U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Singapore, kicking off her Asian tour as questions swirled over a possible stop in Taiwan that has fueled tension with Beijing. Trade, the pandemic and climate change are some of the topics on her agenda. https://t.co/7tft8XWoW2
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 1, 2022
Also, they'd be shocked how quickly ALL ballot choices wld improve if they drew a line & went hard for Dems. Just show "fascist white nationalism + us" is not a viable electoral strat for a few cycles.
Politicians change FAST when electoral math gets a proof.
— Justice Finley (@xoJusticeFinley) July 31, 2022
Fall must-see viewing preview — pinned tweet on the Washington Post twitter feed:
As Roger Stone prepared to stand trial in 2019, complaining he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to incriminate Donald Trump, a close ally of the president repeatedly assured Stone that “the boss” would likely grant him clemency if he were convicted, a recording shows. pic.twitter.com/PjWUqnzsub
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2022
From the longer thread:
The 25-minute recording was captured by a microphone that Stone was wearing on his lapel for a Danish film crew, which was making a feature-length documentary on the veteran Republican operative. https://t.co/6abAwqKmMe
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2022
I don’t think Matt Gaetz is nearly as close to TFG as Matt Gaetz would like to believe, do you?
My sitcom pitch would sub in Peter Navarro for Stone and essentially a live-action version of PINKY AND THE BRAIN where, each night in prison, Miller, Navarro, and Trump try to take over the world and fail. https://t.co/wbug9BMo0L
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 1, 2022
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 1, 2022
Baud
Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to get some voters to commit to Dems. They don’t really want politicians to change that much.
We have all these sophisticated theories of systemic racism that we seem to apply to all sorts of activities except voting behavior.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
This only happens to Dems. If NANCYSMASH goes to Taiwan it’s controversy, if she doesn’t go to Taiwan it’s controversy. The “liberal media” always manufactures bullshit.
Hopefully she doesn’t make the cardinal error of wearing a tan suit or putting mustard on her cheeseburger.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
OzarkHillbilly
Blech. 97, 98, 98 thru wednesday, then a blessed 89
Math Guy
Bumper sticker I spotted on my morning bike ride yesterday. “I miss Ike. Hell, I even miss Harry.”
Cameron
Sure, there’s actually a few third parties I like, but in any race much above the county level a third-party vote gives you one of two results: (a) nothing or (b) Republicans. I don’t see that changing any time soon, so I’ll keep voting for Democrats.
Narya
@Math Guy: my dad, who is 6 weeks from his 92nd birthday, would agree w that. Well the Harry part, anyway.
SFAW
And when the news of this
taperecording first broke, the standard line from the RWMFs is “It’s against the law in FL to record someone without their consent OMFG!!!!1!!2!!”Baud
@SFAW:
Pretty sure that only applies to phone calls.
Spanky
@OzarkHillbilly: August is to be endured. And so we begin.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Stone had that conversation while wearing a mic? Honest to god, how can we have lost to these dumb dumbs?
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
High of only 88° today here in NoVA, but 85% humidity and dew point of 66°. Humid! Only 71° right now.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
I really think it’s simpler than that. A fairly substantial chunk of our citizenry doesn’t think much about politics at all, and most of what they hear is filtered through the MSM (if we’re lucky, that is; it could be Fox News or a Sinclair station). And we know how the MSM portrays the Dems.
Spanky
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Because voters are even dumber.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
The dumb dumbs are focused.
SFAW
@Baud:
Don’t know. Just repeating one of the excuses the RWMFs used to try to cast asparagus on the recording. [I hope you appreciate that I didn’t ask you to FAX me your credenza re: your lawyerly comment.]
OzarkHillbilly
Every Incident of Mishandled Guns in Schools
As comprehensive as that report may be, there is no way they actually have every incident. People get embarrassed when they fuck up and embarrassed people bury their mistakes.
Spanky
@Spanky: And this next heat wave is supposed to linger over the Lower 48 into mid-August. Yay us.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Edited to (perhaps) add clarity.
Math Guy
@SFAW: I would assume that they at least had Stone’s consent. Interesting that he did not alert Gaetz to the fact that he was wearing a mic.
Brit in Chicago
I’ve been thinking there should be an ad featuring the line “What have the Democrats ever done for us?”, along the lines of the “What have the Romans ever done for us?” skit from Monty Python.
What items should go on it? Social Security and Medicare are no-brainers. VRA may be too controversial among independents. FMLA? Obamacare? A lot of government is very complicated, with remote and sometimese unforeseen consequences; we need a few punchy items.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh my F’n gawd, this category here is a snapshot of America:
germy shoemangler
OzarkHillbilly
@Spanky: My feelings about August have softened over the years. I have come to realize that with hurricane season kicking into high gear, those storms stir up the atmosphere enough to bring us the hope of a moderating cold front from time to time.
SFAW
@Brit in Chicago:
Not precisely what you asked for, but here’s something from Steve Gilliard to get you going.
I can’t believe he’s been gone for 15 years.
ETA: It’s on Kos, so there are a few lead-in paragraphs before Gilliard’s actual essay
Matt McIrvin
Some progressive friends of mine were making curious noises about Andrew Yang’s third party just out of a sense of desperation. I said I thought the only real problem with existing Democrats is that there aren’t enough of them in Congress, making Manchin and Sinema the deciding Senate votes–punishing the rest of the party by supporting these dopes makes no sense. That argument actually seemed to go over well.
zhena gogolia
@Matt McIrvin: Oh, they’re “progressive” and they think Christine Todd Whitman is a good option?
Immanentize
Your PSA for the day (in two parts):
Pretty much the Balloon Juice CW, but still nice to hear.
BC in Illinois
@Brit in Chicago:
From Scotland: “What have the SNP ever done for us?”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: No lie.
Does anyone here follow tiktok? I keep thinking I should
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Brit in Chicago:
HA! They actually ran that very commercial in 1968 (video)
Geminid
@Brit in Chicago: One good issue for Democrats might be the CHIPS+ bill. I noticed that Raphael Warnock was touting it even before it passed. It will certainly fit Tim Ryan’s campaign. At least six Ohio Republican Reps voted for it. That may be because the billion dollar chip plant for the Columbus area is the largest new industrial project for that state in years.
Defending and strengthening the Affordable Care Act may still be good politics. The House Democratic messaging team of Jeffries, Bustos and Cicciline advised 2018 Democratic candidates to pound two issues hard: the trillion dollar tax cut for corporations and the wealthy, and defense of the ACA. That advice did not hurt; Democrats picked up 40 House seats that year. Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey also won reelection by 600,000 votes, and he said that defending the ACA was his best issue.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
👍
mrmoshpotato
And it featured a 25-minute laundry list of the crimes of
ChristmasDumbass past, the crimes ofChristmasDumbass present, and the crimes ofChristmasDumbass future?ABC – Always Be Criming
mrmoshpotato
And they all have bags over their heads? And they don’t speak? For the love of all that’s holy, tell me yes.
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: I have been hoping for a massive hurricane for weeks. So is my friend in Plano.
Soprano2
@Spanky: It better not be worse than July. Highs of 92, 99, 91, 93, 97, 98, 99, 99, 94, 102, 103, 102, 101, 101, 102, 97, 104, and 97, then 88 and 89 last Thursday and Friday – 72 on Saturday! I was sitting at the stadium Saturday night marveling that I had on a hoody jacket. Until Saturday, we had 0.18″ of rain in July and less than 3″ in June. On Saturday we had 1.5″ officially. So, better not be worse than July because we’re already in extreme drought.
Soprano2
@germy shoemangler: I swear, I get so tired of the stories where the press acts like they have no agency. “We have to report these stories the way we do, we have no choice” is what they seem to be saying.
Geminid
@zhena gogolia: Like “centrist,” “progressive” is a very elastic term.
I regard this Forward Party as a torpedo aimed at the Democratic Party, in effect and maybe intent as well. The Democrats are still a Center-Left coalition, while the Republicans are now a Right party. The way the organizers exaggerated the Democrats’ leftward tilt is a “tell.”
Immanentize
Unbutton your eyes Jackals. In the heart of horror, grace of the puppies:
Steeplejack
@Math Guy:
It is a well-known phenomenon in cinéma vérité that people being recorded continuously or over long periods of time tend to “forget” that they’re being recorded. It is a phenomenon that is relied on, in fact.
Joe Falco
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
If Pelosi REALLY wanted to be controversial, she would use her time in Taiwan to talk about how nice it is to be in the free, independent and very SOVEREIGN nation of Taiwan. It would never happen, but if the Media wants to talk about honest-to-Dog controversy, that’s how you do it!
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack:
Phenomenal!
Also, Roger Stone is an arrogant moron!
eclare
@Steeplejack: I watch reality shows and can confirm this phenomenon.
NotMax
The future approacheth. What could go wrong?
;)
Ken
Do you want the list alphabetically, or ranked by horror level?
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: Just so long as they all miss NOLA. My son and his family live there.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: That broke my cuteness meter.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: Meh, SSDD. Back in the 80s I lived on the southside directly under Auggie Busch III’s helicopter flight path. Every morning as he flew over all of us hoi poloi on his morning commute I would raise my fist in the time honored single finger salute.
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: Definitely. NOLA is a great city. It is the honeymoon destination for one whole side of my family.
delphinium
@Immanentize: That PSA was very much on point. And that puppy video was adorable!
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
So it’s safe to say won’t be spying one of these in your carport.
;)
Geminid
@OzarkHillbilly: The story reminds me of Amazon’s attempt the place a headquarters in Brooklyn. Jeff Bezos pulled the project in the face of political opposition. Afterwards a reporter reviewing the failed project interviewed a midwestern official who had helped guide large “redevelopment” projects in his region. He thought Amazon’s proposed heliport was a particularly bad feature in terms of public relations.
Matt McIrvin
@zhena gogolia: I think it was just a vague “The Democrats aren’t getting anything done… maybe we need to shake things up?”
The frustrated “shake things up” impulse is the source of a lot of mischief.
Ken
@NotMax: Looks like an autogyro to me. That makes it much more practical than the “flying car”, which (based on the article) would only be allowed to take off and land at airports.
(Actually the design, and the way it folds up the vanes, brings back fond memories of “Wacky Racers” and Professor Pat Pending’s Convert-A-Car.)
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: Definitely an autogyro. But autogyros do need a little distance to take off and land, if not as much as a plane. I suspect you’d still be restricted to listed airports.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Agreed. The inability to stick to a course of action is what separates our voters from theirs.
eclare
@Baud: Well put.
SiubhanDuinne
@Math Guy:
Especially interesting in light of the fact that Gaetz actually expressed apprehension about saying much, what with all the mics around. From the WaPo story about the episode:
Betty Cracker
@Matt McIrvin: Excellent point. Another argument that is sometimes persuasive is the party’s evolution. Less than 15 years ago, there were Dems who were anti-choice, pro-NRA, anti-marriage equality, etc. Not any more. If someone had told me 10 years ago that the overwhelming majority of elected Democrats would be in favor of getting rid of the anti-democratic filibuster at least in some cases, I wouldn’t have believed it.
It’s frustrating that anyone on our side is still clinging to the filibuster, which magnifies the Senate’s already anti-democratic design and disconnects voting from results, but the progress on that issue is undeniable. We now have a fighting chance of killing the filibuster before it kills our democracy.
Immanentize
@SiubhanDuinne: The Occam’s Razor on all of this is that they all thought they would pull off the coup.
prostratedragon
It’s supposed to give us a little break at three: Mary Alice; Pat Caroll; Tony Dow.
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker: Centrists and conservatives like to talk about how the Democratic Party moved to the extreme left, and it just baffles us a lot of the time since the Democrats are clearly not Communists or any such thing, but I think it’s key to understand that they’re noticing something real: the Democratic Party became much more unified on the cultural/civil-rights issues than it used to be, and especially radicalized on race relative to where we were even when Obama was elected.
In principle we could move “to the center” again but it would require adopting noxious and abhorrent positions, not just waffling on capital-gains tax or something.
Leto
Morning infuriating read (WaPo): A Texas blueprint for converting the ‘abortion-minded’: Lattes and a view
With abortion banned, a crisis pregnancy center plots a $10 million waterfront expansion for the post-Roe era
Edit: I’m not sure what I’m more mad at. The fact the director of the christianist center has bought all the most searched for terms on Google so her shit center can come up first on the front page, the fact that they’re still trying to pass themselves off as some type of medical center, or the fact that she advocates for children to have kids (“I’ve seen a lot of 13-year-olds do phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a negative thing.”). And ofc it’s fucking Texass. I need coffee.
Immanentize
@Matt McIrvin: this. “The left” now means what I always thought of as the Yankee (conservative) ideal — live and let live. Or as the hymn goes:
Dignity for all is now anathema to the right.
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker: But the filibuster amplified individual Senator’s power and position. What is amazing to me is that any Senator is willing to cede such power. Actually a really awesome act of political courage and selflessness.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: It’s always been anathema to the right. They need somebody they can look down on without having to hide their disdain.
Redshift
Other than the self-incrimination, my favorite part of the Gaetz-Stone recording is Stone’s pathetic self-aggrandizing “we interviewed potential jurors in DC and 90% of them know who I am and hate my guts.”
I guarantee you that 90% of actual people in DC have no idea who Roger Stone is.
eclare
@Leto: It should be criminal to tell women lies about abortion (it causes breast cancer!) and to coerce them into having a child. I hope that woman trying to get a boat into the Gulf to provide abortions succeeds
Trying to think of another misinformation program that has had success. I guess ivermectin and covid, but at least then government tried to discredit those lies. Abortion? Silent, as far as I know.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
clap clap clap clap
Immanentize
@Leto: sex with a 12 or 13 year old in Texas is rape.
Periot!
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: Don’t forget shoving light bulbs up your ass and drinking bleach.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Hmmmm… You sure there isn’t an exception for family members?
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly: So true…
rikyrah
@Leto:
I know what makes me maddest:
what kind of phucking bullshyt is this.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: friend, I saw your response yesterday — thanks! But then the architect muddled my brain with his answer. So, clarifying Q:
Plywood decking on top of sturdy lath (if in fact not rotted)? Or strip off the lath and put decking directly onto the roof joists?
Redshift
@Leto: Yeah, I saw that, and it looks appalling. Last week in the daily newsletter I get of Virginia political news, there was an op-ed in some local paper purporting to tell “what the [sic] pro-life movement is really like.” The paragraph clip was all about how Planned Parenthood and other groups are fear mongering just to make money.
Let’s see, groups that provide medical care to people who can’t afford it are “just trying to make money,” and I should believe your group who provide nothing to anyone except propaganda? Assholes.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: What do you think Texas is? Missouri?!
Immanentize
@rikyrah: I think someone should create TV clips of these assholes’ comments with the simple phrase:
“Anti-abortion advocates are pro-rape.”
Let them holler. And cry and whimper.
Like the hit dog of yore.
Leto
@Immanentize: Better let Texass and Appleby’s know that.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
I’m holding out for the jetpack.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I would just go over the existing boards if they are in good shape. No need to do more work than necessary. And even then there is a cost benefit analysis on whether one should do it at all. If everything looks to be in otherwise good shape and one could use the money elsewhere, maybe one should. After all, the house has stood this long*. With the price of lumber these days, I find myself making those judgements all the time.
* here in Misery with the derechos and tornadoes the calculus would lean more towards sheeting it. I don’t know MA weather well enough to say.
eta: one of the first things I did when we bought this place was put hurricane ties on every rafter. If yours are accessible, you should do the same.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I think Texas is worse. Our AG isn’t indicted for fraud. Yet.
Leto
@rikyrah: fucking insanity. They’re barely able to cope with middle school emotions, but they’re totes capable of raising a child. Insanity.
@eclare: that’s what’s killing me about her being able to buy the front page of Google search results for her area. It’s spreading misinformation under the guise of “sincere belief”. Can’t wait for Google to auction off the heliocentric model to the flat earthers. JFC.
At least I have coffee now.
Ken
@Steeplejack: Jetpacks are completely workable except for the thing with the legs. But after the first trip or two, that’s no longer an issue.
WhatsMyNym
@OzarkHillbilly:
I would just pour a second cup of coffee and laugh at the the loser going to the office so early.
OzarkHillbilly
@WhatsMyNym: IIRC, this was around 9 AM. I was doing a lot of shopwork then so worked at home as often as not.
Frankensteinbeck
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
You don’t have to be smart if you’re the only person selling what the customer wants, and a small majority of whites wants white supremacy more than anything else. In fact, they specifically want dumbass white supremacy. They want the validation of watching the worst white man stomping on the face of every minority.
@Geminid:
All these centrist parties are attempts to steal Democratic voters. Always. I don’t think they work. There’s no appetite for “I would vote for Democrats if they weren’t so far Left!” It’s a made up complaint by people who either know their far-right attitudes are toxic or who vote Republican because they would never, ever vote Democrat. It might drain a few Republican votes. Usually it grifts a few bucks and then disappears.
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck:
Good to see you. I don’t think I’ve noticed your nym since the old site went kablooey.
lowtechcyclist
@Immanentize:
Whenever I hear the latest thing the Christianist right is up to these days, those lyrics you quoted always go through my head, accompanied by bitter laughter:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
If they’ve ever thought about what a powerful anti-witness their actions are, they’re clearly unconcerned about it. They figure they’ll win by taking over; who cares about winning hearts and souls?
frosty
@Immanentize: I watched the first and the last. OMG those wagging tails!
I can also confirm the One Weird Trick to get past the Twitter sign up screen works. Thank you, Valued Commenters!!!
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: the roof is not in good shape. Maybe 40 year old shingles? Some blown off. This is for a potential upstate NY place I’m looking at. Snow, not hurricanes, mostly. But excellent advice. Thank you!
I still need to learn whether rooftop solar requires sheeting. And decide:
Asphalt shingles or metal roof?
I will send you consulting fee in Bomba via WaterGirl. :-)
Geminid
@Immanentize: I’m just curious. Is the “lathe” on top of the rafters and under the shingles thin strips, or 1×6″ boards spaced six inches apart? That would be “skip sheating,” which is often used under wooden shingles. It wouldn’t serve for asphalt shingles but would certainly support plywood or OSB.
Edit: Skip sheathing would support a metal roof and was standard practice for standing seam metal roofs as well as wooden shingles. It allows for more ventilation than plywood sheathing.
eclare
@Immanentize: That house has a forty year old roof????
Kristine
@lowtechcyclist:
One of the worst people I ever worked with was an evangelical who came out and said that it didn’t matter what they did in this life since they had accepted Jesus as their personal savior and were therefore forgiven. I’ve also known religious people who know that’s not how it works, but all too many seem to subscribe to the former philosophy.
TerryTime
@Leto: They want them to have the baby, not raise the baby. Nice married white christians will raise the baby. Pro life position is actual trafficking.
twbrandt (formerly tom)
The Michigan Court of Appeals has reversed a stay by a lower court of the 1931 state law banning abortions. Which means abortions are now illegal here. However, Democratic prosecutors across the state, and Dana Nessel, Michigan’s Democratic AG, have all said they will not bring prosecutions under that law.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
So, you bit the bullet and bought the country property?
Immanentize
@Geminid: lath is not modern. Looks like dimensional 1×4 with about 1 or 2 inches between? Not quite ship lap. I will take a better look this coming weekend when I go check it out again.
The “new” barn area (1970s) is decked with 8×4 press board and only has one layer of shingles. Also needs re-roofing. I hate press board, but it looks like it is in good shape.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: The best ones show up on Twitter. That’s how those TikToks got shared.*
*I am not a spokesman for Twitter.
Immanentize
@eclare: forty years, sixty years and ?(80?) Years of covering. Yes. 3 layers.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: not quite yet — but almost there! Working up the courage and the cash as we speak.
Leto
@TerryTime: Yeah, that’s the option the director woman laid out for the 10 year old. The forced birthers basically consider women as birth tanks. Nothing more.
Marmot
@Leto: Hey pal, you realize this garbage is nationwide, right? It’s just happening first in your least favorite state.
Also, what a clever insult “Texass” is! You are quite the wit!
Paul in KY
@SFAW: RIP, Steve. Fuck the fucking Yankees!!!
Geminid
@Immanentize: If you are into authenticity and there’s poplar on the property, you can cut the poplar into sections, split blocks and then use a mallet and a fro to split durable, long lasting shakes. You might make enough by 2025!
sdhays
@Immanentize: It doesn’t really enhance your power to actually do things, though. It gives you some bargaining power, but there’s very little Senators are allowed to ideologically bargain over anymore.
The ACA shouldn’t have needed a Democratic supermajority to pass. It was a conservative bill, which is why, for all its benefits, it’s a mess. Even with their supermajority, Democrats offered lots of opportunities for Republicans to extract a price for their vote, which never came because of extreme partisanship.
In the current Senate, it creates a job that is a miserable grind of nothing ever getting done. The power individual Senators have with the filibuster is overrated and a relic of a bygone era, IMHO.
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: I don’t think Democrats have to move to the center in policy to attract “center” voters. The Republicans are repelling them by moving so far right.
Messaging for individual candidates is another story. I read that when an Ohio Republican heard Tim Ryan’s ads, he wondered if the Republican primary still hadn’t been held! But trump won Ohio by 8 points twice, and Ryan thinks he needs to win over some Republicans and Republican-voting Independents to win. He’s probably right.
stinger
@Redshift:
Fixed that for him.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: There are issues where there’s a genuine split. For instance, on trans rights, a weak plurality are actually opposed to the Republican moves against gender-affirming healthcare for trans kids, but a strong majority supports trans athlete bans (it seems like any suggestion that trans rights might lead to unfairness in sports really brings out the knee-jerk conservatism in people, including some commenters here–it’s an amazingly effective wedge issue).
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
I was under a lot of stress and needed to cut down on doomscrolling.
brantl
@Math Guy: Harry was a shitload better than Ike, and had a much better vice president, too.
brantl
@lowtechcyclist: A whole bunch of assholes just want their taxes lowered, without losing anything that favors THEM, but lower taxes, by screwing those OTHER people.
evodevo
@Matt McIrvin:
Yep…that was the local Trumpettes favorite reason they voted for the orange mad king…heard it over and over…
evodevo
@rikyrah: It’s just the new go-to meme for the talibangelicals who have seen how outraged the general public is over the possibility of those children now forced to carry pregnancies to term by right wing legislatures…you can expect even more egregious reasoning as November approaches…
evodevo
@Kristine: That’s the standard mindset among talibangelicals around where I live in KY – the ultimate get-out-of-jail free card.
Matt McIrvin
@evodevo: “Shake things up” always reminds me of Alexander Abian, a familiar Usenet presence from the 1990s, a former mathematics professor who had made the freaky tabloids for his advocacy of blowing up the Moon.
Why did Prof. Abian want to blow up the Moon? He said it was to “shake up the present decadent cosmic setup”. Among other things, he thought it would cure AIDS. AIDS is a feature of the existing cosmic setup, so is the Moon, so I guess anything to “shake it up” might have a shot.
dnfree
@Immanentize: if you’re planning solar panels, be sure to check state and local requirements for installation. You wouldn’t want to put on a roof and THEN find out something was missing. I know on our installation the inspector checked the joists AND checked that the panels were connected to the joists and not just to the underlayer.
Gravenstone
@Matt McIrvin: Yeah, all that lunar debris raining down on the earth would certainly shake things up! Like bringing about the next great extinction event style shake up. Maybe the next iteration of high order life a few millennia down the line would do things better than we managed here.