Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

We still have time to mess this up!

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The willow is too close to the house.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Everybody saw this coming.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Bright Spot In A Hard Week (Open Thread)

Bright Spot In A Hard Week (Open Thread)

by | 63 Comments

This post is in: 

It’s been a tough week, but thanks to all of you, today Voces de la Frontera has $43,000 that they didn’t have on Monday.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s something to celebrate!!!  $43,000 will go a long way to help with their relational organizing efforts.

Today is a beautiful spring day, and we have another one tomorrow, and then spring is apparently over because it will be 92 degrees by Monday.  (ugh)

Here are some flowers I planted today.  Had to do it while it was still spring. :-)

And a bonus Henry sandwich!

Bright Spot In A Hard Week (Open Thread)

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

63Comments

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    First? Second?
    I’m not sure the amount of floof in that Henry picture is legal.
    Also too: ON WISCONSIN!!!​

  6. 6.

    Ken

    I was weeding today, and feeling vaguely guilty at the number of worms that came up. Do they have some sort of ecological relationship with dandelion roots?

    On the bright side, weeding is a great way to make new friends, if you consider robins and blackbirds friends.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    @Yutsano: And you can only see half of it!  That’s a big round dog bed with another smaller big round dog bed inside, layered with Henry’s flat dog, which he carefully arranged so he could make a Henry sandwich.

  8. 8.

    Raven

    The wind blew me off the beach 16-20 is just too much! We rent from a friend and her brother lives next door. We’ve always gotten along but they don’t and he’s celebrating his 70th tonite and we’re invited. Just what I want to do is hang around with bunch of Bama fans I don’t know!

  9. 9.

    Raven

    @WaterGirl: One of my old friends, former Urbana council member, died this week and there is a “celebration of life” at the Esquire tonight.

  12. 12.

    Raven

    @WaterGirl: Tom Cheverud.

    FROM THE FAMILY OF TOM CHEVERUD (aka THOR):

    Thomas Robert Cheverud (aka Thor and Old Tom) died peacefully at his home in Urbana, Illinois in late April 2022. Tom’s full and well lived life will be celebrated with family and friends on Sunday May 22, 2022 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Esquire Lounge, 106 N. Walnut St., Champaign, IL.

    Tom was born in Chicago on July 14, 1950 and grew up in Riverdale, Illinois until moving to Champaign-Urbana to attend the University of Illinois in 1968. In the 1970s, Tom co-founded the non-profit Record Service that supported coops for food and clothing and served as a Democratic 5th ward alderman in Urbana from 1977 to 1981. Tom worked a variety of jobs in construction and manufacturing over the years and served as a union steward before retiring from Plastipak several years ago. Tom had a lifelong love of knowledge, nature, and sports. As a voracious reader, Tom was a virtual walking encyclopedia on a myriad of subjects and was always interested to discuss and debate ideas. With his passion for bird watching and gardening, he beautified every home he lived in and enjoyed doing the same for others. Always learning, Tom trained himself on the guitar and took up poker in his later years. He most recently began the pursuit of designing micro aquascapes. As for sports, Tom was an avid follower of the Chicago White Sox and Bulls, spent many years coaching youth baseball and basketball in Urbana and was a member of the legendary High ‘N Mighty softball team. Tom took great pride in his Norwegian heritage and considered his trip to Norway with his brother to visit family and ancestral sites as the trip of a lifetime. Tom showed great kindness, encouragement and interest in those he held dear in his life and he will be tremendously missed by all who knew him.

    Tom is survived by his son, Robert Thomas Cheverud of Champaign-Urbana; by his three younger siblings Joanie (Cheverud) Stern, Kathi Cheverud, and Jim Cheverud; and by his nephews, Eirik and Bryan Cheverud, and nieces, Emma Stern and Mary Grace Cheverud. Tom is preceded in death by his parents, Robert Lloyd and Mary Ellen (Fox) Cheverud.

    Tom’s full and well lived life will be celebrated with family and friends on Sunday May 22, 2022 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Esquire Lounge, 106 N. Walnut St., Champaign, IL.

    Oh, its not tonight.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @Raven: Hmm, maybe I don’t.  Still very sorry your group lost another friend.

    edit: oh wait, if he founded Record Service, then I did know him, just didn’t remember the name.  Boy, Record Service brings back memories.  Just seeing the name, I was taken back to standing in the store.  Vivid memory.

  17. 17.

    Raven

    @WaterGirl: We used to keep a “store stash” above the door in the office in case of emergencies! That 5cent “community tax” did much good.

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    here’s my bright spot

    Steve Schmidt @SteveSchmidtSES
    I can explain this. When I kicked @MeghanMcCain off of the 2008 McCain plane, because of her outrageous behavior, I talked to her mom and explained what was happening and why. Cindy got weepy and said “I just want to say I raised two good sons” I said “everyone knows you did”

    2/My daughter was three at the time and I made a promise to myself that I would make sure that my number one priority in life would be raising a child that never acted like @MeghanMcCain, a spoiled rotten, entitled bully. She is graduating high school next week! Mission achieved!

    3/ Everyone who has ever worked with @MeghanMcCain from @abc @TheView @JoyVBehar @WhoopiGoldberg and a thousand others have seen the unfiltered version of what the whole of America has seen. That is why in a nation of 330 million people, 247 have bought it. Nothing new to learn

    I love that he tagged her! I’m ambivalent about Schmidt, but today he is my hero

  30. 30.

    JPL

    @Raven:  ha I just put it on a few minutes before seven. Rich Strike wins and then they all cry, cuz yesterday he wasn’t suppose to run.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    Out front yesterday trying and mostly failing to photograph hummingbirds around our feeder. Glanced up to spot a Really Big birdy high above the house. Took some shots as it circled a couple times then headed north. Didn’t look like the typical vulture but too big for our occasional hawk or falcon. Asked some bird folks and learned it was an immature bald eagle. Cool!

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie:   Yeah.  I tuned in just as the horses were being loaded.  I am always too nervous about horses breaking down, etc.

  47. 47.

    Joy in FL

    Henry is so sweet. I love when you post photos. The Gerberas are beautiful, too : )

  51. 51.

    Another Scott

    Another bright spot, in the UK.

    The best video you’ll see today:

    pic.twitter.com/n0MeBTczIT

    — Dr Shan Hussain ? (@DrShanHussain) May 7, 2022

    They came prepared, knew what was going to happen, and took the consequences. And said what needed to be said where she would hear it.

    Well done.

    (via gavmacn)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, if we’re willing to make changes in other areas – changes that we know how to make – we are not doomed about climate change either. Phys.org:

    Gradually replacing 20 percent of global beef and lamb consumption with meat-textured proteins grown in stainless steel vats could cut agriculture-related CO2 emissions and deforestation in half by 2050, researchers reported Wednesday.

    Compared to a current-trends projection for population growth and food demand, swapping half of red meat consumption for so-called microbial proteins would see reductions in tree loss and CO2 pollution of more than 80 percent, they reported in the journal Nature.

    “With a relatively small change in the consumption of ruminant meat, greenhouse gas emissions from tropical deforestation can be strongly reduced,” lead author Florian Humpenoder, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), told AFP.

    […]

    The global food system accounts for roughly a third of all carbon pollution, and beef production is the main culprit within the agricultural sector, according the UN’s climate science advisory panel.

    The cattle industry is a double threat.

    It not only destroys CO2-absorbing tropical forests to make room for grazing pastures and cattle feed crops. In addition, belching livestock are a major source of methane, 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 on a 100-year timescale.

    Microbe-based meat alternatives have been on supermarket shelves for decades.

    […]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  54. 54.

    MomSense

    Jackal favorite Adam Schiff is the speaker at our state Democratic Convention!  I’m going to have to go now.

  57. 57.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    My mom turned it on and we watched the processional of the horses with their ponies before the race. My youngest (who was annoyed my mom turned on the race) picked Rich Strike to win! He ended up really enjoying the race.  My maternal grandma always picked the winning horses so my mom and I had a laugh about that.

  62. 62.

    Al Nichols

    Hi everyone,

    Looks like I’m late to the party, as usual, but on behalf of Voces de la Frontera Action I’d like to take a moment to express our humble and sincere gratitude for your support.  The fact that a number of you have set up recurring contributions makes it even more meaningful.  We realize that none of you are wealthy enough to throw money around indiscriminately; the fact that you spend your resources on our organization speaks volumes about your trust in us.  I also want to express our special gratitude to the members of the group who put up the angel matches, and of course to WaterGirl who is an indefatigable fundraiser and organizer.

    As to the issue of the moment.  Three of us started yesterday to put the pieces in place to organize the shit out of this issue, beginning Monday.  We see an opportunity to turn this situation to our advantage, and thanks in part to the help you extended to us last summer we’re in a position to do that.

    We’ll keep you posted as we move forward, and once again, many thanks.

  63. 63.

    eachother

    Contentment. A very comfortable Henry. A very beautiful planter.
    92 degrees wilts.

    So does too cold wilt. Low 20s here at night for 3 nights  to come

    It’s the mix that spawns severe weather in the east in couple of days. Stationary Low in the Atlantic. Interesting.
    Warm moist air flows from the south.
    How are the farm fields in the mid West?  Plantable?  Wet?

    Any Mississippi River flooding?

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