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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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And we’re all out of bubblegum.

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Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

We still have time to mess this up!

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The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

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So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Open Thread: ‘Without Imperfections, We Would Not Exist’

Saturday Morning Open Thread: ‘Without Imperfections, We Would Not Exist’

by Anne Laurie|  January 8, 20227:50 am| 117 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat, Science & Technology

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The president and first lady toured a damaged neighborhood and met with families who suffered losses in the Marshall fire https://t.co/ktVcwcQT7Q

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 8, 2022

… “The situation is a blinking Code Red for our nation,” Biden said, citing unusually high winds, prolonged drought conditions and the late arrival of snow as responsible for creating “a tinderbox.”

The president visited the Louisville neighborhood of Harper Lake, now covered in snow, to witness burned-down houses, charred trees and husks of torched cars from the Dec. 30 Marshall fire.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in this neighborhood,” Biden said, and see winds up to 100 miles per hour and flames approaching. He praised the residents for their “incredible courage.”…

Biden, even more than most presidents, has made a point of visiting disaster areas such as hurricanes and wildfires to console the survivors, and the United States has experienced a high number of such events during his first year…

President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on March 1 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the president a formal invitation to speak to Congress and the American public one year into his term. https://t.co/c5CumTsQpv

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 7, 2022

… The speech is normally timed for January, and occasionally for February. The delay is driven in part by a busy legislative calendar, a winter spike in COVID-19 cases from the more transmissible omicron variant and the upcoming Winter Olympics, which ties up broadcast network time…

Biden first addressed a joint session of Congress in April 2021, about 100 days into his time in the White House, which he used to promote twin infrastructure and domestic spending bills. Biden signed a slimmed-down and bipartisan version of the infrastructure proposal into law last year in crowning first-year legislative achievements. The larger expansion of the social safety net passed the House, but Biden has struggled to secure enough Democratic support in the Senate for passage.

An address to Congress in the president’s first year is not an official State of the Union address, and Biden’s April speech bore little resemblance to one because of strict COVID-19 protocols. It was marked by limitations on attendance, with no guests allowed, and lawmakers seated on both the floor of the House chamber and the galleries above. Officials said pandemic precautions for this year’s speech were still being worked out, though they expect it to look more like a traditional State of the Union address than last year’s remarks.

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Reader Interactions

117Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 7:58 am

    though they expect it to look more like a traditional State of the Union address than last year’s remarks

    Prepare yourself for some GOP dead enders to make a scene a la “you lie.”

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 7:58 am

    Market adjustment? Sure carries more than a whiff of a left-handed compliment to me.

    Foodland Super Market Ltd. clarified today that employees will not be paid for the day off that the company plans for Sunday.

    On Wednesday, the company said it will be closing all its Foodland and Sack N Save stores across Hawaii on Sunday to thank the company’s employees for working through the holiday season and pandemic.
    [snip]
    After some backlash over the Wednesday announcement, Foodland clarified today that the closure was not a paid day off for employees.
    [snip]
    Foodland continued: “To ensure our hourly employees were given the hours they typically work, we gave them the opportunity to work on other days. Thus, although the company will lose sales due to the closure, we are not reducing labor hours, despite the significant cost to us. The response from our employees has been overwhelmingly positive and we are grateful that so many of them have appreciated this closure in the way it was intended… as a gift to them.” Source

  3. 3.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 7:59 am

    A busy legislative calendar.  I like that.  The busier the Biden/Harris team is, the happier I am.

    Here’s something I mentioned yesterday:

    Last evening my wife made a short visit to a small grocery store in our town.

    She tells me she stood in line behind an unmasked guy who made a point of coughing loudly in front of the cashier.

    “Let me guess,” I asked my wife.  “He was an older white guy, right?”

    She replied in the affirmative.

    The man made a dramatic display of coughing.  After he’d left , the cashier and several shoppers said it looked like a deliberate display of contempt for the mask mandate and other precautions around this pandemic.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:04 am

    Prime goes full schlock. Somebody needed a tax write-off the size of Pangea.

    :)

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 8:05 am

    @NotMax: Gee. Thanx.

    @germy: I am surprised that I have yet to see such a display.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:10 am

    @OzarkHillbilly

    “We report, you deride.”

    ;) //

  7. 7.

    satby

    January 8, 2022 at 8:11 am

    @germy: The man made a dramatic display of coughing.  After he’d left , the cashier and several shoppers said it looked like a deliberate display of contempt for the mask mandate and other precautions around this pandemic.

    Dude, almost every public facing day of the last two years I’ve seen this happen. People of an age who were raised to cover their mouths when they cough just coughing over counters or at people. Trying to provoke a reaction or an excuse for a fight.

  8. 8.

    MattF

    January 8, 2022 at 8:13 am

    @NotMax: I suppose the movie itself is just the trailer padded out to ninety minutes.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 8:16 am

    @satby: 

    Hoosiers.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 8:19 am

    @MattF: But Bruce Campbell!

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @MattF

    Can confidently state with stolid conviction that I’ll never know.

    ;)

  12. 12.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    There’s a certain element here. They leave angry (“conservative”) comments in our local news websites.

    A few years ago, the city dug up our street to install a new water main. They placed traffic cones strategically for the protection of any passing work vehicles.

    I saw a man (fitting the demographic of the cougher) walk past and kick one of the cones, and then smash it, rather than walk around it.

  13. 13.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 8:24 am

    @germy:

    “Just because I can.”

    I’m hoping Australia doesn’t cave in to Djokovic about being unvaccinated. When everyone thinks they’re the exception to the rule, society falls apart.

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    January 8, 2022 at 8:25 am

    Here the anti-maskers don’t have to engage in performative antics since one of their number runs the state, so they just don’t wear masks. I’ve been doing all my grocery shopping via curbside pickup since the omicron surge began except once when it wasn’t available between Christmas and New Year. I had to go in the store then, and I’d guess a quarter to a third of the patrons were wearing masks. That’s a HUGE increase over what I’d seen in the months previous, when almost no one was masked.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    January 8, 2022 at 8:25 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  16. 16.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 8:26 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  17. 17.

    Spanky

    January 8, 2022 at 8:30 am

    Oy! My home town. Stay classy, Pittsburgh!

    Could Pittsburgh potentially host the next Republican National Convention?

    The city is on the GOP national committee’s short list for 2024, according to a report in Politico.com, along with Milwaukee, Nashville and Salt Lake City.

    “We always welcome commerce in the City of Pittsburgh, whether it’s filling our hotel rooms or eating at our restaurants,” city Councilman Anthony Coghill said.

    City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said Pittsburgh businesses “would be happy to entertain and benefit from whomever is coming into the city.”

    “Especially the hookers and Adderall dealers”, she did not say.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:32 am

    @Betty Cracker

    Requirement for masking indoors never went away here. Yet I still find myself backtracking to the parked car when I suddenly remember “Oh yeah, I forgot to bring grab the mask.”

    Don’t know how many years (but it was more than a few) it took before I trained myself to put on a seatbelt when those first showed up as standard equipment. Same grey matter glitch, different decade.

    ;)

  19. 19.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:33 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    We get performative antics in upstate NY because the resentment is thick.  A Democrat governor, legislature.  Even our city mayor is a Democrat!

    Sputtering rage in the newspaper comments section, and childish acting out in public spaces.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 8:35 am

    @germy: Yeah, the same element exists most everywhere. I was walking into WalMart the other day and 3 maskless people were heading to the doors with me. The couple looked like the everyday small town middle aged working stiffs with no obvious political leanings. They masked up. The third looked like the prototypical RW trumpster dead ender, somebody who wouldn’t be caught dead in the company of a lieberal and would never wear a mask. Until he stopped 3 steps from the door and pulled a mask out of his pocket.

    There is no shortage of trump flags flying in Sullivan and environs but people around here generally follow the 6′ rule. I would say 30-40% of them wear a mask which means it is hard to live out here and not know somebody who is taking Covid seriously. Maybe that’s the reason.

    Still it surprises me.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:35 am

    @NotMax

    Speaking of brain farts, excise the bring.

    “I forgot to grab the mask”

  22. 22.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:35 am

    @debbie:  I’m hoping Australia doesn’t cave in to Djokovic about being unvaccinated.

    I haven’t seen any news about that.  I thought Australia was one of the more sensible countries during covid.

  23. 23.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:37 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    There’s a house (lots of land around it, no close neighbors) we pass once a week.  A big FUCK BIDEN sign on the house.

    They’re pissed!

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:38 am

    @Spanky

    Especially the hookers

    “Thank you for visiting beautiful Pittsburgh. Come again soon.”

    //

  25. 25.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 8:40 am

    @Spanky:

    I hope they inform the hookers that Republicans don’t tip well.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 8:41 am

    @germy: I still have my Biden Harris sticker on my truck, right next to my Hillary sticker but I’m not alone. There’s a house a couple miles away from me that still flies a pro Biden pennant that says “Truth over Lies”.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:42 am

    @germy

    Had I the time and the means, would park a van or bus across the street displaying an equally large “You wish!” sign.

    //

  28. 28.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 8:42 am

    @germy:

    They’re pissed!

    Good.

     

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I still feel we need to do something to honor good people who live in enemy territory.

  29. 29.

    Cermet

    January 8, 2022 at 8:45 am

    I see Steven Hawking’s would have been 80 today. I met his Grad Advisor Sir Rodger Penrose once but never Dr. Hawking.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 8:49 am

    @Baud: I get compliments on my truck from time to time. It’s rare but enough to let me know that I’m not just speaking for myself.

  31. 31.

    JMG

    January 8, 2022 at 8:52 am

    As you know, there was a big snowstorm in eastern Massachusetts yesterday, with over a foot in many locations in suburban Boston. And yet, over 40,000 vaccination doses were given, including almost 30,000 boosters. Omicron is bad here, but people are taking it very seriously indeed. Masks are required in most towns and compliance is well nigh universal. I confess to having left my car to go to the supermarket or hardware store and forgetting my mask until I see someone else wearing one. Just distraction and forgetfulness.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 8:52 am

    Mentioned in passing yesterday.

    Today is Larry Storch’s 99th birthday! Aside from playing a comedic foil he still is able to sideline as a more than passable impressionist. His Paul Lynde and Frank Morgan are now aged yet still instantly recognizable.

  33. 33.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 8:52 am

    @germy: Yes, I sadly know what you mean.

  34. 34.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 8:54 am

    @NotMax: I am a fan, to the extent I always noticed when he was on TV. Just call me a F-Troop Fan, I suppose.

  35. 35.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:55 am

    @NotMax:

    Glynis Johns turned 98 last October.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 8:55 am

    @germy:

    The country gave him an exemption (based on his having had COVID in December), but Melbourne said not so fast. I believe Melbourne requires proof of full vaccination and nothing less.

  37. 37.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 8:56 am

    Juggling surge stress but I got the Mr boosted yesterday (the way appointments filled up was a good sign) and we celebrated by watching the Biden speech. Most Excellent.

  38. 38.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:56 am

    @WereBear:

    Off topic, but I see my cat is a junk food junkie.

    I tried giving her quality food, grain free, canned food that smelled good enough to spread on toast.

    What does she prefer?  Chopped grill.  The supermarket “meat byproducts” stuff.

    Purina is putting some sort of artificial flavor in there that’s got her hooked.

    Also, the healthy grain free stuff made her constipated!

  39. 39.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 8:57 am

    @WereBear:

    I loved that show!

  40. 40.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 8:58 am

    @NotMax:

    Sideline?  He was one of the country’s top impressionists back in the early 1950s.  It was his main occupation before being cast on F-Troop.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2022 at 8:59 am

    @germy: A dollop of pumpkin with their food resolves that last issue.

  42. 42.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:00 am

    @WaterGirl:

    I tried that!  She refuses.

    A sweet girl, a wonderful cat, but she wants what she wants.  If the food is not to her liking, she does the “digging cat litter” pantomime over it.

  43. 43.

    Another Scott

    January 8, 2022 at 9:00 am

    One of the Webb mirror flaps is done. The final one is today, maybe as soon as 9AM ET.

    JWST

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  44. 44.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @NotMax:  [Storch’s] Paul Lynde and Frank Morgan are now aged yet still instantly recognizable.

    At least, by those of us who still remember Lynde and Morgan. I am reminded of this poignant XKCD.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @Another Scott:

    ?

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 9:01 am

    Snow and record rain fuel flooding threat in US Pacific north-west

    Dozens of watches and warnings were in effect in Washington and Oregon, including a flood warning for the northern Oregon coast following huge rainfall. The National Weather Service said Hoquiam, Washington, received a record 5.78in of rain Thursday. Other areas saw nearly half of the rain they would expect to see for January in one day.

    ‘We can’t ignore reality’: Colorado fires highlight urgency of US climate legislation

    Joe Biden ended his tour of neighborhoods devastated by Colorado’s most destructive blaze by emphasizing the link between America’s escalating wildfires and the global climate crisis, saying that the US can “no longer ignore the reality” of weather conditions that have “supercharged” blazes.

    Biden’s trip to Boulder county on Friday marked his sixth climate disaster tour since taking office a year ago, underscoring the growing threat of global heating in the US and the need for radical action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

    Last week’s prairie grass fire destroyed almost 1,100 homes and some businesses after hurricane-force winds drove flames through two densely populated Denver suburbs, forcing 35,000 people to flee.

    The cumulative effect of unusually wet conditions last spring followed by extremely dry and warm conditions through December – weather patterns linked to global heating – enabled the rare winter fire to scorch over 6,000 acres, engulfing residential neighborhoods and commercial districts alike.

    Yeah Joe, we can’t bury our heads on this one. Unfortunately, Republicans can.

  47. 47.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 8, 2022 at 9:02 am

    @Cermet: I never really met Stephen Hawking but I randomly encountered him trundling past me on the sidewalk in Cambridge, MA once.

  48. 48.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:02 am

    @Ken:

    Alice Ghostley and Lynde went to the same college.  I wonder who influenced who.

    Lynde had some trouble after a racist outburst in the ’70s.  It made a few headlines and was then forgotten.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    January 8, 2022 at 9:03 am

    @germy: Our vet doesn’t like the grain-free stuff.  She said carnivores eat the stomach of herbivores and grain eaters, so it obviously doesn’t hurt them…

    Maybe sardines or tuna in oil will help get things moving?

    Good luck!

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Immanentize

    January 8, 2022 at 9:04 am

    Calvin Simon has died — one of the original Parliaments, and a Funkadelic maestro:

    Can You Get to That?!

  51. 51.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:04 am

    @NotMax: Whew — I saw his name and thought he was another casualty. I loved F Troop.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    January 8, 2022 at 9:05 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ve got a Val Demings bumper sticker on my Jeep, and the lady who loaded my groceries the other day said, “Like your sticker!” We’re not alone, though it feels that way sometimes.

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @Immanentize: HOW ARE YOU?

  54. 54.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @Another Scott:

    I like their “Where is Webb?” page a lot.

  55. 55.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @Another Scott:

    I switched her back to her beloved fancy feast, so now she’s pooping again.

    I really liked Tiki cat because of the high protein/low carbs, and at first our cat like it, too.   Really good quality chicken and organ meats.  And then one day, she decided “enough is enough” and refused to touch it.

    There’s a stray cat outside who is very happy and healthy lately, though.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 9:07 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Making us feel alone doesn’t happen by happenstance. It’s a key propaganda tactic.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 9:07 am

    @germy

    Surely not alone in remembering the short-lived, never found its footing Glynis.

  58. 58.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:07 am

    Judging by this thread, BGinChi should put up a thread where we discuss F Troop.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 9:08 am

    @Immanentize:

    Welcome back. People feared the worst.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:08 am

    @NotMax: I remember.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 9:09 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Or maybe all of the comedies of that era. They’re all very different from the ones today.

  62. 62.

    JMG

    January 8, 2022 at 9:09 am

    @zhena gogolia: One of the all-time great theme songs!

  63. 63.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:09 am

    @NotMax: Ah, the great E. W. Swackhamer.

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:10 am

    @JMG: Know it by heart.

  65. 65.

    MattF

    January 8, 2022 at 9:11 am

    @Another Scott: The deployment of a JWST primary mirror wing takes six hours. Five minutes for actually moving the wing, the rest of the time for preparing before and latching down afterwards.

  66. 66.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:13 am

    @NotMax:

    She lives in Belmont Village now.

    https://www.belmontvillage.com/stories/glynis-johns/

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 9:13 am

    @zhena gogolia

    “More old Jewish Native Americans than you can shake a stick at. If that’s your idea of a good time.”

    //

    Trivia: We never saw Ken Berry (Capt. Parmenter) and Melody Patterson (Wrangler Jane) smooch. She was 15 when she landed the part.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2022 at 9:14 am

    @Betty Cracker: @Baud:

    I’m used to being alone(r) so it doesn’t work on me.

  69. 69.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:15 am

    @NotMax: Shr has a sexy role in Cycle Savages.

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2022 at 9:15 am

    @germy: Sorry to hear that.  My guys all think pumpkin is crack.

  71. 71.

    Immanentize

    January 8, 2022 at 9:15 am

    @zhena gogolia: Meh minus? One might even say, BLECH.

    The Immp shipped out back to Texas yesterday, in the storm. His four hour flight took 8, but he returned safely.

    So now I can wallow. My back is getting better, but now I am daily dealing with Medicare for my Mom.

    Abandon hope all ye who enter there!

    PS But I got all my grading in!

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2022 at 9:16 am

    @Immanentize: I have been thinking about you, wondering how you are doing.

    I imagine it’s slow going?

    edit: I see that you already answered.

  73. 73.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    @NotMax:

    Ken Berry (and Bobby Van) started their careers hoping to be the next Fred Astaire.  But the movie industry changed, the big musicals were out, and so nowadays Berry is only remembered for F-Troop (and maybe Mama’s Family) while Van is remembered (if at all) as a game show host.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    @zhena gogolia: hahaha

    Maybe we should keep that in our pocket for a week when BJ is super busy and is overwhelmed with work?

  75. 75.

    Immanentize

    January 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    @Baud: What was the worst? That I forgot to remember you in my will?

  76. 76.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Well, we have each other.  I think a lot of liberal minded normies end up feeling isolated and hopeless though.

  77. 77.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 9:17 am

    @MattF: “Checklist item 73 sub-item (a) step 5, second verification of command sequence entered at 73(a)3….”

    I wonder how many of the people involved have “please if we screw up don’t let it be me” on loop in the back of their heads.

  78. 78.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @germy:

    Bobby Van!

  79. 79.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 8, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @Betty Cracker: Back when I lived in Iowa, I was wearing my “Nevertheless She Persisted” T-shirt, and the young woman behind the counter at Panera grinned and said she loved it. I felt less alone

    ETA: Maybe she did too

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @Immanentize: Yay!

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 8, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @debbie:

    I’m hoping Australia doesn’t cave in to Djokovic about being unvaccinated. 

    Totally.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    January 8, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @Immanentize:

    It never crossed my mind that you would forget to do that.

  83. 83.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 9:22 am

    @debbie:

    Yes!  They stopped making movies like that.

    So he did some TV, some stage work, and then game shows.

  84. 84.

    zhena gogolia

    January 8, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @debbie: He was a great dancer. Kiss Me Kate.

  85. 85.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 8, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @rikyrah: Happy Saturday.

  86. 86.

    Immanentize

    January 8, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @WaterGirl: Here is an insight from Osteopathic surgeon that I never knew: blood outside of veins and arteries (like in a big hematoma) “is like battery acid to muscle, organs and flesh.” Which is why they are so dangerous near the brain.  See the things I’ve been learning?

  87. 87.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 8, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @JMG: Here up by the NH border, people have always been much more lax about masking (and a bit more lax about vaccination) than they are closer to Boston. Which is why we’ve really been struggling with Delta even before Omicron came along.

    Lately, I’ve been seeing most people wearing masks in public places. But my wife went to Ace Hardware the other day and said it was a 100% mask-free zone, customers and staff. I think the type of establishment determines how likely people are to take masklessness as a badge of honor.

  88. 88.

    Immanentize

    January 8, 2022 at 9:26 am

    @Baud: Good, you ought to get a reasonable sum contribution if any is left, but it may come with a cat or two.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    January 8, 2022 at 9:26 am

    @debbie

    Bobby Van was signed to co-star in Good News with Peter Lawford. But he broke a bone (leg? ankle?) so what ended up passing as singing and choreography was unceremoniously dumped entirely on Lawford.

  90. 90.

    MattF

    January 8, 2022 at 9:27 am

    @Ken: Completing the primary mirror deployment ‘sets the stage’ for six months of cooling down, calibration, and alignment. So, this will be the end of the fast stuff.

  91. 91.

    Abnormal Hiker

    January 8, 2022 at 9:28 am

    @debbie: I believe you have this reversed. The tennis authorities in Melbourne gave him an exemption approved by state medical board but national government refused entry because he had not applied for correct visa. The Aussies are very sticky about visas. I worked on a project a few years ago and we had some problems getting the right via

  92. 92.

    Kalakal

    January 8, 2022 at 9:33 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’ve noticed similar in West Central Fl. The number of masks worn in the library has gone up to about a third of patrons as opposed to 10%. For staff masks over time have gone from wear them except when at your own workspace to voluntary to back to wear them except in publi spaces except at your desk (which is fucking pointless in open plan offices) espescially as they have hot desking . Guy in my small office went home a week last weds feeling ill. Had a negative LTF test, came back on tuesday still not well, described how he and all family had the same illness with symptoms remarkably like covid. I’ve been working in a spare office since he came back and have always worn an N95 whenever I’m inside. It’s not a strategy to prevent transmission, it’s performance theatre to tick minimum required boxes on the part of admin.

  93. 93.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 9:34 am

    @NotMax:

    Well, my shins ache just watching him bounce all over the place.

  94. 94.

    debbie

    January 8, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @Abnormal Hiker:

    I thought it was just NSW, but okay.

  95. 95.

    MattF

    January 8, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @MattF: Live coverage of the final step of the JWST deployment has begun at nasa.gov/live

  96. 96.

    Jay

    January 8, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It’s a bit complicated.

    Tennis Australia and Melbourne State gave him a “medical exemption” to the vaccine rules on the basis that he had recently had covid.

    It’s not clear if the “visa” was just for the Tournament Grounds, or travel inside Australia to the State, ( lots of buck passing going on),

    He took it to be an entry visa into Australia, ( or pretended it was), which it was not.

  97. 97.

    oldgold

    January 8, 2022 at 9:37 am

    Over the past month I have split my time between West of Eden in the Upper Midwest and the Elephant’s Graveyard in Southwest Florida.

    Both places are ruby red. I am forced to mingle with Republicans.

    I have never witnessed anyone intentionally coughing on anyone else. If I do, although rusty and worse, whatever pugilistic skills I have remaining will be publicly displayed.

    The other thing I have noticed is most of these Republicans are laboring to really get their venom flowing towards Joe. He is tough to hate on. I get quite a bit of “He is old and senile.” Once I note, “Well, then you two have a lot in common,” the conversation moves on.

    I admit my sample size is slim, but my experience is the hatefest we see on cable news, might not be fully representative of where this country is at.

    Don’t get me wrong, the malignant  MAGA maniacs do exist and they are dangerous. I just wonder if their numbers are less than cable news suggests.

  98. 98.

    Another Scott

    January 8, 2022 at 9:45 am

    @MattF: Unpossible!!  The video is about 8 seconds!!1

    ;-)

    Thanks.

    [eta:] My distinct recollection of seeing the Apollo missions is that the Saturn V crawled into the sky from the launchpad.  (And that’s not surprising as they were carefully balancing how much stuff they could launch vs the power of the engines.)  But in the Apollo 13 movie, it leaped off the pad…  :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  99. 99.

    Just One More Canuck

    January 8, 2022 at 9:47 am

    @NotMax: that is some quality cinema

  100. 100.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 9:48 am

    @zhena gogolia: I see from IMDB that F Troop is available on Prime Video. I wonder if it’s in cable syndication anywhere? It’s more than a little problematic these days (“Where pale face and red skin, both turn chicken…”)

    Then again, I remain amazed that Hogan’s Heroes even got made just twenty years after the war ended, and it’s on MeTV.

  101. 101.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 8, 2022 at 9:49 am

    @Jay: He could uncomplicate things but getting vaccinated.

  102. 102.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @Jay: Sounds almost mythical. “Ho, Loki, we agreed you could play in the tournament, but not that you could set foot on our land…”

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @Immanentize: Wow, there’s an image we won’t soon forget.

    I see that your doctor doesn’t subscribe to the same approach as my doctor did in high school – who waited to tell me I had the worst case of strep that he had ever seen until AFTER I had recovered.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    January 8, 2022 at 9:53 am

    @oldgold:

    I generally agree, although there’s a kind of new variant of lunatic conspiracy on the Right that has taken off around here that has Biden as working for China. They’re nuttier and angrier than QANON was and it’s a long and complex (and like all of them, also incredibly boring) theory so it’s being developed and spread in their online outlets. These people aren’t coming up with this thing themselves.

  105. 105.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 8, 2022 at 9:53 am

    @Another Scott:

    But in the Apollo 13 movie, it leaped off the pad… :-/ 

    Did a little dance, then zoomed to the Moon!

  106. 106.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:10 am

    @germy: Yes. One might say the healthiest cat food is the one they will eat.

    My cats are even more fussy now because who knows where they are sourcing such delicate ingredients.

  107. 107.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:14 am

    @Another Scott: Our vet doesn’t like the grain-free stuff

     

    I avoid anything with vegetable based protein and dodge that problem. The kind of starch that binds makes a difference. Obviously.

    I like Orijen brand.

  108. 108.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:16 am

    @germy:
    There’s a stray cat outside who is very happy and healthy lately, though.

    I pile up rejected cat food to put outside the shelter. Because it’s never bad food. My cats just don’t like it.

    Except the beef cat food at Aldis. I notice no one’s cat likes that.

  109. 109.

    germy

    January 8, 2022 at 10:23 am

    @WereBear:

    Except the beef cat food at Aldis.

    That stuff stinks! Hard pass from our cat.

     

    The food I put outside for the stray is from cans I’ve already opened.

  110. 110.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:32 am

    @zhena gogolia: Seconded!

    As I’ve moved around the country and compared notes we TV babies all had a checkered heritage, since so much of it was syndicated in a patchwork over a bunch of different stations. Some of whom had a limited reach, pre-cable.

    So Mr WereBear got to see all of Peter Gunn, while I only caught it in adulthood, with occasional episodes by taping them in the middle of the night with my giant VCR :)

  111. 111.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:35 am

    @germy: How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

    Timing.

  112. 112.

    Ken

    January 8, 2022 at 10:38 am

    @WereBear: Except the beef cat food at Aldis. I notice no one’s cat likes that.

    “And when you got something that no one wanted — not the cats-food men, not the tanners, not even CMOT Dibbler — there were those huge compost heaps glowing with the heat of decomposition, the yield of which the gardeners would buy for a penny a bucket.”

    — (roughly) Terry Pratchett, on the business practices of the “King of the Golden River”.

    The King was in undisputed control of Ankh-Morpork’s waste-removal and recycling. Well, mostly undisputed, and those compost heaps were an excellent way to get rid of would-be business rivals.

  113. 113.

    MattF

    January 8, 2022 at 10:38 am

    JWST primary mirror is now fully deployed. Everything in the various JWST deployments actually worked,178 actuators all worked. Not gonna watch four hours of latching the mirrors into place.

  114. 114.

    WereBear

    January 8, 2022 at 10:40 am

    @Baud: I think a lot of liberal minded normies end up feeling isolated and hopeless though.

    Perhaps the most indelible part of the pandemic was how, (except for that whole imminent threat of death thing,) our own little circle adapted okay to Facetime, Zoom, and streaming, and meeting outdoors until weather prohibited anything more than a hike.

    But a lot of people live for going to bars. And I understand that. But you know… life threatening. And of course, I roomed with someone who welcomed this opportunity to finetune our romance to actually spend more time together without getting on each other’s nerves.

    But it takes us both :)

  115. 115.

    Another Scott

    January 8, 2022 at 10:42 am

    @MattF:  ?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  116. 116.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Good morning, everyone!

    I’m another Boomer who watched and loved F Troop (and remembers the theme song!).  I have no idea how it would hit me today, though the laugh track would drive me crazy because I hate them.

    In other observations: I went to Maine for a couple of weeks back in September.  One odd/interesting thing I noticed was that, living on the West Coast, I’m used to news and BJ posts already being up and running when I do my morning routine of checking in with the world.  Being in the East Coast time zone, that wasn’t the case.  The day was still new and not much of note had happened yet. It was a strange little feeling.  I decided I preferred my West Coast perspective, where I can sit back, have my coffee, and see what y’all have been up to while I was sleeping.

  117. 117.

    J R in WV

    January 8, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    Some one mentioned a star who was able to do stunning impressions. Sammy Davis Jr could do the nightclub act of anyone. There’s a video of him doing Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Frankie Laine,
    Louie Armstrong, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Jimmy Cagney, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis… shifting from one to the other, amazing stage craft.

    He was a genius at what he did. Also a great musician. Wish I had been able to see him live.

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