“If It’s Sunday, It’s the Decaying Carcass of Meet The Press”
h/t mrmoshpotato, in a tweet from @MTPPromoBot
Such a perfect description! Just reading that leaves me outraged at the ridiculously slanted Sunday morning shows. It used to be the beltway mostly talking to the beltway, but now it’s the beltway promoting outright lies and bullshit talking points for the always-lying and barely-functional carcass of what once was a functional political party.
Speaking of outrage, here’s a photo of a failed bridge support on the Pittsburgh bridge that collapsed this week.
Why the renewed outrage on my part? More information. This photo was posted in a tweet on Dec 29, 2018 by BellyCat’s friend. Yet they still allowed a 25-ton bus to travel over a this bridge, apparently every 30 minutes, every single day. For 3 years. On a bridge, over a park.
A bridge with a rating of POOR. A bridge with a 26-ton weigh limit, and a bus with a curb weight of 25 tons. In case you are wondering, curb weight means without passengers or baggage. I’m guessing that 12 passengers with briefcases or backpacks would weigh about a ton. This was an accident waiting to happen. Literally. And it seems like there is a lot of blame to go around.
Feel free to use this thread as a sort of pop-up Festivus, or you can talk about puppies and all things wonderful. Or anything in between.
Totally open thread.
Baud
I’ve always liked Press the Meat.
I like the classics.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
MTP isn’t called “Meet the Republicans” for nothing!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
speaking of the Sunday shows, Susan Collins is Concerned-trolling Biden’s USSC nomination already. I wonder if she’d actually vote against the nominee
I’ll be interested to see how the FL and NC Republicans play this, how much shit are they willing to stir up
Cermet
First and foremost I am sick of hearing the media say BBB is dead; last I checked, a co-bill that even thugs voted for – about 1.1 trillion if I recall – was passed. We have a great infrastructure bill as law.
Next, I know putin – ex-KGB souless killer – is a lying and dangerous enemy. That said, we lied to Russia about not expanding NATO after Germany reunited and remained in NATO. Next, Crimea was always a part of Russia since 1784 (or about) and was transferred to Ukraine in 1954. It was mostly ethic Russian. So frankly, it really does belong to Russia.
Finally, while we helped have a pro-western president elected in Ukraine to get rid of the pro-Russian one, and of late, we have heard about possible NATO expansion via the Ukraine. Frankly, game over for Russia as an independent country if the Ukraine becomes part of NATO. That southern flank is wide open – no major rivers, or even significant hills all the way to St. Petersburg. Russia would be near defenseless if that became NATO territory; this ignores that China shares a huge border with a nearly empty and resource rich Siberia that Russia also has to defend with its not growing population.
It is insane that Biden doesn’t simply tell putin that we will agree to never expand NATO to include the Ukraine. Besides, if Russia does invade, yes we will cripple Russia’s economy at the cost of Europe’s and even much of ours. That just isn’t worth the cost for a country we really have no real interest in.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
OT – on the whole Rogan/Spotify thing, this comes from having marketing and MBA assholes misunderstand how the development of users of the platform came to be. A big chunk of those 11 million Rogan listeners were already there for whatever their music preferences had been – and a large chunk aren’t spending all their time listening to his idiot ramblings along with his idiot guests. The big mistake – like Clear Channel with the Limbaugh contract – was paying more than NFL superstar money to someone who doesn’t return that value to the platform in terms of objective dollars. If you remember, Clear Channel basically bankrupted itself over fat boy, and Spotify is doing that with regard to Rogan. It’s sending a lot of its revenue his way – revenue coming from the presence of many, many artists, as opposed to coming from him.
All it is going to take is the exit of some combo of Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Carmela Cabrera, etc, and Spotify/Rogan will be FUCKED.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I really hope this completely tanks whatever “moderate” rep she has in Maine. Not that it would really matter as I’m sure she’ll probably retire by 2026
NotMax
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
You left out The Wiggles.
:)
Suzanne
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The other thing is that Spotify is going to get the stench of thirsty on it and that will reduce their influence and the value of their brand. It really doesn’t take much to do that. A company can still make money but if this makes future prospective talent not want to sign with them, it can be really harmful.
Brands only move “downmarket”. They don’t move “upmarket”.
CaseyL
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): You might be unpleasantly surprised by Maine voters. I was there for about 2 weeks this past fall, and outside of places like Bangor and Portland, I was amazed and depressed by the prevalence of Trump posters, flags, and bumper stickers.
I once considered moving there, post-retirement: the small towns are lovely and the housing prices (now soaring) were very reasonable. But Maine is no longer “Rockefeller GOP,” it’s gone full Trumpy.
(JanieM, who has lived there for decades, told me she’s seen the same thing, so it’s not just a visitor’s impression.)
NotMax
@Suzanne
“Don’t panic. We’ve still got Ted Nugent!”
//
WaterGirl
@Cermet: As far as I can tell, nearly everything you wrote after your comment about BBB is dead wrong. I’m talking about what you wrote about theUkraine, Russia and the US.
O. Felix Culpa
@Cermet: Most, if not all, of your points have already been pointed out as false and/or misleading in previous threads on the topic. Which leads to the conclusion that you’re a non-learning one-note Charlie, if not an actual troll.
Suzanne
@CaseyL: My aunt lives in Cape Elizabeth, which is a nicer suburb of Portland. She moved there in the mid-90s, when it was affordable, and she rented her house out for a time while working in Boston. And now, just like you said, the real estate is ludicrously expensive there. It’s super-liberal, tho. Most of the liberal places are expensive, because they’re nice places to live.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@CaseyL:
Well, Dems did win big there in 2018, so there’s still hope, right?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Shorter Susan Collins:
“There is no black woman deserving of being on the Supreme Court.” (Even with the lower standards that were set by Republicans with the last 3 appointments.)
There are no quiet parts anymore, they just shout it from the rooftops, even the so-called “moderate” from Maine.
artem1s
It’s insane that anyone thinks this is only up to the US or this administration. Congress makes treaties not POTUS. Why shouldn’t any sovereign democratic nation be allowed to determine it’s own fate? Why should Ukraine be beholden to something it’s own people didn’t agree to 40 years ago? And NATO isn’t the only problem. They want entry into the EU too. That’s what Putin has his bloomers in a twist about. Sooner or later the lesser state of Russia is going to have wake up to the fact that they aren’t super power anymore. They need to develop some honest to dog diplomacy and figure out how to work with their neighbors rather than threatening them like the mob bosses they are.
Leto
Here’s a picture of the collapse, and also of what it looked like before the collapse (from down in the park if you want to get a scale of how far the bridge fell). Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, Pittsburgh
Also where did the infrastructure funding go for maintenance? Oh… oh, it went there.
Link to the PA Inspector General audit report: Auditor General DePasquale: PennDOT Audit Finds $4.2 Billion Diverted from Repairing Roads, Bridges Funding could have helped eliminate list of 2,829 structurally deficient bridges
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
You’re joking, but my impression of The Wiggles is that they’re actually pretty popular. Wouldn’t surprise me if parents let their kids stream The Wiggles, assuming they’re on Spotify, which I would assume they are
PaulB
There is no “the;” it’s simply Ukraine. And no, we really haven’t heard anything about “possible NATO expansion” other than from Russia, which is lying in order to try to pretend its aggression at the border is justified.
Frankly, that statement is likely the dumbest statement I’ll read online today. This doesn’t even warrant a response other than derisive laughter.
Since it isn’t Biden’s choice to make, and since he couldn’t guarantee it into perpetuity anyway, and since there are no such plans, it would be insane for Biden to tell Putin that, not to mention that it would make absolutely no difference to Putin’s agenda or plans.
Um … in what way would we our economy be crippled by applying sanctions? Europe would be affected, certainly, but you’re grossly exaggerating the cost there, not to mention ignoring other sanctions that would not have much of an impact at all on Europe or other parts of the world.
Seriously, this post was just so bad that it calls into question just what you are trying to accomplish here. If you would like to be taken seriously, I’d strongly suggest that you re-evaluate your approach.
RandomMonster
I was a Spotify premium subscriber for at least 10 years. I dropped Facebook because it’s a misinformation profiteer and had no reservations dropping Spotify for the same.
Suzanne
@NotMax: This is actually really bad for Spotify. Most people who don’t think about marketing don’t really think about it, but not all subscribers are “equal” to a company like Spotify. Companies generally want their consumers to have high social capital, to be “aspirational”. It only takes a few incidents like this for Spotify to lose some luster in that regard. And then one or two high-profile people announce that they’re signing up with a competing service and all of a sudden, Spotify is the service for the unwoke methheads.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Their goal is to get Manchin to get cold feet. They know he’s the only one who makes them relevant.
The Dangerman
I‘ve heard from a friend that MTP is trying to reanimate John McCain. Kinda like Lincoln at Disneyland but more Mavericky.
Baud
I use free Spotify because I found their algorithm to be the best. But I’m joining the boycott and removing their app.
I hope I get a statue.
Omnes Omnibus
Citation from a reliable source?
No mention of the forced migration of the Crimean Tatars or Russification? No mention of the return of the Tatars after 1989?
I’ll just leave it here because I need to go to the gym, but thanks for giving Putin’s side of the arguments.
Ken
I was wondering recently, does it take the article in Russian?
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I have the steam iron filled and set to “cotton” and am ready and able to tackle those furrows. I shall take them from “swale” to “prairie” in no time.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Oh Christ, that sounds very plausible. If he fucks us on this I swear… ?
Judges is the one of the few things he hasn’t been a flake on
RandomMonster
@Baud: You can get 3 months of Apple Music for free, but you must act now.
WaterGirl
@Leto: Corruption all the way down.
trollhattan
@Ken:
The Gambia wants their article to themselves, thanks very much.
trollhattan
@RandomMonster: “Don’t forget, call before midnight.”
laura
OT- I’ve sent an email to a heart health clinic in Jakarta. I’ll report out any/all replies.?
I’m not sure how else to start looking for someone I don’t really know, but I do know that Amir Khalid is missing and that he is missed.
trollhattan
@The Dangerman: A mashup of John McCain [did you know he was a P.O.W.?] and Max Headroom will be must-see teevee.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@laura:
Good luck! Hopefully, it’s just a sabbatical he’s taking from BJ
Steeplejack
@Leto:
Off topic, but you got me (belatedly) interested in Allbirds last night. I’ve seen them around but hadn’t talked to anyone who had them. Did you get the Mizzles or some other model?
RandomMonster
@trollhattan: “We’ll also throw in this five piece set of kitchen knives. Now how much would you pay?!”
Edmund Dantes
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: or Trump’s promise to pick from an already decided list if elected.
Leto
@WaterGirl: Pretty much. The roads here are absolutely horrible. Pot holes the size of moon craters, constant construction that’s just never completed, and sections of roadway that more resemble roads in Iraq and Afghanistan. It finally dawned on me why more Americans drive SUVs and trucks: those vehicles are built to handle the impoverished/dilapidated roads we use. There’s a fair chance you could use the entirety of the $1.75T BBB budget just on highway/bridge repair. We double taxed on this: first taxes that we pay for this, then on car repair from the impoverished infrastructure.
It’s just another data point in a long data set on the living experience here in the US.
jonas
@Cermet: Most of this is, well, wrong. Please go read Timothy Snyder’s recent op-ed in the WaPo that someone (I forget who) linked to earlier this morning, or some of Gin and Tonics posts from earlier in the week.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
When I got my latest phone from Verizon (in 2019!) I got a free Apple Music account with my souped-up plan, but I never got around to activating it. (Mostly listen to SiriusXM, mostly in the car.) Now thinking about firing it up.
I’ve used (free) Spotify occasionally, but no more.
And, of course, right now I’m listening to music videos on YouTube, about as low-tech as it gets these days.
Freddie Hubbard, “Little Sunflower.”
mrmoshpotato
Woah. That is some bulllllshit. Bridge falling apart for 3 years? Meh!
Baud
@RandomMonster:
I had Apple Music before. Hated it.
mrmoshpotato
I should’ve noted who retweeted the MTPPromoBot.
Gin & Tonic
@Cermet: Are you going to post this pro-Russian dreck in every thread, every day?
James E Powell
@CaseyL:
I’m not saying you’re wrong; I’ve never been to Maine. But the prevalence of big flags, signs, and bumper stickers are kind of a Trump thing. Didn’t see it with Bush and for a while anyway, he was way more popular than Trump ever was or will be.
The people who worship him seem to need to tell the whole world about it and they are looking to identify their fellow bigots and start arguments with those who disagree.
Cf. The gun lovers who have to let everyone know with signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts that they love guns and what are you gonna do about it?
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
I’m so old I remember the Argentine (mostly in stuffy British novels).
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
We’ll see. The only solution is turnout. Worst result is that Breyer stays on.
trollhattan
@RandomMonster:
Oh man, and mine are so dull.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@NotMax:
“But Rogan came in and explained how having 11M listeners at one time or another on our streaming platform that has thousands of artists play across a 24 hour day was really worth a 100M contract to him. Where could we have gone wrong?
At least we still have Nugent, Kid Rock and David Allen Coe. That’s enough, right?”
Leto
@Steeplejack: So I have a pair of the Runner-up Mizzles (high top version), Tree Runners, Tree Loungers, and Wool Loungers. Got a specific question, or just want some general info?
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Beat The Press? As in Rethuglicans verbally punching the press on camera. Not any other meaning.
zhena gogolia
@Ken: There are no articles in Russian or Ukrainian (or other Slavic languages except Bulgarian). The rough equivalent in Russian is to use the preposition “v” instead of “na” when speaking about going to or being in the country. If you use “na,” it’s the old-fashioned way, analogous to saying “the Ukraine.”
Steeplejack
@laura:
I have thought about seeing if there is a Malaysian Press Club or some such, or a journalists’ union, and going from there. I’ll give it a go this week and report back.
Spanky
@laura: Well, you’re looking in the wrong country, for starters. Amir lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ETA: Didn’t mean to sound dismissive. I just want to warn you that looking in Indonesia is going to waste your time.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: Yes.
It’s the reason why I dropped the effort to answer him. No point.
Emerald
@Baud: Frankly, if Manchin votes against the first Black woman for the SCOTUS right after tanking his own bill on voting rights, I doubt he’d enjoy the obvious conclusions that would be right there for anyone to draw.
trollhattan
@Steeplejack: Heh. I’ve been trying to figure out when it is correct to say “The The Gambia.” e.g., “Today, the The Gambia coast was hit by extremely high tides.”
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: @zhena gogolia: A more tedious BiP?
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: It’s THEE Gambia. You know, with a French accent.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato: Meet “the Press” might get traction. Everybody loves scare quotes.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus: We salute Thee, Gambia!
Gin & Tonic
@Ken: The only Slavic language with articles is Bulgarian.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Another OT observation – the Venn diagram between people who whine about the removal of Confederate statues the people who whine about CRT and the ones who are demanding book bans is a perfect circle.
And when you put that circle over the groups of people who think that criticism of Joe Rogan is censorship, it’s a perfect match.
Librarian
@artem1s: Also, that would be giving Putin a veto over who can join NATO and who can’t.
Steeplejack
@Leto:
Thanks, that gives me enough to go on. I read the whole thread last night, and I was struck by your saying how comfortable they are. I would probably look at one pair of high-tops and then go from there. Allbirds has a store in Georgetown, if I can rouse myself to make the expedition.
And for some reason I get promo e-mails from them all the time. Dunno how I picked that up. It’s like barnacles on the hull of a ship.
mrmoshpotato
@Leto:
“Bravo!” caption writer.
Spanky
Wikipedia:
ETA – Removed the too many links that threw this into moderation.
NotMax
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
“Contrary to reports we dropped him for the infraction of false advertising. Neil’s not young.”
//
Steeplejack
@Baud:
I prefer to watch Faze the Nation. Sen. Snort is a favorite guest.
Tony Jay
@trollhattan:
Surely, “Today, the coast of The Gambia was hit by extremely high tides.”
Though yes, it is odd to formulate. It’s different for The Rock.
Suzanne
One of the things that jumped out to me a couple of years ago when we were having a lot of Confederate-statue-removal conversations was that I would say something like, “We can keep the ones that are good and put them in museums,”. And the right wing people who heard that would respond like placing things in museums was the same as throwing them away. Someone even said, “If you put it in a museum, then no one will ever see it,” and that is when it dawned on me that they don’t go to museums. And that was when I decided that their opinions about the importance of learning about history don’t matter at all, since they can’t be bothered to do it. This is why they fight so hard about middle-school reading lists: because they aren’t reading any books after that.
How many Civil War battlefields have been turned into McMansion developments? Fuck these people.
debbie
@PaulB:
Consider it could be deliberate.
What’s far more worrisome than this “no dog in the fight” straw man is that other autocrats see what this autocrat can get away with, so they try the same thing. (China –> Taiwan, just as one example). The world is sliding towards autocracy, and I think we have got to stop that. America and the EU have got to stand up to Putin as a single voice, and whether that’s enough to stop him, we will still have done the right thing.
James E Powell
@Ken:
Russian doesn’t use articles
ETA – I see others are quicker. It is a tell with a lot of Russians that years are achieving fluency in English, they will still make errors with the definite/indefinite articles.
Leto
@Tony Jay: The Rock is hit by high tides, but Maui has no issues.
NotMax
@Suzanne
Obligatory-ish.
;)
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: That’s a smart thought, too.
Steeplejack
@Tony Jay:
“The Gambian coast.” Just like you would say “the French coast” or “the Spanish coast.” Or “the coast of the Gambia” = “the coast of France,” etc.
ETA: How come nobody ever gets upset about “the Netherlands”? And remind me why we can’t just call it “Holland.”
Tony Jay
@Leto:
Oh now, just guess what song I’ve got playing on a loop in my brain.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
The Falklands.
;)
Kay
The worst thing Biden could do is get involved with the senate again. No one wants to hear about the Supreme Court nomination process.
Just get it done. Submit the name and start the hearings. If the far Right can install Barrett in 27 days, Democrats can too. Republicans set the precedent for speedy SCOTUS seatings- it’s their new rule. The other side can use it too. No Supreme Court nominee should any get more inquiry or due diligence than Barrett did. There shouldn’t be two sets of rules.
Tony Jay
@Steeplejack:
“I’m starting to become concerned about the long term stability of The Gambian coast with all these extremely high tides.”
Yes. Works for me.
ETA – I’ve haven’t been concerned with the Netherlands since their great team of the 90s aged out, and Holland is only the most famous part of it.
ETA2 – A bit like us calling all Americans ‘Yanks’ or ‘Yankee Doodles’. I understand this rubs some Sons of Dixie up the wrong way.
soga98
Don’t forget THEE Ohio State University.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Hillary offed Vince Foster. In the conservatory, with the candlestick.
//
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: The Netherlands is like the United States. A composite country. Calling it Holland would be like calling the US New York.
But you knew that and I am pedanting to procrastinate.
Nettoyeur
@Cermet: Well, Putin has already occupied Belarus. And he has written an article claiming Russia needs to expand to the limits of the Russian Empire in 1917. That means not just Ukraine, but Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland. Guess why those countries signed up with NATO.
JoyceH
Just FYI, a friend turned me on to this web site, that really drills down COVID info to the community level.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
Scroll down and click on County View to see what’s going on in your county. Frankly, I was shocked! I was always rather comforted by the knowledge that Virginia has a relatively high vaccination rate. Ha! I should have realized that the high-population, very Blue Northern Virginia was skewing that number. My county? Among eligible population, fully vaccinated is under 44%. And boosters? 5% FIVE! Even over 65 is just two-thirds vaccinated and ten percent boosted. Day-um!
Reinforces my resolution to live like a hermit for the foreseeable future…
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@debbie:
Well said and I agree. The US and other aligned nations need to stand up to Putin
Baud
I still don’t understand why it’s The Ohio State University.
RandomMonster
@Baud: I’m trying it out. So far it doesn’t seem worse than Spotify, but then I don’t rely on any algorithms — I just look up albums and play them.
Baud
@RandomMonster:
It’s been a while, but I didn’t like how the Apple app was laid out and I didn’t like their playlists.
Suzanne
@Baud: I don’t know, either, but the THEEEE Ohio State grads I have worked with have been giant PITAs and their work did not justify their ego.
Baud
@debbie:
Down with Autocracy!
Up with Baudocracy!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@JoyceH:
I’m shocked Ohio has 60% of the population over 5 years of age fully vaccinated
Leto
@Tony Jay: You’re welcome :)
Steeplejack
@Tony Jay:
“Great team of the ’90s.”
LOL, checks out. Way back in the day I had a coworker who was a fellow soccer fan, and somehow we got on this streak of annoying this other guy in the office with endless discussions of the latest feats of the great (but imaginary) Dutch midfielder Shmecky Dijkstormer. It was a useful way to shut down this other guy’s endless bullshit about everything. Harsh but necessary in a cube-town environment populated by low-EQ programmers.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Apparently, this is the reason why:
Suzanne
@Steeplejack:
LMMFAO.
debbie
@Baud:
??♀️
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
You fuck one comma . . .
debbie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Actually, I heard it reported recently that the African American community in my county has really upped their vaccination rate. I’ll see if I can find a link, but I’d like to know what the impetus was for this welcome change.
Kay
Just to give you a sense of the lazy nonsense we’re going to hear about Biden’s nominee:
It is just simple fairness that Biden’s nominee be evaluated in comparison to these other people, and she is not going to get that. The longer they’re permitted to delay the worse it will be.
It’s bad faith. It isn’t going to get better if they’re corrected and informed on the relative levels of experience of their nominees and our nominees. That’s not how bad faith works.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
So Holland is a Netherland.
Tony Jay
@Steeplejack:
Ah, the legendary ‘Elvis of Eindhoven’. That Dutch team’s top scorer both on and off the pitch. Once punched Denis Bergkamp so hard after an away game in Moldova that the Arsenal striker temporarily lost all of his hair and had to wear a wig for a month.
That’s when football was football. 8-)
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Yes.
Steeplejack
I am loving this Jon Hamm ad for Apple TV. Specifically, it is about the first celebrity/hipster pad I’ve seen where I thought, “I want!”
Tony Jay
@Leto:
I forgive you. Bang full of top tunes, that film.
debbie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The state dashboard has all kinds of Ohio-specific metrics. For instance, Omicron’s jumped from 28% to 92% of all cases in just six weeks.
Steeplejack
@JoyceH:
Which county are you in (if it doesn’t compromise your opsec)?
ETA: I live in very blue northern Virginia, and my main COVID strategy is still isolation.
terry chay
@Cermet: we never promised Russia that NATO would not expand eastward.
read your history before repeating Russian propaganda.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Because they’re pretentious A-holes.
J R in WV
Actually, this bridge failure wasn’t an accident at all. Accidents are events which can’t be foreseen, unexpected. shocking. This bridge was doomed at the time that photo was taken, years ago. Yet nothing was done. They didn’t even change the bus schedule/routes to adhere to the new, lower weight limit which the bus violated every 30 minutes daily.
It isn’t an accident when your tire, running hot under low pressure, blows out on the interstate. It’s your own fault for not getting the low tire seen to when your dash told you the tire pressure was out of spec. It wasn’t an accident when those newly designed Boeing 737-Max airliners were flown into the ground because the auto-pilot device took control away from the actual pilots. Totally expected behavior resulting from cheap design requirements and management misbehavior.
Quite a bus down in that hollow, also too!! So glad that few injuries occurred as a result of this poor management of the highway infrastructure!
Leto
@Tony Jay: have you seen Encanto? Chocked full of hits from start to finish.
The Pale Scot
That changed after Putiput took power. And really, the relations with other countries will be predicated on the Soviet style neocon boomer fee fees of a neighboring country? For how long? Putin has a nice income stream he could have directed to improving Russian’s lives, he choose to be a crime lord instead so renew “Russian Greatness”. If the Kremlin wasn’t already there there’d be a Russian Speer designing “great works” to show the world the strength of Russian fascism.
Like Hour of the Dragon, Xaltotun, an ancient sorcerer tries to bring back forgotten empire of Acheron and himself, “yet he was never anything other than a Lich to those who could see”
James E Powell
Lindsey Graham disagrees with Susan Collins & every other Republican saying appointing an African American woman would not be affirmative action.
Also stans for Michelle Childs. “I can’t think of a better person”
Republican voters hate him for itm but not matter how much they hate him, I will always hate him more.
J R in WV
@Cermet:
Russian puppet, I had you safely locked away in the pie safe for months, and then, like a fool, took you out based upon nothing, really. I just wanted to take people out and you were swept up in the general amnesty. Sad mistake I won’t repeat.
Goodbye little Putin Puppet, I won’t be suffering from your cheap propaganda any more!
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: Because it’s in Ohio?
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
Inorite. This guy had opinions on everything, even on stuff that he obviously knew nothing about, and this was about the only reliable way to shut him up. He probably suspected we were bullshitting him, but he didn’t dare call us out, because soccer. European soccer! (This was back in the actual ’90s.)
Tony Jay
@Leto:
First of Disney’s next-gen animated movies where the Disney Princess is decidedly not the main protagonist. We all really enjoyed it.
zhena gogolia
@Leto: Same composer as Moana, I’m sure you know: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Okay, now do Indiana of Pennsylvania.
Lapassionara
@James E Powell: Michelle Childs was a few years after me in law school, and she was the real deal then and is the real deal now. I have no doubt that Lindsey played a role in having her appointed to the District Court in SC, and I am not surprised that he is supporting her now.
Politics is very strange in SC.
laura
@Spanky: i much appreciate the correction as a bear of little brain.
Steeplejack
@Tony Jay:
You remember! Good to find a fellow fan. ?
JoyceH
@Steeplejack: I’m in King George. Very red. What I once heard an Obama campaign worker call an ‘arrow’ county. They categorized the state by ‘shield counties’, ‘sword counties’, and ‘arrow counties’. Shield counties are blue, you defend them. Sword counties are purple, it’s hand to hand combat. Arrow counties are red – you just shoot arrows into it and try to pick off some votes. We’re an arrow county. SIGH.
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
The program is called “Be Depressed” in the Rasputin household
Kent
That’s what the Germans thought too, until Stalingrad and Kursk happened. Napoleon also ran into a little trouble.
If Russia collapses as an independent country it will have nothing to do with NATO land armies or other outsiders invading southern Russia. It will be because it collapses of it’s own accord and flies apart into different ethnic partitions.
Kent
@Omnes Omnibus: Or Miami University in Ohio.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: I hate that dude. I’ve known many of him. Every one is terrible and obnoxious.
Kalakal
@Cermet: Are you serious?
If the criteria for ‘ownership’ of a territory is that you invaded and occupied it at any time before 1784 and managed to hang on to it till the 1950s it’s a big “Welcome Back” to all the European empires. As for Crimea being ethnically Russian, yeah deporting large numbers of the inhabitants and installing colonists will do that for you.
Merely compounds the original crime.
audax major
@zhena gogolia: Serbo-Croatian (Serbian and Croatian, these days, I suppose) has/have a definite article. Not sure about Slovenian.
Leto
@zhena gogolia: Man, that guy really knows how to write. He’s def not throwing away his shot.
I’ll see myself out.
J R in WV
@JoyceH:
Thanks for the link. I’ve seen a few more deaths in our home county, not a surprise. The only reason our county has a relatively low number of cases and deaths is that most residents never leave the county for any reason other than an EMT ride to a hospital.
Daoud bin Daoud
Steeplejack
@JoyceH:
Nice country! Drove through there last summer on the way to Colonial Beach with my brother. And I love the “arrow county” explanation.
Kent
It’s kind of like all the New Yorkers who like to talk about “THE CITY”
I went to college at Reed College in Portland OR back in the 1980s and there were a lot of upper-class New York Jewish intellectual types going there. They would inevitably sit around at parties and classes talking about THE CITY as if there was only one city in the world and the rest of us living here in the west coast who have never even been to NYC would know what they are talking about and acknowledge their cultural superiority. I found it equal parts amusing and condescending. Just like the Harvard grads who say “I went to school in Boston”
trollhattan
@debbie:
IDK if our CA county is representative of anywhere else–the vaccination rates among ethnic groups are close to on par, other than Asian and Hawaiian-Pacific Islander, which are far higher percentages (89% 81%, respectively). They bend the county totals up, because the Asian population is also large.
Has been lots of outreach to historically underserved populations and that may explain why we don’t have any severely under-vaccinated groups. We still need to be better, though, if this is ever going away.
Baud
@Daoud bin Daoud:
Still a long way to go before that happens.
Kay
@James E Powell:
It’s a real burden we put on black people, making them navigate, mediate and then soothe the monthly nervous breakdown the United States has over race. It’s exhausting to watch and I don’t even have to do it.
If she can’t have a fair process then at least make it an efficient process. They’ll write the same editorials in 30 days that they would have written in 60 or 90. They’ll have to step up production :)
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
In my field (software) it was guys who thought that because they were good at one thing (coding—not always true, by the way) their analytical skills automatically applied to everything else. They were like the physicists of the sloppy business world. XKCD on it, as usual. Plus, I did mention low EQ, right?
I’m sure you’ve got your share in architecture, and as a woman you probably get the benefit of their insights even more.
Kent
@Kay: No matter who Biden nominates, they will be demagogued to death by the GOP, either to (1) torpedo the nomination and claim a win over Biden, or more likely (2) stir up shit with their own base for political gain and fundraising dollars.
Biden could nominate Merrick Garland who is as uber-qualified white guy as they come and they would still find plenty of bullshit to fling against the wall.
If there is any benefit to the upcoming racist temper tantrum that will no doubt occur, is that it will once again clarify to people of color what the differences are between the parties. As if they need more reminders.
WaterGirl
@audax major: Hi there. Your first comment has to be manually approved before it shows up for everyone. Now that I have approved your comment, future comments should be visible right away.
Welcome!
(I will delete your second version of the same message.)
WaterGirl
@laura: Some of us are not great with geography. Like me! I assume you will try again to make contact, this time in Malaysia? I really appreciate that you’re doing this.
WaterGirl
@Daoud bin Daoud: Remind me what happened with Napster?
The Pale Scot
@laura:
I posted this earlier
https://www.mandevilleconservatory.com/main/faculty-member/amir-khalid/
Could be
J R in WV
Regarding The Ohio State U, what about Ohio University of Athens, Ohio. A real school.
I also love Indiana U of PA, worked with a guy from Pittsburgh who graduated there, he was a good guy. Some years back some goofball in our Leg decided that all the WV State Colleges should be Universities, even though none of them offered post grad work nor terminal degrees. Sad.
Suzanne
@Kent: I find it weird that anyone over age 25 would ever even mention where they went to school. It strikes me like being proud of your soccer participation trophy. Like, really?!
Omnes Omnibus
@The Pale Scot: Not him.
raven
@Suzanne: Sheeet, Go Illini, Go Dawgs!!!!
Steeplejack
@The Pale Scot:
Not the same guy. Our Amir didn’t take up the guitar until a few years ago, after his “medical retirement.” He was a working journalist for many years.
ETA: This reminds me that one of my concerns is that “Amir Khalid” will turn out to be the equivalent of “John Smith” in Malaysia. And it might not even be his real name, of course.
Scout211
Since I don’t do social media, I get my memes and tweets when they get posted here.
I don’t know from Reddit or subreddit but I am enjoying reading Kos’ regular series that highlights one of the Herman Cain award recipients. He also has a Sunday post with pro-Vaxx memes that rival the anti-vaxx ones, like the one below: Link
WaterGirl
@The Pale Scot: Not sure if you saw my reply last time.
It has been my impression that Amir was not working, so I don’t know that this is likely to be him. But there sure is a lot of guitar in there!
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: I think it’s smart for you to look into the journalism aspect.
WaterGirl
I would like to report that my kitties refuse to pay any attention to the new battery-operated “feather comes out of the holes” toy.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: In architecture, we get the joyful experience of hiring consulting engineers who them get pissed about some element of the design, as if making the building entail minimal engineering (and their job easier) is my highest good. The most recent example of this is a structural engineer who doesn’t like where we’re putting the MRIs in the hospital because he wants them at the perimeter of the building to reduce vibration in the slab and make it easier to install the magnet. We’re putting it in the middle because it’s adjacent to trauma and elevators, which makes better operational sense and will enhance efficiency. The engineer will have to design a stiffer slab. But I’m just a dumb girl who doesn’t know how to build stuff.
Kay
@Kent:
Merrick Garland wouldn’t be subjected to every pundits “meditations on Race In America” for months – the same opinions over and over again for the last 50 years- and then expected to somehow “sell” us all on a black female justice. I think it’s a much bigger burden. Let’s not make her carry it longer than absolutely necessary.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
But, what is more important, do they enjoy the box it came in?
WaterGirl
@NotMax: I have been meaning to try to catch you. I left you a comment in Friday’s “slow news day” thread.
It’s comment #90 if you want to check it out.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: Sadly, no, but good thought!
It was a small side-open box, nothing they could climb into. Double fail!
Steeplejack
@Suzanne:
Plus I’m sure when you explain it to him he’s barely listening, if at all.
Scout211
@WaterGirl:
Maybe spice it up with a little catnip or treats that cause them to be more interested?
zhena gogolia
@audax major: They DO?? First I’ve heard of it.
NotMax
@Suzanne
Compromise. Move the elevators.
:)
pluky
@Ken: IIRC Russian lacks definite articles. The tell for a Slavophone is in the use of prepositions. One can say either “in Ukraine” or “on Ukraine. The “on” construction is equivalent to use of “the” in other language families.
Suzanne
@Steeplejack: I had a mechanical engineer one time, in front of a room full of other people, wrinkle up his nose and ask me why I didn’t move THAT over THERE and flip THAT THING with this OTHER THING and on and on and on, all because it would make his duct run shorter, and I said to him, “Because we design good buildings here, not cheap crap.” I cannot stand nerd men. All of the arrogance and the myopia.
debbie
@trollhattan:
I think extensive outreach is what happened here too. Certainly beats having to fake empathy toward the anti-vaxxers.
BlueGuitarist
@Kay:
Durbin used the phrase “Amy Coney Barrett test” to refer to getting the confirmation done in 27 days. Also said that a nominee who had recently been before the committee could be approved quickly.
Grumpy Old Railroader
Wait. Why do articles even matter? It is not The Bulgaria, The Canada, The Mexico, The France etc.
Sure Lurkalot
@Baud: I just activated my free 6 months of Apple Music that I got from Verizon when I purchased a new phone. I waited for my Amazon Prime Music subscription to expire 1st.
I have been picking albums and not playlists or algorithms. It’s ok so far. Amazon Prime Music had shitty playlists imho.
Who knows where I’ll go in July after the freebie expires.
The Pale Scot
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was figuring he might not be teaching at the Singapore conservatory, it would have been nice.
Ok, so anybody leaving the apt/house give ur ph# to Watergirl, just in case :)
Baud
@Grumpy Old Railroader:
Isn’t it The France in French?
BellyCat
@Leto: Seriously!?!? Funding for infrastructure repair went to the police?!?! That explains the swanky Pittsburgh Police Command Center parked next to the bridge collapse site at present.
Baud
@Sure Lurkalot:
Yeah, if you know what album you want I suppose it’s all the same.
Steeplejack
@Tony Jay:
True. I remember when Shmecky “accidentally” followed through on a tackle and kicked Vinnie Jones in the groin so hard that he cried on national TV. And no card issued! Adroit.
The Pale Scot
@Suzanne:
Function AND Form?
Waz dat??
Steeplejack
@Sure Lurkalot:
On some of the Verizon plans the free Apple Music account is permanent. I seem to remember I went for the cheapest one that had that; it wasn’t much more expensive than the next one down.
NotMax
Tracking a misbegotten plan brought up earlier.
Leto
@BellyCat: yup. Your friend’s picture made it into the comments on that Imgur post. Second top comment. They might as well have just made a big bonfire with that money they gave to the cops, ala The Dark Knight. Same effect. We’re not safer, crime levels are the same, yet our broken ass roads are still gobbling up suspensions, car rims, tires… I’d demand some accountability for that waste but with the R legislature we’ll never see it.
frosty
@Steeplejack: Ms F swears by Allbirds. I don’t think she has any other kind of shoe now.
Scout211
So does this sound like anything will actually be changing on Spotify? Link
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
I have 3 people in the pie palace. If you want take a guess who.
Hint – before today I had 2.
Nettoyeur
Leto
@Scout211: I’ll say no. It’s adding a rating system to disinformation. The disinformation is still there and being spread. The warnings don’t actually help. Deplatforming disinformation propagators/creators is the only way. Force that fuck to join the rest of the crazies over at Telegram, or Periscope, or whatever the hell those cesspools are that they reside.
Kay
@BlueGuitarist:
Good. Chop chop. Biden can’t be bogged down in the senate again. He needs to be out presidenting and reminding people why they voted for him. When he goes up the midterms get better for all of them, so they all have an interest in his success. Call him when it’s done.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: @Suzanne:
What she says: [something very professional]
What he hears: “blah blah blah [stupid girl] blah blah blah”
Scout211
@Leto:
Thank you. It just read like confusing corporate-speak to me to make it appear as though actions would be taken. Thank you for your translation.
Steeplejack
@frosty:
Thanks, good to know. I have one female friend who got a pair (as a gift) and returned them. But it might have been because they were a gift; she is incredibly finicky about clothing and personal possessions.
Baud
@Scout211:
Interesting how they came out with that minutes after I deleted their app.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Based on that, I would say ‘no’. Looks like they want to give the appearance of being responsive and responsible, but they appear not to be changing anything meaningful.
Fuck Spotify, I hope they crash and burn over this.
Steeplejack
@Scout211:
Some obscure band will get booted because of a stupid lyric in one song, but Joe Rogan will keep chugging along.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Right on, Baud! ✊
Leto
@Scout211: like this part:
Nobody going to Joe Rogan is going to click on those outside links. That audience is already set in their beliefs. If you’re “Joe curios”, you’re also not going to click to an outside link. All that information is already there in the public. It’s easy to access. Idk, they have a $100M deal with him so good luck with that.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Hahaha
Uncle Cosmo
Nope, sorry.
You might be confusing demonstrative pronouns with definite articles. In Czech (for example), which has neither definite nor indefinite** articles, these are sometimes used to distinguish a particular thing or item from others of the same type (“this [right here]” vs “that [over there]”, etc.). I believe this is the case for most Slavic languages that lack definite articles.***
BTW, and FYI, the Serbs and Croats have been trying desperately for decades now to divide their common language into two separate ones, with minimal success. They (as well as variations found in Bosnia and Crna Gora [Montenegro]) remain in essence mutually comprehensible dialects – srpskohrvatski in Serbia and hrvatosrpski in Croatia differ by alphabet (Cyrillic vs. Latin, respectively), maybe 50 common words (e.g. hleb vs kruh [bread], voz vs vlak [railroad train]), and one syllable inserted in Croatia (rijeka [river] vs reka in Serbia).
** All except Bulgarian, IIRC – and there the article is found attached to the end of the word. (I used to call the steps for a Bulgarian dance for our folkdance performing group – prvata, fterata, treta, chtvertita – “the first, the second, the third, the fourth” step.
***I believe in most Slavic languages if an indefinite article is needed a form of “one” is used – in Czech, jeden/jedna/jedno.
debbie
@Leto:
What if they used a descriptor like unverified or unproven?
Ksmiami
@Uncle Cosmo: hmm my cousins all speak a Dalmatian dialect of Hrvatska- it really sounds like Italian
NotMax
While on the subject of music, any recommendations for reputable places from which to purchase new CDs? Those with selections besides rock/rap/hippy-hoppy much preferred.
sdhays
@Baud: I’m not a big fan of algorithms, but I will say that Spotify’s advertisement algorithms got better, or less terrible in recent years. Years ago, the free tier was almost unlistenable since you could be listening to something from one genre and then be hammered with an advertisement to listen to some god-awful new album of some shitty artist in a genre that is totally incompatible with what you were listening to.
For example, you could be listening to classical music, and then they’d try to entice you to listen to some death metal band you’ve never heard of and nothing at all in your listening history could ever suggest that you would interested in trying that shit out. And they’d run the same ad, over and over and over again.
Sure Lurkalot
@Steeplejack: It appears Verizon’s Apple Music offer is now 6 months…you just got a better deal a couple of years ago.
Maybe I wasn’t listening carefully but my understanding was that the freebies (Apple Music, Disney+ and Hulu would last the length of the contract, but no, they all expire after 6 months. They also tried to renege on a $600 credit for my old phone which was clearly spelled out on the receipt. It took about 8 hours on the phone (no, not exaggerating) to get that “back”.
Caveat emptor!
Leto
@debbie: sure, they can do that. Give a 5 second message saying that these claims are “unverified”, or whatever, but then the next two hours is Joe spewing whatever batshit crazy stuff he’s talking about. Ivermectin, mango berry colostomies, urine cocktail recipes, and whatever else the new grift of the day/week is. Deplatforming is the only answer, but they’re not going to do that with him because they already handed him $100M to spew his bullshit on their platform. Greed wins out over ethics.
Ruckus
@mrmoshpotato:
That bridge has been falling apart for over 3 yrs. Even in snow country it takes longer than that for steel beams to rust out to nothing. It’s been downgraded to this load limit for 3 yrs. Which of course was just a bit too high a limit. But from the looks of those beams, when it fell down it’s weight limit was less than the concrete that made up the rest of the bridge weighed.
geg6
@WaterGirl:
Cleo says send it her way. She’d love a second.
Baud
@sdhays:
The only Spotify ads I’ve noticed recently aren’t for music at all, but Facebook ads touting what good corporate citizens they are.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl:
Same.as.it.ever.was.
WaterGirl
@geg6: Did you do anything special to get her to look at it?
I also haven’t really figured out the middle button. I can get it to turn off, but is there a trick to the knowing which speed is which?
Mostly unrelated, has the cat food arrived?
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: And it’s not just guys! Some women are that way about other women. ?♀️
Ruckus
@Leto:
Greed can make them a profit, ethics gets them what?
Can they take ethics to the bank? I think not.
Leto
@NotMax: Amazon still sells music via CD. Not sure if you’re looking for a different online store, or a physical store there on the island.
WaterGirl
@Baud: That’s right up there with telling someone how important you are. If you have to tell people you’re a leader, pro tip: you’re not.
*Not in any way in reference to your presidential campaign! That’s a completely different thing! :-)
Sure Lurkalot
@Leto: I agree. They’re going to sell the tainted food, it’s up to you to determine if you want to eat it.
About Allbirds which I’ve looked at so many times…how are they in terms of support? They look so comfortable.…
Leto
@Ruckus: wouldn’t a larger listening base make them more money? Wouldn’t more artists on their service, which would equate to more listeners, make them more money? They can def take ethics to the bank. They’re choosing not to, and that’s their choice to make. I guess long term we’ll see how that plays out.
Suzanne
@The Pale Scot:
It’s not even that! It’s function and function! Like, in more technical building types, where specialized and technical operations are performed — like healthcare delivery, or airplanes come and go, or an intense manufacturing process, or whatever — there is heavy emphasis on planning in addition to the aesthetic/tectonic architecture. (FWIW, this is what I do, I’m a healthcare planner and architect.) Planning is basically the discipline of architecture and landscape architecture that puts things next to or far away from other things, makes sure spaces are the right size and configuration, designs flow to and through a space, ingress and egress, regulatory compliance, and then only once those things are figured out, then do we engineer the damn thing. If you get the planning wrong, you can usually never fix it, because so much design and construction happens once the plan is set. We really start the engineering once we figure out what the hell we’re building. So these dipshit engineers come in months if not years after we do all of this work, which is incredibly technical, and then they want to throw it all out because they don’t understand it and they just want their little part to be easier.
Like, we don’t put the airplane gate next to the loading dock for a critical reason, dumbass. Even though it might be cheaper or save you a column.
NotMax
@Leto>
Yeah. However the prices there for new ones (at least those I’ve looked at) are redonkulous. Asking about other online retailers anyone may have had good experiences with.
Spanky
RIP Johnny Fever.
Baud
@Spanky:
Greatest DJ ever.
Leto
@Sure Lurkalot: I think they have good support. Not a high arch, but the footbed molds really well so def supportive.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Baud! 20XX!: Do you know who I am?
schrodingers_cat
Today is the 74th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, the ideology that led to his assassination is on the ascendant in India right now. His assassin is celebrated among the circles that Modi and his inner circle is drawn from. Though even Modi has to hypocritically invoke Gandhi when he is abroad.
I made a Twitter thread about it. Take a look (it has pics)
WaterGirl
@Baud: hahaha
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
?
NotMax
@Baud
BOOGER!
Uncle Cosmo
@Ksmiami: Wouldn’t surprise me at all if lots of loanwords and even intonation mimic Italian – they’re only a hop, skip & jump across the Adriatic.
(Cuts both ways too. I read somewhere that Molise, which sits right about midcalf on The Boot, has the second largest number of Slavic-speaking communities among all the provinces of Italy – only Friuli in the northeast, next to Slovenia, has more. Would anyone be seriously surprised if, when the Ottomans came roaring through the Balkans in the 14th century, anyone near the Dalmatian coast with access to a boat chose to paddle themselves and their families across?)
(ETA: Also remember that most of the Dalmatian coast was Venetian until the Turks arrived. Marco Polo came from Korčula, the largest island over there, and the beautiful city of Dubrovnik was formerly the merchant republic of Ragusa [from which derives the English word argosy].)
Dopey-o
It’s always a circulation problem. IMHO.
Ruckus
@Baud:
Isn’t touting on FB how good a corporate citizen you are, absolute proof of actually how bad you are in everyone else’s terms?
zhena gogolia
@Sure Lurkalot: They don’t look too supportive to me. That’s kind of a deal-breaker.
Ruckus
@Leto:
Musical artists come and go, music tastes come and go.
Hate never leaves. It just finds different victims.
Political stupidity is even more everlasting.
Chris T.
@CaseyL:
Alas, house prices are soaring everywhere right now (at least in the US). We’ll see if this continues once the “supply chain” issues are sorted.
Meanwhile, here in semi-rural-ish northwestern WA state, we have our little liberal enclaves in the sea of more reddish stuff. Nothing as bad as eastern WA though…
BeautifulPlumage
@NotMax: I like Sketchers for comfort & durability, but I buy women’s flats, boots, and one sneaker style. I’ve mostly purchased at their outlet store. I’m hard on shoes but these have durable soles and support. I’m on my second pairs of my fave boots ands flats; the first pairs lasted 6-7 years.
ETA: I got 3 pairs via their website in 2020 and had no problems ordering or receiving YMMV
Steeplejack
@Sure Lurkalot:
Quick look at the Verizon site:
Looks like there’s still an option to get Apple Music for free. But it may work out better to pay for it separately.
Hmm, now I’m wondering whether I might want to upgrade to the plan to also get the Disney bundle for free. ?
The Pale Scot
@Uncle Cosmo:
You Can Go With This, You Can Go With That..
sab
@Leto: A nice Democratic volunteer called me from Texas to talk up the Infrastructure Bill. I told her I was all in favor of it because I had replaced all four tires in the last two years. I’d rather pay taxes and have decent roads. Cost is probably the same, but much more convenient to know when the bill is coming due and to not have to go out to the tire store.
pat
@Ruckus:
I remember seeing that photo in the first reports of the bridge collapse and I recall that it was of a DIFFERENT BRIDGE.
But of course I could be wrong…….
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
The Bengals are going to the Super Bowl
Leto
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): our son wasn’t even a twinkle in our eyes the last time they were in the playoffs, let alone the SB. Just crazy. This game is also the perfect example about why the coin flip moaning is just silly.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
I haven’t bought from them in a while, but Barnes & Noble was pretty good for on-line CD sales.
Leto
@sab: two weeks ago I had to replace two of my cars rims because after living here for 4 years, they were so warped out of shape that it was killing my tires. The other two rims need to be replaced, but I can delay that for just a bit. $1200 for that. We drove that car all over Europe. All over the UK, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Less than 18 months back in the States and PA’s roads did that. The service tech sent me a video, showing the wheels rotations, and one is just this crazy wobble that’s immediately apparent.
Like you said, rather pay more in taxes to have better roads. Ofc I also want the funds to go to infrastructure and not cops. Also want the rich to actually pay their fucking share. 1 thing at a time, I guess.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Oh wow. They came back. Kind of rooting for them since they’re the most sad sack team, historically.
Steeplejack
@pat:
You’re not crazy. I saw an initial tweet that said that photo was of a different bridge. But apparently it is the one that collapsed.
NotMax
@BeautifulPlumage
???
I was talking about CDs.
japa21
@Baud: Last week and this week have been full of unbelievable finishes. Not sure if LA-SF can match it.
sab
@Baud: Some geniuses on their Board of Trustees got huffy amany years ago about Ohio University getting to call itself Ohio University although it is older than OSU. OSU came very close to suing OU to get it to cease and desist using the Ohio name. Then wiser heads prevailed, since they could have lost and possibly lost their own right to use Ohio name.
So they came up with The Ohio State University to emphasize that they were bigger and more important than Ohio University, just in case there was any doubt.
Baud
@japa21:
Yeah, couldn’t have scripted it any better.
Baud
@sab:
Now that makes sense.
germy
SNL did the bad dog Badminster Dog Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y4tw9DcnUs&t=151s
Some bad dog categories are “Mean” “Shaky” etc.
lowtechcyclist
@JoyceH:
I know, right? I lived in the Virginia half of Bristol VA/TN for five years back in the ’90s, and I don’t want to even think about what it’s like down there in terms of vaccinations and mask usage.
Except you got me looking, and even Washington County (the county surrounding the city of Bristol, which like a lot of VA towns, is its own county) has a much higher vaccination rate than King George. Not a good rate, mind you, just easily clearing the low bar set by your county.
BeautifulPlumage
@NotMax: Haha, I fucked up. I thought that was part of the allbirds shoe conversation. Sorry!
debbie
@sab:
They almost took me to court. Years ago, I designed a poster for the Parents Association, incorporating that block O into the design. Unbeknownst to me and the Parents Association, the university had copyrighted it. The association finally got them to relent, telling them multiple times that they were in fact a university department. ??♀️
Ruckus
@NotMax:
I buy from Zappos, which is owned by Amazon. (not a plus in my book, but good prices, good service)
I’ve always had shoe purchasing issues, when I was a kid I had to wear orthopedic shoes, you know those clunky things kids made fun of… I still have the same feet, just a few decades older and I find shoes that work for me on Zappos at not totally ridiculous prices, that actually are normal human shoes.
burnspbesq
@Steeplejack:
I have a pair of the original style. I don’t have much occasion to wear them, but they are absurdly comfortable and look good with jeans.
burnspbesq
I took a pass on Spotify a long time ago, because they generally treat artists like shit, and at the time Tidal’s sound quality was noticeably better. Never had occasion to revisit that decision, and certainly won’t now.
Chris T.
I don’t know much about shoes but I have … unusually shaped feet, I guess? Anyway I need widths, and a lot of sneaker-y shoes just don’t do that, but New Balance shoes do come in widths and hence fit a lot better for me. It was kind of a revelation, when someone said “go there and try those shoes” and I did.
Leto
@NotMax: I don’t know how this was turned into shoe advice, but I’m loving it.
lowtechcyclist
100 years from now: “Mommy, why is there a statue of a man without pants?”
lowtechcyclist
@Ruckus:
This is the sort of thing that I can’t understand how it’s not an antitrust violation. Amazon buys up all sorts of companies that compete with it to varying modest degrees. (They bought and ruined Woot!, unfortunately.) And apparently it’s all legal, or being treated as such.
zhena gogolia
@Leto: NotMax is going to buy some new shoes whether he likes it or not!
LongHairedWeirdo
Someone tell me why the news media isn’t reporting on the critical donkey shortage with respect to the Democratic Party. So many asses are trying to kill people with Covid-19, well, party mascot, but no, they are too horrified by the visible asses to use one of them – especially not with the bad fuzzy fungus on its head.
The Thin Black Duke
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Fuck.
burnspbesq
@Tony Jay:
Canada tried to bring those days back today, the referee mostly let them, and we had no answer.
burnspbesq
@lowtechcyclist:
One of my favorite words is “desuetude,” and it has accurately described the state of antitrust enforcement in this country since Charlie Brown foolishly raised the white flag and allowed the dismemberment of the Bell System.
Ruckus
@pat:
Bridges with steel support usually fail from support rusting, made worse in areas that salt the roads for traction. But steel support is easier, faster to build and likely cheaper so in many lower traffic areas, steel it is. Also concrete bridges have steel in them for concrete reenforcement and if that gets wet over time it can rust as well, which ends eventually in the same manner as a steel support bridge. Oh and if you don’t know an earthquake can knock down bridges far faster than it takes one to rust out…..
Ruckus
@lowtechcyclist:
As @burnspbesq: points out, antitrust works out wonderful for us and not so much for big business, which is why big businesses dislike antitrust. I hate Amazon, and by extension, Zappos but in this day and age, their ability to sell things at a price and available level that no one else can is what makes us hate them – most reason, no availability from anyone else or a lot higher price – and makes them money, hand over whatever.
Old School
@NotMax: Amazon, Target, Walmart and Barnes & Noble are all big retailers that sell CDs online. I’m sure you find some independent stores that ship online, but my local store doesn’t.
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: And when he’s done he can do California of Pennsylvania.
Steeplejack
@burnspbesq:
Thanks for the input.
Ruckus
@Leto:
No. Just fucking no.
Rip off that band aid, one fell, fast swoop. The rich are, for the most part, fucking us. In numerous ways. Rip off that band aid, put their asses and wallets in the hands of the people they have been fucking for a very long time. Make them pay their fair share. They will still be rich, like the rich were during/after WWII. 90% tax rate for the uber wealthy caught us up on the cost of WWII pretty damn quick, and the wealthy still were rather wealthy afterwards, because 10% of a shit ton of money is still a shit ton. Now this isn’t war but they have been screwing us for some time and it’s time they got theirs. And we get ours.
Reverse tool order
@Chris T.:
Check out the Dunham Shoes division as well, for more extra wide or extra narrow shoes, sandals, or boots.Especially at online stores specializing in wide, narrow, & big sizes.
I can wear some of Dunham’s widest sandals, but have to go to Mt Emey or Drew for closed shoes or boots. You would not think the box for a pair of 15 by 9E shoes is a shoe box.
WaterGirl
@Reverse tool order: I think WordPress thought you were a spammer trying to sell shoes, boots, sandals, etc. :-)
You have been un-spammed.
Kathleen
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): YESSSSSSSSS! WHO DEY!!!
smedley the uncertain
@Scout211: No
brantl
@Baud: Because egotistical assholes go there, and are alumni, and insist it’s THE OHIO STATE.
Miss Bee
@Ken: Russian doesn’t use articles, so no.
Seriously. I want green car. Please pass me salt. I used to live in blue house, etc. etc.
@Ken:
Miss Bee
@Grumpy Old Railroader:
So it absolutely positively not THE Ukraine since Russian has no words for “the.”
Did Boris Badonov ever use the word “the”?
burnspbesq
@brantl:
Name a school that doesn’t have alumni it would like you to forget about.
Dopey-o
i have been curious about the modern worship of Gandhi’s killer. I got as far as the Hitler link, before twitter blocked me.
Have you posted this somewhere else?
Freemark
@BellyCat: Actually it went to rural areas so they could have free policing.