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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

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

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

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

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

This fight is for everything.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

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

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

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

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Evening Open Thread: Happy Newsbites

Monday Evening Open Thread: Happy Newsbites

by Anne Laurie|  January 3, 20226:20 pm| 145 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!, Trump Crime Cartel

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look at all of you shouting better things aren't possible https://t.co/xf0PDFAF3k

— zeddy (@Zeddary) January 3, 2022

Any word on who Putin is going to appoint as his replacement? https://t.co/vChA2mCoS7

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 3, 2022

JUST IN: New York Attorney General has officially subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

2022 is starting off great!

— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) January 3, 2022

Some smart political scientist w campaign finance chops should look at her fundraising, & her use of Twitter, analyze the relationship, & then track the inevitable decline in revenue now that she can’t fundraise for free. https://t.co/sG1eOqKzua

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 2, 2022

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Reader Interactions

145Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    January 3, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    To add to that third Tweet:

    New York Attorney General has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to testify in the civil probe into the Trump Organization. If they refuse, AG can rule against Trump Organization and seize its assets. If they testify, it can be used in NY criminal case against Trump.
    — Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) January 3, 2022

  2. 2.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 3, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    I wonder if Jarvanka still gets seated at NYC restaurants.

  3. 3.

    David Fud

    January 3, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    Has anyone seen represent.us and what do they think? Is this a No Labels clone or something more important and better?

  4. 4.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    @David Fud: 

    Name sounds fishy. But I don’t know.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    January 3, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh

    In the stall furthest from the rest room door.

    ;)

  6. 6.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 6:31 pm

    JUST IN: Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump refuse to comply with subpoenas issued by the New York State attorney general’s office as it conducts a civil investigation into the way the family real estate business valued its holdings. https://t.co/Qg21eGkQYA

    — ABC News (@ABC) January 3, 2022

    Alt-Hed: TFG's children are covering up their own financial actions. https://t.co/qpu9kSbWtd

    — emptywheel (@emptywheel) January 3, 2022

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: depending on the restaurant, I’m sure they do. A few days after the ’16 election, trump got a standing ovation at a fancy Manhattan restaurant– I wanna say 21? There was a piece in New York mage a couple of weeks ago about a place on the upper east side that’s a hangout for right wingers.

  8. 8.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    Say what you will about PapaDick Cheney's daughter.

    But she learned lethal bureaucratic tools from the master.

    And that she uses IVANKA to make it clear how much they know? >>>power daughter kiss<<< https://t.co/ofMmrUdtQB

    — emptywheel (@emptywheel) January 2, 2022

  9. 9.

    topclimber

    January 3, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    @debbie: ​
      They have to beat the Russian mob if they want any Trump assets, net of liabilities.

  10. 10.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    #BREAKING: Kimberly Guilfoyle engaged to Trump Jr. https://t.co/kIVXcgUJlY pic.twitter.com/p8DPGTDua8

    — The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2022

    “Hold hands, you love birds!”

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    I read once that one of the Kardashians gets paid an obscene amount of money to tweet the words “Diet Coke” so many times a month. I don’t know how the whole ‘influencer’ thing works, but does this look to anyone else like Melanie is looking for an independent source of income? I saw something a couple of weeks ago that made me think the same thing.

  12. 12.

    zhena gogolia

    January 3, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    @germy: Cauvin has already lampooned it.

  13. 13.

    Raoul Paste

    January 3, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    Can you imagine the AG of New York seizing trump organisation assets?  Very unlikely to happen, but if it did, boy, you couldn’t write fiction like that

  14. 14.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    That reminds me.

    Jack Daniels.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    @germy: I wish them a long and detailed prenup, cause that will minimize the odds of him making more trumps, of which he has made enough

  16. 16.

    JPL

    January 3, 2022 at 6:47 pm

    @debbie: They are asking for the subpoena to be quashed, because of the ongoing criminal investigation.   We’ll see what happens, but legal eagles are saying it’s doubtful that they win.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    January 3, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    @JPL: “We should not have to testify because we are under criminal investigation”?  Sounds like the old adage about murdering your parents and asking for the court’s mercy because you’re an orphan.

    The possibility that Nunes resigned to join a company that’s about to be seized is nice, although I suppose Trump has everything so compartmentalized that seizing the Organization* won’t affect this new grift.

    * Not to be confused with the Syndicate, the criminal organization from the Mission: Impossible TV show.

  18. 18.

    Roger Moore

    January 3, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    As I understand it, the idea with influencers is that they develop a following for whatever it is they’re supposed to be good at- it can be anything from putting on makeup to playing video games- and then get paid to mention sponsors in their videos.  The pay may be direct money for mentions, or it may just be “we give you free [whatever] if you promise to give us a good word”.

  19. 19.

    narya

    January 3, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: Because I am a petty person sometimes, this pleases me more than almost anything other than actual conviction and imprisonment. They have this vision of themselves as part of a global elite, and to have that punctured, repeatedly, would be (is?) a thing of beauty.

  20. 20.

    West of the Rockies

    January 3, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    Honestly, I thought Nunes had been out of Congress for a couple years.

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    I give Nunes 60 days as CEO of a public company before he’s in deep shit with the SEC. If I were a betting man, I would bet that he will be under indictment by the end of 2022.

  22. 22.

    eclare

    January 3, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    @narya:   Those two were at the Met Costume Gala years ago.  That is gone…Anna Wintour does not approve.  Meow!

  23. 23.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    I like the way you talk.

  24. 24.

    Redshift

    January 3, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @burnspbesq: He has “resting fall-guy face.”

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    January 3, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    I give Nunes 60 days as CEO of a public company before he’s in deep shit with the SEC.

    I’m not sure if the business will still be a going concern in 60 days.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    January 3, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    How does California handle empty Congressional seats?  Is there going to be a special election in Nunes’ , or will it just be open for the rest of the term?

  27. 27.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    January 3, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    @debbie: Sweet! I just read this tweet to my husband, who said, “Sounds like a win-win to me”. Me too!

  28. 28.

    jnfr

    January 3, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    @germy:

    Can we say “spousal privilege”?

  29. 29.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:12 pm

    Nunes’ most fundamental problem is that he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

    A special election to fill that seat will be a democratic feeding frenzy.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @jnfr:

    Yes, but we can also say “crime-fraud exception.”

  31. 31.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @jnfr: 

    Same trick that Matt Gaetz pulled?

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    January 3, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    FYI, it sounds as if the jury will be reading the verdicts on the 8 of 11 charges against Elizabeth Holmes for which they can agree.  This seems a bit unusual to me- they announced they were deadlocked earlier today, and I thought they were usually given more time to come to agreement- but it will be good to know how they saw those 8 counts.  I assume that if they find guilty the prosecutor won’t bother to go back and retry the other 3 counts.

  33. 33.

    Miss Bianca

    January 3, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @germy: 

    “Hold hands, you love birds!”

    One of those lines that will never fail to crack me up.

  34. 34.

    Scout211

    January 3, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    @Ken:

    Nunes’ 22nd District seat was set to be up for election again in 2022. Congressional seats must be filled through elections, per the U.S. Constitution. So the 22nd District seat would need to be filled with either a special election or remain vacated until it is filled in the 2022 midterm elections. The seat could not be filled until the summer at earliest. Fresno Bee

    There hasn’t  been an announcement yet, but the final redistricting map splits Nunes’ current 22nd into three different different districts. So the candidates running to finish his term (if they run a special election) will have to decide which district they want to run in for the 2022 midterms.

  35. 35.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    I’m not sure if the Palmer Report is a legitimate source.

    I honestly don’t know.  Does anyone here have any info on that?

  36. 36.

    H.E.Wolf

    January 3, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @germy: I wish them a long and detailed prenup, cause that will minimize the odds of him making more trumps, of which he has made enough

     Ms. Guilfoyle will turn 52 in a couple of months. I think the odds are (thankfully) minimal already. :)

  37. 37.

    narya

    January 3, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    @eclare: THAT is exactly what I mean. They have pretensions of belonging to the Gala crowd, and they just do NOT.

  38. 38.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    Elizabeth Holmes guilty on four counts, not guilty on five, jury deadlocked on three.

  39. 39.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @Miss Bianca:
    Emil Sitka!  And that line is on his headstone.

  40. 40.

    hueyplong

    January 3, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @burnspbesq: I give Nunez until 5 days after the 10k is filed.

  41. 41.

    Redshift

    January 3, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    @burnspbesq: Isn’t the company already under investigation for their partnership with a sketchy Chinese company with a history of setting up shell companies with no employees and exaggerated claims about supposed products?

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    January 3, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    @germy: So, funny story  – according to my ex, who was friends with the Raimi brothers coming up in Detroit in the 70s and 80s (he went to the University of Detroit with Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother), Emil Sitka was actually a relative of theirs, a great-uncle or something, I think on their mother’s side. If I ever run into Ted R again, I will have to ask him about it. : )

  43. 43.

    Leto

    January 3, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    (WaPo) Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes found guilty of some charges in landmark Silicon Valley fraud case

  44. 44.

    skerry

    January 3, 2022 at 7:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Kim is 52 years old. The odds of more children are slim.

    ETA: Saw I wasn’t the first to note this.

  45. 45.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Reminder that the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos story is also a massive failure of the media https://t.co/jsWWynSObw

    — Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 4, 2022

  46. 46.

    West of the Rockies

    January 3, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    Look up DJT Junior on Google and it says “American Activist.”  I think on the second word they misspelled Asshole.

  47. 47.

    Nicole

    January 3, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @germy: The Palmer Report tends to draw some… perhaps more optimistic, shall we say, conclusions than a less biased source might.  I found it a very comforting read in early 2017,  when I couldn’t believe Trump was really going to last in the Oval Office for 4 years, but eventually realized it was a lot of big speculations based on some pretty small facts.

  48. 48.

    eclare

    January 3, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @narya:   Jill and Michelle were on the cover of Vogue, Melanie was not.  Like you, I love it.

  49. 49.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    @Leto:

    Guilty on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years plus a $1 million fine.

  50. 50.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    @H.E.Wolf: I was thinking of a pre-nup that kept Junior on a very short leash…. He has his father’s high regard for martial vows.

  51. 51.

    Fair Economist

    January 3, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    The Holmes verdict works out to guilty of some counts of investor fraud, hung on the rest, and not guilty (!) on all counts of patient fraud.

    Guess it’s OK to make money by tricking patients into dying, but not OK to trick billionaire investors.

    Bizarre, but at least she’ll have serious consequences.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    January 3, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    @germy: Do you really expect them to cover white grifters?   Geez, it’s not like she was missing or something.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    January 3, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    This is from the GA Dept. of Health.

    The Daily Status Report will not update today, Jan. 3, due to a large amount of data overwhelming the system. We are working to fix the problem and expect to have an update tomorrow at 3 p.m.

  54. 54.

    Quinerly

    January 3, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    @germy: ?

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    January 3, 2022 at 7:30 pm

    JUST IN: New York Attorney General has officially subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

    But not Eric. I guess the theory is “too stupid to know anything useful”?

  56. 56.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    @dmsilev:

    No law against eating jars of library paste.  So there’s nothing to charge him with.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 3, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    @Fair Economist: Which do you think is easier to prove?  I’ll give you a hint.  Look at the verdict.

  58. 58.

    VeniceRiley

    January 3, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    @Roger Moore: Small influencer try to use what little clout they have to contact YOU and try to get you to give them your product/service for free. It’s pathetic and funny at once.

  59. 59.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    @JPL:

    I don’t doubt it. Our little county (pop. 609k) had over 7,500 new cases last week, more than double the previous high and approximately 3.5 percent of the unvaxed population.

  60. 60.

    Ken

    January 3, 2022 at 7:34 pm

    @dmsilev: If there is a legal theory , it would be “He’s the one dumb enough to be insulted, and go public to brag about what he knows.” But I think he was already subpoenaed — wasn’t he nominally in charge of the organization?

  61. 61.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 3, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    @dmsilev: I’d love it if they didn’t need to subpoena home because he is voluntarily cooperating.

  62. 62.

    VeniceRiley

    January 3, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    Elizabeth Holmes found GUILTY.
    Banner day!
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-verdict-guilty_n_61d353fde4b0bb04a63bae72

  63. 63.

    burnspbesq

    January 3, 2022 at 7:37 pm

    @Ken:

    Eric sat for a deposition a while ago.

  64. 64.

    Nicole

    January 3, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    @dmsilev: Eric was interviewed by James’ office last year

    Or, what burnspbesq just said.

  65. 65.

    germy

    January 3, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    “We weren’t smart enough to collude with Russia”

    (Eric Trump)

  66. 66.

    guachi

    January 3, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    That juju post from two threads back about getting help from David Anderson is so good it should be a front page post. Maybe in the morning at the time Anderson used to post regularly.

    Drop it as an Open Thread with an invitation for others to post about any benefit they’ve gotten from the blog.

  67. 67.

    Ken

    January 3, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    @burnspbesq: I wonder if Eric sold out his siblings, and if so whether it was deliberate or accidental.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    @germy:

    If the guy’s a twit
    You must acquit.

  69. 69.

    Mai Naem mobile

    January 3, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    @germy: probably has something to do with spouses having legal privileges. IIRC Kim Guilfoyle is a lawyer. I still can’t believe Gavin Newsom and Kim Guilfoyle were a couple. Makes you question Newsom’s judgement. Also cannot believe that she’s part Puerto Rican and hanging out with a Trumpov.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    @Ken:

    I wonder if Eric sold out his siblings, and if so whether it was deliberate or accidental.

    I always said one of the biggest surprises of the Mueller investigation was that Fredo and Gummo stuck to the script

    I wish I could remember which celebrity lawyer (MSNBC celebrity) posted a screenshot of a page from Andrew Weisman’s book on twitter and said “This is as close as Weisman can legally come to telling us Don Jr took the Fifth”

  71. 71.

    Mai Naem mobile

    January 3, 2022 at 7:55 pm

    @VeniceRiley: lock her up. The stuff from the trial was awful and Holmes was trying to pass it off all on the partner.  Her faux ‘I’m just an easily misled vulnerable little woman’ act was just disgusting.

  72. 72.

    jnfr

    January 3, 2022 at 7:55 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Point.

  73. 73.

    craigie

    January 3, 2022 at 7:56 pm

    @germy:

    Kimberly Guilfoyle engaged to Trump Jr.

    I bet each of them thinks the other has money.

  74. 74.

    cain

    January 3, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    She might have been a different person when Gavin met her.

    @germy:

    Looks like the best is yet to come! (for them!)

  75. 75.

    cain

    January 3, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    @craigie: Well, someone is paying for all the cocaine they both are using!

  76. 76.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 8:01 pm

    @craigie: I always said Ivanka married Jared because she’d seen her father’s books, and his. But old Fred had real money, and I’m sure passed some of it along to that generation if only for tax purposes. I’m sure the Beast controls it. That’s why Junior came back from Aspen.

    Tim O’Brien, who has also seen trump’s books, estimates he has two billion in assets and a billion in debt. I have seen it noted that his biggest assets are commcercial real estate, one third shares in three large office buildings in Manhattan (2) and San Francisco (1). I wonder how the pandemic has affected those values.

  77. 77.

    danielx

    January 3, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    It should only be so!

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    January 3, 2022 at 8:06 pm

    @cain:

    She might have been a different person when Gavin met her.

    And he showed the good sense to dump her.

  79. 79.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 3, 2022 at 8:08 pm

    AG Garland will give speech Wednesday on DOJ’s efforts to hold people accountable for Jan. 6 riot. Per DOJ, he will “discuss the department’s solemn duty to uphold the Constitution, follow the facts and the law, and pursue equal justice under law without fear or favor.”

  80. 80.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I wouldn’t expect any big announcement. Probably a fairly generic speech.

  81. 81.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 3, 2022 at 8:15 pm

    @JPL: this is a quality post.

  82. 82.

    Spanky

    January 3, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    Greetings from the winter wonderland of Southern MD! Where 9 inches of very wet snow has brought down trees and power lines, making us one of the 41,000 currently without power.

    At least the utility’s power. We’re running the whole house generator, though one of our two failover switches shit the bed, leaving half our circuits dark. Including the well, but giving us the furnace. Since it’s supposed to hit 16° tonight, we’ll take it.

  83. 83.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 3, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    On the sports side, ESPN paring up the Manning brothers for a casual live blog of the Monday night game has been a stroke of pure genius.

    Highly entertaining and the two invite guests to join them remotely (they’re both remote) and it can be very funny.

    They’re the only reason to watch tonight’s dog of a game between the Steelers and Browns.

  84. 84.

    Tony Jay

    January 3, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    @guachi:

    Yes.

    I don’t understand most (I flatter myself) of what he says, because it’s complicated mathy stuff that leaves me agog with whatthefuck every three words, and it’s also completely irrelevant to me because I’m foreign and we currently have a National Health Service paid for via taxation, but even at this distance I can smell the importance of his posts and am so very glad I can ignore them.

    He don’t swear, but you can swear by him. That’s a pretty accurate tagline for one of the most important but underappreciated BJ front pagers.

  85. 85.

    trnc

    January 3, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    I’m watching CNN do a report on the skyrocketing number of cases and hospitalizations – report by Randi Kaye, then Anderson Cooper hosting panel with Gupta and Leanne Wen. The whole segment is, how can we have this many cases, how do we stop overwhelming hospitals, etc. The only mention of the vaccine was Wen urging parent to get their kids vaccinated. Otherwise, the gist was –

    – Why, it’s worse now than it was under DT

    – The federal govt’s changing guidance is so confusing. This was accompanied by a clip of Fauci telling people that they could be outside without masks – BACK IN MAY

    If CNN isn’t actively trying to get more republicans elected, I’d hate to see what that looks like.

  86. 86.

    SteveinPHX

    January 3, 2022 at 8:25 pm

    @burnspbesq: 
    I haven’t done any looking, but would Trump’s new media venture be publicly traded? Seems to me any Trump media expedition would be privately held. Makes the book keeping easier! No SEC filings?

  87. 87.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 3, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    @Baud:

    Nope, and he won’t be naming names or any charges.

  88. 88.

    JoyceH

    January 3, 2022 at 8:43 pm

    @Spanky: Here in Virginia I think we got about 15 inches. Lot of lost power, but mine is still on. (Yay for buried power lines!) But trees are down all OVER the place. The front and back entrances of my development are blocked and I haven’t heard a snow plow yet. A small tree went down here and hit the side of my house. I don’t think there’s damage but waiting till daylight to go look.

  89. 89.

    Dan B

    January 3, 2022 at 8:43 pm

    Moar Good News:  Betsey DeVos invested $100 mil in Theranos.  Pffffft – gone.

    Elizabeth Holmes isn’t all bad.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    January 3, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    @trnc:

    “Let’s compare Biden’s and Trump’s first year in office as it relates to mask mandates.”

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    January 3, 2022 at 8:50 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Nunes is the CEO of a TFG business. Well that ought to fail spectacularly in those 60 days. Also, Nunes is the only person he could get to be Chief Effluent Officer? I mean it is fitting but still…

  92. 92.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 3, 2022 at 8:58 pm

    On this day in 1895, federal authorities imprisoned 19 Hopi leaders at Alcatraz on sedition charges for opposing the U.S. government's forced education and assimilation of Indigenous children. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/g3Fb7sUBqJ— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) January 3, 2022

  93. 93.

    Mai Naem mobile

    January 3, 2022 at 8:59 pm

    @Dan B: don’t forget Rupert Murdoch invested in her too.

  94. 94.

    Dan B

    January 3, 2022 at 9:02 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile: Liz is looking better and better!

  95. 95.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 3, 2022 at 9:04 pm

    @JoyceH: no trees down in my section of Atlanta, but the exciting news is that the rain finally—after several years—knocked the deflated Mylar balloon out of the upper branches of a tree in our front yard!

    So, condolences to those of you without power or roofs or whatever, but remember that there is always a bright side!

  96. 96.

    raven

    January 3, 2022 at 9:06 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Our floors have been installed for three weeks and they were supposed to begin sanding and finishing tomorrow but the house they were working on lost power so “not so fast. . . “!

  97. 97.

    Mike in NC

    January 3, 2022 at 9:09 pm

    @germy: Where do we mail the anthrax?

  98. 98.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 3, 2022 at 9:10 pm

    @raven: I have my calendar blocked out for next Tuesday morning, either way it goes.  I wouldn’t let those guys work then either if I were you!

  99. 99.

    raven

    January 3, 2022 at 9:12 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Gotta try to breathe. . .

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    January 3, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    @JoyceH: wow – 15 inches in your neck of the woods?

    My best guess here in central VA is that we got 9-10 inches.  Power is out for tens of thousands in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, us included.

    BUT:

    – my gas grill still works…we totally feasted tonight!

    – we had a nice family game night by candlelight afterwards

    – even walking the dog just now was amazing…with everyone’s lights out in our neighborhood, the stars are unbelievable.

    Tomorrow we may have to take the kids up to NoVA, to stay with my mom for a bit – this outage is supposed to be a “multi-day event”, according to Dominion.  But still, it’s manageable and we are probably luckier than most.

    Be safe folks!

  101. 101.

    Suzanne

    January 3, 2022 at 9:25 pm

    Soooo, I think I mentioned to y’all that my cousin (my age) and his wife and all three of their kids got Covid and all had to stay home for Christmas. Anyway, I reached out to check in with him today, and they are all fine. Except for his oldest Spawn, K, who fractured his skull while sledding as soon as he was over Covid. Apparently everything appears to be fine neurologically, but they will know more at the end of the week. Poor guy had to spend a couple of days in the hospital. This is so typical for the SuzFam.

  102. 102.

    Sebastian

    January 3, 2022 at 9:25 pm

    @Jeffro:

    This truly sounds amazing, I am glad you are enjoying the circumstances. But what I am -really- jealous about is the night sky!

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    Kathleen Blackwood @kat_blckwd 9h

    Amazing bumper sticker at COVID testing center this morning:

    it is, in fact, an amazingly specific bumper sticker

  104. 104.

    Mike in NC

    January 3, 2022 at 9:31 pm

    Put on Wheel of Time on Amazon, but it wasn’t the wife’s cup of tea. Instead we’re going to watch Young Franknstein.

  105. 105.

    Spanky

    January 3, 2022 at 9:38 pm

    @Jeffro:

    with everyone’s lights out in our neighborhood, the stars are unbelievable.

    Enjoy! The high pressure that flowed in behind the snow has left a crystal clear, breezeless sky, I was out enjoying it myself, bundled up in my parka, but the lights from DC and the 301 corridor made the western horizon look like it was about 15 minutes after sunset, what with the snow on the ground.

    Plus, our power came back! Yay! But then it randomly flickered a couple of times, obviously as a warning not to get too comfortable.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    January 3, 2022 at 9:40 pm

    @Sebastian: it was very cool.

    The dog was like, “whys are we pausing. And why. Did you turn off the light stick.  For a minute”? ?

    (to check out Orion and the Pleiades, dog!)

  107. 107.

    Jeffro

    January 3, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    @Spanky: congrats on the power coming back on ?

    This morning, the predawn light and storm made everything look electric blue for about 20 minutes.  It was WILD.

  108. 108.

    phdesmond

    January 3, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    @Redshift:

    very funny!

  109. 109.

    debbie

    January 3, 2022 at 9:42 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Hope K and his head mend quickly.

  110. 110.

    zhena gogolia

    January 3, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    I had to give up on Stay Close when they started torturing somebody. Ugh. Back to The Pursuit of Love, I guess.

  111. 111.

    Anya

    January 3, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    It’s so discouraging the jury in the Holmes case didn’t think the patients were worth a guilty verdict but I can somewhat understand why. The patients actual stories were not told because the judge excluded all of the emotional beats. But she got a guilty verdicts on the counts of investors fraud. Her investors were a collection of the worst people in the world and I could careless about them.

  112. 112.

    mali muso

    January 3, 2022 at 9:48 pm

    @Jeffro: Up in our tiny corner at the “top” of Virginia, we must have just missed the storm.  Got a dusting last night of about an inch, just enough to make the morning roads slippery but essentially gone by this afternoon.  The kiddo was sorely disappointed as she really wanted some sledding and snowball fun.

  113. 113.

    Spanky

    January 3, 2022 at 9:50 pm

    @Spanky: Why did I even say anything? Power’s out again.

  114. 114.

    Captain C

    January 3, 2022 at 9:51 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    I wonder if Jarvanka still gets seated at NYC restaurants.

    The ones in Brighton Beach.

  115. 115.

    Roger Moore

    January 3, 2022 at 9:54 pm

    @Anya:

    So much of what happens at a trial is determined beforehand based on what the judge does and doesn’t allow. If you don’t allow a victim to tell their story, it’s very hard to convict on fraud.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    January 3, 2022 at 9:59 pm

    @mali muso: you’ll get some snow up there eventually!

    Our house was abuzz with who could overcome their food-pickiness issues and eat various things (Chunky Soup, beans, etc) straight out of the can if necessary.  We all concluded that Fro Jr was screwed and would probably starve even if the pantry was full of garbanzo beans and dried apricots.

    Naturally, no one had any doubt that I would come through just fine ?

  117. 117.

    trnc

    January 3, 2022 at 10:00 pm

    @Dan B: Moar Good News: Betsey DeVos invested $100 mil in Theranos. Pffffft – gone.

    Sorry to pee in the punch bowl, but she’d have to make about 19 more bad investments like that before starting to worry about how she’ll buy another cabinet appointment.

  118. 118.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 3, 2022 at 10:06 pm

    @Captain C: zing!

  119. 119.

    Another Scott

    January 3, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    Meanwhile, … Phys.org:

    Getting the sunshield extended last Friday “was really a huge achievement for us,” said project manager Bill Ochs. All 107 release pins opened properly.

    But there have been a few obstacles.

    Flight controllers in Maryland had to reset Webb’s solar panel to draw more power. The observatory—considered the successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope—was never in any danger, with a constant power flow, said Amy Lo, a lead engineer for the telescope’s prime contractor, Northrop Grumman.

    They also repointed the telescope to limit sunlight on six overheating motors. The motors cooled enough to begin securing the sunshield, a three-day process that can be halted if the problem crops up again, officials said.

    “Everything is hunky-dory and doing well now,” Lo said.

    Ochs expects the tightening of the sunshield to be drama-free.

    “The best thing for operations is boring, and that’s what we anticipate over the next three days, is to be boring,” he told reporters in a teleconference.

    If that holds true, the telescope’s gold-plated mirror—more than 21 feet (6.5 meters) across—could unfold as soon as this weekend.

    Good, good.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  120. 120.

    mali muso

    January 3, 2022 at 10:17 pm

    @Jeffro: Yeah, if there is one thing I have learned living in “the valley” it’s that the snow forecast is almost always off. Something about the mountains on either side and the snow either not making it over them or coming over and dumping way more than expected. Hope you all stay warm!

  121. 121.

    dmsilev

    January 3, 2022 at 10:19 pm

    @Another Scott: Per the Webb team’s blog, they’ve successfully tightened three out of the five layers of the sun shield, and will work on the last two tomorrow.

  122. 122.

    persistentillusion

    January 3, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: We had an epic wind storm in CO on the 15th of December, 100 mph.  Finally knocked some deflated mylar balloons out of my pine tree in the front (those things are the devil’s toys) after 2.5 YEARS.  Small joy.

  123. 123.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 3, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    Click the link and enjoy.

    okay that's it I'm going to use this image for everything. https://t.co/fc7Cj4JNHt— Frances Langum ? (@bluegal) January 3, 2022

  124. 124.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 3, 2022 at 10:29 pm

    @persistentillusion: [fist bump]

  125. 125.

    OldDave

    January 3, 2022 at 10:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  it is, in fact, an amazingly specific bumper sticker

    I once had that album on CD, but it went off to college with my daughter.  Might have to finally pick up a replacement.

  126. 126.

    Another Scott

    January 3, 2022 at 10:35 pm

    @dmsilev: ?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 3, 2022 at 10:52 pm

    Yup, that’s that John Roberts

    Magdi Semrau @magi_jay 25m
    In 1985, hemophiliac HIV+ children were being kicked out of schools. Scientists asked President Reagan to plainly state HIV could not spread through “casual contact.” Reagan instead said the science was still out. This approach was recommended by his legal advisor, John G Roberts
    (thread)

  128. 128.

    Kay

    January 3, 2022 at 10:58 pm

    @Anya:

    Holmes lobbied Arizona lawmakers and they allowed her to run the experiment there: 

    Blood-testing company Theranos duped Arizona officials and patients by selling unproven, unreliable products that gave people flawed medical results, according to a new book from a Wall Street Journal reporter who investigated the company. And Arizona’s government aided the experiment by providing a lax regulatory environment that essentially left patients as guinea pigs, author and investigative reporter John Carreyrou said.

    The story was interesting in who she fooled, but also who she didn’t fool. A lot of people saw through it.

    Basically anyone who understands blood science rejected her pitch- pharma companies, for example.

    Mattis fell for it, people who work in health services for the military did not fall for it.

  129. 129.

    Another Scott

    January 3, 2022 at 11:17 pm

    @Kay:

    Too much of the business press is based on creating new wunderkinds, also too.

    the part of the elizabeth holmes story i like the most is how she clearly just studied how the business media lavished praise on ppl like steve jobs and just stole his whole look and applied it to her scam. and it worked! pic.twitter.com/qzYdf6kJtD

    — Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 30, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  130. 130.

    Suzanne

    January 3, 2022 at 11:18 pm

    @Kay: Allow me to tell you what a shitshow the Arizona Department of Health Services is. It’s….. comically bad.

  131. 131.

    James E Powell

    January 3, 2022 at 11:55 pm

    @Leto:

    I’m quite surprised. Those cases are tough and you never know with juries and, after all, she does have blonde hair & white skin.

  132. 132.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 4, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Maybe Devin Nunes’ Cow will run for the open seat, is the cow over 25?

  133. 133.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    January 4, 2022 at 1:15 am

    @James E Powell: ​
      you have to be somewhat hawt like Casey Anthony or Claudine Longet to get away with murder

  134. 134.

    trollhattan

    January 4, 2022 at 2:17 am

    @Ken:

    The deposition of Eric Tiberius Trump:

    “I’m Eroc. Eric.”

  135. 135.

    trollhattan

    January 4, 2022 at 2:18 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    In cow years? Bossie’s way over 25. Oops, blew her cover!

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    January 4, 2022 at 2:20 am

    @Captain C:
    “Not zee Borscht Shack, again!”

    “No, is today zee Borscht Dacha.”

  137. 137.

    yellowdog

    January 4, 2022 at 3:40 am

    @Chief Oshkosh: They would have to show a vaccine passport. So, no.

  138. 138.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2022 at 4:15 am

    @Tony Jay:

    The word “currently” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. We both know the City is full of smart, amoral boys and girls who are just dying to get a slice of the Incalculable pot of gold that would be NHS privatization.

  139. 139.

    burnspbesq

    January 4, 2022 at 4:17 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I thought the cow lived in Iowa where the actual family farm is.

  140. 140.

    Soprano2

    January 4, 2022 at 6:38 am

    @Mai Naem mobile: My sister had great instincts about people – except when it came to personal romantic relationships. I don’t worry about Newsom’s judgement in other areas because of his relationship with Guilfoyle. Plus, people do change.

  141. 141.

    Soprano2

    January 4, 2022 at 6:48 am

    @trnc: That’s so crazy. The guidance that being outside without a mask is ok if you’re not in a crowd is older than last May. Plus, I’ve heard both of them, and they cannot possibly misunderstand why we’re where we are with Covid.

  142. 142.

    evodevo

    January 4, 2022 at 7:00 am

    @Spanky: That happens frequently…I guess central transformers get overloaded from the surge and then blow…we had fun here in KY one ice storm year when they didn’t have backup transformers in stock and we had to wait 3 more days for the electric to come back on after tantalizing flickers…

  143. 143.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 4, 2022 at 7:17 am

    @Soprano2: I kind of liked this Philip Bump op-ed calling out disingenuous right-wing pundits for intentionally confusing advice from different time periods to make it look like scientists are lying or flip-flopping. But he may underestimate the extent to which this is a mainstream news-story tactic:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/03/this-is-not-same-pandemic/

  144. 144.

    Miss Bianca

    January 4, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, it *is* a fucking amazing song.

  145. 145.

    Miss Bianca

    January 4, 2022 at 9:26 am

    @Kay: Was that book called Bad Blood? I devoured it last year – too fascinating to put down, but so, so infuriating I was often pacing around the room, book in hand, as I read it.

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