Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

We still have time to mess this up!

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / T(*All* the)GIF Open Thread: Moving Toward A New ‘Normal’

T(*All* the)GIF Open Thread: Moving Toward A New ‘Normal’

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(When President Joe adds an electric ‘vette to his car collection, Peter, you will *not* be among the lucky few who get an offer to ride along.)


… Biden delivered that message to Democratic National Committee members on the eve of the anniversary of his signing of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed last March to help the U.S. economy rebound from the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic. No Republican lawmakers voted for the plan.

“People were hurting. We had to act, and we did,” the president said. “We did it as Democrats without a single, solitary Republican vote.”

He also discussed the nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, also signed in 2021, to help fix aging roads, bridges and other infrastructure and provide affordable high-speed internet.

“We have a record, a record to be proud of, an agenda that addresses the biggest concerns here in America in people’s lives,” Biden told several hundred masked DNC members attending their winter meeting in person at a Washington hotel. “Now what we have to do is we have to sell it with confidence, clarity, conviction and repetition.”

The Bad Faith Brigade (aka the GOP) never changes, of course…

======

Reader Interactions

227Comments

  1. 1.

    HinTN

    “Presidents of the United States don’t do a lot of driving.”

    She is SO quick on her feet!

    Also, losing MFN is a big deal.

    Good morning!!! Go read the lighthouse post in OTR.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    I’m glad Biden doesn’t self-flagellate.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with that if that’s your kink.

  3. 3.

    germy

    Jussie Smollett got 150 days in prison for attacking himself.

    James Bonet got 90 days for attacking the nation’s capitol.

  5. 5.

    Geminid

    President Biden travels to Philadelphia today to address the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference. Then he’ll visit an elementary school before heading to Camp David. He may see some snow there tomorrow.

    Meanwhile, Vice President Harris has left Warsaw for Bucharest and meetings with Romanian President  Iohannes. She’ll return to the U.S. later today.

    From Politico Playbook.

  6. 6.

    Soprano2

    I hope Biden also addressed pushing back against all this demonizing of transgender people, teaching about race and equality, and public schools/public school teachers. That crap on Fox about Democrats wanting to “groom” kids is disgusting and needs a hard, forceful pushback.

  7. 7.

    Kay

    Three candidates—Theresa Gavarone, J.R. Majewski, and Craig Riedel—are running in the Republican primary election for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District on May 10, 2022. Incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), the longest-serving woman in U.S. House history, was first elected in 1982 and is seeking re-election.
    The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee listed Kaptur as a Frontline candidate, a distinction used to identify and support vulnerable Democratic incumbents.
    Ohio is undergoing congressional redistricting, meaning the exact boundaries of the 9th District are currently unknown. The Crescent News‘ Todd Helberg wrote that recent proposals “substantially changed … the district that elected Democrat Marcy Kaptur … to Congress for years” by giving the district a more Republican lean.

    Kaptur’s campaign person called and made an appointment to come see me next week, which is unusual- ordinarily they ask if I can get 10 Democrats (or however many I can get) together to talk with them. I would expect Kaptur to fight hard though and not take anything for granted- she’s a pro and very hard working.

  8. 8.

    Immanentize

    @HinTN: 
    Someone on Twitter had even a better response to Doocy:
    “Peter, President Biden took the train to work for forty years.”

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    The clip of Ukrainians fleeing the shelling with their animals really got to me. Was reading a follow-up to the awful story that came out earlier this week about the mom, two kids and refugee worker who were killed when Russians fired on an evacuation route in Irpin the other day. The family had a pet carrier with them, and their dogs were also killed, according to the husband and father, who was stranded in another area when his family tried to get to safety.

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    @Immanentize: Here’s an even better response to Doocy’s question: “Peter, your network has poisoned America with lies for 40 years, undermining democracy to a degree that might yet prove fatal, and now your top infotainment shows are regurgitating Kremlin propaganda about bioweapons to undermine support for Ukraine. These gentlemen are here to remove your press credentials and escort you to the gate, so your dad will have to find you another job. Buh-bye!”

  12. 12.

    frosty

    @eclare: that was Obama with Seinfeld “Comedians in cars drinking coffe” IIRC. In a vintage Corvette also IIRC. The guard at the gate shook his head “no” when they pulled up.

  14. 14.

    Ken

    Conservative Republicans on Senate floor demanding Ukraine aid be separated from omnibus, arguing it would be quicker to Biden’s desk.

    So of course the original omnibus bill with Ukraine aid was passed and sent to Biden’s desk, less than 24 hours after this little performance.

    (Interesting; I started typing “the Ukraine aid”, but shied away. But it should be perfectly fine here, since “the” refers to “aid” and “Ukraine” is an adjective, right?)

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: however many months later, I’m still gobsmacked that Ford was gobsmacked at the demand for their small, hybrid pick-up, even though they dragged the Maverick name out of the 70s for it. Could’ve been worse, they could’ve called it the Pinto.

    And from my google searches, Ford was way ahead of their competitors

  17. 17.

    narya

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, me too; immediate tears. I have to ration what I watch/read/listen to, and then I feel guilty, because the folks living through it cannot just turn away.

    I sent an email to Bill Penzey the other day, suggesting a “welcome” spice box for Ukrainian families that customers could fund, once folks start being settled somewhere, but I have no idea what spices other than salt and pepper would be useful in such a thing (or if it’s something that would actually work). But if someone smarter than me knows what to put in such a thing and how to do that, it seems like a small thing to offer people who have had to leave everything behind. Penzey likes to say that cooks heal the world. And add a little card, in Ukrainian, in the box.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    People fleeing Ukraine carry few belongings, abandoning their luggage and vehicles along the way. But everywhere amid the exodus of more than 2.3 million people are the animals they could not leave behind: cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, hamsters.

    Not surprising. They are family members after all.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    Still in shock. In a good way, upon learning the 2022 Ford Maverick hybrid pick-up ordered August 1st is now expected to arrive at the dealership on March 17th.

    This, this, this.

    ;)

  20. 20.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My middle son is an electrician and he is absolutely lusting after one. He has, like, between 2 and 5 cars at any given time and I think for those sorts of people they’re just really interested. For home gardeners and people with normal size lots I think the electric mowers are just superior. They’re better. I’m never going back.

  21. 21.

    eclare

    @Betty Cracker:   There was a striking photo early on of a guy walking somewhere in Ukraine with his cat carrier, fish bowl, and AK.  The juxtaposition was jarring.

  23. 23.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Color me surprised. //

     

    ETA: Any idea how Jim Jordan’s district is being withdrawn? At the beginning, they were saying the proposed district was less of a gimmee.

  24. 24.

    brendancalling

    @Betty Cracker:

    The images from Ukraine fill me with a seething rage.

    The kids at my school are selling pins at $2.00 a pop supporting Ukraine, all proceeds go to relief. As it happens, we’re watching “Hunt for Red October” in the class I’m subbing today. Class had yet to begin, and I was talking to a student about growing up in the 1980s, and Reagan’s infamous “we begin bombing in 5 minutes” gaffe, when another kid walked in. He’d overheard only part of the conversation, and immediately had some thoughts on Putin, who he thinks is a piece of shit. I told the two about my ex’s parents, who are pushing 70 and had to escape to Poland from Kyiv, and how last summer I taught oral expression to recent African immigrant kids in the next district over, all of them refugees from war zones. Each of these kids had the same story to tell, about escaping in the dead of night, parents under threat, keeping their escape a secret.

    The kids are alright, and they know what’s going on in their own way.

    Also too, they’re doing a walkout today in protest of the anti-gay laws in Texas and Florida.

  27. 27.

    Ramalama

    I hired a Ukie tech to help me with a website. Him at home in  Kyiv. Me in North America. He is so talented. We became friendly over the course of the work and so he mentioned that he and his roommate had gotten a pet owl. And pet owl kept them awake, flying all over the apt at night. I was thinking, hmm, are owls a thing in Ukraine? And then it came to me. I asked him if he was a fan of Harry Potter books. I felt so old when he said yes, duh. That was why they got the owl.

    I reached out to him. He’s somewhere in Ukraine, safe for the moment. I don’t have the heart to ask him about his pet. I am hoping his brilliance is being put to use to do something really amazing for his country and/or to help combat Russia online.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    Prosecutors have asked a Russian court to designate Facebook’s parent organisation Meta Platforms (FB.O) as an “extremist organisation,” Interfax reported on Friday.

    The state prosecutor also asked Russia’s communications watchdog to restrict access to Meta’s Instagram social networking service.

    And after everything Facebook has done for Russia….

  29. 29.

    The Moar You Know

    People fleeing Ukraine carry few belongings, abandoning their luggage and vehicles along the way. But everywhere amid the exodus of more than 2.3 million people are the animals they could not leave behind: cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, hamsters.

    I get that.  Right before I got a dog (first time!) back in 2016 my “flee the house with” disaster list was wife + as much of my musical instrument collection as I could grab.

    Now it is simply wife + dog.  I carry a week’s worth of dog food in the back of my car at all times plus a spare leash and water bowl.

    Fuck all the other stuff, let it burn.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @geg6: @Kalakal: And I also can’t imagine taking a terrified Percy, Billie Jean, and Miss Kitty halfway across the country thru a war zone, but I know I’d manage somehow, someway.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    I don’t know. Kaptur’s will be really interesting because she’s been through this before, except the other way. At one point she had a normal, compact district that included more western rural counties- western compared to Lucas County (Toledo) which was her urban base. Obviously, she won in that environment and now she may end up there again.

    She’ll have come full circle. I don’t think there’s anyone in the country who understands shifting Ohio politics better than Kaptur. She’s had a front row seat to all of it, and won no matter what they did to her.

  33. 33.

    jnfr

    We’ve shifted all our yard tools to electric. The lack of fumes makes yard work so much more pleasant.

    We don’t drive much and our old 2004 Prius still works like a charm and costs almost nothing to run, so I don’t see us trading for a new car any time soon. But if we do, it will be electric. We’re all in on the solar power for the house, too.

  35. 35.

    Soprano2

    Almost forgot I wanted to share this exciting news on the morning open thread. Last night our choir director announced that on June 3, 2023, our choir is going to sing a concert at Carnegie Hall! I looked at one of my friends who’s been in there on and off almost as long as I have in disbelief. We asked the director to repeat what she said since we thought we didn’t hear right! She said we’ll get more details after next week’s spring break, but to say I’m excited about this wouldn’t be enough – I’m super pumped for it! I’ve never been to New York City (except 30 minutes in the airport in 1979), so that’s exciting. The thing is, for most of the time I’ve been in this choir we were the “evening choir”, considered “extra singers” and not even thought to be good enough to have our own concerts. When Dr. LaBarr, the new head of Choral Studies, was hired in 2014 all of that changed. We began to be treated as our own choir, and we had our own concerts. Two years ago we got our own conductor, who is fantastic. This semester she told me that our choir is the heart of Grand Chorus (that’s what they call the combined choirs) because we have so many people – there are now over 80 singers in a choir that used to average about 40 or fewer. And now this! I never in a million years thought something like this could ever happen – this was something the more elite daytime choirs did, not us!

  36. 36.

    Uncle Jeffy

    Typical stupid question from Peter Doocebag. Jen Psaki skewered him like a shish-kebab.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    I genuinely think it’s time for Democrats to start calling Republican elitists for their opposition to these popular products and means of alternative energy. I am surrounded by wind turbines in rural Ohio. My town has a solar field and has had one since 2011. Doocy and Trump live in this little bubble. This ridiculous talking point hasn’t been true for a decade.

  38. 38.

    Betty Cracker

    @brendancalling: That’s so heartening to hear. Sometimes I think if we pro-democracy, pro-equality adults can just hang in there for another decade or so, at least holding the line if we can’t gain ground, maybe the kids will save America.

  42. 42.

    Kalakal

    @OzarkHillbilly: I did it with Burma, Virgil & Cobweb when Hurricane Irma paid a visit, I can’t even to begin what it would be like on foot, in a war zone, but like you I know I’d damn well do my best

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker: I like to say my sons and their friends are better people than I and that if I did enough right their children will be even better still.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    @jnfr:

    I love mowing and I think the electric mower forces you to let the tool do the work, where with a gas mower I was always speeding up and working too hard.

    Now I’m in this quiet, meditative mowing zone :)

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @jnfr:

    At one time I had a tiny city lot so I bought a reel mower- no engine or motor- you just push it and it rotates and clips but it had to be perfectly sharp which I obsessed over so I gave it away. It was nice though. Whirring sound, clip, clip, clip.

  53. 53.

    Ramalama

    @Soprano2: Bravo.

    How do you get to perform at Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. Also seems you need a great choral director, too!

    I saw kd lang perform there and Tracy Chapman. The cheap seats have incredible acoustics.

  54. 54.

    RandomMonster

    “Does Biden drive an electric car?” is the “Al Gore flies on airplanes so he’s a hypocrite!” of the new century.

  55. 55.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Apparently there was some village in Belarus that was bombed and no one can figured out if was a Russian false flag or simply sheer incompetence on the Russian air forces’ part. This is along with claims that Russian artillery that is killing all those civilians is really, really prone to shelling their own troops.

  56. 56.

    Soprano2

    @Danielx: It’s snowing here, too. We’re supposed to get 2-3 inches. I’m hoping this is the last gasp of winter, although we can get snow in April too.

  58. 58.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: My dad used to make me mow the lawn for punishment, and I’ve always hated it. My husband and I lived in an apartment when we first got married, and when he wanted to buy a house, I said fine as long as I never have to mow the lawn. He’s been mowing the lawn for almost 25 years now! :)

  59. 59.

    Barbara

    @Baud: ​
      Oh, the humanity! Irony has been extinct for so long that it’s shocking to see a living specimen.

  61. 61.

    eclare

    @Soprano2:   Sort of on-topic, I highly recommend the movie Florence Foster Jenkins, about a woman with a horrible singing voice whose dream is to sing at Carnegie Hall.

    It stars Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, and Simon Helberg, Wolowitz from The Big Bang Theory.  Very funny and also very touching

  62. 62.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Jennifer Berkshire
    @BisforBerkshire
    ·27m
    I’ve spent the last few days talking to voters & candidates in New Hampshire who powered record turnout, resounding wins for public school advocates & 1 theme keeps coming up. Voters were REPELLED by the extremism of *parents rights* groups. This was a backlash to the backlash.

    She covers public ed exclusively and has been doing it a lot longer than the johnny come lately crowd who only arrived to push the “cancel culture” panic and screech about masks. New Hampshire has a far Right group of libertarians who have a lot of power in the leg and they saw cancel culture/gay panic as their opening to abolish public schools. Wokedy-woke woke, the wokeness is coming to get your kids, they just pounded it.
    They lost big Tuesday.

  66. 66.

    frosty

    @Soprano2: That’s fantastic! Congratulations and enjoy NYC!

    It’s gotten better since the time in the 80s when the Amtrak conductor announced: “New York City, the Big Apple. Watch your step, your purse, your wallet, and your watch.”

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: So far, I’m disappointed. Supposed to 12 degrees tonight and I want a nice insulating blanket of snow to protect all my tender young plants just now peeking up.

  68. 68.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Interesting, so this the what the Russian off ramp will look like.

    Bagdasarov continued: “Now about Ukraine. I agree with Karen. We had prior experiences of bringing in our troops, destroying the military infrastructure and leaving. I think that our army fulfilled their task of demilitarization of the country by destroying most of their military installations… To restore their military they will need at least 10 years… Let Ukrainians do this denazification on their own. We can’t do it for them… As for their neutrality, yes, we should squeeze it out of them, and that’s it. We don’t need to stay there longer than necessary…

    Pretty much BS everyone it was a glorious victory, all according to plan.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Voters were REPELLED by the extremism of *parents rights* groups. This was a backlash to the backlash.

    Pictures of semis or it didn’t happen.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    @,a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2022/03/11/tall-thegif-open-thread-moving-toward-a-new-normal/#comment-8455301″>frosty

    Sadly, the Carnegie Deli swims with the (gefilte) fishes.

  72. 72.

    smith

    @O. Felix Culpa: Perhaps Doocey gets some perverse pleasure from his daily skewering.

    The not-so-perverse pleasure is in the attention. How many other questions from the WH briefing do you ever hear about?

  73. 73.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Wow, excellent news, and I hope that’s a harbinger of a nationwide trend. I keep thinking the extremist shit these people are pushing is out of whack with general parent/voter sentiment, but I really don’t trust my ability to gauge that.

  74. 74.

    Betty Cracker

    @NotMax: To be fair, the mister xeriscapes as much as possible, so he only has to go after stray weeds with the mower. :)

  75. 75.

    germy

    @smith:

    He gets attention, and it’s never reported as a “skewering” in conservative media.

    In conservative media it’s reported that he stumps her with profound questions that expose her (and Biden’s) incompetence.

  76. 76.

    Kristine

    @Soprano2: So cool–congratulations!

    I love NYC. If possible, take a Circle Line boat trip around Manhattan island. I enjoyed seeing how all the boroughs/bridges linked up and marveled at the amount of greenspace at the northern end.

    Also, Il Laboratorio del Gelato gelato.

  79. 79.

    smith

    @Betty Cracker: I said fine as long as I never have to mow the lawn.

    Like you, I HATE HATE HATE to mow lawns. My entire lot is now a perennial garden, and I haven’t used a mower in 20+ years. Believe it or not, it’s no more work to maintain than a lawn was, and is vastly better for birds, bugs, and other critters.

  80. 80.

    laura

    @Soprano2: Congratulations! Here’s hoping that you might consider taking some pictures and sharing your trip in the On the Road. If you have a bit of free time, consider the HighLine park. Absolutely do the Circle Line boat ride around Manhattan- the most lovely and efficient way to take in the totality of the place, and a stroll in Central Park, le sigh.

  81. 81.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: Yep, and as much as it gives us a thrill to see the press secretary smack that smarmy, bleached out nepotism hire down, every episode of the Psaki and Doocy show sends a message that Fox News is a legitimate, if conservative, news network. It is in fact an authoritarian propaganda outlet that is increasingly aligned with Putin, Orbán, etc., against liberal democracy.

  82. 82.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Baud:Maybe Putin will end the war if we give him a participation trophy.

    Exactly.   The whole tone of those Russians pundits is “oh, but we really want to be Americans so badly.”

  85. 85.

    Baud

    @Kristine:

    Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) said on Thursday they were unwinding their Russian businesses, becoming the first major U.S. banks to exit after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and putting pressure on rivals to follow. read more ,

    Damn.  It takes work to be lower than those two.

  88. 88.

    Kristine

    @laura: @Soprano2: Definitely the High Line. And if possible the Met Cloisters.

    The subway stop at the AMNH has the coolest critter murals.

    I also took a Greenwich Village ghost tour the last time I visited–it’s been too long. I just simply love NYC.

  89. 89.

    Kalakal

    @Betty Cracker: I hate mowing, my joy is herbaceaous borders. Mysteriously the lawns shrink each year.

    Also after living in England, lawns in Florida are just rubbish, even if you waste a zillion gallons of water a year which I’m not going to do. I love going up to see the kids in NJ, see that green, walk in the woods.

    I love the sub tropical plants of Florida, it’s like everything I used to grow as a houseplant has exploded and is living it large and my old garden is now reduced  a collection of pot plants. Each to their place and I love them all

    One thing I miss terribly are spring bulbs, there are times I would sell my soul to walk in a Bluebell wood

  93. 93.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Two things:

    1.  I used to think the UN had some worth.  After seeing it go tits up on population control issues due to the Vatican-Reagan-Wahhabi jackoffs, talking to friends who’d been with the High Commissioner on Rwandan relief, watching it decline action on Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation and now seeing it offer nothing more than thoughts and prayers while one member state literally erases another member state through an aggressive war that targets civilians in a bid to “de-escalate by escalating, I have concluded that it is worthless.  The building would make a lovely hotel and event center, and our national contributions should be diverted to other uses.
    2. I told my wife this morning “I’m going to say this one time, and won’t explain it unless you ask – if you’re at work and all the power goes off and the traffic stops and your phone dies, start walking home.  I’ll do the same and meet you there and we can make decisions at that point”.  To her credit, she asked if would we collect the dog from the PetSuites, or leave him there.
  94. 94.

    smith

    @Baud: Speaking of Russia’s financial problems, is there any information about what’s going on with their stock market? It’s been closed for 2 weeks now. Can you just shut down a stock market indefinitely?

  95. 95.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2:

    I hope Biden also addressed pushing back against all this demonizing of transgender people, teaching about race and equality, and public schools/public school teachers. That crap on Fox about Democrats wanting to “groom” kids is disgusting and needs a hard, forceful pushback.

    You bet.  It’s time to take the offensive on this, too.  We are the party that believes in equal rights for women, blacks, Hispanics, gays, transgender persons, not just straight white Christian men, and we should say that loud, proud, and often, and remind people that the GOP’s against all the above.

    And we should also make it clear that we’re the party that stands with public school teachers against all the people who have made a hobby out of harassing them.

    One thing I’ve never seen anyone say about the whole artificial CRT panic is about the impossible logistics of it: there are 3,143 counties and ~12,000 school districts in the United States.  And most of the teachers in most of those schools have been teaching there for years, often decades.

    Whatever they say CRT is, it’s either happening in just a few places, or it’s been being taught everywhere for a long time now.

  96. 96.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Betty Cracker: It is one of the few household/gardening tasks that I don’t mind.  After my dad’s heart attack last summer, I helped out with my parents’ lawn.  It was the first time that I had cut a lawn in 28 years.  It was fine.  Mowers have improved over the years.

  97. 97.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Kay: I love mowing too! We have a push mower…though our backyard is large for a townhome, the HOA maintains the front so the task is doable in about 20 minutes or so.

    Is there such a thing as a quiet electric weed whacker?

  99. 99.

    Baud

    @smith: Sure.  The only thing the market does is facilitate selling new shares and trading them.  People will just be stuck holding on to their shares or having to trade them off-market, if possible.

  100. 100.

    Kent

    @Betty Cracker:

    One political race I’m watching with much interest is our local Congressional primary race here in the WA-3rd which is essentially Vancouver WA (Portland suburbs) extending up I-5 to some really read redneck mill towns like Longview and a lot of really rural area.  I expect it will be a harbinger of sorts.

    Our incumbent is Jaime Herrera Beutler who is the only GOP-er to hold a district touching the Pacific Ocean outside of Alaska.  She was one of the 8? GOP members of Congress who voted to impeach Trump and so is in his crosshairs.

    What makes this interesting is Washington’s “Jungle” primary combined with mail-in voting.  Essentially every voter in the district gets a ballot in the mail with all the primary candidates from all parties listed together and the top to advance to the general.  The MAGA crowd have been desperately recruiting primary opposition to Jaime and to date there are at least 4 semi-prominent GOPers in the race plus a bunch of others.  They are a completely feral bunch and have been unable to settle on a favored MAGA opponent to Jaime.  Meanwhile there are a couple of Dems but none who are prominent or high profile which is disappointing.  If any higher profile local Dems get recruited and throw their hat into the race I expect the local Dem establishment (teacher unions etc.) will quickly circle the wagons and run with them.

    I expect Jaime to easily cruise to one of the top two spots just on name recognition alone and the fact that she has a very very good local staff and media presence.  And she is generally well liked by the average a-political suburbanite types as well as the mainstream GOP business community.  The only question is whether a Dem takes the other spot or one of the MAGATs.  I expect it will be the former but there aren’t any obvious top candidates yet.

  103. 103.

    germy

    Now Taibbi’s pumping the trucker convoy. Major emphasis, as you might expect, is how MSM is mean to them, and how Joe Biden like Obama before them is Bad for the Working Man.

    There’s no “horseshoe” anymore; it’s all just Republican propaganda. https://t.co/cdgr0aZVez

    — Roy Edroso (@edroso) March 11, 2022

    it was Pres Biden and the Dems who funded trucker pensions in the American Rescue Plan with zero GOP votes, @mtaibbi.

    — AC (@AbsterYinYang) March 11, 2022

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kalakal: my cousin in the Chicago suburbs is one of least active people I know (in fairness, he works long hours in a office job, and I wouldn’t be looking to jump on a treadmill before or after work, either), but he cuts his lawn twice a week, even during those dog days when the local news tells people to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity. Granted, it’s a standard suburban lot and probably takes him less than half an hour, but sometimes he’ll tell me he cut the grass again and I think “How can you possibly tell the difference after three days?” Last summer they were pretty much in a drought, but almost every time I talked to him “I just cut the grass….”

  105. 105.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kristine:

    Deutsche CEO says exit ‘would go against our values’

    I actually agree with this statement. It absolutely would.

  106. 106.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay: ​

    They lost big Tuesday.

    I’m glad. One thing the rest of the population doesn’t know but should is that large portions of the Republican base, including evangelicals, want to completely abolish the public school system. It exposes their children to alternative viewpoints and children of other races and religions, which threatens their ability to force their children into following their belief system.

  107. 107.

    CaseyL

    @Soprano2: Congratulations!  Have a wonderful time in NYC!

    (I thought of wishing you well by saying “Sing like there’s no one listening,” or “Sing like you’re in your shower,” but am not sure either of those are actually considered good luck for choristers?)

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    @Sure Lurkalot

    Yup. Scads of ’em.

    Presume the rechargeable batteries have gotten better since the one purchased years and years ago from Sears. Battery on that one gives out after maybe 10 minutes.

  111. 111.

    Kent

    @Frankensteinbeck: They really do want to abolish public schools.  I used to not think so but this latest bunch really have that as their objective.  Replaced I guess by taxpayer funded private schools without regulation cause “religious freedumb”

  112. 112.

    germy

    SAN DIEGO — A man facing battery and hate-crime charges for allegedly attacking and hurling racial slurs at a utility worker last year near Ocean Beach is the brother of Ashli Babbitt, the San Diego woman who was shot and killed by a police officer Jan. 6, 2021, inside the U.S. Capitol.

    Roger Stefan Witthoeft, Jr., 33, was arraigned March 1 on misdemeanor charges of battery with a hate crime enhancement and violating the victim’s constitutional rights by threat of force, according to the San Diego City Attorney’s Office.

    He pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court.

    Witthoeft is accused of shoving and trying to punch a San Diego Gas & Electric traffic controller last September while shouting “a number of racial slurs” at the victim, who is Latino, and telling him to “Go back to your country you (expletive) immigrant,” according to the City Attorney’s Office.

    They get mad if you accuse them of being bigots.

  113. 113.

    Kent

    @Calouste:@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Maybe it will take Ukraine 10 years to rebuild their military, but how long will it take Russia to rebuild their economy and international reputation?

    It will take Ukraine 6 months to rebuild their military at best.

    The country will be full up to the gills with combat veterans.  All they will need to do is buy stuff and there is endless amounts of military stuff for sale in this day and age.

  114. 114.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I have a mostly wooded lot at about an acre and a half, but only about 60% mowable.  I use a push mower.

    I hate doing it, and it takes about 2.5 hours because of the contours and turns. The bad part is that I’m an ace on box turtle kills because there are some dips in the lot where I’m not always successful at finding the little guys before running an area.

  116. 116.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Krugman suggested a couple weeks ago that liberal economists might want to try a little bit of spin to help our side politically, and his colleagues reacted like a collection of Edwardian baronets who had just heard a proposal to admit the not-quite-British to their club

  118. 118.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2: Last night our choir director announced that on June 3, 2023, our choir is going to sing a concert at Carnegie Hall!

    That is so cool!  I hope it goes fabulously well.

    And NYC is a great city, I’m sure you can get lots of advice from people on what to do, where to eat, etc. as the day gets closer.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @Kent

    Replaced I guess by taxpayer funded private schools without regulation cause “religious freedumb”

    “Let’s all give a very warm welcome to the new students at Church of Satan Elementary.”

    //

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    Fox News’ Peter Doocy: “This is a president who always talks about the power of our example. Does he own an electric vehicle?”
    WH Press Sec. Jen Psaki: “Presidents of the United States don’t do a lot of driving.”

    I admire Psaki with the ardor of a thousand suns.

  126. 126.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Calouste:

    The Russian Federation absolutely screwed the pooch with their military this time.  Unless they go to a broad conscription program and significant allocations of worthless rubles to their domestic arms manufacture, they’re completely hollowed out.

    They committed something on the order of 10 (or more) divisions to this clusterfuck, and have lost anywhere between 5 and 10 percent KIA, along with piles of equipment.  God knows how many experienced NCOs and platoon/company level commanders are now out of action.

  127. 127.

    Kristine

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    The bad part is that I’m an ace on box turtle kills because there are some dips in the lot where I’m not always successful at finding the little guys before running an area.

    Sounds like me and leopard frogs and garter snakes. Only 1/3 acre lot, but bumpy with scattered low/wet spots. The baby frogs often skitter atop the grass, so I can stop and relocate them out of harm’s way. But the adults just hunker down, then get a lesson in how a mower works.

  128. 128.

    Captain C

    @Kristine:

    And if possible the Met Cloisters.

    And walk there from the subway at 190th through Fort Tryon Park if you can, it’s lovely, with some great views.

  130. 130.

    lowtechcyclist

    @jnfr: We’ve shifted all our yard tools to electric. The lack of fumes makes yard work so much more pleasant.

    I still have a gas mower, but I’ll probably shift to electric when it dies.  But everything else has always been either been corded or cordless electric.  Pretty much all corded these days – way cheaper, and don’t have to worry about keeping batteries charged.  And I don’t mind using an extension cord with blowers, hedge trimmers, weed whackers, etc.

  131. 131.

    Kalakal

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Heh, I know people like that in England, it’s a matter of pride when they can reduce the blade height. I love gardening and like lawns, I just find mowing a tedious chore, I resent the  time it takes away from the beds. Perhaps when I retire it will be different.

  132. 132.

    danielx

    Was just reminded that your humble obedient servant has to perform one of the all-time least favorite tasks today: pulling washer and (new) dryer out of utility closet today to replace half-assed flexible aluminum dryer vent hose. Dryer installers were in and out in fifteen minutes, but naturally used cheap semi-metallic duct* and crushed it in the bargain. So, go get semi-rigid flexible duct, pull washer and dryer out, climb over washer to get access to dryer ductwork, install new duct without kinking or crushing it, climb back out, move washer and dryer back in place….

    My back aches already. This is going to be an Advil kind of day.​

    *the kind the dryer manual specifically says NOT to use, of course.​

  136. 136.

    catclub

    @smith: ​
     

    Can you just shut down a stock market indefinitely?

    ummm, there was some market that shut down in 1917 and did not reopen until about 1991. Where was that?

  138. 138.

    Kalakal

    @catclub: Nice one.

    The old classic “In 1909 Marcel Proust sat down with a cup of tea to write a book. 13 years later he finished it”

  139. 139.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jack Detsch @JackDetsch

    BREAKING: Ukrainian troops have killed Russian Maj. Gen. Andriy Kolesnikov, commander of the Eastern Military District: Ukraine military statement. Kolesnikov would be the 3rd  general killed in  in 15 days of war, after Maj Gen Vitaly Gerasimov & Maj Gen Andrei Sukhovetsky

  141. 141.

    trnc

    (Reuters) – The United Nations Security Council will convene on Friday at Russia’s request, diplomats said, to discuss Moscow’s claims, presented without evidence, of U.S. “biological activities” in Ukraine, a move Washington described as gaslighting.
    — Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 11, 2022

    Perhaps that would be a good time to tell Russia that they’re no longer on the Security Council until they can prove that they properly applied to be on it after the dissolution of the USSR.

  142. 142.

    Old School

    When the first round of mailing COVID tests started in January, it took close to a month for ours to arrive.

    The second round started this week and our package was just delivered.

    That’s progress!

  143. 143.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Oops. I landed in moderation due to an excess of links. Reposted, minus the many links.

    @raven: I had to look that one up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chieu_Hoi

    The Chiêu Hồi program  (also spelled “chu hoi” or “chu-hoi” in English) loosely translated as “Open Arms” was an initiative by the South Vietnamese to encourage defection by the Viet Cong and their supporters to the side of the government during the Vietnam War. 101,511 Viet Cong defected under the program

  151. 151.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Completely O/T, but has anyone here seen the new (Spielberg) West Side Story? AFAIC, it is orders of magnitude better than the 1961 version. No offence to the earlier filmmakers, but the grittiness of the new version makes the whole thing real and makes the earlier version seem just limp and sanitised. I am rather in awe with what Spielberg’s accomplished, and I’m sorry Sondheim didn’t live to see it.

  152. 152.

    Geminid

    @Calouste: There was also the Chechen General Tushayev. He was infamous for his torture and murder of LGBTQ+ Chechens. The Ukrainian Army stamped Tushayev’s ticket to Hell at the Antonov Airport near Kviv, a few days into the war.

  157. 157.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Is anyone else experiencing the BJ screen maniacally jumping around after a refresh? It started for me a few days ago, plus the screen goes all the way to the bottom when I hit “comment” instead of to the comment box. Then the screen shudders and quivers as I scroll back up to the comments or comment box. Never experienced such weirdness before. (Windows 10/Chrome)

  159. 159.

    raven

    @O. Felix Culpa: The link I posted is a pretty decent overview of the program. Like everything else there it was mixed at best.

     

    A much bigger concern was that the Rewards Program was being subverted for profit. The main suspects were South Vietnamese officials in charge of counting and reporting the Hoi Chanhs (defectors) and operating the Chieu Hoi Centers. It was suspected, and I understand later proven, that a lot of official’s relatives and even South Vietnamese Army troops had been recruited to pose as Viet Cong ralliers, given a monetary award and then shared the cash rewards with the government officials.

    There was even conjecture that the Viet Cong were using the reward policy as a fund-raiser. Relationships were not always smooth between the regular North Vietnamese Army troops in the south and the much more decentralized Viet Cong cells, especially when it came to providing promised funding. Intelligence regularly reported the Viet Cong to be chronically short of cash and often engaged in crimes (such as bank robberies). I heard claims of anecdotal evidence that some Viet Cong had been sent to surrender, often with worn and useless weapons, to do their time in relocation centers, and then collect the bounties upon graduation and return to their guerrilla units with the government’s reward.

  160. 160.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @O. Felix Culpa: not seeing exactly that, but I’ve been getting a jumpy screen for a week or so now. Adam said it happens with embedded tweets when twitter updates on it’s end.

    I have no idea now the squirrels and tubes and ravens that make the internet work to their things

  161. 161.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: Yes, that has happened to me too. “Refresh” will land me in all kinds of weird places. At first I thought it was taking me to wherever I last clicked the date/time stamp on a comment, which is sometimes but not always the case. The behavior seems very random.

  162. 162.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Calouste:

    Seems to me that a major general can’t be trained in 90 days like a conscript. Makes me wonder why doctrine would be so piss-poor that a general officer would operate so forward in an unsecured area.

    Perhaps the doctrine of “race for objectives and escalate to de-escalate” has a gigantic tactical and strategic hole if it isn’t also accompanied by a doctrine of “consolidate, pacify and relieve civilian losses.”

    Ukraine isn’t Syria. These fuckers broke it, and are going to have to stay.

  166. 166.

    A Streeter

    @Betty Cracker:

    lived in an apartment when we first got married, and when he wanted to buy a house, I said fine as long as I never have to mow the lawn.

    When my wife decided we should buy a house (I could have happily lived in apartments all my life), I realized that this would be fine, as long as: it was a rowhouse, walking distance to a subway station, and NO GODDAMN GRASS.

    (I’ve come to like our rowhouse, with its small garden of a front yard even more than an apartment.)

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    NPR weekly news round-up, talking about seizing oligarchs’ assets: The Feds could probably seize half of trump tower. I didn’t catch his name.

  175. 175.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @O. Felix Culpa: Update — clearing cookies has calmed BJ down on my laptop. Not sure why it didn’t work on my Android phone. Will try again.

    Update 2: BJ still quivers when I scroll up on my laptop. I suppose I can endure a little seasickness with my blog-reading.

  176. 176.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: That’s one of the things I’ve gotten used to up here on the mountain – surrounded by grass and trees, but no lawn! No mowing! 

    I’m not sure I could ever even think about having a lawn again.

  177. 177.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    if confirmed

    Christo Grozev @christogrozev 

    If confirmed, this will be really major news. Beseda and Bolukh are as high as it gets. Beseda was literally in charge of Ukraine intel (= guy who would have misled Putin on Ukraine’s readiness to “welcome liberators”). Bolukh additionally in charge of disinformation.

    Andrei Soldatov @AndreiSoldatov · 6h

    Putin appears to be truly unhappy with the FSB in Ukraine: he attacked the 5 Service SOiMS (FSB’s foreign Intelligence branch). Sergei Beseda, head of the Service, and his deputy Bolukh, head of the DOI, placed under house arrest, according to my sources inside.

  178. 178.

    Baud

    Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on air strike alerts to try get to safety. Working with the Ukrainian government, we’re rolling out a rapid Air Raid Alerts system for all Android phones in Ukraine. https://t.co/tCzs0eI9iW 1/3
    — Dave Burke (@davey_burke) March 10, 2022

  181. 181.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @smith:

    Can you just shut down a stock market indefinitely?

    You can, but it’s a gut wound to your economy.  For all its many problems, the stock market has an important role in making businesses work.  Putin is taking the kinds of domestic actions you only take if you are absolutely desperate.

  182. 182.

    Kalakal

    @O. Felix Culpa: The SF author Cordwainer Smith aka Paul Linebarger was an early US expert in psychological warfare. He grew up in China, Sun Yat Sen was his godfather. He worked for US Army intelligence and wrote the surrender leaflet for Chinese troops in the Korean war. He thought it as his proudest achievement

    Late in the conflict, when Chinese soldiers began to surrender, they were approaching American troops with weapons still in hand because dropping them was too dishonorable. American soldiers, believing they were still under attack, were firing upon and killing the surrendering Chinese. Linebarger met with Chinese prisoners to devise a series of Chinese words a soldier could yell when he wished to surrender—culturally acceptable words like love, virtue, and humanity that did not insult the soldier’s honor but when said together were phonetically similar to the English words, “I surrender.” Pamphlets with explicit surrender instructions were dropped behind enemy lines and the number of botched surrender attempts decreased

  184. 184.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I am still chuckling over banning Instagram. If mostly naked girls in their early 20s aren’t shaking their fine asses around while  accompanying conspicuous consumption oligarchs around the globe, what content will Instagram have to offer?

  185. 185.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    This is like a parody of how a bad movie from the 60s imagined Soviet leadership

    max seddon@maxseddon 7h

    Putin seems to have scrapped the Long Table style of holding meetings and has had his officials dial in via video link, with the screen at his end of said table. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, everything is going to plan,” Shoigu tells him. “We report this to you every day this week.”

    Shoigu’s gotta be sniffing his tea and keeping his back to walls.

  188. 188.

    Betty Cracker

    @Anyway: Xeriscape might be the wrong word since this is the opposite of an “arid” landscape. :) What I meant is he landscapes with native plants, builds garden boxes, etc., instead of trying to create a lawn that looks like a fairway.

  190. 190.

    Dee Lurker

    Not that anyone cares, but here is a semi-useless post about my part in yesterday’s drama.

    First, I want to apologize to G&T. I am sorry for engaging in a classic internet flamefest with you. I did not know about your heritage, and you do not know about my PTSD. We went at it based on a whole lot of ignorance and misunderstanding, of which I played the greater part. Please forgive my stupidity, and if not then I understand. You have my sincere condolences over what you are suffering through.

    Second, I am a bit flustered still over accusations that I am either a GG cheerleader or GG himself. I called him a Russian asset… I have a hard time believing that my words could be construed as pro-GG. My point was that our diplomatic credibility is damaged and this has effected how war is engaged. Part of how things have changed is the way Russian and Chinese propaganda can be laundered through western media. GG is one of the principal stomachs that churn the puke funnel of disinformation. This is largely because of the undeserved gravitas he gained through the Snowden affair.

    The point I was attempting to make yesterday is that the US has a steeper hill to climb diplomatically in order to galvanize an effective good vs. evil frame by which to engage Russia. Yes, Biden is doing yeoman’s work in rehabilitating our image, but the damage is deep. We did deliberately target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Iraq. An example I witnessed was when we sank every civilian boat in the Euphrates in order to protect the Haditha dam from a potential “boat bomb.” The US routinely used intel in order to conduct massive pro-active exercises that targeted civilians and collated it under acceptable collateral damage. This is what Russia is doing on a larger more nefarious scale, but I guarantee every attack on a civilian structure is rationalized as a legitimate military target.

    I think people like Silverman who are hand-waving this away fail to understand how our documented actions give a foothold for the current atrocities and our ability to defend against Russian and Chinese agitprop filtered through quislings like GG.

    Blah blah blah. I am not Greenwald. He simps for fascists.

  191. 191.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Calouste: Maybe it will take Ukraine 10 years to rebuild their military, but how long will it take Russia to rebuild their economy and international reputation?

    Read the rest of the show’s transcript; the various Russian pundits were saying Russian needs to end this sooner than later because of the economy, followed by a lot of “Unpossible this will hurt Russia!”

  192. 192.

    Kent

    @Frankensteinbeck:You can, but it’s a gut wound to your economy.  For all its many problems, the stock market has an important role in making businesses work.  Putin is taking the kinds of domestic actions you only take if you are absolutely desperate.

    The stock market is how you bring private investors into your economy.  No stock market, no private investment and you are back to a state-owned centralized economy.  And we know how well that works.

  195. 195.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kent: Also, it looks like the weapons of the future to fight successful defensive wars are relatively cheep; hand held missiles, drones, artillery and information networks. It seems like to do successful large scale offensive operations a country needs Uncle Sam levels of investment.

  199. 199.

    J R in WV

    @Soprano2: ​
     

    Wow, great news. Congratulations to you and all your fellow singers!! We love visiting Manhattan, it’s quite a place, so much variety.

  200. 200.

    cain

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Damn right – and I will add that a bunch of dark money pushers lost a lot of money. I hope they keep losing their cash.

    ETA #200! My goodness! I’m overwhelmed.

  201. 201.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kent: I’m wondering whether a lot of older people might not welcome the prospect, if not the reality, of a return to a state-run economy, after all this. I read an article a few years back that reported there was a lot of nostalgia for Soviet-style socialism among the older set, which I recall surprising me a little. Younger people, I have no idea.

  202. 202.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Frankensteinbeck: Well Iraq as a good example; Iraq attacked Iran because Saddam though Iran would be easy win because of the Iranian Revolution and US sanctions, instead the war turned into an eight year stalemate. The two US Iraq Wars;  US takes out the Iraq army twice, taking about a month each time. Ether go big or stay home in modern war.

  204. 204.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Dee Lurker:

    Thats a lot of words to get to Griftwald’s default position of “everything the US does for eternity must be filtered through ‘but what about the  Iraq invasion’ 20 years ago”.

    Societies learn from mistakes. Germany did. Japan did. To a lesser extent, so did the UK. We do as well. It is disingenuous in the extreme to “whatabout” an open and notorious set of war crimes regarding an announced clear war to erase a national identity, as is happening here.

    Reminds me of every time I see some aging wingnut shriek about Richard Daley in the 1960 election.

  205. 205.

    JAFD

    Salutations, jackals of NYC and vicinity !
    OK, am tentatively scheduling the ‘Coming Out From Lockdown Meetup’ for Sunday, the Third of April, at 3 PM EDT
    Planning to meet on the balcony of the Tir Na Nog, across from Penn Station – same place as last time.
    If anybody has issues with place or time, please let me know. Ms. WaterGirl hath my contact info. Will check with the Tir, see if they’ll hold space for us, if no objctions.
    Hope to see yo’ all there!

  206. 206.

    Brantl

    @O. Felix Culpa: I’m beginning to wonder if he does this on purpose. Perhaps Doocey gets some perverse pleasure from his daily skewering. Whip me, beat me, make me write bad checks? // He’s Wiley Coyote in real life, he doesn’t believe it can happen to him AGAIN.

  209. 209.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Dee Lurker: This is what Russia is doing on a larger more nefarious scale, but I guarantee every attack on a civilian structure is rationalized as a legitimate military target.

    So the same group whose brilliant, it can’t fail war plan was “Step 1) Kill Zelenskyy, Step 2) Compel Zelenskyy to sign treaty with Russia, step 3) start war, step 4) ?, step5) win war, step 6) dispatch assassins to Kyev to kill Zelenskyy step 7) Hire assassins kill to Zelenskyy” are going threw and reviewing fire missions for individual Russian artillery batteries?

    I think it’s more reasonable to assume those batteries are just shooting at anything that moves to keep the generals screaming at them happy because shooting guns + ? = victory.

  210. 210.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Frankensteinbeck: Iraq problem was the NeoCons reject nation building. They spent a year on nonsense like rewriting the Iraqi traffic code and introducing copayments to the Iraqi medical system until the Iraqis got pissed and started using power tools on each other.

    Anarcho-Syndicalists for you- they trust the people do the right thing, and if they don’t the Anarcho-Syndicats will blow it up until the people do.

  212. 212.

    J R in WV

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Is there such a thing as a quiet electric weed whacker?

    Yes, many brands, with batteries. The only sound is the whizzing of the cord spinning and the crying of the weeds as they are whacked. Of course, some are well made and others are cheap trash. Reviews should be read before spending money.

  213. 213.

    leeleeFL

    @Calouste: Russia’s reputation is shit, so no worries there.  The economy is a different story.  Plus, The EU and NATO can rebuild the newest Member much faster!  Don’t tell anyone, though!

  214. 214.

    CliosFanBoy

    @Soprano2: Wow, glad it’s still running. My Dad was one of the designers of one of the factories that made S-10s.  He really thought highly of those little pickups.

  216. 216.

    PST

    @Kay: I spent my formative years in Toledo, Ohio. I’m 68 years old now, and for all but four of those years the Ninth District has been represented by either Lud Ashley or Marcy Kaptur. I find that just remarkable. She’s an outstanding Democrat. It’s people like her that make me oppose term limits.

  217. 217.

    Soprano2

    @CliosFanBoy: Well, it’s on its second engine, but it’s a trooper that runs great. It’s a bottom of the line model; it didn’t even have a radio in it when we bought it. I think it had been used by a construction company.

  218. 218.

    StringOnAStick

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I thought Anarcho-syndicalists was an old joke that Life of Brian kicked the last bit of stuffing out of, and then I met one.  It took we awhile to realize that the things he said weren’t someone being ironic, he really meant all that crap.  White male living on the family money in a hole in the wall house?  Why yes, yes he was.

  220. 220.

    James E Powell

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Every video of Doocey interacting with Psaki is edited to make him look good & her look bad. Then it is circulated on social media with “Doocey totally owns Psaki!” or “Doocey silences Psaki!” headlines.

  221. 221.

    sab

    @Kay: Until I got married twenty years ago I had an old-fashioned push mower because I could use the exercise and I didn’t want the periodic struggle with the non-starting gasoline powered mower.

    Husband insisted on a gas mower when we got married because lawn mowing is men’s work and he wasn’t about to do it with a push mower. So every spring the yelling at the gas mower that didn’t want to start.

    Two years ago we got an electric mower. Almost silent, always reliable. No more gas cans sitting around. We can leave the mower outside and just bring the tiny battery inside.

  222. 222.

    JML

    @sab: I went electric when I bought the house and just keep getting the tools that all use the same battery system and it’s been pretty great. (the lawn mower is still pretty loud?) I’ve got three batteries and two chargers, so I can cover my fairly large yard with no problem even when I let it go for a bit, I’ve got enough juice to handle the fairly large driveway with the small snowblower, and the weedwacker has been great too.

    The battery-operated tools come down in price pretty fast when you don’t need to get another charger…

  223. 223.

    evodevo

    @Baud: Yeah…they could start back up from nothing…Tom Levenson talked about the British stock market starting out as people meeting in coffeehouses in London to sell shares to each other…

  225. 225.

    dnfree

    @germy: Jussie Smollett got 150 days not simply for attacking himself, but for lying about it and continuing to lie about it (if his conviction is accurate), using up a lot of public resources in the (lengthy) process.

  226. 226.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: What I personally take from the Iraq invasion is an extreme unwillingness to get sucked into supporting escalation through moral/emotional arguments. Because I’ve seen that story before, and it was how I got into trouble the last time, and the stakes are immensely higher here. If the ICBMs start flying, Ukraine will still get destroyed along with the US, Russia and everybody else.

    I think Biden is playing this about as well as he can, and the people pushing for far greater action worry me, though I recognize their moral arguments.

  227. 227.

    germy

    @dnfree:

    How many public resources did it take to clean up the capitol?

    Also, no police were injured or traumatized to the point of suicide after Smollett’s hoax.

Comments are closed.