Everything you need to know about International Women's Day 2022 https://t.co/zqeWsWCkZ9
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 4, 2022
Return to normalcy:
Psaki: The Keystone was not an oil field, it’s a pipeline. Also the oil is continuing to flow in, just through other means pic.twitter.com/n4cM3s1ACD
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 7, 2022
Congress has approved legislation that for the first time would make lynching a federal hate crime in the U.S. The bill now goes to President Biden to sign into law. https://t.co/DMvgUdrNPR
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 8, 2022
Repubs in disarray!
Republican missteps and intense infighting are threatening the party's path to a Senate majority. GOP candidates in battleground states are struggling to keep pace with Democratic fundraising, and recruiting failures have hurt GOP hopes in some states. https://t.co/Krs6K6a2PF
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 7, 2022
… Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey dealt his party its latest setback late last week by announcing he would not challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly this fall. His decision, which leaves no obvious front-runner in a crowded Republican primary, disappointed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his allies who had spent months privately encouraging Ducey to run.
But the GOP’s shortcomings extend well beyond Arizona.
Republican candidates in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada are struggling to keep pace with Democratic fundraising. Recruiting failures have dashed GOP hopes in reach states like Maryland and threaten a prime pickup opportunity in New Hampshire. And a recent plan that would raise taxes on low-income Americans and seniors, released by the Republican Senate midterm chief, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, is putting GOP candidates in a difficult position across states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida…
But for now, a simmering feud between McConnell and Scott has taken center stage.
Scott, the leader of the GOP’s Senate midterm efforts, released an 11-point plan late last month that would impose a modest tax increase for many of the lowest paid Americans, while opening the door for cutting Social Security and Medicare. The Senate Democrats’ political arm released a radio ad within 24 hours declaring, “If Senate Republicans win, we pay the price.”…
… [M]any Senate Republicans had been willing to ignore what they viewed as Scott’s presidential ambitions over the last year. But that changed when the Florida senator released his latest proposal, which they considered an “unforced error” that triggered a wave of anger across the party.
McConnell could not stay silent as he faced reporters last week on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Republican leader forcefully rebuked Scott’s plan during the Republican leadership’s weekly news conference, which Scott was part of.
“Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,” McConnell said moments after Scott stepped away from the event. “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.” …
Meanwhile, in Florida, Demings offered a window into the Democrats’ challenge by refusing to say whether she wanted Biden to campaign in the state on her behalf when asked.
“I grew up poor, Black and female in the South,” Demings told The Associated Press. “I’ve never depended on someone else to do the work for me or someone to give me a pass or come to rescue me.”
“I’m excited about where we are in this race,” she said.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Noting that Greenwald is strangely quiet the last couple of days after going weeks without criticizing the invasion. Maybe he’s been recalled to Moskva for consultation.
debbie
If Gosar doesn’t run for reelection, is there any chance a Democrat can win the seat?
Baud
Only because Biden will still be president.
Ken
Oh, good, I was hoping someone would condense the thoughts and aspirations of 51% of the human race into a short, easily-read article.
Actually I guess it’s not that impressive, considering they can also be condensed into one month — or one day — a year.
Baud
Youngkin kept Trump away to win Virginia. No shame in playing to local conditions.
Baud
@Ken:
“Give her the gift of diamonds.”
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Nicole
Old white racists- “YAY!”
Old white racists- “What the fuck?”
Today’s GOP; why go just far enough when too far is right there?
Snarki, child of Loki
What? An anti-lynching bill?
Before we have a chance to lynch a bunch of racist MAGAts?
Now I haz a sad.
OzarkHillbilly
Hope is a dangerous thing, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.
OzarkHillbilly
@Snarki, child of Loki: Some people take the fun out of everything.
Starfish
Soprano2
Please, please let’s not see all the Democratic candidates backing away from Biden. My feeling is that it never turns out well, because it makes you base think you are throwing your leader under the bus.
Another Scott
The framing of the AP story is typical for them. The GQP is some supertanker that would be an unstoppable force, but all of these unexpected things keep happening to make their easy cruise to port oh so difficult.
They are Master of the Seas but somehow, simultaneously, have no agency.
Tiz a puzzle.
Grr…,
Scott.
Soprano2
@Baud: Democrats should take a page from the Republican book, and repeat loudly and often that their Republican opponent supports raising taxes on the lowest Americans and “sunsetting” Medicare and Social Security in 5 years. It’s not true, but that doesn’t stop Republicans from trying to tar every Democrat with a position only held by a few people on Twitter. Make the Republican talk about it over and over.
Betty Cracker
@Nicole: LOL, exactly. :)
Baud
@Soprano2:
The problem is that there is a whole media apparatus that exists to attack Dems who color outside the lines, that the GOP doesn’t have to face. Our playbook has to match the conditions we face. We can’t just mimic the GOP and expect success.
PST
This is completely off any topic, but I saw something strange the other morning. My usual walk with our dog takes me across a grade crossing of railway tracks coming out of Union Station Chicago to the north. Most of the traffic is local commuters, but I enjoy it when the long Amtrak Empire Builder trains pass by on their way to the Pacific Northwest. There is simply something romantic about long-distance railroad travel. Anyway, Bernie and I passed through a group of about a dozen men with cameras jostling for location and lining up shots down the tracks. My crossing, at Racine, is the last one after the tracks emerge from under ground and before they become elevated, so it offers the longest available vista. I always thought trainspotting was more a British thing than American, but all these gentlemen were there to get photographs of a new generation of diesel-electric locomotives being placed in service on the Empire Builder for the first time. The train did in fact come through just as Bernie and I were returning from our walk, and everyone clicked away for four or five seconds. One of the guys told me how lucky I was to catch the sight by chance without having to wait for it like they did. Evidently they were on the second day of their vigil due to an equipment failure. It makes me wonder about what kind of hobbies I might turn to now that I’m retired. I hope walking the dog keeps me busy.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
“Putin has made so many errors in this catastrophic adventure, but none more serious than his profound misreading of the nature of democratic polities. Yes, they are riven by discord (some of it recently sown by his own hand). Yes, they are often poorly led, and the interests of the many are routinely overborne by those of the few with the most wealth and power. They are decadent and materialist and weak, insofar as strength is measured by unity of purpose. And where can you possibly find greater unity of purpose than in a one man autocracy?
But they remain societies organised around the core principle of consent and within them lies the latent potential of entire peoples to suddenly rouse themselves from rancorous discord and materialist distraction and to turn as one upon an enemy. Democracies at war are fucking terrifying. Ask the ghosts of Hiroshima and Dresden.”
– John Birmingham, Australian Author
Steve in the ATL
I’ve got a trial starting in a few minutes, but was wondering when the techies tend to show up around here. So if anyone knows anything about home hardware VPN’s, I’d love to hear it!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
What do you guys think of the WH banning Russian oil imports? I know we don’t actually import that much Russian crude oil, but I remember a few days ago several commenters warning that this is a bad idea, likely to make gas prices worse. Republicans have suggested it and it could be playing into their hands for the midterm elections
zhena gogolia
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Interesting take.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Make Rick Scott the face of GOP aims – the guy who ripped off government programs in a massive way….
BlueGuitarist
@debbie:
sadly, no. Gosar’s district is the most R in AZ.
Tfg carried it by 26 points.
satby
@PST: ? Good morning!
Your comment read my mind, sort of. Two things in the last week happened and I now am retiring for real, so I’m in the same boat.
Etsy is raising fees again in April, so I’m closing my Etsy shop at the end of this month. And for the first time in over 40+ years, I don’t have a dog, only cats. Without the regular schedule of dog walking, I am a bit adrift on how to spend all that time. And since my booth also looks like it will sell in the next couple of months, I will have the first summer off in over 52 years. YIKES!
dr. bloor
Poor Mitchie. No one wants to join his band of orcs.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott:
The spirit of Ron Fournier still infests AP reporting.
narya
@PST: I love long-distance train travel. I hate to fly, but I like the train independently of that.
I’ve been waiting for someone in the administration to explain higher gas prices, with a part of it being “a small sacrifice in the service of our Ukrainian friends” or something like that. Or, if it’s NOT because of that, then explain why. (Note that I don’t have a car, so am completely insensitive to the whole thing, but it seems that getting out in front of it can’t hurt.)
Soprano2
I’m seeing so much stupid stuff about oil and gas prices on Facebook. Conservatives have completely forgotten about their worship of the free market in the face of it costing them $120 to fill up their gas guzzler.
Gin & Tonic
Been going through some old photos from Ukraine for sentimental reasons, and thought this might interest some carpenters or carpentry-adjacent people. A portion of the exterior of the Church of the Holy Ghost in Rohatyn. Generally accepted as being built in ~1598, still standing. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, I think.
Michael Cain
Re Ducey, I’m personally amazed that either party finds good people in western states willing to take on the hassles of being a new Senator: travel, living in metro DC much of the time, and being a back bencher who gets little or no say on bill contents for years. If/when there are bills, since Congress seems decreasingly inclined to actually do things.
Gin & Tonic
@Steve in the ATL: Why do you think you need a VPN?
Soprano2
@Baud: I don’t know about that. I understand about Fox News making the playing field unequal, but I still think our candidate could paint them as supporting Rick Scott’s 11-point plan. If you repeat it over and over, it will get into people’s brains. And it has the virtue of being kind of true – Republicans do support major parts of what he has in that stupid plan, even if they try to deny it. They’ve been trying to get rid of Medicare and SS as long as I can remember!
BlueGuitarist
@Another Scott:
And what’s with AP editorializing in a news article about
” *modest* tax increase” ?
Is there a better characterization?
Also, is there a road back to Cheers from Grr…?
Gin & Tonic
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: It’s similar to what I saw on Twitter and think I posted here: “Put two Ukrainians in a room and they will form three political parties. But attack them, and they become one family.”
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m amazed that they more or less squared everything given the tools of the time.
Betty Cracker
@Soprano2: I think it’s definitely worth a try. Scott didn’t crap out that plan as a backbencher — he’s the chairman of the NRSC, and he’s all over Fox News ginning up support for it. There’s also the context that Republicans aren’t running on any other agenda except “Biden sucks,” so a Dem who’s called out for “falsely” painting the party with Scott’s agenda can point that out. Make them defend it or reject it!
Soprano2
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Well, conservatives keep whining about us importing foreign oil, so you’d think they would be happy about that, but you’re right that it will probably make gas prices go up at least temporarily. I can’t believe all the idiocy I’m seeing on FB about oil and gas – did you know that the minute Biden was elected, all oil production in the U.S. completely shut down, and that’s why gas prices are high? *rolleyes* If only our oil companies would start producing oil again gas prices would be low like they were when TFG was president. *rolleyes* It’s as if all these people have completely forgotten about how the free market works in the face of it costing them $120+ to fill their gas guzzling SUV or huge pickup. No one made them buy that thing!
germy
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic: been hacked, and one of our IT guys suggested it. I don’t know anything about them.
Baud
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
There’s a lot of ink spilled as to why Putin didn’t invade during Trump’s term. I’m more curious as to why he decided he couldn’t wait until after the 2024 election. Did he think his influence manipulating the West through social media had peaked?
Baud
@Steve in the ATL:
I’m no expert, but I don’t think a VPN protects against hacking. I think it’s designed to protect your privacy and to get around firewalls and content restrictions.
Soprano2
@Betty Cracker: I agree, make them talk about it so it gets in the news. That’s how Republicans get stuff out there – they repeat it over and over until it sinks in. For some reason some Democrats seem to think they can say something a couple of times and people will remember it. Every Democrat should mention something from “Republican Senator Rick Scott’s 11-point plan” every chance they get. Force Republicans to talk about it.
topclimber
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
A big bipartisan majority of Congress is pushing for that, so there will plenty of “blame” to go around. It won’t all be on Biden, but then again the impact will probably be small.
Now, pushing Europe to cut natural gas imports (rather, getting Biden to push those chickens–t Europeans to tank their economies) is another story. GOP sure to squawk, majority sure to do nothing.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: so I should go with my original plan, hiring a team of assassins to take out the hackers? I have a call in to Steven Seagal.
Gin & Tonic
@Steve in the ATL: The thing about a VPN is that you have to trust the endpoint – somewhere your traffic has to exit the encrypted tunnel and go out to the Internet. Who does that for you, and can you trust them? Rather than trying to set up a VPN, I would recommend a solid firewall, like a FortiGate 30E. You’ll have to pay an annual license fee, like a couple hundred bucks, but for a fancy lawyer like you that’s couch change.
OzarkHillbilly
@Gin & Tonic: I do believe I’ve seen pictures of that place. I should be so lucky to visit it.
OzarkHillbilly
@Soprano2: Agreed. The GOP has a playbook for manipulating the media, we should steal from it.
Baud
@topclimber:
I also wonder how much the current increase in price already reflects the possibility of a complete ban on Russian oil. Speculators surely realized that was a possibility.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: There’s really no problem assassins can’t solve.
Yarrow
@Steve in the ATL: Have you figured out how you were hacked? A VPN might help with encryption and so forth but it’s not going stop a user error like clicking on a phishing email link.
Quiltingfool
I’ve started making a quilt using blue and yellow fabrics (Glory to Ukraine). Quilt making is how I cope with my feelings of sadness and anger; Ukrainian people were living their lives, and now those lives have been shattered simply because one man decided he wanted something that isn’t his to take.
Quilt making is not a speedy process. I plan on putting various star blocks around the center block, and they are a bit time consuming, but they are worth the time. I will sell the quilt and donate the proceeds to a charity to help Ukrainians. These folks are facing a long slog – even if Russia stopped their war today, Ukrainians are going to need a helping hand for a time. So, the proceed from this quilt may be my first donation, won’t be my last.
Here’s the center block. https://pin.it/7lDCRgm
Spanky
@Gin & Tonic:
And can be written off as a business expense.
Yarrow
@Soprano2:
Why? FB is funded by tons of Russian money and has actively worked to undermine democracy in the US and around the world. Why would oil and gas propaganda on their site be any different?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Soprano2:
@germy:
@topclimber:
Thanks, guys.
I hope I didn’t come across sounding like an inconsiderate dick above. I feel so horrible for the Ukrainian people and what Putin’s Russia is doing to them, but I’m a worrier I guess and the Republicans are bad news, too. Memories of J6 and the DHS windowless vans kidnapping people off the streets of Portland, Oregon still haunt me
Betty Cracker
@Quiltingfool: It’s beautiful.
Spanky
@OzarkHillbilly:
Not so easy, when the media is GOP.
Steve in the ATL
@Yarrow: it was intentional and ongoing, nothing like phishing. We have a team of forensic IT investigators working on it.
@Baud: between the assassins and Bar Keepers Friend, we have everything in order!
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Maybe because his influencers (Manafort et al.) were getting rolled up and because he thinks Trump may actually get neutralized one way or another. Or maybe he just got impatient.
@Baud:
Thread Reader version.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Yarrow:
Don’t get me started. I hear that shit in meatspace. The other day, some customer mentioned to somebody else that “under the previous presidency” the US met it’s own oil needs domestically, but now we have to import 900,000 (or 9 million, can’t remember which) barrels of Russian oil a day.
To my knowledge, Russian crude oil makes up a small portion of our oil imports. But he did the research!
Yarrow
@Steve in the ATL: Wow. Sounds serious. Definitely some hardware would help with that. VPN or firewall or something along those lines.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Steeplejack:
Wow. Well, that’s a pretty good reply to why Putin didn’t invade while Trump was in office
Yarrow
The UK is awful in its response to Ukrainian refugees. Just awful.
Soprano2
@Yarrow: I thought some of my friends were smarter than this. The idea that we aren’t producing any oil or gas in the U.S. because Biden is president – who is dumb enough to believe that? Evidently, some of my friends are that dumb.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
Possibly. It was definitely starting to wane.
Whats interesting is that when I check the comments on posts from my local Fox-affiliate, volume has decreased by about 60-70%. What had been a cesspool of racial and political hatred is cooked way off.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
Everything I’ve read said that Putin invading Ukraine was an emotional, personal decision, not strategic. Add that to isolation and yes-men, and there could be any reason. Maybe he fears if he doesn’t do it now he’ll never achieve his bucket list. Maybe he has been building up files of underlings lying to him to make him happy, and he thought this was the best strategic time. Maybe he woke up in a bad mood and decided, damn it, he WILL own Ukraine! Given how supposedly almost no one was told ahead of time, that last is pretty likely.
Soprano2
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Trump’s people spread the lie far and wide that under him we were “energy independent”. It’s not true; oil is a world market, and we wouldn’t isolate ourselves from it. We were still importing oil when TFG was president. The reason production went down was because the price cratered because of Covid! I’m sure the oil fields are having the same labor problems every other sector of the economy are having, plus I’m sure it takes some time to fire up production after it’s been shut down for a year or longer. For people who claim to worship the free market, conservatives show they have no understanding of it once gas prices get high enough.
Yarrow
@Soprano2: Propaganda works. People see that sort of stuff over and over and it gets in. They believe it. Even smart people like your friends. Facebook is a rightwing propaganda purveyor. Turn off the propaganda funnel and your friends might become “smart” again. Russian certainly has got a good return on their investment in Facebook.
danielx
@Yarrow:
How odd. One would think they would have plenty of room, considering all the people (including Ukrainians) that left Britain after Brexit.
SiubhanDuinne
@Quiltingfool:
Both the design and the intention are beautiful.
Yarrow
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Yeah, it certainly seems like the massive troll and bot armies have diminished some. Maybe they’re not getting paid now.
PST
@satby: Good morning and best wishes for retirement. I think my health has improved radically now that I have more time. I start every day with a walk of over half a mile, almost regardless of weather. As an urban apartment dweller there is no opening a door in my robe or installing a dog flap. I have no choice. Like they said back on the farm, you have to take care of the stock before you take care of yourself. But I do know disciplined people who manage a walking or cycling regimen without a dog to drag them along. One thing I’m pretty sure I could never manage is sticking to a treadmill or stationary bike. Fresh air and scenery is indispensable.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Frankensteinbeck:
that’s my guess, that there’s a very emotional, personal aspect to all this on his part. I don’t know how informed the speculation about his health is. I thought I had heard that the source of speculation about his having Parkinson’s comes from intelligence sources and not just internet randos (like me!), but a quick search didn’t turn up anything more authoritative than British newspapers/tabloids.
Steeplejack
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Dan Price:
Stats with links in thread.
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: I don’t agree, and that mindset is self defeating.
Yarrow
@danielx: The UK is appalling with immigration issues. Absolutely appalling. The Colin Yeo book “Welcome to Britain: Fixing Our Broken Immigration System” offers a good overview.
Cameron
@BlueGuitarist: Why a modest tax increase? If it’s a tax on the oligarchs, I’m all in favor of a shameless tax increase.
OzarkHillbilly
Those who are predisposed to.
O. Felix Culpa
@Quiltingfool: Beautiful! Put me in line for those wanting to bid on it. :)
Michael Cain
@Gin & Tonic:
The original use for VPN software — and still the most common, I believe — is to provide people at home or on the road secure access to the internals of a corporate network. File servers, printers, HTTP proxies, etc. Some of those operate below the level of internet protocols and move encrypted Ethernet frames, so services like DHCP work. Only later did someone realize, “Hey, I could use this to sell a service that allows people to disguise where they are on the internet!”
Yarrow
@Yarrow: Here’s what’s going on in Poland at the UK visa application center:
BlueGuitarist
@Betty Cracker:
Yes!
Also this:
Ron Johnson (Russia, July 4) quoted yesterday: “repeal and replace Obamacare” and “have the plan ahead of time”
sdhays
@Soprano2: Yeah, the question isn’t “would you introduce legislation like this as a sponsor/co-sponsor”. The question is, “if/when your leadership tells you to vote for these policies and there’s an actual path for it to become law, will you vote for it”.
The answer is almost certainly “yes, I would”, regardless of what they say.
Yarrow
@satby: Congrats on your retirement. Seems like everyone I’ve ever encountered who has retired has said they’re busier in retirement than they ever were while working. You’re a super active, involved, interesting person. You’ll no doubt join those ranks.
OzarkHillbilly
I have read that shutting down a well is not so easy to do, it takes time and money. What is worse is that having shut it down, starting it back up is not only very expensive. it quite often is impossible. Oil companies hate shutting down productive wells.
debbie
@BlueGuitarist:
That is sad. His health’s not looking so good.
PST
@Betty Cracker: The other thing about “falsely” painting the GQP with Scott’s agenda (or Johnson’s latest idiocy) is that we can point to so many candidates who made moderate noises for an election and then went full RWNJ within days. Governor Youngkin is only the latest. We can truthfully point out that a denial means nothing to this crowd.
Soprano2
@Yarrow: It’s so, so dumb. As if oil producers would sell their oil in the U.S. for $50/barrel even if the price in other parts of the world was $100/barrel! People in general seem to have no idea that the market for oil is a worldwide market. These are people who constantly extol the wonders of the free market and “freedom”. I think they’re getting this stuff as much from Fox News and other right wing Web sites as from FB.
bjacques
@Gin & Tonic: Nice! I love old timber.
So that’s where Felix’s people came from. (The Man Who Fixed New York, ca. 1980)
Another Scott
@germy: Relatedly, …
EIA (from today):
Changing expectations, and burning the speculators, is a way to change the dynamics.
It looks like the total strategic US reserve is around 550-600 Mbbl at the moment.
In 2021, the US imported about 250,000 bbl from Russia. Around 700 barrels/day. Nothing for us.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Steve in the ATL:
Or change your passwords.
debbie
@Quiltingfool:
Beautiful!
stacib
@narya: I’m super sensitive about the cost of gas, and this morning, the station right off 290 at 25th has now raised their cost by .94 per gallon in the past two weeks – it’s now $4.70. I have a fairly decent job, and I’m not overly worried about not being able to get to work, but my goodness, there are going to be some folks having to make tough choices in these next few weeks if this keeps going. Gas or food – who would have ever thought???
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Glenn Youngkin softpedaled his positions on women’s reproductive freedom and gun safety during his election campaign last year. After he won, my 20/20 hinsight showed me that McAulliffe should have put up ads telling people that Youngkin intended to pass a Texas-style abortion law and permitless concealed carry. If Youngkin said, well, those are not really my position, McAuliffe could bave called on him to actually state his positions. As it was Youngkin got by with giving his base a wink and a nod without energizing his opposition
But my 20/20 hindsight also tells me that Terry McAuliffe was overconfident.
Searcher
Really, now? I wonder what could have dried up money for GOP fundraising.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Searcher:
I keep wondering why Butina wasn’t squeezed harder.
Also curious about what LaPierre knows.
Yarrow
@Soprano2: As I think Ozark said above, people believe what they’re inclined to believe.
Well, yes. Of course they are. And it’s not a one way street with rightwing propaganda. It’s an intentional moving up of information from questionable sites like the Chans, to places like InfoWars and up through others where it can be trustwashed out through Fox News and Facebook. Adam Silverman has written about this path quite a bit. It’s intentional and has been very effective.
If they are supporting Ukraine in this war then use “freedom” as a wedge in any conversations. Say things like, “Stopping Russian oil imports is doing our part in supporting Ukraine. Sure it might hurt a bit but it’s nothing like what the Ukrainians are going through. We all need to do our part.” Talk about “doing our part for Ukraine” and “Our efforts in supporting Ukraine.” Hell, even “Freedom isn’t free.” LOL. Don’t attack their “facts” because it rarely works. Go for their emotions – patriotism, supporting democracy, freedom, etc.
PST
@Cameron: Senator Voldemort is asking for the very opposite of a tax on the oligarchs. He is bummed because some people have incomes so low that they pay no income tax. Notwithstanding that they pay sales taxes, payroll taxes, and plenty of other taxes, he wants to ensure that every single person pays some federal income tax as well, so is pushing for a tax increase specifically on the poorest. That is so in character.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Oh, another thought – remember how Butina was Byrne’s lover, and how Byrne figured into the J6 plot?
Eunicecycle
@Quiltingfool: Beautiful! I can’t wait to see the finished quilt.
topclimber
On a net basis, US exported more oil than it imported in 2021. That was on target to change in 2022, but without Russian oil, who knows?
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack: Thanks! I’d been wondering about the timing of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as well.
mrmoshpotato
Yes to 1. No to 2.
Another Scott
@Steve in the ATL: Cisco is a big player in VPN.
As G&T says, you have to have something at the other end for your VPN to connect to. So, presumably, you’d buy a Cisco box and all of your remote laptops, etc., would connect to that box via Cisco’s AnyConnect VPN client.
It’s not something that you can generally** setup yourself by yourself. Your IT people should know what to do.
** – There are software VPNs that you see advertised on TV (e.g. Nord VPN), and Google has one, etc., but you’re creating an encrypted connection to their servers and not your own.
HTH a little.
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty Cracker
Was just reading a story in my crappy hometown newspaper about a local man — a widowed preacher — who met a woman in Ukraine online. The two developed a long-distance romance. She is also an ordained minister and has a (grown) disabled son.
The local man flew to Kyiv, and the couple married on 2/17. They say they had planned to do missionary work in Ukraine and Europe while getting US immigration for the wife and stepson sorted.
When the war broke out, they fled to Poland, and now they’re trying to figure out how to get to Florida:
God help them if they’re depending on Lil’ Marco. But I hope they make it to Crystal River soon to view the manatees and eat breakfast at a diner.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
a quick review by Jonathan Chait of trump’s anti-Ukrainian rhetoric going back to 2014, before he rode down the escalator, much less got it in his head that he could win
BlueGuitarist
@Cameron:
“modest tax increase” was AP’s description of the tax on *poor people* that Rick Scott proposed.
Since Scott didn’t specify what the tax would be, AP can’t know it would be “modest.”
While in the fine print Scott said “small,” what’s small to him isn’t small to non-millionaires.
Most people’s entire income is rounding error to him. For shrugging off $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare/health care fraud, Scott got $300 million plus $5 million in severance and $4.75 million in continuing consulting fees.
ETA PST got there first.
NotMax
Punting “You’re not the boss of me” to a whole new level (emphasis added).
ian
@Soprano2:
It’s like their love of family values, constitutional conservatism, or American Exceptionalism, only valid and legitimate if it serves conservative goals. If outcomes do not meet expectations the value system is to be discarded upon convenience.
Jackie
@Quiltingfool: That’s beautiful! And, what a wonderful idea!?
Gin & Tonic
@Yarrow:
So is the US.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Quiltingfool: Love the sunflower middle
CindyH
@Quiltingfool: So beautiful!
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: A Bloomberg opinion piece I posted last night (from March 2021) talks about how Crimea is a very expensive boat anchor (costing twice the annual education budget for the whole country). He probably figured making a land bridge would be easy, would get him accolades, would make the West cower, and would greatly reduce the costs. Win, win, win, baby!!1
Hubris coupled with desperation is a hell of a combination.
Cheers,
Scott.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Steeplejack:
Twitter links aren’t working on my phone for some reason but your quote matches what other sources I’ve read say
Soprano2
@OzarkHillbilly: I don’t know much about oil production. I assumed that when the price of oil cratered in 2020 companies shut off a lot of their production. Why pump it when you can leave it in the ground and wait for a higher price? So maybe they don’t actually shut them off, but slow them way down.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Betty Cracker:
My moronic evangelical sister in law face linked a piece about a pair of grifters, er “missionaries” who needed prayers and resources and had escaped Ukraine.
As I posted on the linked post, he looked young and healthy and should stay and fight, that the grift of engaging in Christian proselytizing to an overwhelmingly Christian country could be returned to in the future.
Hilarity followed.
NotMax
@satby
Hiuzzah! One distinct advantage to being single and retired is the utter lack of need to be a slave to the clock.
Baud
@satby:
You deserve it!
Yarrow
@Gin & Tonic: It is but surprisingly the UK is by far worse. If you’ve interacted with both there is no contest at all.
Another Scott
@Geminid: McAuliffe had all kinds of ads on just about every topic, including abortion and guns. He did almost nothing but talk about how his policies were good for Virginia and how Youngkin was an extremist in a fuzzy vest.
Too few voters on our side thought it was important to turn out.
But, as you know, it’s been that way for decades. Terry Mac was the first same-party (as President) governor to win election in Virginia in something like 50 years when he was elected the first time.
Cheers,
Scott.
Cameron
@PST: Florida really does produce some remarkable political specimens. Both US Senators, the guv – shoot, my US Rep (Buchanan) seems almost sane in comparison, and he’s a whole lot further right than I’d ever consider voting for.
Certainly shows my ignorance: before I moved here, I didn’t realize how wingnutty the state was. I guess that was because the folks I knew here weren’t wingnuts.
BlueGuitarist
love all y’all
Gin & Tonic
@Betty Cracker: Well, they’re going to have lots of time to learn to speak Polish. My DIL applied for her visa 932 days ago.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@satby:
Congrats! Enjoy retirement, you’ve more than earned it : )
Calouste
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, oil companies don’t shut down wells they want to use again later. They bring production from that well down to the lowest possible level that still keeps the flow going. Because if it isn’t moving, you end up with a lot of sediment at the bottom of a mile high column of fluid.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gin & Tonic:
@Yarrow:
Australia is pretty awful too from what I’ve read
OzarkHillbilly
You just read almost everything I know about oil production.
I remember that they were storing all their excess production all over the place in an attempt to avoid shutting down wells. They actually ran out of places to put it all and that is when they began decommissioning them.
I don’t recall for certain but I think that is either just not possible or presents a whole host of other problems. Maybe a geo-engineer will weigh in and enlighten us, telling me all the ways I am misremembering what I read.
eta and <a href=”#comment-8452101″>@Calouste</a>: has shown up to correct one thing I didn’t have quite right. Thanx Calouste.
OzarkHillbilly
@BlueGuitarist: Where did I go wrong??? ;-)
snoey
@Soprano2: Full production from most oil fields includes continuously drilling new wells – the old ones don’t last.
satby
@PST: @Yarrow: Thanks! I am looking forward to all the projects I have waiting, plus travel is opening up again. So is volunteering in person in a lot of places. ?
MisterDancer
@Steve in the ATL: As a former one of those IT guys who went on to pass the CISSP*, I agree this makes little sense on the face of it.
Without knowing more about what “you were hacked” means (which is important because there’s a dizzying array of ways in, and effects done, on everything from a single file to your entire PC) — a VPN basically keeps your ISP from knowing a lot (not everything) about your Internet habits. This can also mean that entities, like governments, that have access to your ISP’s logs or other ways to track your Internet activity can access, AND that web sites can be (mostly) “spoofed” on things like your (estimated) location, which is why systems like NetFlix are aggressive in blocking VPN access.
But these are privacy and identity issues, not directly about protection from breakins to your system. These don’t do very much, as others have said, to protect you from unauthorized access.
That’s a whole other situation, and much more complex. I am concerned someone is saying that a VPN protects you from hacks, when strong passwords/password managers, enabling Two Factor Auth, and so forth are far more critical processes for that protection.
I need to step away, yet I would urge you to closely question the IT person providing you this VPN advice on how they expect this will provide you protection against the specific kind of hack you experienced.
* CISSP is the big-time security certification, focused on but not limited to computer security.
OzarkHillbilly
This is pretty cool: Gassenhauer (Street song – Badlands) – Schulwerk Carl Orff – Gad’s Hill School Ensemble but I have to wonder what is up with the kids in camo? Are they supposed to blend in with the woodwork?
Calouste
The EU thinks they can cut their dependence on Russian gas by two thirds by the end of the year. That would hurt the Russian finances badly, because they can’t that easily sell that somewhere else.
different-church-lady
Day four after my maskless cocktail: still not dead.
different-church-lady
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: From what I hear she was squeezed by plenty of guys.
Baud
@different-church-lady:
?
Geminid
@Another Scott: McAuliffe’s loss wasn’t inevitable. I think he would have won that race with a better campaign. The friends I’ve asked thought he was complacent.
Those judgements were made after the fact so they may have been biased. I’m hoping for a good account of McAuliffe’s campaign, but everyone wants to move on and there might not be interest.
Chief Oshkosh
@Soprano2:
All of “supply-side” economics is an exercise in forgetting everything ever known or espoused about markets.
Brachiator
Unpossible. It seems as though just last week, pundits were telling us that the listless Democrats were going to be swept away by the GOP.
I welcome this new reporting, but am not going to assume that easy victory for Democrats is a done deal. Voters can be fickle.
Spanky
There’s a WaPo opinion piece with the brilliant observation in the title
No doubt some clever insights I haven’t thought of, but that title is so insipid that I ain’t clicking.
Spanky
@Spanky: Oooh! Oooh! There’s a Guest Opinion piece titled
Authored by somebody named “James B. Comey”. Again, not cicking.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The half ass Russian war plan with features like “1) kill Zelenskyy 2) Compel Zelenskyy to sign treaty with Russia” has all the signs of something tossed up to the boss with the expectation it would be quickly forgotten about and not actually implemented.
Ohio Mom
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Twitter isn’t working right for me either. It’s happened before, they’ll fix it.
Yarrow
Biden is doing his announcement about banning Russian oil.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Brachiator: I want to believe the Democrats aren’t going to be slaughtered. That makes me skeptical of stories that tell me that they won’t be
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m out of town staying with me friend who used to be an FBI agent. Friend just opined that Comey needs to shut up
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So say we all.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: ? to your friend
and thanks NotMax, Baud, and Goku for the kind thoughts.
different-church-lady
@Brachiator: The show runners think the audience is bored with the GOP victory is inevitable plotline, need to do something to juice the tension.
Jay
@PST:
I was watching a CBC “Still Standing” episode, a light humour show about struggling small towns in Canada. It was a small town in New Brunswick. Once, they were a train hub, to the point that the CPR built the railway station as a “chateau” , in their style, stone and timber, with several restaurants and a hotel on top. If you were travelling from New York to Montreal back in the day, you had to at least, spend the night.
They showed some externals of the restored station on the show, and I realized, that back in the late 70’s, my Dad had “dragged us there”, when the station was boarded up, so he could take dozens of photo’s of the building and the remaining yards.
Trainiac’s are trainiac’s.
Brachiator
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yeah, I know what you mean. This stuff is like reading tea leaves.
frosty
@Yarrow: I’m not busier in retirement unless obsessively refreshing B-J all morning counts as busy.
My plan to declutter the house is two years behind schedule LOL.
Mart
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): National average gas prices are a few cents higher than 2008, without including inflation.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@NotMax: So, Gov. Kristi Noem, the Angel of Death (angle of death?) of the Midwest, is now some Woke Libertard who must be POWNed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@frosty:
oh, thank god, I thought I was the only one whose pandemic project dragged on to the endemic
Brachiator
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
This sounds like the premise for an action comedy.
Brooklyn Dodger
@satby: Congrats! Take walks in the fresh air at your own pace and enjoy, you deserve your time. I will miss your wonderful shop though and will make a run before you go ;-}
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: In 2018 Kristi Noehm beat Democrat Billie Sutton by 11,500 votes out of 339,000 votes cast. South Dakota is now reliably red in federal contests, but Noehm’s reelection this fall is not certain.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
Amazing craftsmanship — hope it survives one more war! Thanks for sharing.
Geminid
Another instance of Republican disarray: Florida Governor DeSantis threatened to veto the Republican legislatures gerrymander of Congresional and state legislative districts, said it did not go far enough. The legislature passed the map anyway. If DeSantis backs up his brag, redistricting could end up in the courts, who might impose a map more favorable to Democrats than either the legislature’s or DeSantis’ plans. As it is, Florida is one of only four states without a new redistricting map.
Brachiator
@Gin & Tonic:
RE: The UK is appalling with immigration issues. Absolutely appalling.
The UK is still in the grips of BREXIT. This has been worse than “build the wall.” And Conservative MPs have been especially cruel and clueless.
One MP declared that his comfortable little constituency had done more than its fair share with respect to immigrants, which meant “we have never taken any in and don’t want any.”
Another MP suggested that refugees might be welcome if they were willing to take jobs picking fruit, to make up for the immigrant labor that has been excluded since BREXIT became established.
Most conservative MPs refuse to distinguish between immigrants in general and refugees fleeing war and oppression.
They insist that the UK simply cannot take any more people into the country. The additional weight would cause the UK to sink into the sea.
Oligarchs with tons of money are, of course, welcomed with open arms.
john b
I know this is from hours ago now, but this has been such an unmitigated good from the pandemic. Eliminating the barrier / stigma to ensuring kids get fed at school is such a cheap way to improve / simplify the lives of kids and families.
catclub
It made him so untouchable he couldn’t get elected dogcatcher. But senator?
Kelly
@PST: A Guy Clark train song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gThniTfbIyM&ab_channel=MinorWilson
catclub
Will there be a Canadian girlfriend who can never visit?
catclub
I think Biden should put it this way: “Reducing oil supply by sanctions will probably lead to higher gas prices. I acceded to the request of these GOP senators, who understand that shared sacrifice is necessary in the struggle for Ukraine. “
PST
@Kelly: Thanks, never heard it before.
PST
@Jay: And dads are dads. It’s fun to have memories of odd things our fathers dragged us to see.
O. Felix Culpa
@Dorothy A. Winsor: So say we all.
ETA: I see that I’m aligned with Great Mind Baud.
Matt
Shorter Moscow Mitch: “Publicly stating what we plan to do is an unforced error; we prefer to keep it a secret and jingle these keys labeled ‘CRT’ and ‘DEFUND’ in front of our voters”
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Fascinating, so how many citizens does a Republican have to murder to get some love in a Red State? I would think highest deaths per capita would give Noehm that MAGA swagger,
Maybe Noehm will eat a live bat on TV during the election to get that edge.
Soprano2
@Geminid: MO is another one. The 6-2 Rep/Dem map the less crazy R’s want isn’t crazy enough for the craziest R’s; they want a 7-1 map that does away with a majority black district in KC and would most certainly end up in court. They quit working on it a couple of weeks ago to do something else; I don’t know how it’s going to end up. Whatever happens we’ll probably have an R for our rep for the foreseeable future.
Matt McIrvin
@Cameron: There was a time in the recent past when Florida was a swing state and Democrats were competitive there.
It was a key get for Republicans because it’s so large. I think some of what they’re doing now is to make the state intolerable for Democratic constituencies so enough of them get driven out to cement Republican dominance.
trollhattan
@topclimber:
Being a super-expert (not) on the petroleum industrah, I will nevertheless observe that marginal wells nearing the end of their production lives suddenly get new life when the price jets above $100/bbl. IOW US production will jump while there are profits to be harvested. Will it also affect no/no go decisions on developing new wells and fields? Guessing yes, if the stratospheric prices continue over the next few months. Big time lag though, before production from new wells enters the market.
I know nothing at all about what type of oil Russia produces and what refineries use it and products come from it. That bitumen crap from the Canada tar sands can’t replace light sweet crude, to use an obvious example.
artem1s
@catclub:
Another way to brand it might be that while shutting off Russian oil in the short term will mean higher prices at the pump, in the long term it’s one more step towards ending dependency on foreign energy sources, especially fossil fuels. The more than US citizens find alternatives to gasoline to power their transportation, the less terrorist states will be able to upset our economy and hold the US foreign policy hostage.
trollhattan
@artem1s:
This is gonna goose electric car sales. Which is excellent.
Geminid
@trollhattan: Electric cars, and hybrids too.
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: It’s a red state, but Independents don’t always vote Republican. She probably needs some of them to edge out a Democrat. Noehm’s obvious national ambitions could hurt her. Some Republicans might be thrilled, but Independents may think she’s using them as stepping stones.
State elections seem to have a somewhat different dynamic than federal ones.
sdhays
@Geminid: Too bad there’s a shortage of them too.
Geminid
@sdhays: We will get beyond the chip shortage that happened on TRUMP’S WATCH!
Marc
Indeed, my dad used to drag me to airshows, I still have a picture somewhere of my 4 or 5 yo self, standing next to the nosewheel of a B-29 (or perhaps B-50) of which a few were still operational circa 1960. He’d also drag the whole family to sports car races, we’d all pile into his two seat Alfa Romeo Spyder. Dad in the driver’s seat, mom with kid sister on her lap belted into the passenger seat, my seat was on the transmission tunnel, with both parent’s arms ready to swing out for protection in the event of a sudden stop.
I live in Oakland, a few miles away (in Jack London Square) the UP/BNSF main line between southern California and Washington state runs down the center of the street for a few blocks. There’s continuous train traffic, including the Amtrak Coast Starlight, commuter trains to/from Sacramento, and mile long double stack container trains. On weekends, it’s not uncommon the run into groups of camera-equipped railfans (the more pejorative term is “foamers”). I admit to being a bit of one myself. Strangest train I’ve seen there consisted of a repeating sequence of cars carrying large objects shrink-wrapped in white plastic. First, a flat car with a bus-sized box and a large teacup like object, followed by three pairs of open cars with sides, but no tops or ends, each pair containing a long tapered object. I eventually figured out these were huge wind turbines heading somewhere up north.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Geminid: I suppose it’s one of those “Her policies killed my brother, but by god my taxes didn’t go up!” kind of situation. I gather The Sioux loathe her, they enough to make a difference in the state election?
Geminid
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I’m not sure the Sioux constitute as much as 5% of the state’s population. The state is otherwise almost all “white.” But only 11,500 hundred fewer voters voted for the Democrat as for Noehm in 2018. She’s been in the news some in a bad way. Her misuse of the state airplane got a lot of attention, as well as her browbeating of licensing officials who denied her daughter an appraiser’s license. A good Democratic candidate could knock her off.
Miss Bee
@Geminid: Plus, she’s a woman. IOW, not one of the guys.