftO8qbu— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 6, 2021

  113. 113.

    Ohio Mom

    @Redshift:

    It’s true, all you have to do is call your eye doc and say, “I see flashes of light” and they go into emergency mode. None of this “The doctor has an opening next Tuesday, can you come in at 10?”, it’s “How quickly can you get here?”

    My flashes ended up being an ocular migraine. I could see my doctor visibly relax the moment she was sure that’s all it was.

    Another time I called because my left eye suddenly went dark. A half hour later, I found out my vitreous had collapsed, luckily not taking my retina with it. That took a little monitoring and some time to fix itself.

    Yes, I have complicated eyes. Comes mainly from being so nearsighted.

  114. 114.

    Ken

    This is easily the most viscerally horrifying and squicky thread I’ve read on Balloon Juice. Can we please not talk about Lindsay Graham’s eating habits, and stick to eye surgery stories?

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:

    If you go back a few years Forbes said he was worth 12 then the next year 13 billion. Some offered that this was unrealistic. Forbes actually did the legwork and came up with 2 1/2 billion. They had just been taking his word for it. But as a lot/all of his debts are off the books debts because he can’t/couldn’t get funding from legit sources, even those figures are extremely likely to be BS.

  122. 122.

    hueyplong

    The smart money probably places a Yang-FoxNews deal first in time before the announcement that he’s leaving the Democratic Party.

  123. 123.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Ksmiami:

    Fun fact – the camo clad exurban and rural flag fellators will find themselves surprised if they bring about the country’s collapse – Memaw ‘n ‘em are pretty dependent on government checks along with Medicare and Medicaid, hoverrounds require functional power grids for a recharge, gas operated vehicles (pickups, SUVs and ATVs) require a functional fuel distribution network, rural homes require fuel oil or LNG to be supplied (not to mention electric triggers for lighting) and easily collectible firewood requires someone to go further and further from the hearth – maybe across tilled fields.

    The “Country Boy Can Survive” ethos only lasts as long as local storage will allow – after that, he’s prolly more fucked than a city resident (who can at least be organized and who may be able to till urban lots, medians and park spaces).

    I’ve always laughed at the notion of the noble survivalist.

  124. 124.

    frosty

    @Ken: ​ Can we please not talk about Lindsay Graham’s eating habits, and stick to eye surgery stories?

    Great pivot! I LOL’d.

    ETA I sure wish the Visual tab worked.

    ETA2 And here it’s back for the edit. It is the mystery that is FYWP.

  125. 125.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Ohio Mom:

    I had one terrible migraine type thing when I was 19 – blinding white light as I was driving. Neuro gave me a vasodilator scrip that I used for a day or two and I’ve never had a recurrence. Dunno what that was about.

  126. 126.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: I was never going to vote for Yang, but I didn’t think he was a douchebag before. Now I do. Tucker Carlson, FFS.

    Yang fans on Twitter were countering criticism by pointing out that Pete Buttigieg goes on Fox News. FTR, I wish Pete wouldn’t, even though he does a great job jamming their dumb narratives. But Pete doesn’t go on the TC White Power Hour.

    Yang’s appearance makes me think he believes the fascists will eventually prevail and wants to save his political viability in that scenario. Fuck him with every rusty implement in the tool shed for being such a craven knob polisher.

  127. 127.

    geg6

    @Ohio Mom: ​
     
    This is my second doc to see about this and he’s the same guy who repaired my cornea when I tore it a few years back, so I trust him. Last time I saw him, after being referred by my optometrist, he said I wasn’t yet ready for surgery and I probably wasn’t as I wasn’t having too much trouble yet. I like a more cautious approach since I am very averse to any sort of doctoring, despite having excellent health insurance, along with dental and eye. I pretty much have to be dying to see a doctor. I’ve had more than one tell me that I’m more like most of the men they see in that regard. I simply don’t trust most of them, having seen my sister and mother misdiagnosed and mistreated by too many doctors. But I’ve had a lot of vision difficulties in the last year or so and I’m ready to get this fixed as long as he thinks it’s the best at this point. I would have gone months ago but had so many problems getting an appointment due to COVID that it’s only now that I have finally managed actually get through to the office and to get a date and time that works. We’ll see what he says. First time in my life I’ve really wanted treatment that wasn’t emergency related and it has to be a hassle!

  128. 128.

    Redshift

    PSA, while we’re on the topic: if you see something funny in your vision, get it checked out, don’t try to self-diagnose too much. My retina tear didn’t look (to me) say all like any of the descriptions of what people see. (It looked like a bubble in the corner of my eye.)

  131. 131.

    Kristine

    @cain: I also think it could be a liability situation as well. Covering all the bases in case someone sues later because “this site said I would be okay.”

    Like the drug ads that mention every possible side effect. I worked at a Big Pharma company for 26 years and know that most of the really bad side effects are almost vanishingly rare, but stick “can lead to death” in an ad, and I would have to be damned desperate to consider that drug. But they have to mention them, because.

  132. 132.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud: ​
    My understanding is that the elements that attracted the obnoxious ones have been removed. Then again, the idiots and assholes failed to notice that the entire point of Friendship Is Magic was a celebration of all types of femininity, so who knows?

  133. 133.

    Kalakal

    @geg6: I had that done a few years ago. Can’t recommend it enough. After near 50 years of glasses it’s amazing. The one downside I get is some haloing at night

  134. 134.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Hey, in case anyone hasn’t heard, Discord Twitch got hacked.  The hackers got everything.  Like, everything.  Source code, passwords, everything.  Any other account that shares a password with Discord Twitch you should change.

  135. 135.

    Redshift

    @Ohio Mom:

    My flashes ended up being an ocular migraine. I could see my doctor visibly relax the moment she was sure that’s all it was. 

    I have ocular migraines, too. I guess my doctor could tell from my description that’s what it was when I was worried it might be retina stuff, because he wasn’t worried. And he taught me the rule, “if it’s in one eye, it’s in the eye, if it’s in both eyes, it’s in the brain.” ) Meaning of it’s the same in both eyes, of course.

  137. 137.

    rikyrah

    @Betty Cracker:

     

    I was never going to vote for Yang, but I didn’t think he was a douchebag before. Now I do. Tucker Carlson, FFS.

     

    I always did.

    He was never a Democrat.

    He was always a Libertarian Dudebro piece of garbage.

  138. 138.

    Kalakal

    @Betty Cracker: Sorry to hear that, hope it turns out to be scary but in the end not  anything to worry about.

    Most eye stuff these days is laser and from experience ( cataracts) i i und it painless

  139. 139.

    dr. bloor

    Another shoe drops for Ed Mullins.  At some point, he’s gonna have to ring Bernie Kerik for advice on which cell he should angle for at Cumberland.

  141. 141.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @lowtechcyclist: ​Just FTR, Howard the Duck the comic series was as much a treasure as Howard the Duck the flick was a travesty. That I ever wasted a first-run admission on the latter….eeesh.**

    **Two, actually – I took a date, who was, shall we say, less than impressed with my selection algorithm. “But that was in another century…”

  142. 142.

    Redshift

    @Kalakal: I hit the jackpot with mine. That eye now has perfect distance vision, no halo or anything. My other eye is good for reading without glasses even though I am of a certain age, so I only need glasses when driving at night to get the unfixed eye good enough to help.

  143. 143.

    brendancalling

    @Betty Cracker: I have a similar thing going on with my eyes. It’s disturbing—but the doc says nothing to worry about, for now.

    Getting old ain’t for wussies.

  145. 145.

    Jay C

    @rikyrah:

    Didn’t Andrew Yang already announce that he was leaving the Democrats to start his own party?

    That sort of crap might work in New York, where the Andrew Yang Party MAY be able to get on the ballot along with the litter of minor parties who waste ballot space every couple of years (though that scenario will surely hinge on whether or not Andy’s people MIGHT be smart enough to concentrate on voter-base development, vs. merely producing slick TV ads. My guess, though is “not”). But probably not in a lot of other places.

  146. 146.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve worn glasses forever too but never contemplated laser surgery because [Dr. Evil voice] “frickin’ laser beams” in my eyes? No thanks!

    I’ve worn glasses since childhood (and bifocals since college) but I really never considered laser surgery because things basically worked just fine the way they were: I’d put on my glasses as I got out of bed in the morning, and wear them all day. And my prescription stayed the same for a couple of decades from my late 30s to ~60.  I didn’t have to even think about them, really.  So why take even the smallest chance of laser surgery going wrong?

    Now I need a different prescription for looking at the monitor of a desktop computer than I need for either distance vision or other close work, so I find myself switching glasses a lot.  So now that glasses have become complicated rather than simple, maybe it’s time.

    @Ohio Mom:

    Please find a retina specialist in a large city, preferably a physician associated with a teaching hospital ASAP. They will have testing equipment not available in a smaller office and the expertise to really tell what is going on.

    This.  Betty, you’re still within an hour or two of the Tampa/St. Pete area, right?  Should be good people there.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    @dr. bloor:

    It’s not at all clear whether Mullins has relinquished control of the @SBANYPD account, which has been silent since yesterday.

    — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 6, 2021

    Speculation that only Mullins knows the password and the FBI confiscated his cell phone yesterday. ?

  149. 149.

    sab

    @WereBear: I second this advice, and Ohio Mom just below. More information is better, as are second opinions.

    My mom had cataract srtgery in the 1970s and was very happy with the results, because she was nearly blind before that. My dad never had the surgery and now at 97 it is too late and he is nearly blind.

    My sister had cataract surgery with some issues (things got cloudy.) Fixed with some minor additional work. There was no discussion about her particular vision needs. She’s an art historian who also leads student tours. She needs close up and distance but not much middle range. So she got lenses for the wrong range and has lost the distance. That is maybe on her for not researching and not asking the right question, but also on the doctor.

    My husband had cataract surgery with amazing results. His vision hasn’t been so good since high school. His opthamologist tells him not to tell people that because she considers him kind of a freaky unicorn that way. But she also discussed his needs ahead of time and offered him a more expensive lens in one eye to fix his astigmatism It worked. Only problem is he forgets to bring his reading glasses (he’s 70 and needs them for small print) when we go out.

    His sister went to a high volume low cost cataract surgery factory that nearly blinded her. She now goes to my husband’s doctor who has somewhat fixed things.

    I have mild cataracts and I am putting it off for now. Husband’s opthamologist says not to worry on cataracts, that I will know when it’s time.

  151. 151.

    Kay

    Ron Filipkowski
    @RonFilipkowski
    · Aug 29
    PA GOP Gov candidate Steve Lynch today: “Forget going into these school boards with freaking data. You go in to these school boards to remove them. I’m going in with 20 strong men and I’m gonna give them an option – they can leave or they can be removed.

    It’s just gross how the elite “cancel culture” pundits dumped this violent mob on school boards.

    They really didn’t know that their critical race theory panic they all endorsed would be weaponized by the Right?

  152. 152.

    Ken

    @Jay C: That sort of crap might work in New York, where the Andrew Yang Party MAY be able to get on the ballot

    Is there any mechanism in New York where the Yang Party could make a deal after the Lexington town election to add its six votes to the total of the Farmers’ Party, thereby throwing the election for Lexington dogcatcher to the Farmers?

    I ask because I seem to recall a similar WTF arrangement with the Republican and Conservative parties.

  155. 155.

    Ohio Mom

    @geg6:

    If it helps, my late aunt described cataract surgery as her favorite surgery. It’s painless.

    You’re very woozy, thanks to whatever is in the IV. The doctor makes a tiny slit in your lens, breaks up the cataract somehow and vacuums the pieces out through the slit.

    That’s the fun part, it’s very psychedelic, sort of like a multi-colored lava lamp. The whole thing is over in minutes.

    Now the multiple eye drops taken multiple times a day for several weeks before and after does get tiresome.

  156. 156.

    Anyway

    OT Vacay here I come. In DFW waiting to board my flight to SLC. Few days in Park City and then south to hike some of the parks. Can’t wait.

    Exemplary mask compliance on the ground in PHL and DFW.

  157. 157.

    Layer8Problem

    @MattF: I knew a guy who had retinal detachment surgery pre-laser— his head was screwed to a wall for six weeks.

    “He was a cruel eye surgeon, but fair!”

  158. 158.

    SteveinPHX

    @Betty Cracker:

     
    BC-I concur with all other commenters. GOOD ophthalmologist is important!
    I had cataract surgery w/ lasers back in 2005. Easy as cake with laser surgery. My mother had cataract surgery back in the 1960s (all mechanical procedure & had to wear coke-bottle-bottom glasses the rest of her days). Took away all her peripheral vision. Don’t be afraid of the laser.
    My best wishes.

  159. 159.

    sab

    @Ohio Mom: That was my experience with flashes. Lots of harmless aging reasons for it, but my husband’s opthamologists office was very serious about get it looked at now, and referred me to several other reputable opthamologists because she was too booked up to take on a new patient as an emergency.

    It turned out to be just the aging viscous thing, but it was reassuring to have everyone in opthamology jump up and down when they thought I might need it.

  160. 160.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    They have been doing a lot of eye stuff with lasers for a long time. I had laser eye surgery in 1995. It really was no big deal at all and I was more than expecting it to be. I’ve had a surgeons scalpel used on my eye and I far prefer the laser, although there is not a lot of feeling either way on the surface of the eye. And either way healed up rather quickly and I had my eyes checked not long after all that by a optometrist who I’d known for decades and he said he could not tell I’d had surgery done, laser or blade.

  161. 161.

    Jeffro

    This is excellent – good luck convincing America that our CEO class are a bunch of irresponsible commie big-spending soshulists, GQP!

    President Biden summons bank CEOs, others to the White House, to talk about the urgent need to raise the debt ceiling.

    The business community has up to this point largely stayed above the partisan fray while agreeing with both sides that the debt ceiling impasse must be resolved. But appearing with the White House over the matter appears to signal Wall Street’s frustration with the GOP’s negotiating posture, although it is unclear whether the executives will make explicit criticisms of McConnell.

    Dimon, for instance, previously told Reuters that he supports legislation to abolish the debt ceiling. Yellen recently endorsed that position.

    Break the filibuster, raise the ceiling, then pass legislation abolishing it forever, Dems.  Push corporate America even further away from the Republicans and free us from future GQP hostage-taking.

  163. 163.

    sab

    @Kay: God that irks me. Our school board, which is excellent, has members who work their tails off for pretty minimal reimbursement. Some of them are also trying to get their foot in the door politically, but for the most part they do it as a civic duty. They are still doing televised zoom meetings because they are afraid of the crazies disrupting things

    ETA And as an urban district we are majority minority. CRT probably wouldn’t work as a disrupter but masks sure could be.

  165. 165.

    MattF

    @sab: I had that too. ‘Vitreous detachment’ in both eyes. Mostly harmless for me, except for a floater in the left eye. Which I’ve learned to ignore.

  166. 166.

    Tony G

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
      From my perspective, the problem has always been about 35% of the American people. Stupid, willfully ignorant, full of hatred and racism. Trump is the shiny object that has had their attention for the past five years, but when he’s gone they’ll find another “leader” who’s at least as bad.

  167. 167.

    Benw

    @Kay: such toxic BS. I suppose the aptly named Mr. Lynch believes democracy means “rule by 20 violent white men, for 20 violent white men” with no consequences because white men. It’s also remarkably stupid; the school board doesn’t stop being the school board when they’re outside the school building!

  169. 169.

    Ruckus

    @Ohio Mom:

    I’m glad they found out what was going on and were able to fix it.

    I once went completely black blind. No sight whatsoever. I was standing up talking face to face to a fellow employee out in the sun and told him to take my arm and lead me to the chairs next to us. He had no idea. It was something in my brain, had nothing to do with my eyes. And yes it is extremely scary. I know a little bit about being blind, I’ve been there. And back. That was a little over 20 yrs ago. 15-20 minutes later and I could see normally again. It was like a switch was flicked, no fading in or out, one second fine, next second not so much. I don’t ever want to experience that again. I don’t want anyone else to have to experience that either. Glasses are a pain but not anywhere near as much as no sight whatsoever.

  170. 170.

    Just Chuck

    For a moment, I thought Lynch (a little on the nose don’t you think?) was talking about what to do with the screaming mobs that were invading school board meetings, and I was like “hell yah, show these fuckers we won’t take their shit”.

    Honestly I think that’s a threat right there, but dollars to donuts the cops in PA are stacked with wingnuts too.

  171. 171.

    Eyeroller

    Long-time reader, first time commenter. I am not an ophthalmologist but spend a lot of time with them. Betty’s problem sounds like bilateral epiretinal membranes. The vitreous is an embryonic structure consisting of a thin gel. As we age it tends to shrink and liquefy. This can tug at the retina, resulting in small tears which form a thin membrane (basically a scar). The membrane is mostly translucent but it can cause puckers in the retina. Occasionally the traction is sufficient to cause a partial retinal detachment. ERMs are particularly common in middle aged/older women. If treatment is necessary it’s a vitrectomy (sucking out the vitreous) and peeling off the membrane with teeny tiny forceps. Once diagnosed with ERMs the next step is indeed to see a retinologist for monitoring.

    Vitrectomy nearly always results in a particular type of cataract within a year.

  172. 172.

    Ruckus

    @geg6:

    Best of luck to you.

    I started wearing glasses at 12. That’s 60 yrs ago. I got laser surgery about 25 yrs ago, that was good for about 15 yrs, until age reared it’s ugly head. It was back to glasses for close up and likely long distance soon enough. And of course I now have cataracts. I get checked once a year, they aren”t developed enough to work on yet, but you know what that’s like.

    @Betty Cracker:

    As a relatively early laser surgery patient I can truly say that it is a hell of a lot scarier than is warranted. All of us value our eyesight, as we very much should. Losing some of it is bad enough, losing all of it is scary as hell. And rather strangely calming in the moment. That calming thing goes away very, very fast, just in case you were wondering.

  174. 174.

    Wapiti

    @Betty Cracker: Several years back, we had bad fires out here. One day I could see the ash on my eyes, like little pepper flakes.

    It wasn’t ash. I was seeing the blood cells, inside my eye. Thousands of the little fuckers, released when my retina tore.

    Because I screwed around for a week before going to the eye doc, I ended up having to do the drain-your-eyeball surgery.

    So if you see an increase in those little floaters, get to the eye doctor asap. They’ll find an appointment for you if your retina tears.

  175. 175.

    Ruckus

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    It’s the anti-racism and anti-fascist message they are up in arms about.

    In current day conservatism those are their two enemies. Everything else in their world is negotiable. They have money or they don’t is livable, c’est la vie, everything negative to them is caused by anti-racism and anti-fascism, because without those everything else for them falls into place.

  176. 176.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Unfortunately, spot on. [Republican Trumpism] predated Trump. It continues without him. He was merely the apotheosis of their shitty base voters the true slothful, corrupt, fascist, and most importantly stupid and hateful white man. Trump was a symptom.

    I must strongly disagree.  Maybe all the pieces were there in one form or another pre-Trump, but he’s the one who put them all together and weaponized their unification.

    There had been racism before, but it had to be expressed in dog-whistles.  There had been a lurking culture of grievance before, but it had been ‘out’ only around the edges.  Anti-Semitism had been verboten.  Conspiracy theories existed on their side before, but they were beneath the attention of most GOP politicians.  And while the GOP had been increasingly a post-policy party, their politicians still felt necessary to preserve the veneer.

    Trump blew all those restrictions away, embodying all the racism and grievance and crazy conspiracies in his own self, and poured accelerant on it.

    And at least in my guess, drew millions of RWNJs out of the woodwork, people who didn’t feel represented by the GOP because it wasn’t overtly racist and hateful and grievance-oriented.  Now they had permission to be like that, and so did everyone else in the party who felt that way but felt like they had to keep it under wraps.  And that’s why the GQP of 2021 looks nothing like the GOP of 2014.

  180. 180.

    Elizabelle

    @lowtechcyclist:  I think blame can be laid at the feet of the rightwing media ecosystem.  Which really took off with the ascent of Fox News and Rush on too many radio programs.

    No Fox News coddled bunch of angry white people, no glidepath for Trump.

    Yes, those terrible traits have always been with us.  We had slavery on our own soil, and several states went to war to try to protect that peculiar institution.

    But before it was John Birchers and paperbacks and probably mimeograph machines.  Fox News inflamed these people, and made itself into a drug they had to have.  Zuckerfuck saw his opportunity to cash in on the incitement.

    This shit belongs back under a rock.  Not cultivated because some corporation (Fox, FB, AT&T which allegedly powers OAN; haven’t read the Reuters article yet) can make bank off it.

  183. 183.

    Betty Cracker

    @lowtechcyclist: I don’t disagree with people who say Trump is a symptom, because they are right in one sense; like you said (and Elizabelle reiterated at #180), the pieces were there all along. But in another sense, insisting that the GOP was as bad during the time of Nixon, Reagan, W, etc., is to be in denial about the unique danger we’re in right now.

    In other words, I stand by what I wrote last week: today’s GOP is an authoritarian cult of personality. The upside of that is that the power invested in Trump isn’t easily transferable. The downside is there is literally nothing his cult won’t do to reinstall him in office.

  187. 187.

    Ksmiami

    @Jeffro: That’s what I’ve been saying as a capitalist- businesses can’t operate with the chaos, the GOP represents- they need rules and fair codes to invest, plan and conduct daily operations. The GOP is the Joker party

  189. 189.

    Soprano2

    @lowtechcyclist: Now I need a different prescription for looking at the monitor of a desktop computer than I need for either distance vision or other close work, so I find myself switching glasses a lot.

    I cannot recommend computer glasses highly enough. I’m on my third pair. They saved me a ton of headaches and grief. They have your computer vision on the top, and your reading vision on the bottom, and no distance vision. They’re well worth the investment – I keep them on my desk and wear them all day at work. You can play with the frames more if you want, too – my new ones are bright red!

  190. 190.

    Ruckus

    @sab:

    Your husband and I are in the same age range and I have 3 pairs of reading glasses in my apt and carry one with me and have another in the car. I can’t see close without them I can’t see much distance with them. My computer screen is about 4 feet away and I use different glasses for that, but don’t need them for longer distance. I wish I knew how bats do it. Of course they don’t need to read….

  193. 193.

    Ruckus

    @lowtechcyclist:

    trump didn’t change anything other than allowing their crap to be said out loud. Republicans have been trying for decades to not say the bad crap out loud. trump made that obviously unnecessary. But that’s what the upper end of the republican party had been thinking for a 4 decades or more. trump showed them that there is a solid base for whom not saying the bad parts out loud pisses them off.  trump isn’t and never has been smart enough to do anything other than half ass or more and he’s all ass in the being racist department. His only thing was he started with enough, some of which he stole from his siblings, to be considered rather wealthy. He’s screwed up everything he’s ever done and thrown away more money than the vast majority can even contemplate ever counting, but he’s not responsible for conservative bigotry, only for saying it out loud.

  196. 196.

    Citizen Alan

    @Betty Cracker:

    On the tapes, Nixon seriously proposed bombing his domestic political opponents.  It took The Day After to scare Reagan out of thinking nuclear war wouldn’t be so bad.  And if Al-Qaeda had obliged Dubya with a second major terrorist attack during his administration, I think we would have gotten concentration camps for muslims out of it.  I was born in 1969, and there’s never been a moment of my life when the GOP wasn’t an insane fascist death cult. Trump’s only innovation was his complete lack of subtlety.

  198. 198.

    Kalakal

    @Redshift: Sounds good. With mine they destroyed my lenses and repaced them with shiny new ones.One thing I can be sure won’t go wrong with me now is cateracts.

    Someone else mentioned the psychedlic patterns, yeah it’s quite freaky to watch.

  199. 199.

    Gravenstone

    @geg6: As the recipient of lens replacement surgery last year as part of the treatment regimen for my Fuchs, I also had my lifelong nearsightedness corrected – mostly. But I now have to put on glasses any time I want to read something, which is the exact opposite of what I used to do for decades. Just recognize that the fix becomes its own set of trade offs, and be prepared.

  200. 200.

    Chris Johnson

    @rikyrah: Do the dark money forces who prop up McConnell actually want a default?

    Russia? Fuck yeah they do. Mind you, I think a lot of this is kabuki and they all pretty much know what the score is. They’re trying to play it out without having to reveal who owns who, but I mean, Hillary called out who owned Trump quite publically, Nancy’s not shy about it either, I don’t think anybody’s confused at this point. Except most Americans.

  202. 202.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    Aren’t most of the abusers big oil companies, that provide fuel for our vehicles, among other things? If every vehicle sold from tomorrow on was electric, it will still take years to get rid of the current ones. And while there are options being built now, big electric trucks seem to be even farther off. Yes we have Tesla, but how many cars can they make and how much do they cost? Could you afford a Tesla?

    It’s just not possible to change over completely in a very short time, even as it really is necessary. And how dirty are those refineries? I see that we need to do this as fast as possible but how?

  204. 204.

    Another Scott

    @Ruckus: Yes, we’re still dependent on fossil fuels.  But even bending the CO2 emission curve requires more work than is being done at present.

    Offsets seems to me to be on the verge of becoming a racket (if it isn’t already), as one might expect as it’s being pushed by consultants and banksters.

    CSM:

    But as Mr. Miller and many others point out, not all carbon credits are created equal. At this point, anyone can create an offset – all that’s needed is a willing buyer and seller. But whether that offset actually helps prevent climate change is a lot more complicated.

    Much of this is because of how offsets work. There are very few projects that actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. (That process, called direct air capture, does exist, but it is still rare and relatively expensive.) More often, offsets promise to not release carbon. A forest-based offset program, for instance, claims to preserve trees that would otherwise be cut down. A clean power offset creates a wind turbine that wouldn’t have been built otherwise.

    This concept is called “additionality,” and, as Cynthia Cummis of the World Resources Institute says, it is inherently difficult to prove.

    “You’re always making an assessment based on a hypothetical scenario,” she says. “And I think that always will make you question what additional emission reductions are really being generated by a project.”

    This is why it is important for companies to decarbonize their operations and value chains first, she says, and then use offsets only as a way to go “above and beyond.”

    Indeed, as more and more prominent companies jump on the offset bandwagon, there has been increasing attention to whether their projects actually remove carbon as advertised – and more revelations of problems. A decade ago, a Monitor investigation found that carbon offset certificates presented to the Vatican were tied to forest projects that did not exist. More recently, investigative reports have raised other questions about offset projects, including this summer, when forests central to Microsoft’s emission reduction plan burned in the West’s raging wildfires, releasing the stored carbon into the atmosphere.

    As with everything, there’s no One Weird Trick that will reduce giant corporations’ carbon footprint. They need to get moving.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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