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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / (Temporary) Wednesday Morning Open Thread

(Temporary) Wednesday Morning Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  March 9, 20228:35 am| 114 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Or maybe not temporary, depending on whether Anne Laurie is working on a morning post, in which event I hope she squishes this one! But in case she’s busy, I’ll share the best news story I’ve seen so far today:

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance found – in pictures https://t.co/87Xv9Mok9h

— Betty Cracker ? (@bettycrackerfl) March 9, 2022

As those who’ve read about the Shackleton expedition know, the ship was crushed by ice and sank in 1915, stranding its 28-man crew.

The crew made their way to uninhabited islands in lifeboats. A smaller party set out on an epic open water journey to find help, which they did, and the entire crew was eventually rescued. The ship’s stern pictured above looks remarkably intact!

In local good news, I can report that my hummingbirds have returned. Other than that, I’ve got nothing.

ETA: Hummy pic!

(Temporary) Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    WereBear

    March 9, 2022 at 8:41 am

    I live in the mountains and no matter what the winter brings, I think of Shackleton and I suck it up.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 9, 2022 at 8:41 am

    Was just starting to read the story of Shackleton’s ship. Yes, it looks remarkably well-preserved.

    And yay for hummingbirds. I’m moving to a house before the end of the month and will be able to install a variety of things to attract birds, including hummy feeders. Already picturing myself sitting on the deck enjoying the first coffee of the day, watching the birds eating and sipping and splashing.

  3. 3.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 9, 2022 at 8:46 am

    Caroline Alexander’s book really brought Shackelton into the popular consciousness. It’s based on Alfred Lansing’s book:
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IC8VF10/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
    Both are great reads.

    Alexander also did a shorter book on the ship’s cat which is a fantastic read:
    https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Chippys-Last-Expedition-Shackletons/dp/0060932619
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_McNish#/media/File:Mrschippy2.png

    McNish’s grave is also a memorial to Mrs Chippy:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_McNish#/media/File:Harry_McNeish_Gravestone_cat.jpg

    Shackelton is buried on South Georgia, would love to go there someday:
    https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/to-do/experiences/shackleton-s-grave

  4. 4.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 8:48 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:  You will be watching hummingbirds attacking and terrorizing each other, more likely. They may be small, but they are huge assholes.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 8:49 am

    The definitive Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyageby Alfred Lansing

    The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age.

    In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization.

    In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton’s fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.

    I read this book decades ago. It is still on my shelf and from time to time I’ll pick it up and read bits just to remind myself what real cold is.

  6. 6.

    HinTN

    March 9, 2022 at 8:54 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    watching the birds eating and sipping and splashing

    … and fighting aerial duels!

    ETA – Plant some blue sage and red honeysuckle

    ETA (2) – I see G&T got there first.

  7. 7.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    March 9, 2022 at 8:54 am

    From a leadership perspective, there’s so much to learn and suss out from Sir Earnest’s experience.

    And that’s after you get past the Terminator-esque obstacles that just kept coming and coming.  One thing that often gets overlooked is the trek over the mountain range on South Georgia.  That alone is worth a movie.

    Also too, the fact they managed to even get ashore on Elephant Island was no mean feat.  And get off eventually.  Tours there today don’t guarantee you can set foot on the island because most of the time the seas are too rough to land.

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2022 at 8:56 am

    OMG THEY FOUND IT!

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 8:56 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Our country hummingbirds are much more shareful after the first week or 2. Once the number gets up to 15 or so, the assholes just give up. Assuming my neighbor keeps her feeders full, I’ll have 30-40 buzzing around. If she lets hers get empty I’ll get 50-60, or more.

    Mine are never empty for very long. If I’m inside, they’ll come to my window to tell me I need to get off my ass. If I’m outside I’ll get repeatedly buzzed until I take care of them.

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2022 at 8:56 am

    The Kenneth Branagh mini-series is just AMAZING – highly recommended!

  11. 11.

    Jean

    March 9, 2022 at 8:57 am

    The first I heard of the Endurance was the long narrative poem, Endurance: An Antarctic Idyll by Donald Finkel.   I’ll never forget it.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 8:58 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: One thing that often gets overlooked is the trek over the mountain range on South Georgia. That alone is worth a movie.

    Oh yeah.

  13. 13.

    satby

    March 9, 2022 at 8:58 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: it’s a wonderful way to spend your time! Congrats on the new house.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2022 at 8:59 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Just a few bad apples.//

    I adore hummingbirds anyway.  Magical little beings.

  15. 15.

    HinTN

    March 9, 2022 at 9:03 am

    @WaterGirl: LOL – girl, you just ain’t seen the aggressive side of them little fuckers. We don’t keep feeders because ants, etc., but they seem far more prone to fight over feeders than flowers.

    Trumpet vine (aka Cow Itch vine) is also a great attraction for them.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 9:04 am

    @Jean: ​I have that on my shelf too. It’s paired with his piece on caving in the Mammoth/Flint Ridge system, “Going Under”. A fellow caver gifted it to me decades ago.

  17. 17.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    March 9, 2022 at 9:05 am

    I always figured that the helm would face the bow, but that is sure in hell the stern. Trying to imagine what the misery of navigating those waters in that tiny thing was like.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    the scenes of this (the journey over the mountains) in that Branagh mini-series I mentioned above are just astounding.

    The whole series shows how both Shackleton’s small group and the rest of the men left on Elephant Island really were at the end of their respective ropes by the time that Shackleton reached the whaling station and by the time he got back to Elephant Island for the rest.

  19. 19.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    March 9, 2022 at 9:08 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

     

    Speaking of assholes, once we got some feeders after cutting down a bunch of trees, we realized that the squirrels were devouring everything and keeping the birds off.  I got some cone shaped baffles from Amazon, and that appears to have worked like a charm for now.

  20. 20.

    Wvng

    March 9, 2022 at 9:14 am

    @WaterGirl: I often find myself at the feeder yelling at the little assholes “Just share, damnit!!!!”

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    March 9, 2022 at 9:15 am

    Wow! That is amazing news. Huge admiration for Shackelton and his crew.

  22. 22.

    brendancalling

    March 9, 2022 at 9:16 am

    Barely related to the topic, but after 2 years here in the frozen tundra of Vermont, I have about 2.5 months left. I should have my teaching license in hand, and be ready to start work in Philly, Camden, or Nashville.

    Very excited about this. I’m tired of being half-frozen all the time.

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 9:17 am

    Kyiv at war:

    Happening now in Maidan Square, a concert by the Kyiv Classic Symphony Orchestra pic.twitter.com/zV6O5649bJ
    — Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) March 9, 2022

  24. 24.

    Yarrow

    March 9, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @Wvng:  No kidding! As a human watching them it’s baffling why they don’t share the feeder. There are several “flowers” so more than one hummingbird could easily drink at the same time. But NO! They’d rather drink, fly to a nearby branch and keep watch for any other hummingbird that might try to drink some nectar and fight them off if necessary.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 9, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @satby:

    Thanks! I’m only renting, so there are things I can’t do, but I do have the owner’s permission to install a birdbath, bird feeders, and a bat house!

  26. 26.

    CaseyL

    March 9, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @brendancalling: If you ask my Aunt, who lives in Philly, it’s half frozen half the year there, too!

    Funny thing:  My Aunt, who hates the cold, lives in Philly.  My Mom, who hates the heat, lives in Florida.  I’ve suggested many times over the years that they trade houses :)

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @Jeffro: I never got to see it. On your recommendation I’m looking for it to buy.

  28. 28.

    Jeffro

    March 9, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @brendancalling: come teach in Virginia!  You’ll hardly ever freeze here.  (no comment about the hot humid summers)

  29. 29.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 9:24 am

    @Jeffro: OMG THEY FOUND IT!

    AND ACTIVATED THE CURSE!!!

  30. 30.

    Betty

    March 9, 2022 at 9:25 am

    @HinTN: An interesting article in Nature explains the theory that the male and female hummingbirds in Dominica developed different beaks because the females were forced to go higher up to less accessible plants to feed. So that sounds pretty aggressive.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2022 at 9:25 am

    @HinTN: I have seen a few squabbles over the years, but they don’t fight much at my house or at my sisters.  ?‍♀️

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 9:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Putin definitely fucked up.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2022 at 9:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic: The people of Ukraine have so much heart and love for their country that is (thankfully) nothing like the faux love of country we see a lot in the US.

    It’s inspirational.  If they can fight for their freedom and democracy even in the face of bombs and blood and the awfulness of war, I would like to think that folks on our side can fight like hell for our own democracy over the next 7 months until November, and beyond.

    We can’t help any other countries if our democracy turns into an authoritarian government.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 9:29 am

    @Yarrow: In the wild a flower might produce a drop or two of nectar, so it makes sense that a hummingbird would be protective of a good patch. They don’t have the intelligence to understand that the feeder has a thousand times as much nectar and all can share.

    Though I guess based on our sample size of one, intelligence doesn’t necessarily provide that understanding.

  35. 35.

    burnspbesq

    March 9, 2022 at 9:33 am

    Good news:

    ”A Texas State Bar complaint is moving forward, accusing Attorney General Ken Paxton of professional misconduct when he sued to overturn 2020 presidential election results in four battleground states.”

    More good news:

    “In a separate move, the State Bar of Texas has filed a disciplinary action against Sidney Powell of Dallas, an attorney for former President Donald Trump. The March 1 filing in Dallas County accuses Powell of misconduct for filing a lawsuit speculating that fraud was committed in the 2020 presidential election.”

    https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/08/state-bar-paxton-complaint/

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    March 9, 2022 at 9:35 am

    Fresh hummingbird photo added to the post. I’m so excited about their return! I miss them when they migrate. Thought I heard one the other day when I went out to get the mail, but I did not see it. I put the feeders up this weekend.

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    March 9, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s really scary when you start doing the math.  When I had my feeders up, I figured I would need to refill with about 2 quarts of nectar per day.  That’s enough to provide the full calorie requirements for 500 hummingbirds! I have no idea how that many birds can find the feeders.  Given typical territory sizes, that would mean they’re flying for up to a mile to visit.

  38. 38.

    Betty

    March 9, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @burnspbesq: Would he be able to serve as Attorney General if he is disbarred? I realize they could use lesser sanctions.

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @CaseyL: Some years back I was on a (ski) chairlift in New Zealand, talking to the woman seated next to me. She was retired, from the Philly area, but didn’t like the heat. So she spent basically May through October in Queenstown, and the colder months in her Philadelphia suburb (don’t recall which one.)

  40. 40.

    Yarrow

    March 9, 2022 at 9:35 am

    @Ken:  I think different species of hummingbirds may behave differently as well. In a Central American country I saw a hummingbird feeder with about six birds on it at the same time. Really vivid colors as well – blue, yellow and so forth. Very different from what I see in my area.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    March 9, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: That is awesome.

  42. 42.

    brendancalling

    March 9, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @CaseyL: Philly gets cold—I lived there for 16 years—but it is NOTHING like what goes on here. We’re talking weeks of sub-zero temperatures—not subfreezing, which is tolerable, sub-zero. As in -10, -20, -40 (where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet up). Weeks without sun.

    Summer is glorious, but that’s only ~3 months.

  43. 43.

    Betty

    March 9, 2022 at 9:38 am

    @Yarrow: There may be lots of natural food for them in Central America so not as urgent a need to fight for food. Just a thought.

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    March 9, 2022 at 9:40 am

    @Betty:

    Unclear, but it would at least be awkward.

  45. 45.

    catclub

    March 9, 2022 at 9:41 am

    remember when somebody said that no two nations that both have McDonald’s franchises have gone to war since WW2?  It is happening: 

    McDonald’s, Starbucks and Coca-Cola leave Russia

    ​
     

  46. 46.

    catclub

    March 9, 2022 at 9:42 am

    As to hummingbirds, I tried to set out at least two feeders, on opposite sides of the house, so the asshole hummer that tried to dominate both could not mind them both.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    March 9, 2022 at 9:43 am

    @burnspbesq:

    ?

  48. 48.

    Wag

    March 9, 2022 at 9:44 am

    Shackleton was a total badass.  His men as well.  Such an inspiring story.

     

    Still too cold for hummers here in Colorado, but hopefully soon.  I’m always surprised by how tough the little guys are.  I cannot imagine flying across the Gulf of Mexico non-stop and without a lunch break, but birds, including hummers do it all the time.  Might explain why the guy in Betty’s photo looks a little disheveled.

    If you’re into birds, I strongly recommend The Big Year, a nonfiction book about birders traveling the US to spot as many species as possible in a single year.  The book was made into a charming movie with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black.

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    March 9, 2022 at 9:45 am

    There are several good series or documentaries about the Shackleton expedition.

    One thing which will remain cloaked in mystery is what the ship’s carpenter (without whom the perilous post-sinking ocean crossing would have been doomed) did to so piss Shackleton off. To the point that upon the crew’s return to England Shackleton insisted the carpenter not receive the medal awarded everyone else.

    (If looking for something in a similar vein but more contemporary, recommend Arctic, currently streaming on Hulu and Kanopy.)

  50. 50.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 9:47 am

    @WaterGirl: There’s a street that runs behind that pale gray building that’s sort of behind and to the right of the musicians in that opening shot. My son lived about a block and a half down that street.

  51. 51.

    Low Key Swagger

    March 9, 2022 at 9:49 am

    As i said…big damn Hummie.

  52. 52.

    rikyrah

    March 9, 2022 at 9:50 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  53. 53.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 9:51 am

    @burnspbesq: Unclear, but it would at least be awkward.

    That’s what they said about those bribery charges, but he was completely exonerated by the investigation conducted by his office.

  54. 54.

    debbie

    March 9, 2022 at 9:51 am

    I just listened to a BBC interview with Maria Butina. As real_dick nixon would say, My god. Russia is only interested in a free, fair election of a new Ukrainian government. It’s the Ukrainians who are bombing Ukrainians.

  55. 55.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @NotMax: One thing which will remain cloaked in mystery is what the ship’s carpenter did to so piss Shackleton off.

    Insubordination, in the form of: “Wot the hell d’you mean, ‘we can eat the carpenter’? Piss off you bloody great git.”

  56. 56.

    Betty Cracker

    March 9, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @Wag: We saw that movie a couple of years ago and were astonished at all the big-time actors involved! We speculated there must be a really powerful producer who’s an avid birdwatcher.

    The hummy in my photo might look disheveled because the humidity is through the roof today. It always wrecks my ‘do. :)

  57. 57.

    Yarrow

    March 9, 2022 at 9:52 am

    @Betty:  Maybe. In my area people plant tons of hummingbird friendly plants, which the birds also enjoy. It’s not like they’re short of food. But boy do they guard those feeders!

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 9:54 am

    @Roger Moore: I put up 4 large feeders (1 qt plus) and can go thru 4 litres every other day. It can get a little expensive but the entertainment is worth it.

  59. 59.

    columbusqueen

    March 9, 2022 at 9:57 am

    @catclub: There’s a reason the Aztec god of war was a hummingbird.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2022 at 9:57 am

    @debbie: Why is anyone talking to Maria Butina?

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 9:57 am

    @burnspbesq: He’d just pull a Rand Paul and start his own personal Bar, then certify himself.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    March 9, 2022 at 9:59 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 10:00 am

    @NotMax: He did what any good union carpenter would in his situation: He went on strike for higher wages and better working conditions.

  64. 64.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    March 9, 2022 at 10:01 am

    @debbie:

    Lets remember that the NRA was into Butina up to her ovaries while throwing bushels of money at the GOP in the aftermath of Citizens United.  Let’s also not forget that not only was Butina boning GOP candidates big and small while dating Trump megadonor Patrick Byrne, that she was doing it in conjunction with being handled by Putin cronies both in and out of the Russian government.  Also, don’t forget that Byrne was one of the moving voices and forces behind the J6 insurrection, and had private access to Trump.

    Sure would have been nice to have those NSA programs running from 2013-2016 – you know, the ones that Snowjob got shut down or compromised.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2022 at 10:02 am

    The Endurance find is amazing. While they knew with a sailor’s navigation precision the position, being both under ice and water deep enough to call hella, the challenges were vast.

    Heard an interview with from a sciencey guy that in addition to the preservative nature of very cold water, because Antarctica has had no trees for many millions of years, bacteria and creatures that would ordinarily attack and decay wood are not present in those waters, so the ship is truly frozen in time. This will make for amazing documentaries in due course.

  66. 66.

    stinger

    March 9, 2022 at 10:03 am

    Hello, hummy! Hello, tomato cage! It will be about 3 months before I see either of those in my garden.

  67. 67.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2022 at 10:03 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: My hope is that all these Repub/Russia connections will now be dragged into the open and PEOPLE WILL PAY ATTENTION for a change, since they’ve all of a sudden noticed that there are some countries east of Austria.

  68. 68.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 10:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Ah, the old itemized bill:

    • Replacing one plank to keep the ship from sinking…. 1s6d
    • Knowing how to replace one plank….. £100
  69. 69.

    trollhattan

    March 9, 2022 at 10:03 am

    @burnspbesq: Considering how Texas selects its judges, this is quite the rebuke for Paxton. Bless his heart.

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 10:05 am

    @Ken: Those charges are still pending according to Wiki and what I’ve read elsewhere.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    March 9, 2022 at 10:05 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Hell, I’d do that if I could!  Seattle from May to September; the other half of the year… elsewhere.  It’s not the cold I mind – though I realize our cold is nothing like New England cold – it’s the dark, so Southern Hemisphere here I come (if I could).

    @brendancalling:  I imagine, if you live there long enough, you become a connoisseur of cold and can tell the difference between -10, -20, and -40 (based on when you need to keep an electric blanket on the car engine?).  To me, once you hit zero, there’s not much point in tracking further: just stay the hell inside until the thaw.

    Are the summer flies as bad in Vermont as they seem to be in Maine?

  72. 72.

    Baud

    March 9, 2022 at 10:06 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Traditional propaganda channels have been cut off.

  73. 73.

    debbie

    March 9, 2022 at 10:06 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Apparently, she can worm her way into anywhere.

  74. 74.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 10:10 am

    @zhena gogolia: Not just anyone, the BBC; the voice of the UK’s political establishment, and completely dominated by the Conservative party (according to Tony Jay and other valued commenters). Draw what conclusions you wish.

  75. 75.

    Kent

    March 9, 2022 at 10:12 am

    @brendancalling:

    Barely related to the topic, but after 2 years here in the frozen tundra of Vermont, I have about 2.5 months left. I should have my teaching license in hand, and be ready to start work in Philly, Camden, or Nashville.

    Very excited about this. I’m tired of being half-frozen all the time.

    Teacher here.  Having previously taught in TX and now in WA, my advice is do what you can to continue your teaching career in a blue state.  Teaching is hard enough without dealing with a hostile state government and legislature and populace.  At least move somewhere where your government supports you rather than undermining your job and career.

    If you were in the private sector it might be different.  But public sector jobs in a red state are a recipe for long-term frustration on a lot of levels from wages and pensions to general support for public ed.

  76. 76.

    Kent

    March 9, 2022 at 10:18 am

    For a similar story of survival, Netflix has a new movie called Against the Ice which is apparently based on a true story of two Danish explorers stranded in Greenland in 1910 so same time frame as Shackleton:  https://www.netflix.com/title/81115160

  77. 77.

    oatler

    March 9, 2022 at 10:23 am

    2021 Amazon review:

    “When patriot Mike rescues feminist Ricki from a post-Trump rally riot, the clash of opposites sets off sparks between them. But the gentleman giant refuses to leave the side of the spunky half-pint until he and his pickup truck deliver her home, safe and sound.

    “Ricki attends the rally to scoop the racism of the Trump crowd in a blog post. But she’s forced to spin a false narrative when her mistaken assumptions fail to materialize.

    “When Ricki’s lies get Mike doxxed, and his construction worksite becomes the target of anti-fascist thugs, his righteous anger forces her to reckon with the truth.”

    cover sez “Ladies First” “a   MAGA hat Romance Book ONE”

  78. 78.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 10:23 am

    @debbie: There *was* a free and fair election of a new government in 2019. That’s the last thing Putin wants to see, because Russians can ask “hey, if the Ukrainians can have a free election in which the incumbent loses and steps down, what are we, chopped liver?”

    Ukraine has had five different Presidents in the time Russia has had one (no, I don’t count Medvedev.)

  79. 79.

    delk

    March 9, 2022 at 10:23 am

    Hahaha… MAGA romance novel

  80. 80.

    UncleEbeneezer

    March 9, 2022 at 10:25 am

    @NotMax: Also the first season of The Terror.

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    March 9, 2022 at 10:26 am

    @Baud: Netrebko can’t sing but Butina can get interviewed by the BBC. (Not that I’m sorry about Netrebko, but she’s probably less malignant than Butina.)

  82. 82.

    cope

    March 9, 2022 at 10:26 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: We go through a lot too though I suspect our cheap feeders leak. We buy cheap ones because they will ultimately be destroyed by bears and I’m too old and creaky to bring them in every night as I should.

    Also make our own 1:4 sugar water solution though I cut back on the sugar when the bees get too overwhelming.

  83. 83.

    OGLiberal

    March 9, 2022 at 10:26 am

    Great Song:  https://youtu.be/9duLB3mG6G8

  84. 84.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 10:29 am

    Another good book of Antarctic survival is “The Worst Journey in the World.”

    The Worst Journey in the World is a 1922 memoir by Apsley Cherry-Garrard of Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole in 1910–1913. It has earned wide praise for its frank treatment of the difficulties of the expedition, the causes of its disastrous outcome, and the meaning of human suffering under extreme conditions.

    In 1910, Cherry-Garrard and his fellow explorers travelled by sailing vessel, the Terra Nova, from Cardiff to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. “Cherry” was teased at first by some of the other members of this expedition because of his lack of Antarctic experience, his lack of specialised credentials for the position of assistant zoologist to which he had been named, and persistent suspicions among some of his comrades that he had in fact bought his way on board by contributing £1,000 to the expedition’s troubled funds.[1]

    Cherry-Garrard responded to these taunts with modesty, a self-sacrificial ability to work hard, and acute observational skills. He was also, according to novelist, biographer, and socialite Nancy Mitford, the only intellectual amongst the crew.[2] These traits were to serve him well when it came time for him to write down his memories of the expedition. They also caught the eye of the expedition’s second-in-command, Edward A. Wilson, who adopted Cherry-Garrard as a protégé.[3]

    Wilson’s personal goal in Antarctica was to recover eggs of the Emperor penguin for scientific study.[4] It was thought at the time that the flightless penguin might shed light on an evolutionary link between reptiles and birds through its embryo.[5] As the bird nests during the Antarctic winter, it was necessary to mount a special expedition in July 1911, from the expedition’s base at Cape Evans, to the penguins’ rookery at Cape Crozier. Wilson chose Cherry-Garrard to accompany him and Henry R. Bowers across the Ross Ice Shelf under conditions of complete darkness and temperatures of −40 °C (−40 °F) and below. All three men, barely alive, returned from Cape Crozier with their egg specimens, which were stored.[6]

    It was this winter journey, not the later expedition to the South Pole, that Cherry-Garrard described as the “worst journey in the world”.[7

    .

  85. 85.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 10:33 am

    @cope: I make our nectar too. The bears around here aren’t interested in the feeders, which surprises the hell out of me. I watched one wander thru our yard once and she barely sniffed at them. The whole time I was thinking, “There go the feeders.”

  86. 86.

    Wag

    March 9, 2022 at 10:34 am

    @Betty Cracker:   I would recommend reading the book as well.  Fun read, and tons of excellent bird trivia.

  87. 87.

    Kalakal

    March 9, 2022 at 10:35 am

    Shackleton’s long been a hero to me. I’m amazed by how well preserved Endurance is. Lansings book is a must read as is viewing Frank Hurley’s wonderful photographs. I really enjoyed the Branagh mini series as well.

    For me the best book ever written about Antarctic travel, and possibly the best travel book ever written, is The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard who was a member of Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. It is truly incredible and I was left in awe at what humans can do and survive in the most extreme circumstances as well as the modesty and humility of those truly brave people

  88. 88.

    burnspbesq

    March 9, 2022 at 10:41 am

    @Ken:

    FBI investigation is ongoing, and there is at least three years before the statute of limitations runs out.

  89. 89.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 10:42 am

    @Kalakal: Nah Nah nanah nah. Beat you to it.

  90. 90.

    Kalakal

    March 9, 2022 at 10:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Curses! Foiled again!

  91. 91.

    Ken

    March 9, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @burnspbesq: But he’s been cleared. The report said so. Would the Attorney General have signed off on the report, if it weren’t accurate?

  92. 92.

    Porky Pine

    March 9, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @UncleEbeneezer: I second your recommendation of The Terror, season 1.  It tells the story of the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin in the 1840s, searching for a northwest passage. The effects are a bit hokey, but a good cast (Jared Harris, Ciaran Hinds, etc.). The story is more fiction than fact, since the entire expedition was lost, and only scant records were found.

    Within the past few years, both ships of the expedition, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, have been located. Alas, the retreating polar ice contributed to the discovery, but it’s all the more amazing given that there were very few clues as to where the ships were lost.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    March 9, 2022 at 10:55 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Where is this . . . Austria of which you speak?

  94. 94.

    debbie

    March 9, 2022 at 10:57 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I know there was. It was more her bald-faced lying that was shocking. The interviewer challenged her, but she moved on to some other lie. She is very, very slick.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    March 9, 2022 at 10:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Since 2015! Not that anyone here needs me to do the math, but that’s seven goddamn years. It makes me despair (again) of our two-track justice system.

  96. 96.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 9, 2022 at 11:00 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It’s paired with his piece on caving in the Mammoth/Flint Ridge system, “Going Under”. A fellow caver gifted it to me decades ago.

    I don’t have that, but I do have Brucker and Watson’s “The Longest Cave,” their account of the exploration of the Flint Ridge system (and the various connections that took it from being seemingly multiple caves to a single system) and the connection to Mammoth Cave.

  97. 97.

    oatler

    March 9, 2022 at 11:00 am

    @delk:That was source. I stopped linking directly to that site because I suspected it was messing with peoples’ browsers or dumping adware on them.

  98. 98.

    Just One More Canuck

    March 9, 2022 at 11:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I highly recommend “Erebus” by Michael Palin (yes, of Monty Python) – two tiny ships (Erebus and Terror) on a four year voyage in the 1840s to Antarctica (wintering in Tasmania, then in the Falklands), then after they returned, looking for the Northwest Passage.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @Kalakal: I’d say “Great minds think alike.” but in this case you should be worried.

  100. 100.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 9, 2022 at 11:14 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Sure would have been nice to have those NSA programs running from 2013-2016 – you know, the ones that Snowjob got shut down or compromised.

    Sure, it would have been nice to have domestic spying programs that had no business existing at all, to use against our enemies.  Swell.

    Never will understand the Snowden hate around here.  Those spy programs you wish had continued could have kept operating after Snowden revealed their existence, if they hadn’t been illegal AF.

  101. 101.

    Calouste

    March 9, 2022 at 11:14 am

    If you want to read an introduction to polar exploration, a warm up so to speak before reading about individual exploits, I can recommend Ninety Degrees North.

  102. 102.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 11:16 am

    @Steeplejack: The Just Us system.

    @lowtechcyclist: Yeah, I need to get it. Really need to get it.

    @Just One More Canuck: I saw a video of him talking about the book on a talk show. It’s on my list.

  103. 103.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 9, 2022 at 11:21 am

    @Calouste: ​Ooooo ooo, that looks good. Bookmarked. Thanx.

  104. 104.

    Miss Bianca

    March 9, 2022 at 11:23 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s been my experience with hummies, for sure! Particularly funny/disconcerting if we’re out logging on the back 40 and one of the little guys comes whizzing overhead and circles us, like, “Dude. DUDE! Put down the chainsaw and come deal with the chow situation!”

  105. 105.

    Jay

    March 9, 2022 at 11:25 am

    @NotMax:

    4 members were denied the medal, a combination of “The Mutiny on Ice”,

    and interpersonal conflicts.

  106. 106.

    WaterGirl

    March 9, 2022 at 11:29 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Wow.  Is your son in Poland now?  I don’t recall where they are located while waiting (for what seemed like forever) to get the documentation/ approval from the US

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    March 9, 2022 at 11:30 am

    @Betty: re: would disbarment prevent Ken Paxton from holding office?

    I checked out the list of requirements to hold various Texas public offices, put out by the Secretary of State. It said that an Attorney General is not required to be a practicing attorney. A state Supreme Court Justice, on the other hand, must have been a practicing attorney or a judge for at least 10 years.

    Paxton faces a runoff election against George P. Bush on May 24. The winner will likely face Democrat Rochelle Garza in November. Garza, a Brownsville lawyer and former staff attorney for the Texas ACLU, garnered 43% of the primary election vote and is expected to win her runoff.

    Also on May 24: the runoff between Texas 28th Congressional District candidate Jessica Cisneros and incumbent Henry Cuellar. Cisneros trailed Cuellar by 2 points in the first round, but he did not receive the 50% plus one vote total needed to avoid a runoff. On the Republican side Casey Garcia lead a crowded field and will face a runoff May 24. Republicans are expected to go all-out to flip that seat this November.

  108. 108.

    Kalakal

    March 9, 2022 at 11:32 am

    @Calouste: I’ll look out for that.

    Another general one I found good is Below the Convergence

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    March 9, 2022 at 11:41 am

    @lowtechcyclist: My problem with Snowden isn’t that he revealed a domestic warrantless surveillance program. It’s that he downloaded every classified document he could (and it was a lot!), and then defected with them to the Russians. He wasn’t content to be a whistleblower. He chose to be a very destructive traitor.

  110. 110.

    Geminid

    March 9, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    @Jay: Have you read Journey (1989) by James Michener? It’s a fictional account of a trip to the Klondike gold fields by four British men in the1890’s. They set out from Edmonton, Ontario, the jumping off point for one of the “all-Canada” routes to the gold.

    This route was known to be long and arduous. But the leader Michener’s party has done his own research, on the best map an English Lord can buy. He’s certain he sees a shortcut…

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    March 9, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @Jay

    If memory serves, even though the carpenter was on the list to receive the medal his name was stricken off by dictate of Shackleton.

  112. 112.

    Geminid

    March 9, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    @Geminid: Thats, “the leader of Michener’s party…”

    At 224 pages, Voyage is maybe the shortest of James Michener’s novels. The story was originally to be part of his novel Alaska. Michener decided that since another of Alaska’s substories treated the Klondike Gold Rush from the perspective of the route from the Pacific coast, he would leave this one out. Later he worked the story up into Journey.

  113. 113.

    Jean

    March 9, 2022 at 1:10 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: cool. I’ll have to look at the cave one

  114. 114.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 9, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    @WaterGirl: No, he is in the US. His wife is in Mexico. They have had to live apart for over a year due to the efficiency of the US State Department.

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