Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

In my day, never was longer.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Life Goals

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Life Goals

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Been a long week, one in a series…

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166Comments

  1. 1.

    marklar

    First two donkeys are Libertarians.

    The third one is a Democrat — their actions help out the donkeys behind it.

  6. 6.

    Almost Retired

    Good morning! Woo Hoo! I am temporarily in the elite a.m. “good morning” club until I return to my customary time zone and am stuck with “I hope you had a nice brunch” for my first post.
    Is there a T-shirt?

  13. 13.

    Nicole

    It’s my birthday!   And it’s nice to have reached the point in my life where, rather than despairing over getting older and life passing by, I’m just happy to have another birthday.  Which is good, as my husband came out to the kitchen, sang me Happy Birthday, and then said, “I’m going back to sleep for awhile.”

  18. 18.

    Almost Retired

    @Nicole:  Happy Birthday!  I am at the age where each year brings new benefits, like in my youth (R movies at 17, cigarettes at 18, alcohol at 21).  Except now it’s AARP discounts, national park passes and early Social Security)!!  Enjoy your day!!

  23. 23.

    germy shoemangler

    I remember Fat Freddy’s Cat meeting a bobcat (Lynx rufus) and asking “Is that where they get lynx sausage?”

  25. 25.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Come see me if you’ll be near Elgin IL this afternoon or Cedar Falls IA on Tuesday morning. I’m doing a couple of book events. After the pandemic shutdowns, I’ve almost forgotten how.

    Local author fair: Gail Borden library, Elgin IL, 2-4

    Book talk: Prairie Winds, Western Home, Cedar Falls IA, 10:30-12:00

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    Love the bobcat’s little leg wiggle after the jump.

    There is a donkey rescue in NH and their motto is “the ass you save could be your own”.

    Big day here.  Meeting middle son and DIL in Portland for the music festival.  Oldest kid and his band mates are definitely feeling nervous.  They’re playing with some world class musicians today.

  30. 30.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Almost Retired: it’s my Medicare birthday next month.

    Also Election Day is on my birthday. I don’t ask much, just a majority House and Senate and to have all the T***p-endorsed candidates lose. Can you all see to that?

    Last time my birthday was on Election Day was 2016. I did not enjoy that present.

  33. 33.

    MazeDancer

    Life goals gotta include Holding the House against big odds.

    Which means: time to write PostCards.

    Don’t have any PostCards right now? You can choose your candidate, get your addresses and be ready to roll after a trip to the P.O.

    If you have a glue stick and a printer, you can also download our “Vote! Vote! Vote” design and print it up.

    Cut in quarters, cut up some of the gazillion mailers you’ve received and haven’t read. Paste front and back, you’re in business.

  36. 36.

    Layer8Problem

    @Nicole:  Happy birthday!  Your husband’s sweet.  Some would just open one eye, mumble “hfphpy bffldg,” and turn over.  :-)

  37. 37.

    germy shoemangler

    I looked down and I could see the hole that our spaceship had punched in the thin, blue-tinged layer of oxygen around Earth. It was as if there was a wake trailing behind where we had just been, and just as soon as I’d noticed it, it disappeared.

    I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

    I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia. And I was leaving her.

    Everything I had thought was wrong. Everything I had expected to see was wrong.

    I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things—that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe. In the film “Contact,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, “They should’ve sent a poet.” I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, it’s down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound.

    https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/

    what shatner describes on having gone to the edge of space is exactly the emotion the space billionaires don’t want associated with their ego projects. it forces us to see that space colonization fantasies distract from what should be our priority: saving our beautiful planet.— Paris Marx (@parismarx) October 9, 2022

  39. 39.

    thruppence

    @Nicole: My birthday too! I’m prepping for a long drive down to Santa Fe for a few days. Paranoia’s making me overpack…

  43. 43.

    Nicole

    @thruppence: Happy shared birthday!  I think overpacking is part of the natural process of going on trips.  Clothing enjoys taking a vacation, too.

  44. 44.

    mali muso

    @MazeDancer: Thanks for continuing to motivate us on this front!  I went and found my stash of voting postcards and stamps from last election and did a set of 5 cards for the Warnock/Abrams campaign yesterday.  I’m going to try to keep doing at least 4 or 5 a day. It’s not much, but it’s what I can do. :)

  45. 45.

    sdhays

    @mrmoshpotato: I’m no fan of Bezos, but I believe our boy Elon is the shithead who’s convinced Mars colonization is a better investment than trying to save Earth.

    Which pretty much tells you all you need to know about Elon’s ability to grasp simple concepts or do a cost-benefit analysis.

  48. 48.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @sdhays:

    but I believe our boy Elon is the shithead who’s convinced Mars colonization is a better investment than trying to save Earth.

    I wondered while watching “Don’t Look Up” who the sociopathic billionaire is modeled after. I think it’s probably Musk. Spoiler: The character makes a similar decision.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    Iranian protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini have now entered their fourth week. This morning Politico put up a good article based on AP reporting, titled, ” ‘ A time bomb’- anger rising in a hotspot of Iran protests.’

    The article is based on interviews with several women in the city of Sanandaj, which 300 miles northwest of Tehran and the capital of Kurdistan Province. One 32 year old recounted her experience with the Morality Police in 2013. Like Amini, she was visiting Tehran when she was arrested by the police because she wore her scarf too loosely. After lectures, she signed a statement admitting her guilt and was released. “That could have been me,” she said of Amini.

    Another woman had lost her job with the health service for her outspoken views on women’s rights.

    The security forces are trying to keep a lid on the protests by breaking up gatherings and arresting leaders. Attorney Dunya said, “Almost all the women in our group are in jail now.” Security forces are also using live fire, and France-based Human Rights Network reported that yesterday police in Sanandaj killed two demonstrators.

  53. 53.

    MazeDancer

    @mali muso: Commitment counts.

    And when Dems show up, we win.

    PostCards are about turnout. That’s why they work. PostCards are not about convincing someone to vote for a particular candidate, the people you are writing are all Dems.

    PostCards are about motivating people to vote.

    Saving Democracy, Social Security, and the Rights of Roe are as issue-oriented as you need get, IMHO.

    Helping people understand their vote counts, we need them to win, Making them feel essential, valued, and important is motivating.

  54. 54.

    Ken

    @Baud: Nah, the Republican donkey goes through, then turns around and puts the barrier back to block the donkeys behind him.

  57. 57.

    Layer8Problem

    @sdhays:  Think of the bestest, most well-appointed basement ever, lots of room, big well-stocked freezer, all of civilization on your screens at the touch of a button, full spa-level bathroom, with bidet!, and all waste products magically dealt with by stuff that won’t break in an inconvenient manner.  Now think about how you get to live in your swell basement for years.  And that’s what off-Earth Solar System colonization sounds like to me.  The Expanse just wasn’t selling it.

    We’ve really got to work on stuff down here first, then get to work on the hyperdrives.

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    In bursts.  Yesterday I did almost nothing.  Today I’m resting until the festival and I’m sure I will crash hard tonight.

  59. 59.

    Ken

    @sdhays: Mars colonization is a better investment than trying to save Earth.

    This reminds me of the robot society in Charles Stross’s Saturn’s Children, still building interplanetary and interstellar colonies three centuries after humanity’s extinction. As one of them says, “Our Creators said ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’, not realizing that the one basket of Earth would be more than sufficient to see them through to extinction.”

  60. 60.

    Nicole

    The best birthday gift is that our elderly and ill pooch, who was given 1-2 months in late July, has hung around for my birthday.  That’s the best present I could have asked for.  I’m grateful.

    (She also slept in until 9:30 this morning, rather than waking me up at 4:30AM to take her outside, like she did on Friday, so I will take that as her birthday gift to me. ;) ).

  61. 61.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy shoemangler: Many of the people who have gone into space report pretty much the same “overview effect”: they look back at Earth and see this fragile, bubble-like layer over the planet where we all live, and protecting that suddenly seems extremely urgent, more so than conquering the universe or establishing petty rivalries over a patch of land. If it can affect a famously jerky person like William Shatner going on a little suborbital pop, it can happen to just about anyone.

    To some extent it’s a product of the optical conditions of space travel: the beauties of the universe aren’t actually something you can see with the unaided eye from a spacecraft window, especially not if you’re above the day side of the Earth. You’ll just get an eyeful of the profound emptiness of the gigantic spaces in between. But the beauty of Earth… you can see that.

  67. 67.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Another Politico article discusses the Illinois 13th CD race. It said that Democrats may be scaling back efforts supporting Ms. Budzinski, the Democrat, because of increasing confidence that she will win.

    Some caution that Regan Deering, the Republican, may draw on some big donors in the campaign’s closing weeks. Deering is the granddaughter of Dwayne Andreas, former chairman of the Ag industry titan Archer Daniels-Midland.

    The article leads off with a report on the IL-17th race. Democrat Cherie Bustos won the old 17th in 2016 and 2020 even while trump carried it. Now Bustos is retiring. Although Springfield Democrats reshaped the 17th to help a Democratic candidate, Republican Esther Joy King starts out with name recognition from her close race against Bustos in the last cycle.

    King is a former Army JAG officer, while her Democratic opponent, Eric Sorenson, is a local TV meteorologist. The 17th is in northwest Illinois, and its largest population centers are Rockford and the Mississippi towns of Rock Island and Moline.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    So the NFL has decided that only Green Bay and Milwaukee qualify for non-NFL network coverage of the Packer game in London. As a result, I am listening on the radio. Assholes. Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation to fix this kind of thing. She knows her constituents.

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: You would see stars if your eyes are adapted to the dark, much as on Earth. But if you’re close to the Earth in a capsule with big windows, that will only happen if you’re over the night side. And it won’t be that much better than the view from a dry, unpopulated place with a good dark sky on Earth. Our eyes are, after all, adapted to see a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that our air is pretty transparent to.

  73. 73.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    Good morning Juicers and Happy Birthday Nicole!!

    Finally got off the deck today after a couple of days getting slapped around by the latest booster. Yikes!!

    In other news, one of my idiot Senators popped off again:

    They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that! Bullshit!

    He’s too stupid to say the quiet parts quietly; lucky for him, his party no longer requires it.

  74. 74.

    Ken

    @Omnes Omnibus: Flying two American football teams across the Atlantic for a game has a “jump the shark” feel to me. I wonder if next year we’ll be treated to “Football…. In…. Space“.

  77. 77.

    Tarragon

    My wife looked at that bunny and called it a “jacked rabbit”.

    I felt that pun like a physical blow so now I just share

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: The Packers have avoided it until now.  They don’t like the local community missing out on a home game.  Lot’s on money lost to local businesses and even the dudes who sell parking space on their lawns.

  80. 80.

    Nicole

    @Immanentize: That’s really funny.  I love guy doing Bowie.  And I didn’t know Lennon (the real one) co-wrote the song (I mean, full disclosure, never really thought about it, but super cool to now know).  Thank you; learn something new every day.

  82. 82.

    Immanentize

    @Nicole: that’s your birthday present from me.

    They are both the same guy, Steve Riks on a split screen. He does it all — the music, singing and of course the little Bowie dancing steps which I love. I think he nails it in the little chat at the end

  86. 86.

    Nicole

    @Immanentize: Even better. That’s brilliant.  And yeah, that chat at the end was perfect.  Thank you for the link; I’m going to subscribe ’cause he is a hoot.

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    re the donkeys – I remember that one.

    A few days ago I was driving home and there were 4 young deer in line crossing the road. The one in front was looking very carefully at a yellow tape boundary about a foot off the ground crossing the path where they wanted to go in the woods. She (I think) looked and sniffed very carefully, then stepped over and the 3 after followed quickly.

    And then they were gone.

    Mammals like sensible leaders. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    Hope you are feeling better.  Do I remember correctly that you were getting your house ready to sell when COVID hit?  I remember that being an incredibly stressful process.  Take all the color and things that make a home out of your house, obsessively clean and make it nasty neat and then subject it to strangers and the marketplace for judgment.  Ain’t for the faint of heart.

  90. 90.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: yes it is true, I was working toward selling, but as I needn’t sell just now, only ready to, the sale time has probably been pushed back to next spring.

    All that you said, but the worst for me was being told I have to remove all my books and book cases to open up the place. So I have packed all my vinyl records, and have given the library about 500 books with an equal amount on the way. And then I will pack the remaining half and put in storage. With a bunch of furniture. And all the rugs which are supposed to come out too. And all the art and photos. “Nothing with eyes can be left out” says the realtor.

  93. 93.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: i am gonna get a condo near Boston, far enough out to cost less than the metro area. I just want to be on a commuter train line.

    But also, the house and land in central NY deal is still moving forward. It’s really the land and beaver pond and brook and trees and quiet I am looking for. House is a bonus.

  94. 94.

    CaseyL

    Good morning, everyone!

    I appear to only sleep as long as the sky is dark.  After struggling to sleep any later than 6:00 am during the summer, I am now luxuriously abed until, uh, 7:30.

    Progress!

  95. 95.

    Immanentize

    @opiejeanne: The realtor saw the fire in my eyes when the topic of repainting came up and was silent. My attitude is, this is 110+ year old house. If you want new construction, sod off.

  96. 96.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: immp is still in Houston, but right now he and his mates have taken the long weekend to go to Austin. Music, food, drinks, etc. Ah to be young again!

  98. 98.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    Sounds like he is having a great time! I plan to vampire up all the young energy at the festival today. Music, drinks, apple cider donuts and lots of young people.
    Isn’t Head of the Charles coming up soon?  You gotta get out there and soak up all that youthful energy!

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Immanentize:

    And all the art and photos. “Nothing with eyes can be left out” says the realtor.

    Last time I sold a place, my realtor made me hide all the kitchen counter stuff in the cabinets– toaster, can-opener ,a popcorn maker that was up on top of cabinet seemed to affront her personally. I think the coffee maker was okay. I thought that was a bit much, but then some of the places I looked at, I thought they could have used her advice. And the pictures professional realtors put up on realtor dot com! unmade beds, laundry sitting out.

    My mom also used to hide those small appliances when she wasn’t using them. The toaster disappeared every morning after breakfast.

  100. 100.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: Yesterday was the Honk Fest in Davis Square in Somerville, brass bands from all over the world! But I was still too out of it (and not yet confident of my virus status) to go. But I should be good for Head of the Charles and the River Fest.

  101. 101.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: National Democrats may be overconfident about the Illinois 13th. But they are hard pressed to fund other candidates in closer races.

    The Washington Post had an article about this yesterday titled, “Democrats sound alarms about funding in battle for House majority.” Democratic Representatives doing well collectively, but many are in safe seats and money for purple districts is at a premium.

    A Republican advantage in PAC money allows them to put greater resources into battleground districts. The article says that national Democratic groups are already  pulling back on funding races in districts held by Democrats, including a couple in Florida and the Arizona seat now held by Blue Dog Tom O’Halleran.

    They are being outspent in the two districts now held by retiring Reps Ann Kilpatrick (AZ) and Ron Kind (WI).

    Because of gerrymandering, Democrats have a relatively narrow path to a majority, and national groups are doing triage, so to speak, with their donation decisions.

  103. 103.

    Immanentize

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: my Mom too! Only the microwave and coffee pot were allowed to stay out past 10 a.m. My realtor told me that the coffee pot, espresso maker and Aarke (like a soda stream) could stay out. They are all shiny stainless. Maybe the toaster too?

  104. 104.

    Miss Bianca

    @MomSense: Good luck to them! I’m sure they’ll do great.

    I myself am playing my first gig this evening since St Paddy’s Day 2020 – right before the world shut down. Not really nervous, just a bit stunned and definitely grateful for vaccines and live music again!

  105. 105.

    Immanentize

    @Nicole: It was one of the great lines of all time. I would make it an album title. Also — nothing religious. “But what if it is ironic?” I asked. “Those too,” he replied without humor.

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    @Geminid: Oh, yeah. Jailing women. Such a great look for a theocracy.

    I’m hoping the anger of all these women will turn the tide in Iran, finally. Theocratic patriarchy in ALL its forms must just die. In a fire, if need be.

  112. 112.

    Another Scott

    @Nicole: I can sorta see it.  Human brains have an affinity for faces.

    The realtors want buyers concentrating on the space, not the colors or the knickknacks or the people currently there.

    We looked at over 100 houses in the late 1990s before we finally bought the one we’re in now.  I still remember the house with every closet jammed full with dresses and other women’s clothing.  The tiny framed picture of the family with the Pope.  The house with the squeaky floors and every room a different wall color.  The bathroom cabinet that had drawers stuffed full of stockings.

    Everything that could be a distraction probably will be a distraction and take attention from the space.

    Given all that, it still probably doesn’t make sense to spend weeks painting and redoing cabinets and emptying rooms and all the rest if the market is on fire and multiple offers are to be had on anything.  OTOH, if the market is slow and you need to sell quickly, then first impressions matter a lot and removing distractions can help a lot.

    Everything depends, as always.

    Good luck Imm!

    Cheers.
    Scott.

  113. 113.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Immanentize: sounds like a slice of heaven

    the older I get the more I think about a waterfront house, preferably a river, but I don’t know if I could live far enough away from a town to make such a thing affordable, or where

  116. 116.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: There was a blue heron rookery on the property I caretake. I used to see them flying every day when I moved in three years ago.

    I think they’ve moved, though. The pond next to the rookery was overtaken by hydrilla and the frog and fish populations crashed. Now even the turtles are scarce.

  117. 117.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think I read MLB is going to do it next year? Damn fool nonsense if you ask me.

    A couple of times traveling in Europe in the fall, I’ve been surprised how hard it is to find NFL games. I’d’ve thought there were enough expats in London or Paris to make it a draw. There is one small place in Paris, near the Panthéon, which apparently is a Packers bar

    I did find a place in London once that advertised NFL games, about ten years ago. After hauling my sore feet all over I found the bar, that was actually kind of a night club, lots of glass and shiny stuff, with bright young things in fashionable clothes standing in line to get in. I went back to my hotel. And a truly horrid (and not inauthentic) “American sports bar” in a Marriott or Hilton in Vienna had that Red Zone deal

  119. 119.

    Immanentize

    @Geminid: i am concerned about aquatic invades, but the beaver pond, which is big, is not accessible to power boats or people just camping around. But when I get there next Spring, I am going to have the Corps of Engineers, who are heading up the hydrilla eradication project in the region, tell me what I need to look for.

  120. 120.

    opiejeanne

    @Immanentize: my house is not so venerable, only 27 years old,  but I am reminded of Myrna Loy describing to the painter the colors she wants each room painted in “Mr Smith Builds His Dream House”. Robin’s egg blue, he writes down blue. Apple green, he writes down green. She wants every room a different color, and that’s my house. The only neutral paint is in the entry and the living room, but there’s one room I probably should repaint when we sell: I wanted a lilac guest bedroom and ended up with a purple one, and before you laugh too much, it’s actually a beautiful room, just not what I planned or what most people would want. It faces west and is wonderful to sleep in, like being in a comfortable cave.

  121. 121.

    opiejeanne

    @Nicole: I’ve never heard it phrased that way. They wanted us to put away all of our family photos because “people want to imagine themselves living in the space”.

  122. 122.

    Immanentize

    @opiejeanne: my house has many interesting colors, intense ones that change with the light; but I did repaint the purple dining room that I had originally painted to tone it down after 10 years. But if the buyer wants a different color, paint is cheap. It makes me crazy when, on these HGTV shows, home buyers complain about paint color or window treatments.

  123. 123.

    Geminid

    @Immanentize: I think the pond near me got too much nitrogen runoff from the cows in the pasture upstream. The hydrilla went crazy, and it died off some in the winter. Then I think the decaying vegetable matter robbed the oxygen. I could tell something was wrong when I first walked down to the pond and did not hear the typical sound of frogs jumping into the water.

    Then when my friend Debbie came over and we fished the pond, she got one nibble in an hour and I got none. The hydrilla was so thick only a small part of the pond was fishable.

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    @Geminid: i am not sure this will work, but here is a map link to the property. If you hit the satellite function, you can see the pond clearly. It was just a creek, but the beavers made themselves a vast domain. The rookeries are in the dead trees left by the ponds creep.

    Ok, try putting:
    43.245374,-75.861797
    Into your Google map

  127. 127.

    Soprano2

    @Immanentize: Sounds like a PITA, but necessary. I am wondering how I will feel the first time I go to my mom’s house now that the estate sale is over and all her stuff is gone. Seeing all that stuff displayed on their Web site made me a little teary even though I know it was necessary; no way I could keep all her stuff, or even wanted to. It’s just strange to think of things I looked at my whole life being in the possession of someone else now. At least it’s finally done, next up is to sell the house. Which will start after we go to Hawaii week after next to take care of my stepson’s possessions, and see his friends. I’m ready for some things to come off my plate.

  130. 130.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, Dean Baker at CEPR – The Good News about the Economy you are not Hearing:

    The media keep telling us that the economy is a losing issue for Democrats. I know that this is the Republicans’ talking point, but that is not what the data show.

    For tens of millions of people, there is a huge amount of good news about the economy over the last year and a half. That doesn’t mean that tens of millions of people are not struggling, they are. And, that is always true in the US economy.

    The fact that a country as rich as ours does not have decent welfare state provisions that can ensure people adequate housing, food, and health care is an outrage. But that is a longer-term story, not something that just happened in the last year and a half. When the media suddenly choose to emphasize the struggling population, in ways that they have not done in the past, that is a political decision on their part, not one responding to a new economic reality.

    Anyhow, with that issue out of the way, I’m going to emphasize some of the positive aspects of the economy which are getting little attention from media.

    People Quitting Crappy Jobs

    […]

    An excellent summary. Dean is always a good read on the US economy and reporting on the same.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  132. 132.

    delphinium

    @opiejeanne: ​
    They would hate my house too-the trim and hallway to upstairs are white/neutral colors but all the other rooms are different colors. Definitely have the ‘lived-in’ look going as well, with multiple bookcases, photos, and knickknacks around.

  135. 135.

    delphinium

    @Immanentize:  Yeah, most of those HGTV houses just look so sterile to me. I much prefer the houses with color and character.

    Good luck on your potential NY home!

  137. 137.

    delphinium

    @Another Scott: ​
    That is really great. This part especially needs to be emphasized again and again:

    The media keep telling us that the economy is a losing issue for Democrats. I know that this is the Republicans’ talking point, but that is not what the data show.

  138. 138.

    Another Scott

    @Immanentize: I noticed that at least one of the shows we watch occasionally is now sponsored by Sherwin Williams.  And, I’m sure coincidentally, they have colorfully painted cabinets in most of their kitchens.  ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    Layer8Problem

    @Immanentize:  My better half is an HGTV fiend and told me that’s all just to insert “conflict” and “drama” over the easily and cheaply fixable into what would be a straightforward evaluation on the merits.  “Kayfabe” I believe is the  pro wrestling term.  I’ve had too much fun with the partner going into other people’s domiciles saying things like “I could see myself having kamikazes on this terrace in the morning” and “But I’m really looking for a place with real Spanish/Irish/Kazakhstani/Serbobaltocroatian charm.”

  142. 142.

    Nicole

    @opiejeanne: I like the way Immanentize’s realtor put it.  Makes it sound creepy.

    @Immanentize:  And that property looks gorgeous!

    Thank you for the birthday wishes, everyone!  Jackals make every morning a good one, but especially birthday mornings.

  143. 143.

    trollhattan

    Bobcat’s like “Goddamnit, I was supposed to hit that rock. Ewww, water, ewww.”

    Arnie’s been posting more videos of his house donkey inside maison Ahnold. Don’t know what happened to the microhorse.

  144. 144.

    Geminid

    Some jackals might savor s fresh article in Politico Magazine. The title is, “A new documentary gives us a glimpse into the Lincoln Project’s hypocrisy.”

  149. 149.

    Geminid

    @trollhattan: I wasn’t surprised there’s a documentary out about the LP since there seem to be documentaries now about everything. The organization is very controversial among Democrats so there will be an audience for sure.

    I haven’t gotten around to reading the article and probably won’t. I don’t think I’ll learn much important new information, and I care little about the moral qualities of the LP and its principals.

  150. 150.

    James E Powell

    @Geminid:

    The fact that every single person involved with LP says they are opposed to the world they spent their careers creating is the only story worth telling.

  152. 152.

    Geminid

    @James E Powell: A couple of their unpaid “Senior Advisors,” Tom Nicholls and Rachel Bitecofer, came away pretty clean from their association with the LP in 2020. Although I have seen someone try to smear Bitecofer with that affiliation.

  157. 157.

    Origuy

    The NHL is also doing games in Europe. The San Jose Sharks played an exhibition against a team in Berlin, then Nashville in Prague and London.

  158. 158.

    Geminid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Their role with the Lincoln Project was for the 2020 presidential campaign, and both emphasized after that they were unpaid advisors. I don’t think either had a working relationship with Schmidt before the campaign, and neither appears to have one now.

    Nichols already had a good career outside the campaign industry, and Bitecofer now works freelance for outfits like Majority Strategies, a leading Democratic campaign firm in Arizona.

  159. 159.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: There was a scandal involving Jim Weaver, one of Schmidt’s partners at the Lincoln Project. I think they cut Weaver loose shortly after the 2020 campaign.

  161. 161.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I did a quick google and this chunk from a review of the doc confirms my recollections of the Lincoln Project, their bite didn’t match their braggodoscious bark. I enjoyed their stuff, Brian Williams was convinced, and repeatedly said, that their commercials were devastating, but I remember O’Bro Dan Pfeiffer citing the Priorities USA study saying that wasn’t the case outside of the political junkie universe of MSNBC and twitter

    in 2020, The Lincoln Project spent $12 million attempting to defeat incumbent GOP senators in seven key races, and Republicans scored  7-0 in those contests.
    Moreover, studies conducted by the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA during the election found that the Lincoln Project’s ads, while a hit on Twitter, didn’t make the same impact when presented to persuade undecided voters.
    At the time of that revelation, not even The Lincoln Project disputed it. Reed Galen, a co-founder of the group, told The Daily Beast: “We were pretty clear from the get go about the lanes of our strategic outreach. The first one, which made the most noise, was for the audience of one. That was the stuff directed at Trump, the campaign, the White House, and the family.”

  162. 162.

    Anyway

    After being let down by the Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan … protests (no self-determination, one set of despots replaced by another (mostly military/Saudi backed) I am afraid of placing too much hope on the Iranian protests. I wish the best for the Iranian people and hope for better outcomes.

  163. 163.

    James E Powell

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    My sense – which means my data free surmise – was that if the Lincoln Project did any good, it was in dampening Trump love in the Beltway. The Village Courtiers had been close friends & admirers of the LP crowd for years, so they were the LP’s audience.

  164. 164.

    James E Powell

    @Anyway:

    I know just enough about Iran to know that I don’t know anything about Iran. I wish them all way more than good luck.

  165. 165.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, STATNews – Randomized study shows far less benefit from colonoscopy in reducing cancer deaths than expected:

    Colonoscopies search for pre-cancerous polyps, known as adenomas, by inserting a camera up the rectum. If the endoscopist discovers a suspicious polyp, then it’s promptly removed, thus nipping the cancer before it spreads. Past research always showed that colonoscopy could put a huge dent, on the order of 70%, in the incidence and mortality from colon cancer.

    But none of those studies were large randomized trials, the ultimate experiment in clinical research. So Bretthauer, of the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, and several colleagues started one a decade ago, recruiting more than 80,000 people aged 55 to 64 in Poland, Norway, and Sweden to test if colonoscopy was truly as good as they all believed. Roughly 28,000 of the participants were randomly selected to receive an invitation to get a colonoscopy, and the rest went about their usual care, which did not include regular colonoscopy screening.

    The researchers then kept track of colonoscopies, colon cancer diagnoses, colon cancer deaths, and deaths from any cause. After 10 years, the researchers found that the participants who were invited to colonoscopy had an 18% reduction in colon cancer risk but were no less likely to die from colon cancer than those who were never invited to screening. Of the participants who were invited to colonoscopy, only 42% actually did one. The team published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday.

    Much more at the link.

    It’s a big important study, but (almost) no single study is definitive. Still, it’s always good to check one’s priors and search for real evidence.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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