But we cannot let our guard down for a minute:
HUGE NEWS!
CHARGES HAVE BEEN DROPPED!#JusticeForLizelle #FreeLizelle https://t.co/9jGZ9YVDbx pic.twitter.com/3BBvKs59oZ
— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) April 10, 2022
This needs to be highlighted in every Democratic campaign. This is not the first and will not be the last where someone is victimized for legally making their own health choices…while they are still legal.
I’m off to a meeting (on a Sunday, so unusual, but when friends want to engage your services AND feed you dinner, who can say no?).
This is an open thread
Betty Cracker
I hope Ms. Herrera sues the ever-loving shit out of everyone involved.
debbie
I hope Abbott chokes on this.
prostratedragon
Just saw the headline elsewhere: good. She looks very stunned in that photo. I hope she can get some compensation from the jurisdiction that did this for her discomfiture.
JPL
I’m not sure that money alone will help her recover from the treatment she received from the state of Texas. How tragic.
Rainbowfrite
They didn’t want this case to be working its way through the courts during midterms. Period.
If the evidence was so shaky that the case was summarily dismissed then why the massive 500k bail amount? This whole thing reeks of political corruption.
satby
@Betty Cracker: @prostratedragon: I hope that both the ACLU I and PP are already lining up their best lawyers to sue on her behalf. Because she represents all women who will be victimized by the theocratic wannabes.
trollhattan
DA named “Gocha” seems very on the nose. Hope there’s a PD in the area named Springya.
prostratedragon
@JPL: No, but she might actually need a few sessions and a little time off from work. They should cover that for her and then some.
zhena gogolia
This is the kind of thing Ceaucescu used to do. I’m a good Christian, so I won’t wish for a similar ending to the story.
prostratedragon
Apropos that other subject humming in the background these days, a fervent prayer:
japa21
@zhena gogolia:
Unfortunately, there are too few of us.
scav
It’d be handy to know the name of the snitching hospital. Broadcasting known possible side effects of interacting with (so-called) health care operations seems good practice. An informed consumer, isn’t that part of their holy unregulated market?
Hob
Here’s a question that I realize may be kind of beside the point due to the massive bad faith inherent in the whole thing, but… do I understand correctly that Herrera was not charged in terms of the new Texas anti-abortion law, but that this was more of a “let’s just go all the way and say it’s murder, and see if we can get away with that in court” thing? As in, SB 8 and this arrest were both made possible by the current political climate, but that the one wasn’t a consequence of the other? It seemed like a major part of the whole weaselly approach they used with SB 8 was that they were not talking about murder charges, or charging the woman who had the abortion with anything at all, but instead allowing civil actions against doctors and anyone else who “aids and abets” it. If so, are we seeing a competition here between different factions of the radical right where some of them got impatient with SB 8? Not that it necessarily matters if they’re working at cross purposes— the end result is that everyone gets terrorized— but the reporting was unclear to me.
zhena gogolia
I recommend this book (Gail Kligman, The Politics of Duplicity) to anyone interested in what might happen here. Doctors and nurses were required to report their patients to the government in Romania:
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520210752/the-politics-of-duplicity
Baud
?
Still hopes this bites the GOP in the ass.
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker:
Hope so too.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Their point was to intimidate women. Not just this woman, but all of us. Fuck them.
Kirk Spencer
The first sentence, second paragraph of the notice from the DA’s office is very interesting.
See, that much may be absolutely true. However, it in turn means that:
a) the reporting hospital failed to follow law and current medical practice; and
b) the DA’s office did NOT
duedo it’s due duty in ensuring the deeds justified the charges.The latter, sadly, happens. New or zealous people get over their skis. Still, given how obviously political this subject is, the process in the county’s DA office should have put the brakes on the charge.
The former, though? That’s where the lawsuits will be valid. And maybe some criminal charges. Because for a change, “This is a HIPAA violation” is correct, and the violation resulted in a host of the sorts of consequences the act was meant to protect against.
ETA: corrected typos.
JPL
@zhena gogolia: After the Supreme Court weakens Roe, it won’t take long before they rule that HIPAA doesn’t apply for those who kill children.
Thank you for the book recommendation.
JPL
@WaterGirl: The party of pro-fetus. f..k life.
mrmoshpotato
@JPL:
Pro-fetus, anti-women. They can all go to Hell.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
You are exactly right. And that makes this terrorism. Republicans are theocratic terrorists. Fucking Y’all-qaeda.
Kent
“Good” Christians are why we are where we are frankly. My extended family is full of them. Abortion bans and persecution of LGBT people seems their only raison d’etre. Oh, and the notion that racism doesn’t exist but discrimination against white Christians does.
japa21
She wasn’t talking about “good” Christians, she was talking about good Christians.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@JPL: They are not even pro-fetus. That would require that they support pre-natal care and reducing harmful chemicals from the environment where they can harm fetal development.
They don’t actually care about anyone except themselves, and this is a way they can control other people while pretending they are being virtuous.
artem1s
@WaterGirl:
Not just intimidate but to criminalize not having a penis. Her constitutional right of presumed innocence was violated as are all the rights of all the women in TX. Don’t forget Purvi Patel who received a 20 year sentence after having a legal chemical abortion because the coroner determined the fetus may have still been alive when expelled. Her appeal took over 2 years to get her sentence overturned.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Kent: You are talking about bad, hypocritical Christians. There are plenty to go around.
Good Christians are out there, but they can be hard to find (though there are quite a few on this blog!). But they do exist, let’s not erase them with our rhetoric. #notallchristians
JPL
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: That’s a good analysis, because I think the current Supreme Court wants to rid us of those pesky Nixon era regulations on the environment. Abortion is just a way to turn out voters.
Kent
@japa21: Unfortunately they are the majority.
zhena gogolia
@Kent: I said good Christian
zhena gogolia
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: it’s a losing battle
artem1s
@JPL:
SCOTUS already did when they ruled Hobby Lobby could interfere with their employees medical decisions and deny women health care based on an assumption that if a woman needs reproductive care it must be murder.
WaterGirl
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: They really are.
Baud
@artem1s:
Hobby Lobby is about health insurance coverage provided by the employer. It has nothing to do with HIPAA.
Geminid
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: What I see in central Virginia is the conservative evangelicals forming a political alliance with secular radical conservatives. The latter group doesn’t seem to care much about women’s rights one way or another, but they want power and an alliance with the bible thumpers can dominate the Republican party and (they hope) the state and nation. This seems to be a fairly durable alliance for now.
Sure Lurkalot
Deleted
Baud
@Geminid:
Sounds like the old Reagan coalition.
Sure Lurkalot
Governor Polis signs bill protecting abortion rights in Colorado
This news is good too.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: This should be the death knell for the Rs where women are concerned. But whether it makes a difference to the majority of white women who vote R remains to be seen.
Starfish
@Betty Cracker: A lot of people are hoping that if a nurse reported her, she gets sued to hell and back for HIPAA violations.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: It will only make a difference when it affects their own. Years ago when GA tried to tighten the abortion laws, it was a republican who stopped it, because his daughter almost died of sepsis. It was only an abortion that saved her.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: I keep thinking about Ceaucescu when I hear these anti-abortionists. That’s what they want – no birth control and having to prove you aren’t pregnant every month.
O. Felix Culpa
@Starfish: Erm, you seem to assume nurse = female.
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia: I turned into a bad Christian some years ago, so I’ll do that wishing for you. ;-)
Starfish
@O. Felix Culpa: It is statistically likely, but point taken. Thanks.
O. Felix Culpa
@Starfish: ?
Kay
@Hob:
That’s correct. There’s another new Texas abortion law though- it controls abortion by drugs- and I think there’s a question whether she could have been charged under that one. Could also have been a misunderstanding about the laws or just hunting around finding something to charge her with.
But there’s a lot of missing information.
Karen
Will they be investigating every miscarriage or do they realize that the majority of the time it happens naturally and the family is going through enough?
MisterDancer
Thanks for the update! I sincerely hope, as I always do, that my predictions/opinions on how this came about, are proven untrue.
But far more crucially, I hope Ms. Herrera gets all the justice in the world that she deserves from this horrific set of acts. And that those who thought this worthy of “reporting,” much less bringing charges, get everything they deserve!
Gretchen
@Karen: they don’t care about causing suffering in other people
Geminid
@Baud: Yes, except the Chamber of Commerce types still had the upper hand, and the bible thumpers were junior partners.
In Virginia this changed in the last decade. The Chamber of Commerce types* used to call the shots in the party, but when Dave Brat knocked out Eric Cantor in the 2014 7th District primary the tea party cranks and their bible thumping allies gave notice that they were done with junior partner status. The year before, the popular and electorally succesful Bill Bolling was sidelined when the party chose to have a convention and nominated Ken Cuccinelli for governor. Bolling was a classic Main Street, establishment Virginia Republican.
The two wings were in conflict the rest of the decade. Glenn Youngkin was able to paper over the party’s divisions with fat checks, and he would not have won otherwise.
* Obviously the members of the state and local chambers of commerce are not great in numbers, but they punch above their weight. The larger business owners are opinion leaders among their employees and the smaller businessmen. They have economic and social ties with the professional class, and the latter group tends to follow their lead.
germy
Lyrebird
Wasn’t expecting a good laugh on THIS thread.
Thank you.
With all due respect to PDs, I share the hope ACLU and PP are bringing the big-paycheck lawyers to push back.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: I am a damned agnostic and I had that fight last night. Bigotry is bigotry as far as I am concerned. That and the bloodthirstiness that has been bubbling up are making me consider a break again.
Ruckus
@Baud:
I’m going to use some foul (but not foul enough) language.
I hope this bites the greasy old poop party in the genitalia so bad that they turn into granite statues that can then be blown up with high explosives (we could skip the statue step).
Their catch phrase should be “Everything for me, Fuck everyone else.” One of their problems is that they seem to be unable to do anything actually useful, the only words they seem to understand is NO, and gimme, gimme, gimme. They are like extremely spoiled brats who think the world owes them everything, which should cost them nothing.
burnspbesq
@Baud:
A few years ago, I might have given odds, but the border region is shifting red in a hurry, and Hispanic women are leading the charge. It’s far more likely that the DA will get primaried next time.
Ruckus
@JPL:
See my comment at 55
Ruckus
@Karen:
To answer your question — NO.
Frank Wilhoit
Their nerve always fails them. We need to make it fail sooner. Turn up the heat. Turn up the heat. Turn up the heat.
lowtechcyclist
@Kent
This is the part (well, one of them anyway) that tells me that they aren’t who and what they say they are. They do NOT have that awesome personal relationship with God that they so often claim to have, because if you have the love of the Lord of the whole fucking Universe present inside you, then that should outweigh by far anything that remotely qualifies as a persecution here in the U.S. of A.
It should be like water off a duck’s back. And it so clearly isn’t, for them. If they ever knew the Lord, they’ve completely forgotten what it’s like. All they’ve got is whether your soul’s going to Heaven or to Hell, and why should anyone believe them on that either? Meanwhile, their kids are leaving evangelicalism in droves because they don’t want to be the next generation of assholes in the name of Christ.
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus: Those of us that fall on the good side of the ledger need defenders like you.
japa21
Just finished watching the 60 Minutes interview with Zelenskyy. It was powerful.
debbie
@japa21:
Agreed.
Starfish
A lot of the reports that I have seen on this story have lacked detail.
This piece by Texas Public Radio is better, and it also mentions different funds in South Texas that are supporting women there.
WaterGirl
@japa21: Is he speaking english, I presume?
I had no idea that was going to be on, dammit!
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Some English, but mostly Ukrainian. There was a translator.
J R in WV
@Karen:
Nothing is enough if a woman has a miscarriage, whatever the cause. Guilty, Guilty, Guilty ~!!!~
That’s the whole point of these laws, these theocrats.
Personally really glad they dropped the charges, hope she and her lawyers take them for a long ride!
japa21
@debbie: But the very end, his answer was in English. And it said it all.
japa21
@WaterGirl: I am sure you can go to the web site and watch it. As I told Mrs. Japa, although he speaks English, he prefers in these situations to speak Ukrainian and feel sure of what he is saying and not say something that doesn’t mean exactly what he is trying to say. Plus, and this is important, his facial expressions go with his words. He was, BTW, very complimentary of Biden. Even as he wishes for more from him.
Roger Moore
@JPL:
HIPAA already includes a rule that it isn’t a violation if revealing protected health information is necessary to report a crime. In some cases, medical providers are actually mandatory reporters, i.e. they are legally required to tell law enforcement if they think a crime has been committed. The thing here is that what she was accused of isn’t a crime, so the exception for reporting a crime shouldn’t apply.
Subsole
@zhena gogolia: I’m not, so I’ll wish it for you.
debbie
@japa21:
Yes. I wasn’t demeaning anything about him. My only complaint is Scott Pelly.
WaterGirl
@debbie: Thanks for the info. Hopefully there will be a link to it in the morning.
WaterGirl
@japa21: Glad to know that, thanks.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Why wait?
Elizabelle
@debbie:
Thank you! They don’t have the transcription yet, for Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian responses, but I hope they put that up soon, and let us watch the whole thing. So prefer the original to the soundbites.
Uncle Cosmo
More than that. I am morally certain that before Zelinskyy answers a question from Pelley, it is translated into Ukrainian by his trusted interpreter(s) so that he understands exactly what he’s being asked. And I’ll bet good money that he mulls the question over and takes some time to formulate his response very carefully.
Some of you have gone through reporter Q&As with a single cameraman, haven’t you? I was interviewed once for national evening news and went through it. Interesting process:
In Zelinskyy’s situation, it would work more like
Steps 2 through 5 are elided in the video, as is step 8, which again may involve conference and agreement of all parties including the interpreters.
In the end, what looks to the 60 Minutes audience like a snappy 30-40 second question and response may have taken 5 or even 10 minutes to set up, film, and edit. /tmi
Elizabelle
@Uncle Cosmo:
Interesting. Good to hear.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
That’s odd. They must know that most of their audience probably don’t understand Ukrainian.
Elizabelle
@debbie: Yeah. I think they put it up for any professionals who want to catch the interview, fresh, while they are working on a transcript. My guess, anyway.
Ruckus
@Uncle Cosmo:
I’ve only once had to do an TV interview, and it was done live so the camera did a side shot of both myself and interviewer. But I was working in pro sports at the time and did see a lot of TV stuff being done from behind the scenes so I know that your version of this kind of interview is realistic. Having been in the TV truck during parts of the event really opened my eyes of what is possible and what happens.
Citizen Alan
@JPL: No, they’re not even pro-fetus or else they would want to do something to reduce our abysmal miscarriage rate (compared to other industrialized nations). They just want to inflict suffering, however they can.
Joey Maloney
@zhena gogolia:
I’m neither, so I’m perfectly comfortable with my Bad Thoughts.
raven
Want to support Ukraine? They are playing Wales in a world cup qualifier right now.
germy shoemangler
HinTN
Three very nice videos, TaMara. Thank you for these. Happy Sunday, y’all, even if it’s already Monday on the other side of this big old world.
debbie
Thanks for sharing the Jeff Bridges interview. I love that man.
zhena gogolia
I keep looking for Betty Cracker. I got to the scene in Hacks where Marcus brings home the Boston terrier puppy. It’s about a 10-second scene but it’s a beauty.
TaMara
@germy shoemangler: OMG, thank you for that.
raven
@zhena gogolia: Wait till he takes him to the emergency vet!
zhena gogolia
@raven: Oh, no! I might have to scroll through that.
Baud
@germy shoemangler:
Animal socialism.
Fleeting Expletive
I too liked the Jeff Bridges interview, he’s been great in so many roles. In some recent appearances he seems to be fighting with ill-fitting dentures (R.I.P.D, with Ryan Reynolds on HBO), but he has no noticeable problem here.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Thanks TaMara
eclare
@germy shoemangler: So sweet!
Raven
@zhena gogolia: it’s fine
zhena gogolia
@Raven: Thanks!
brendancalling
Gonna go dancing downtown for part of Bulington’s annual Jazz Fest around 3:30, and if the weather warms up, I’m going swimming in the Winooski River. Yesterday, I got a bunch of errands done—and I believe I have found a storage unit for the moving process.
Nelle
When I lived in Lawrence, KS, I was able to be part of the GoFundMe to bring the young man to KU. He has raised more money in order to bring his family to KS but still is short of his goal. How grand that they are reunited.
CaseyL
Well, from the Bridges interview I have learned that FX has made a series out of “The Old Man,” a suspense novel by Thomas Perry!!
I’ve been a big Thomas Perry fan for decades, so I’m very excited about this, even though I’m almost certain I won’t like whatever changes they’ve made between book and video. But Perry must have liked the showrunners’ plans, since this is SFAIK the only book of his to be turned into a movie/series, when nearly any of them would make a great movie.
Suzanne
Just threw a big pot of chili together in the crockpot, since I went to the farmers’ market yesterday, and they had these amazing jalapeños. So chili it is. I love the crockpot, it is great for making fabulous soup, and then there’s like 10 servings of soup for lunches or dinners over the course of the week.
JPL
@germy shoemangler: That was awesome!
JPL
@TaMara: Thank you for the post, and all the videos were great.
JML
@raven:
Normally, I’d be rooting for Wales to qualify, now I want them both in. It’s been a terrific match.
lowtechcyclist
This morning, my wife and I ran errands, including picking out a new washing machine that will be delivered in about a week and a half. (We bought the old one ~2013, and it’s been letting us know that it’s time to replace it.) The mower’s also dying, and Home Dopey had an assortment of electric mowers for sale, so I’m thinking about switching from gasoline to electric.
Right now I’m out on the back deck, enjoying this absolutely sparkling weather here in southern Maryland, and contemplating a bike ride shortly.
marcopolo
Thank you for the occasional restorative posts much appreciated
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Battery powered mowers are great! I’ve used one a customer paid for on the fenced part of their lawn for three years. That part of their lawn is only 1750 sq feet, but the mower would probably do 50% more on a charge. The mower is a Kobalt brand purchased at Lowe’s.
Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog
@CaseyL: I’ve always wondered why none of Perry’s books got picked up for adaptation. He’s almost always a tricky, inventive writer (although his last few – sadly, including The Old Man – seemed to me not to quite be up to what I think of as his standard) and I unfailingly check the “new books” section looking for him, each library visit.
So much of his stuff is memorable! The S&L crisis explanation in Dance for the Dead, the how-to in Metzger’s Dog on bringing LA to a standstill …
I’ve always wished someone would interview him about the genesis of his fascination with “change your name and move to another state” (as I was once advised by a teacher) as a plot hook ; I’d love to know where that came from.
NotMax
When in need of stepping back and taking a few cleansing breaths, a touch of Brel goes a long way in rejuvenating perspective.
AWJ
In case anyone needs a reminder what we’re up against, Peter Thiel’s court philosopher presents the case for “based” absolute monarchy.
satby
@lowtechcyclist: I got a Greenworks 40v from Amazon, exact model is now 23% lower in price because it’s older. Loved that thing, but lost it and my beach bike later that summer when my garage was broken into. Worked great on my city lot.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
In personal news, my vacation started today. Not really going anywhere, but it will be nice to have work off, especially having had to work overtime last week because some co-workers were out sick with Covid
JMG
There’s a vintage Perry on my couchside reading table right now, “Sleeping Dogs,” the sequel to his first “The Butcher’s Boy.”
CaseyL
@Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog: The only book of his that I disliked was “Nightlife,” because the detective did really dumb things, and the antagonist seemed to be able to do things way too easily (the fake DL comes immediately to mind). That one definitely wasn’t up to his usual level of quality.
I suspect that quite a few of Perry’s books have at least been optioned – a process with a very high failure rate, but the writer keeps the option fee, which is nice. His characters do a lot of thinking, a lot of the story happens in their heads, and that could be difficult to change into action or dialog without altering the entire tone and rhythm of the book.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lowtechcyclist:
You totally should. Cub Cadet makes excellent electric riding mowers if you’re in the market for one. My folks bought one for their yard and it easily mows everything on a single charge. It’s fun to drive too
CaseyL
@JMG: Oh, that is an excellent series, too!
One thing I found fascinating about how Perry writes hitmen. There’s Schaeffer, the anti-hero, and Perry gets into his mind quite a bit. And then there’s “Pursuit,” with another hitman as antagonist, and Perry gets into his mind quite a bit. It’s an interesting compare-and-contrast, taking the same type of character, and writing one as sympathetic and one as not.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Cathie from Canada
The Steve Hartman video is blocked in Canada (this is a common problem with videos from US platforms and/or television networks, I have found.)
If you could provide a little more info about it so maybe I can look it up somewhere else on YouTube, I would appreciate it. Thanks
Doug R
@lowtechcyclist: I saw an ad the other day for a mower that runs for an hour on a charge.Sweet, and you don’t have to worry about where that dam power cord is.
NotMax
‘@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Back in the 1970s a friend’s parents had an electric riding mower, powered by a 100 foot extension cord plugged into household outlet. Hazy memory telling me it was a Kenmore from Sears, but don’t hold me to that.
(Not making this up.)
raven
@NotMax: eBay has some info
https://www.ebay.com/b/Craftsman-Corded-Electric-Walk-Behind-Lawn-Mower-Lawn-Mowers/260921/bn_72868482
Starfish
I rode my bike over 11 miles. I am dirty and tired.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Starfish: My neighbors wonder why I’ve lost so much weight in the last year…every day at work, I walk 15 miles, that’s why.
Chris T.
Having just been through a big remodel , you have my sympathy.
(Spousal Unit now has the desperately-needed mobility items though, including the really big one, an elevator. And I get to bake chocolate desserts again as we have a kitchen now!)
NotMax
‘@raven
Found this pic of a ’74 model in a quick search.
Chris T.
@satby:
I’ve seen recommendations for Greenworks in general, you can get interchangeable batteries for the mowers, blowers, hedge trimmers, etc or something like that. As we finally have a small enough lawn that I might in theory be able to do mine myself I’ve been wondering if I want to get into that…
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
Wow lol. EV tech has definitely improved a lot in the last 40-50 years
I was actually considering getting an electric pedal assist bicycle from Lectric Bikes
They come already assembled, easily fold up into a compact, easy to store and transport form, and can have a range of 40 miles to over 100 depending on the model. I have a few Visa cards upstairs worth a few hundred from birthdays and Christmases I’ve never used. I’d just need to spend an extra $300-500. They seem like they’d be a lot of fun w/ a top speed of 20+ mph
Sure Lurkalot
Finally, the windy days we’ve had for the last month or so are waning here in Denver. I’m just now getting back on my bike because riding in 20 mile gusts is a nonstarter for me. Looking forward to building back the muscle memory because this morning’s flat 20 miles wiped me out. Luckily, nothing on the agenda except dinner….
Benw
Went.to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge for a lovely hike, and saw some frogs and snapping turtles. Then got some LI strip mall pizza (aka delicious grandma style) on the way home.
NotMax
‘@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Electric cars pre-date the internal combustion engine ones.
Weekend read: Worth the Watt: A Brief History of the Electric Car, 1830 to Present.
Lurve the name Electrobat!
Anyway
OT – I’ve been enjoying (reading) Mick Herron’s “Slough House” series about a group of MI5’s washed-up, rejected, malfunctioning spies who can’t be easily fired for reasons. There’s intricate plotting with lots of twists and nods to classic spy novels, overall he’s created a sly, darkly funny world. The plots are suited for the post-whatever world we live in and contains satires of jerkoffs like Nigel Farage,
BoJo and some others I probably missed from my perspective across the pond.
I’m on Book#4 now – Spook Street.
Apparently this is a series on Apple+ — I might succumb and sign up for a trial subscription to check it out.
raven
@Anyway: It’s fun and there is no “off topic” in an open thread.
Baud
@Anyway:
I get three months of Apple+ free with my new iPad, so I’ll be binging on a bunch of shows over the summer.
raven
@Anyway: Dickinson is a must.
Another Scott
One for Betty Cracker.
Neutral buoyancy for the win.
(via gavmacn)
Cheers,
Scott.
Sure Lurkalot
@Benw: Growing up on LI, the strip mall pizza was the bomb. Tony’s or Vinny’s for traditional, 15 cents a slice and Angelo’s for grandma style, 20 cents. How’d I get so old?
Chris T.
@NotMax: Electrobat, meet electrocat: The article doesn’t mention the 2019-and-later Jaguar I-Pace!
(It’s what the Model S should have been, as it has a nice interior and not everything is touch screen. My previous car, totaled on the freeway when I was in the middle of a multi-car pileup—I was fine, and nobody died, one woman also in the middle of the pileup had some whiplash though—was much too touch-screen-controlled. Putting everything on one big screen is a bad idea.)
(Note: when traffic in front of you comes to a full stop suddenly, and you also come to a full stop suddenly, beware of the people behind you who … don’t.)
Starfish
@ BillinGlendaleCA: That’s amazing.
Another Scott
“Everybody gotta have a job.”
:-)
(via BettyBowers)
Cheers,
Scott.
eclare
@Another Scott: Hilarious!
scav
@Another Scott:
!!!!!
WaterGirl
@Baud: Which iPad did you get? I just spent over an hour trying to figure out which to get, just got back to BJ and saw your comment.
Ohio Mom
One of my oldest friends had two free tickets to the fancy juried crafts fair so I got to spend time this morning looking at pretty things and catching up, all in the fresh air.
My friend said she needed a new laptop so I just sent her to MicroCenter with Ohio Dad, the retired computer engineer. He’ll make sure she doesn’t buy more than she needs.
So a lovely day so far, plus Ohio Son admitted he screwed something up, which I was telling him earlier he was. Nice to hear he heard me and this flash of maturity in his part is a balm.
Suzanne
@Another Scott: Oh my God. That absolutely made my day.
eclare
@Ohio Mom: Sounds like a great day!
jackmac
I’m glad you’ve offered some good news to shake off the melancholy generated by Adam Silverman’s Ukraine post last night. I have great respect for Adam and his expertise, work ethic and willingness to share Ukraine information and perspective to the Jackal community. So no criticism of Adam is suggested here. He deserves thanks for he has done.
But in last night’s post he took a different turn in answering questions about the political climate at home. And it wasn’t encouraging as Adam offered some educated — and entirely plausible — views on the November elections and beyond.
“I think things are going to go very badly,” he wrote. “I think that just based on the extreme gerrymandering in Florida and Ohio that the Republicans will retake the House. I wouldn’t be surprised if they establish a sizeable majority.”
He also speculated that Dems would be lucky to hold the Senate and that future Senate election outcomes would tilt more and more towards the GOP. Adam goes on to talk about GOP dominance in more than half the states, voter suppression efforts and much more.
It’s a depressing, realistic and necessary read.
Ohio Mom
@jackmac: It’s a tightrope we walk, working to live in hope (else we will be too demoralized to function) all while looking at our world in as clear-eyed manner as we can.
TaMara
@jackmac: Dear god, why do I even bother trying to give people respite? I’m sure those who wanted and needed to read Adam’s post (including me) have done so. But thanks for bringing down a post that had managed (congrats guys! I was impressed) to stay focused on positive things all afternoon.
Not everyone needs your “reality check”
May I all suggest you all skip that comment and continue with your great book recommendations and lovely stories of your activities.
Steeplejack
@Cathie from Canada:
Here’s a story with background information about the Afghan trumpeter.
NotMax
‘@Chris T.
Hailing from a time when Jaguars were notorious for persistent electrical problems, color me skeptical.
;)
Also too, you betcha (emphasis mine).
TaMara
@Cathie from Canada: Bummed about that. Here’s the CBS description:
eclare
@TaMara: I could not agree more. Thank you.
jackmac
@TaMara: So sorry to intrude on the “open thread”. The hostility was totally unnecessary.
TaMara
@lowtechcyclist: I have what is probably a lower-end electric mower and it can mow both my front and back (and that was when my front was all grass).
I let the backyard grass grow pretty long, the ducks prefer it that way, and helps them keep cool in the summer. This mower tackles it like a John Deere.
It’s about a 45-minute battery life – and it can actually hold two batteries to extend mowing time. Those batteries can also be used on my trimmer and blower.
I highly recommend moving away from gas mower – quieter, less maintenance and you can actually hear over it.
TaMara
@jackmac: Well, then, I guess you’ll want to stay away from my posts, since you find my directness hostile. And we’ll both be happier.
Phylllis
@Anyway: Used some CC rewards points to get book one. I love a good mystery series for summer reading.
Brachiator
@NotMax:
People will adjust. In the good old days, all you had was a push button radio, a slide switch for the heater or AC and an ashtray.
debbie
@Another Scott:
She ended up getting fired. Bastards.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid: @satby:
How well do the electrics handle heavy grass? We’ve got a swale running along the front of our yard in lieu of a storm drain, and because of all the moisture it gets, the grass gets really thick. I don’t worry about a gas mower getting through it, but it definitely slows it down at times. That’s really my only concern with an electric.
ETA: Naturally, as I was writing this, @TaMara: answered this question while I was still asking it. Thanks, TaMara!
That, and ideally getting one where the whole lawn can be mowed on just one charge, but that’s in the nice-but-not-critical category.
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Thanks for the suggestion, but our lawn is small enough that a riding mower of any sort would be overkill. Takes me maybe 65-70 minutes to do the whole thing with a gas mower – though I’ve passed the job down to the kiddo as of last summer. Also, there are times (like the past few weeks) when it gets wet enough around here that a riding mower would sink in.
More ETA: Anyway, y’all have sold me on switching to electric. Thanks, everyone!
PJ
So it turns out the reason that we didn’t get a Build Back Better deal last year was exactly what it looked like on the surface – Manchin’s ego was bruised and he had a hissy fit: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/06/05/biden-manchin-white-house/
jackmac
@TaMara: There’s a fine line between “directness” and bullying behavior. You crossed it.
Nelle
@Cathie from Canada: afghani family in Kansas
raven
@jackmac: Aw poor baby.
prostratedragon
Something I’ve been brooding over a lot lately:
debbie
@debbie:
Her gofundme is here: https://twitter.com/monique48322061/status/1533172000784531457?s=21&t=wBkTyQVTRQ3aP7CejlnKAw
Nelle
@jackmac: Quick comment. Didn’t you cross a line when you ignored the thread’s focus?
Another Scott
@debbie: Yup.
She’s applied with Beto’s campaign, it looks like, and her GoFundMe exceeded its goal in a day.
Here’s hoping for good things going forward.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Monique48322061
Cheers,
Scott.
Baud
@PJ:
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: If the mower were set at its highest cutting level you might be able to mow the higher grass. I’ve occasional attacked small quantities of really high grass by pushing down so the front wheels are in the air. The mower I use hasn’t much torque so that is slow going. But one nice thing about these mowers is that they are considerably lighter than gas mowers and that might make mowing the swale easier, if you keep it mowed.
Starfish
@jackmac: There are other threads. I hope someone creates a Sunday Afternoon Pissing and Moaning thread.
The previous thread had serious comments about a serious issue, and nothing quite seemed appropriate for general grumblings.
Benw
@Sure Lurkalot: the inexorable unrelenting passage of time sigh
scav
Some people just can’t read a room and then get in a huff. Rather like that screamy poundy counter woman in Statbucks insisting it wasn’t illegal to scream or something of the ilk.
Kathleen
Still recovering from Covid. My doc said the fatigue will last 6 months. He also reported excellent results for patients who took the anti viral drug which I did not get (long story). I can get the basics done (easy worlouts, work, cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping) but no energy for anything else. I
lowtechcyclist
@raven:
Seconded.
lowtechcyclist
@Nelle:
“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Afghanistan anymore.”
trollhattan
Whoa, did anyone ever interview this guy in a local diner?
“Extensive criminal and prison record”; can buy gun. Checks out.
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: Thank you for posting that. I’ve mentioned I work in the collision repair industry, and I have been saying since I first started seeing them that those touch screen controls are dangerous.
Can’t use a cell phone while driving, lets put a tablet computer in the middle of the dash. ffs.
mrmoshpotato
@Kathleen: Glad you’re recovering. Sorry that it looks like a long recovery period for you.
lowtechcyclist
Had a very pleasant bike ride this afternoon, did ~15 miles at a relaxed pace with a couple of stops along the way. Back on the deck (of course!) enjoying this amazing weather.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
raven
@Kathleen: I don’t know what to think. I did get the antiviral and the sore throat, which was all I had, went away in two days. I’m a little tired but not really a big deal. I hope you get better soon.
Geminid
@jackmac: There was a lot of truth in what Mr. Silverman wrote. I was skeptical, though, about the prediction that the Senate would become more Republican over time. The numerical imbalance will become greater as populations in states like West Virginia and the Dakotas remain stagnant, but I can’t identify the states that will actually provide additional Republican Senators.I guess Georgia and Arizona could if recent trends reverse, and Manchin could be the last Democratic Senator from West Virginia this century. But unless Republicans steal purple state Senate seats, which they certainly will try to do, I don’t see an inevitable trend towards a Republican Senate.
Ed. And now I see that this topic is not necessarily appropriate for a good news thread, but I guess this response was positive enough to leave up.
ColoradoGuy
Get better, TaMara! Love your posts with the ducklings. And yes, we all need a respite. My therapist ordered me to take a one-week fast from Covid doomscrolling … so far, mostly successful.
Erie is having some sort of downtown get-together, with the main street blocked off. A neighbor down the block is having local blues-band musicians play in their garage for the entertainment of our neighborhood. Me, I’m sitting indoors in the air conditioning and enjoying a quiet afternoon.
Kay
@lowtechcyclist:
Love my electric mower. I can cut about half before I switch out the battery but that just takes a minute. I used it last weekend to cut a friend’s yard that had gotten really long- she has all consuming family problems- the grass had seed heads so maybe 6-7″ long. I had to do two passes and go slow but it didn’t clog or stop. The second pass was just to chop up the long grass I cut on the first pass.
I gave my gas mower to my son and 6 months later he got an electric and gave it to someone else :)
trollhattan
Wales decides to go the unpopular route, crushing Ukraine’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup while punching their own ticket.
#SportsIsCruel
WaterGirl
@Kathleen: Oh Kathleen, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.
Baud
@Kathleen:
I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve never heard of someone getting a specific prediction on how long fatigue will last. I will pray it’ll be shorter than 6 months.
Kathleen
@mrmoshpotato: Thank you! I’m still fortunate in that I can still take care of business!
PaulB
@jackmac: Oh, garbage. TaMara did no such thing. “Bullying?” Seriously? Get a grip.
As for your comment, perhaps you should read the first post in a thread before commenting. Had you done so, you would have seen this: “Thought I would give everyone a chance to cease doom-scrolling for a bit and share some good news.”
brendancalling
@NotMax: My dad bought this incredibly complicated and not at all intuitive Pioneer system for his previous car. Just trying to figure out how to turn it on—never mind going from CD to radio or phone—was comparable to texting while drunk driving.
Geminid
@Geminid: It’s hard to keep threads on subject. Last night’s Ukraine thread turned into a food fight.
PaulB
@prostratedragon: My FoodSaver vacuum sealer included a special wine cork that allows you to remove much of the air from your re-corked bottle, presumably preserving it.
Alas, I’m not much of a wine drinker and I’ve never used it, so I don’t know how well it works.
WaterGirl
@Baud: The doctor can’t possibly know. S/he is surely attempting to set expectations that this could be a long recovery.
Kathleen
@raven: Thanks Raven! I got tested at an Urgent Care where the PA was totally negative about the medication and I felt too lousy to sort it out. When I followed up with my Doc I wish I had talked to him earlier. GRR. But I was glad to hear how well it was working!
Kathleen
@WaterGirl: Thanks WG.
Kathleen
@Baud: Thank you Baud. While I love and trust my doc ( he’s called me at home on Sundays!) I’ll give myself space to be open to a shorter time frame!
Kathleen
@WaterGirl: i think that’s the case.
PaulB
If I had a floor sweeper like this, I’d probably sweep more often.
Video here.
Full story here.
kalakal
@lowtechcyclist: I use an electric. If the grass is really high and heavy I’ll use a 2 steps forward 1 step back technique, that seems to do it. You can definitely hear it slow down with really heavy grass. The other trick is if there’s a very high/dense patch is to give it a fast haircut with a high powered electric weedwhacker then use the mower
TaMara
@Kathleen: It sucks so badly and I am sorry. It may last six months, but, at least for me, there were multiple good days followed by a couple of bad days. Hoping you get more good days than bad.
raven
@Kathleen: Damn, my GP was totally pro-active. I mentioned it and she said, “at your age, yes”, called it in and I had it in an hour at no cost. It made my mouth taste funny but not as bad as some folks experience.
Old Dan and Little Ann
After reading a few Stephen King books and another super fucked up scary book over the last few months I needed something light for a change. I came across, “West with Giraffes.” A story about transporting 2 giraffes across country during the Great Depression. I love it so far.
kalakal
Just finished work, had a quick swim, it’s a beautiful afternoon and here’s a cat playing football
https://youtu.be/v-6Ljyp3HuQ
TaMara
PBS is using a 1985 Prince and the Revolution Concert for fundraising. I don’t know if I should feel horribly old (hush, child) or just grateful because watching Prince dance, prance, and spin across stage makes me incredibly happy.
But I know somewhere, someone’s Gigi, just fell off her rocker. LOL
And probably got back up and turned up the volume.
Baud
@TaMara:
I guess in 2060, PBS will be fundraising off of Lil Nas X.
zhena gogolia
Lin-Manuel Miranda appeared at the Jubilee:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhWh6eVhLTg
Great singer in the Phantom excerpt.
TaMara
@Baud: I guess. I was not expecting Darling Nikki to be playing in the same waters as Masterpiece Theatre.
dnfree
@MagdaInBlack: We have a 2014 Cadillac ATS with a fairly big screen. We had a deer incident in 2017–hit one at 70 mph with the front driver-side corner. The airbags didn’t go off, but the estimate for repairs was something like $14,000–close to totaling the car, but apparently not quite. So they fixed it (and it is still doing just great), but when we picked it up, the repair place said “and the screen was cracked before the accident, right?” Um…no, it wasn’t. That added another $1000, they said. Probably would have totaled the car if they’d included that in the estimate.
But on the plus side, not only were we completely unhurt, we were able to drive the car about 15 miles to the dealership. I had a little Ford C-Max that got 40 mpg that I loved driving. But I realized that if we’d hit a deer at 70 mph in my little car, the outcome could have been a lot different. So I sold that and got a sturdier car.
SamIAm
@lowtechcyclist:
I’ve switched to electric and the mower is ok. But it’s obvious some manufacturers are exploiting the GCC and dumping low quality machines on the market.
I would avoid purchasing the “Masterforce” brand. Mower was >$700, battery is a separate purchase at >$300 and the mower chokes easily on tallish grass.
Even overlapping my passes still leaves strips where the grass is higher than the surrounding areas.
I was taken like a fool. On the plus side no more two stroke pollution and GHG. And it runs very quietly in comparison.
J R in WV
We live in the woods. I sometimes do use a weed-whacker along steps and the path, but not often.
But back when I had to mow some, I quickly learned if the grass was thick and high, to mow a narrow strip rather than the full width of the mower.
The higher/thicker the crap to mow, the more narrow a strip I would mow. Yes, it makes the job take longer, but at least I didn’t have to stop, dig the packed in grass off the bottom of the mower deck, and restart the thing up — back when they were all gas powered. Dad’s yard was like 100 yards long, down hill… which meant half the job was going back up the hill !!
I hated mowing back then, which is why we have NO grass now, living in the rocks and woods as we do. I also have a tractor with a brush-hog for the bottoms along the county road, which I mow once or twice a year…
SamIAm
@Starfish:
Hurray and good for you! I need to do start riding my bike.
SamIAm
@jackmac:
No, she didn’t.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
@Kay:
@kalakal:
Thanks for all the additional encouragement, y’all! Just now, I also talked with my next-door neighbor who has one, but I hadn’t really asked for details before now because I really expected my current gas mower to last several more years. He has a Greenworks like Satby did before it got stolen, though I think he said the voltage on his was 56v or 60v, something like that. He said it did better with the high grass than his old gas mower had.
Now it’s just a question of which electric I will buy. Probably will do a bit of research sometime this week, then buy one.
mrmoshpotato
@Old Dan and Little Ann:
And you’re not telling us the other book so we don’t get scared? :)
Miki
Spent a lovely afternoon at a Minnesota vineyard (Alexis Bailly) drinking a really nice chewy red (made with all Minnesota grapes), eating charcuterie, sitting on a lovely lawn listening to jazz with my seester and her hubby. These folks started their vineyard in 1973 and have done it right. No fake pretentious Tuscan theme. Just good old Minnesota knotty pine, lawn chairs, and the occasional doggo. (No limos or tour buses, either.)
kalakal
@lowtechcyclist: mine’s an Earthwise, after 6 years the safety interlock has given up the ghost. It’s done well by me
NB it’s corded but they also do battery. I’ve also had Greenworks recommended to me
Ohio Mom
@Kathleen: This is probably too late for you to see it. Did you know that UC Health just started a multi-discipline Long Covid Clinic?
You could be just the sort of patient they are looking to help. And even if they have nothing for you right now, you’ll be helping medical science, and if/when treatments for persistent fatigue are developed, you’ll be in line for them.
Kathleen
@TaMara: Thank you, TaMara!
Kathleen
@raven: I know. I’m kicking myself now for listening to the PA. I’m so glad it helped you and that you’ve recovered!
Kathleen
@Ohio Mom: Thank you! I will check that out.