Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

When we show up, we win.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

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

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Another Day, Another Open Thread (Squishable)

Another Day, Another Open Thread (Squishable)

by | 141 Comments

This post is in: 

I’m back and bleary-eyed. I’m going to try and do a kindness post tonight, you guys have blessed me with some great ones. I really, really need to catch up with the folks on my blogs, so I’ll see how that goes today and if I get back here.

May be an image of ocean and nature

I love a rainy walk on the beach. This one was just a bit of mist.

Another Day, Another Open Thread

I’ve said elsewhere that I believe I was the beneficiary of another person’s composition. No way, where I found this beautiful arrangement that it happened naturally. I’m grateful for their artistic vision.

Okay, back to catching up on everything. And tending to still needy critters. Yes, even the ducks seem to miss me when I’m gone.

This is an open thread.

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    Woo-hoo! Total freedom!

    Would run with scissors if I could still run.

    And could remember where I put the scissors.

    :)

  2. 2.

    Old School

    Nice photos.  Not sure I’m ready for fall to head to winter, but it is going to happen regardless of my readiness.

  3. 3.

    Barbara

    I just returned from a long vacation in Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Germany) where I had a great time but also tested positive for Covid (towards end) for the first time in 2+ years of the pandemic. Feeling okay — not even a bad head cold, just congestion, a little tired at first. Tested negative this morning, and going to confirm in a few minutes with a PCR. I hope, anyway.

    Anyhow, I came back and donated to the super swing state effort and will be printing out and writing postcards until it’s too late. Any recommendations for candidates or states to target?

  4. 4.

    Math Guy

    Unless there were no trees nearby I totally believe that Nature could have composed that arrangement of leaves. I wish I were similarly inspired this morning.

  5. 5.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Barbara: We have vouchers for European flights which expire in mid-2023, so we’ve been gearing up to start thinking about actual vacations again. We were actually planning on a luxurious three weeks in 2020 when Covid changed our plans. We haven’t had more than a couple of days in a row since then, and haven’t missed it.

    I just returned from a long vacation in Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Germany) where I had a great time but also tested positive for Covid (towards end) for the first time in 2+ years of the pandemic.

    I kind of wish you hadn’t included that last bit. That’s exactly what we’re worried about. You tested positive while still overseas? So had to go into quarantine or something?

  7. 7.

    Leto

    We woke up this morning with about three to four inches of standing water in the basement. Our main drain exit line (from the house to the street) was clogged. Service guy is here now. He snaked it, it cleared, and he’s doing some clean up. We’ve been dealing with numerous things over the past couple of weeks and it’s just tiring. We did receive our ballots in the mail; have those completed and we’re going to head to the drop off box soon to deliver them. Two more straight D votes here in PA.

  10. 10.

    Another Scott

    I was curious how closely election metrics tracked with gas prices.

    Biden’s approval moved in the opposite direction since January (dot), with high correlation offset by three weeks. Dem generic ballot position correlated even more as gas prices fell. https://t.co/DuirIyQFjy pic.twitter.com/jVMoFlX6W2

    — Philip Bump (@pbump) October 19, 2022

    After a small bump about 10 days ago, national gas prices are falling again.

    19 days away.

    (via BobbyBigWheel)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  11. 11.

    Kelly

    Smokey here in the western Cascade foothills. PM 2.5 is 157, a red dot on Airnow.gov. Officially unhealthy. Our house is tight enough even the smoke from the 2020 Beachie fire didn’t get in much and our air purifier is running. Bad smoke in the upper left coast valleys from Roseburg, OR to Vancouver, BC. We’re looking forward to the first serious fall rain forecast start Friday and keep raining for a week.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    @Barbara: Glad you’re feeling okay! I just finished a slew of postcards for 3 Ohio Supreme Court candidates. Earlier, I did a bunch for TX for Beto O’Rourke, Susan Hays (Ag) and Luke Warford (Railroad), GA’s Stacey Abrams and Senator Warnock and MN’s Jeff Ettinger (House candidate).

    I did mine through Postcards to Voters, which gives users options for races to write for. I wonder if they automatically match users to out-of-state races because I’ve never had the option to choose a Florida race. (Maybe it’s just a coincidence.)

  15. 15.

    Mousebumples

    @Betty Cracker: Florida is a big between election option – encouraging Dems to register for Vote By Mail.

    Not sure what’s planned for the last few weeks before election day – maybe a few races across the country to allow more people to do later mailing to addresses near them? Hoping for Wisconsin… 🤞

  16. 16.

    Geminid

    @Leto: Have you examined the grade next to the house foundation? Basement water problems are often caused by the backfill slumping over time and letting surface water flow towards the foundation.

  17. 17.

    Barbara

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think there are multiple issues — first is, being on vacation, the whole point is go around visiting things, and while we tend to go to places where it is possible to distance or even stay outdoors, it’s a lot more contact than we have in our routine at home.  Our trip was part of a baking themed tour, so we were together with others as well.  I knew it was a risk.
    Second, Europe has different strains that do seem to be on the upswing.
    At least 10 of the 16 tour members tested positive so we disbanded the tour and went separate ways for the last five days or so.  We didn’t exactly quarantine, but we stayed outdoors as much as possible, and masked and distanced indoors and did not eat indoors to avoid taking off the mask while indoors.
    The biggest dilemma was whether to come home as scheduled and after giving it thought, we decided that it was really the only option.  We masked the whole time.  For whatever reason, our whole plane row was masked, which was a relief.​

  18. 18.

    Barbara

    @Antonius: Woman was sitting inside her car and these sociopaths decided based on nothing at all that she had tried to break in.  When she panicked and tried to get away (doh — they were pointing guns at her and screaming like crazy people) they shot at her car.  It’s like “I’m white, you need to assume I have police power over you” is their operating principle.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    As it’s Open Thread, a notation about what was a sort of guilty pleasure lo these many decades ago, recently discovered to be available on YouTube.

    Goofy British detective series, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), shown in the U.S. under the more mundane moniker of My Partner the Ghost. Wouldn’t have expected it to age as painlessly as it has for something which was originally a bit of fluff to fill an hour of TV (although am noticing the choreography of any fight scenes is amateurish, something not as evident on the small snowy screen of the ol’ Philco). The fashions and set decoration, of course, are somethin’ else to eyeball nowadays. In the case of some of the mod styles displayed, if the dresses/skirts were a half inch shorter they’d be a belt.

    Don’t expect gripping drama or puzzling conundrums; strictly for funsies.

  20. 20.

    TaMara

    @Math Guy: The rock wall in the top photo is where I found it..definitely no trees around. But I’d be willing to allow for a “nature is amazing” explanation.

     

    @Antonius: JFC

     

    @NotMax: Thanks, that sounds like fun, will check it out. Off to do another load of laundry…

  21. 21.

    hueyplong

    @Barbara: I’m starting to think the percentage of sociopaths in this country is out of hand.  It’s at least 27% of the population.

    Kind of wish I were joking.

  22. 22.

    Leto

    @Geminid: the grade of the yard next to the house is fine, it was just a clogged pipe. We’ve had some issues with this drain before that we were able to correct ourselves but were in the process of trying to get someone out to take a look at things. This just expedited everything. We’re also having the hot water heater, as well as the water softening system, replace. HWH is approx 12 years old, water softer older. Joys of buying an older home. We hit our 1-year mark last month.

  23. 23.

    brendancalling

    I have a group of students in 4th period who are worse than useless. Not only do they refuse to do any work, they disrupt other students. I loathe them.

    Recently, they have been asking for bathroom passes, hall passes, fake appointments with counselors—anything to get out of my class. At first, I was impatient with their pointless ruses, and would report them for skipping. But then I realized how much happier I am when they’re not here, and how much more work gets done when they leave. SO I give them passes daily with a smile on my face.

    On another happy note, I have a new kid, and he’s a really fun writer. Just a pleasure to read his work, which is very funny too.

  24. 24.

    Leto

    The House-rules chair blocked Lauren Boebert’s measure under a ‘new rule’ against ‘lunatics,’ a new book says

    House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern created a “new rule” on his committee for people like Rep. Lauren Boebert, the gun-toting far-right firebrand from Colorado.

    When one of her “flurry of nonsensical amendments turned out to be reasonable,” McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, blocked it from going to the House floor and a Republican committee member wanted to know why, according to journalist Robert Draper’s new book, “Weapons of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its Mind.”

    “As McGovern would recall it, his response was, ‘We have a new rule in the Rules Committee. If you’re batshit crazy, you’re not getting an amendment,'” Draper wrote. “‘I’m sorry. We’re not doing this. We’re not doing this. I’m not going down that road. I’m not going to be part of any effort to legitimize people who are fucking lunatics.'”

  26. 26.

    kalakal

    @NotMax: Hah. It was one of my favourite shows as a kid. I’ve never dared watch it since in case it turns out to rubbish as an adult

  29. 29.

    brendancalling

    On an unrelated happy note, I stopped reading the NYT a couple of years ago, but occasionally I drop by their site to see what I’m missing. Glad to know it’s not much—just the same soft-right crap they always have on offer. FTNYT right in the dick with a pickle fork, forever.

  30. 30.

    Leto

    @WaterGirl: Fortunately, it wasn’t the entire basement just a sizeable portion around the floor drain. We were looking to replace the hwh and the softener, this just sped that up with an additional cost. We have a permanent dehumidifier down here, so along with the two fans we brought down this should be fully dry in a day. It’s just the general irritation of it all. Morton’s salt.

  31. 31.

    NutmegAgain

    Hey TaMara… I was just thinking about and your critters. Up too late the other evening, watching animal stuff on the internet (not gonna apologize!) there was a story on the Dodo about a Dane who saved a newborn Chihuahua by nursing the little one. Awww! Really, the ultra antidote to the crazy politics and disease world we live in. Dogs being dogs.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    @Antonius: The ironic thing about the paranoid, vigilante morons who almost killed an innocent woman in her car was that the sheriff who was rightly rebuking the perps in that article is himself a trigger-happy moron who probably inspired the vigilantes to hunt down someone for touching their doorknob. He is Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, and he’s a braying jackass in the mold of Joe Arpaio. 

  35. 35.

    kalakal

    @Betty Cracker: That’s what I was thinking too.

    Here he is at a press conference 2 weeks ago

    Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd: People have a right to be safe in their homes… I highly recommend, if a looter enters your home, you grab your gun and you shoot him, you shoot him so he looks like grated cheese.

  36. 36.

    Geminid

    @Leto: Good to hear your grade is good. I always bring this up with people with water problems because it is a common problem, and it’s relatively easy to remedy.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    A member of Liz Truss’ cabinet has just resigned. Home Secretary Suella Braverman‘s stated reason was that she was taking responsibility for a breach of data security rules, but her resignation letter is also pointedly critical of Truss’ premiership. Not looking good for the beleaguered PM.

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    @hueyplong:   That’s the Fox News effect, “refined” and aided by Facebook and other social media.

    Their mission is growing new sociopaths, so governments cannot count on “educated citizens” or any type of governance for the common good.

    I actually think we are going to do well in the midterms, since polling and political consulting and punditing and the gazillionaire political donor set is so heavily the “sausage farm” mentioned in the morning thread.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @lollipopguild:   They’re loud and ugly and get your attention.  And amplified by the media, including a lot of outlets that should know better.  Outsize megaphones.

  42. 42.

    eclare

    @NutmegAgain:   Also, the cheetah cub cam at the Smithsonian zoo is back up because they have two new adorable cheetah cubs!  They are about two weeks old, very relaxing to watch when the news gets to be too much.

    Sorry no link, on my phone, but should be an easy google.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @Amir Khalid: She misses out on being the shortest-serving Home Secretary. Although I have seen people arguing (possibly even seriously) that they shouldn’t count the first two weeks of the Truss cabinet, since it was the period of mourning. That would bring her much closer to the record.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    Gift articles for everyone.  Margaret Sullivan, former NY Times ombudsman and then WaPost media observer who recently decamped to teach at  Duke U, has a new book out on how inadequately the press covers Trump and the other autocrats.

    WaPost magazine:

    If Trump Runs Again, Do Not Cover Him the Same Way: A Journalist’s Manifesto

    I believed in traditional reporting, but Trump changed me — and it should change the rest of the media too.

    Margaret Sullivan was The Post’s media columnist from 2016 until late August. This article is adapted from her memoir, “Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) From an Ink-Stained Life,” to be published this month by St. Martin’s Press.

    Sullivan’s final WaPost column, also a gift article.

    WaPost:  My final column: 2024 and the dangers ahead
    Before signing off, Margaret Sullivan offers advice to her fellow journalists on how to cover a perilous election

  49. 49.

    narya

    Sitting here with an Iron Man bandaid on my hand, and another bigger thing on my knee . . . fell during the morning run. Really just some scrapes, for which I’m grateful; feeling sheepish more than anything, tbh. So glad I’m still able to work from home, too: two of my three team members have some kind of cold or something, and we were able to meet without breathing each other’s air–and they can take breaks if they need to do so.

    Incidentally, I want to thank whoever started that fountain pen thread months ago–I’ve been continuing to use mine, and I forgot how much I like writing with them.

  50. 50.

    Jackie

    This qualifies as great news:
    “John Fetterman’s primary care physician said he continues to recover well from his stroke after an examination Friday, saying the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate “has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.”
    Clifford Chen, a doctor at UPMC in Duquesne, released a detailed medical report based on his examination, which the campaign provided to The Inquirer late Tuesday.”
    https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/john-fetterman-2022-pennsylvania-senate-stroke-medical-report-20221019.html?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

  53. 53.

    Calouste

    @kalakal: To lose one senior cabinet member within a few weeks, Ms. Truss, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.

  55. 55.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @brendancalling: I hope that they are not the kind of kids whose parents blame the teacher when the kid refuses to do the work.   Most of those parents know very well their kids don’t want to be bothered but expect the teacher to pass their kids anyway.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    @narya: Not scolding, but didn’t you just mention getting safety PPE so you wouldn’t trip and fall due to dark mornings?

    Glad you’re okay – other than scrapes and a bruised pride!

  61. 61.

    Betty

    @Jackie: So Oz and the media can stop yammering about why he won’t release his medical records. I am sure he was not at all worried that they could have been misconstrued had he released earlier ones.

  62. 62.

    narya

    @eclare: Yeah, me too! About three years ago I fell and bloodied my other knee. I didn’t have blood running down my leg, so I continued the run. Later I cleaned it out and realized I had crushed the skin, rather than scraped it, and it was . . . gross, and worse than I thought. it did make for an entertaining conversation when I visited my primary care doc, though–because I’m over 60, they ask about falls, and I was, “well yeah, but I got up and finished my 4-mile run.”

  64. 64.

    scav

    @Amir Khalid: As Braverman is a rat of the lowest order, may her bitter little teeth trying to gnaw herself into an icon of principled & disappointed criticism of Libertarian Liz become embedded in their shared sinking galleon and share a well-earned death by bile inhalation.

  65. 65.

    kalakal

    @Geminid: Lol! There was a Redfield and Wilton poll 3 days ago that gave Labour a 36 point lead. If it happened in a general election the Tories would have 1 MP. It would be perfect if that MP was Truss

  69. 69.

    eclare

    @narya:   Hahaha…the one time I fell when I was jogging I was exactly at the midpoint of a four mile run.  Banged myself up pretty good, both palms and both knees.  I thought about asking a passing bus to take pity on me, but then I sucked it up and walked home.

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    @kalakal: That’s the only way Truss  could win another leadership race.

    But I hear the seat is held by another Tory MP. It has a funny name, like “Something and Deep Hidings.”

  73. 73.

    CaseyL

    @eclare:

    @Elizabelle:

    I subscribe to Kevin Richardson/Lion Whisperer’s YouTube.  He runs a sanctuary in South Africa: mostly lions, but a couple of leopards and two hyena clans as well.  His animals are not releasable, so he has them as lifetime tenants on a really fine spread.  The animals are all getting up there age-wise (he’s lost a few to old age in the last few years), and since he’s resolved not to continue being an old-age home for animals who should never be in captivity in the first place, he has sort of wondered what to do when his last animal dies.

    What does this have to do with cheetahs?

    Well, a couple of years ago, he agreed to take in 8 cheetah cubs whose mothers had been killed (one by poachers, one by a lion). The cubs were tiny babies and the intent from the start was to raise them so they could be released to the wild.  He called them “The Miracle Eight,” because normally orphaned cheetah cubs simply die; in these instances, game wardens were able to find them and bring them to the sanctuary.

    So the channel’s viewership has been watching these cubs grow up over the last nearly-two years.  Kevin and the team taught them by stages how to hunt and how to eat the kill. They’ve just had their “soft release” – on their own, in a larger park, with tagged collars so they can be monitored.

    They were recently run off a kill by a lion – Kevin was relieved that they know to relinquish even a kill when a larger predator decides to claim it; he says that avoiding other predators is the one thing he couldn’t teach them – and the team was able to track where they ran off to.

    It’s been amazing to watch.  All eight are still sticking together in a loose pack; Kevin says they’ll split into their own groupings at some point.   May have started already, when they split up to run from the lion.

    Also, raising the cheetah cubs has inspired him to dedicate the sanctuary to doing more of that, once his current family of wild critters is gone.  More rehabilitation, more raise-and-release, so he’ll have a reason to continue operating the sanctuary.

  74. 74.

    ALurkSupreme

    Just got back from early voting in Athens.    Turnout here has been well above average so far, according to the helpful ladies at the polling office.

  75. 75.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Betty Cracker: He is indeed a braying jackass, but in this instance he has been braying at the prosecutor in Polk County throw the law library at these two. I think the .45 slug that went through the baby seat and lodged in the driver’s seat without perforating the driver really set him off, and these two vigilantes were stepping over into his department’s turf.

  76. 76.

    narya

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: And I’m planning to add some strength training soon, too! I just wish I could get my blood pressure to drop a little bit. It was nice and low for years, but lately it’s more variable. I got a better monitor, and it seems to be mostly pretty good? but it spikes more than it used to, generally when I’m at the doctor’s, and he keeps wanting me to take meds. which I continue to resist.

  78. 78.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I’ve now been on this tech support chat for 90 minutes, during which the rep has managed to (1) establish a remote connection and (2) use it to uninstall the defective software.

    And that’s it.

    Please remove duplicate comment. I’m pretty sure I only hit the button once, I can’t edit #77.

  81. 81.

    kalakal

    @Geminid: John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings). Actually it wouldn’t be quite that bad for the Tories thanks to their redistricting scheme ( gerrymandering), they’d double their representation to 2 MPs with the addition of Gavin Williamson (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire).

    Men of whom the public says “Who?”

  84. 84.

    eclare

    @CaseyL:   What a wonderful story!  These cheetahs will obviously never be released, but they are at a Smithsonian research facility in NoVa, so they won’t be on display at a zoo.

  89. 89.

    Cameron

    I have a weakness for the baby elephant videos that Sheldrake Wildlife Trust puts up on Facebook.  Probably the only harmless habit I have (well, other than it being Facebook).

  90. 90.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @p.a.: You are the best. Delusional, but the best!

    LOTR fanfic was the first fiction I ever wrote, so I had a lot to learn. Luckily, I had that low-stakes, friendly forum in which to learn it.

    I gave up on Rings of Power.

  91. 91.

    2liberal

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  I’ve now been on this tech support chat for 90 minutes, during which the rep has managed to (1) establish a remote connection and (2) use it to uninstall the defective software.

     

    probably a user error.  /tech support engineer mode

  92. 92.

    brendancalling

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: I know. In fact, the lowest we’re allowed to give the students is a 50. Back when I was a piece of shit asshole I mean a student who didn’t apply himself, I got 0s, as I deserved.

    Believe me, I would like nothing better than to give these kids a bunch of goose eggs, especially the ones with a nasty attitude.

  93. 93.

    Ohio Mom

    Phooey. Ohio Son just got fired by his job developer (from the state voc rehab agency) because his social skills are deficient. She doesn’t think he could hold a job unless he gets those together. Needless to say, that’s basically the definition of autism, and if the disability employment specialists don’t know what to do…

    I have a few other things to try but first I will have to regroup a little. And eat lunch. Can’t think well on an empty stomach.

  94. 94.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Cameron: I used to watch Baby Fiona videos with my granddaughter (a hippo born very premature at the Cincinnati Zoo). Alas, she’s outgrown them.

    I haven’t.

    I occasionally watch videos from some Fox Rescue organization. There’s a great one where the fox steals a cell phone which is recording so you get a closeup fox-mouth view while she runs and her to hear a fox laughing.

  97. 97.

    cckids

    @Antonius: Wow, just wow. And, while I appreciate the sheriff wanting both of these asshats to go to prison, he also said that the stand your ground law “doesn’t mean you can leave your property and go shoot someone”.

    Trayvon Martin’s parents would like a word.

  98. 98.

    eclare

    @Ohio Mom:   Oh no!  So sorry to hear that.  And like you said, aren’t deficient social skills the definition of autism?  Sounds like she doesn’t understand her job.

  103. 103.

    Geminid

    @Ohio Mom: I am very sorry to hear this. I hope he doesn’t take it too hard. If you think it would help, please let him know that people are rooting for him.

  104. 104.

    cain

    @kalakal: The question though is – are the British people learning? It’s been nothing but crazy town since the whole thing about Brexit. Maybe they enjoy this shit.

    As for me, I’m going to Carry On and Keep Calm.

  107. 107.

    kalakal

    @cain: I really don’t know. It’s like a national mental breakdown. My family and old friends still seem sane but the last few years seem to be written by Lewis Carroll.

    They seem to have given up on the Tories but for how long and where they go who knows. 1/2 the population has to admit Brexit was a really fucking stupid idea, then there’s a way up. As half the population seem to be cement heads I’m not sanguine about the prospects

  108. 108.

    cain

    @CaseyL: We might be terrible creatures that are fucking up the planet, but there are good people amongst us who are doing their part and making it their life’s work. May the Universe grant him eternal good fortune for his work.

  109. 109.

    Ohio Mom

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Did you hear that Fiona just became a big sister in August? It’s a boy, his name is Fritz.

    The thing is, I see why the job developer is frustrated. Ohio Son’s ambitions are not in line with his capabilities and he can be very inflexible (inflexibility is another autism hallmark).

    And it doesn’t help that the crazy state system limits the job developer to meeting with the client to an hour a week. Who can get a job search — or anything, really — done in an hour a week? The developer and Son never got any momentum going, that got him frustrated, and frustration does not manifest itself in pleasant interactions in anybody.

  110. 110.

    Martin

    I like how the UK keeps flirting with politicians that make absolutely terrible policy decisions – decide they were slightly too terrible, fire them, and replace them with a politician that just makes the same terrible policy decision again. It’s like there’s a certain degree of horribleness they want the UK to be, but not more horrible. And heaven forbid not-horrible.

    It’s a weird form of political masochism.

  112. 112.

    Martin

    @ALurkSupreme: Georgians seem to have figured out cost smoothing when it comes to voting. I can stand in line for 3 hours today, or 9 hours next week.

    Stacy Abrams should put up a YouTube video for 10 best meals to prepare and eat while standing in line to vote. Maybe a DNC branded bento box.

  113. 113.

    Ken

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: LOTR fanfic was the first fiction I ever wrote

    From the reviews I’ve read, I’m sure it was better than Rings of Power.  Though I understand the series delivered on the Galadriel / Sauron slash fic that none of us knew we wanted.

  115. 115.

    Ken

    @TaMara: And we humans think we suffer birth trauma. At least we aren’t dropped eight feet onto the ground (barring a really careless obstetrician).

  116. 116.

    R-Jud

    @Geminid: My sweet 13-year-old LOVES Rings of Power, so I’ve been sitting through it with her. If it had been deliberately aimed at the late-middle-grades/teen group, I’d probably think it was more successful. As it is, it’s mostly another sterling example of billionaire art, like all the Star Warses and Marvel things.

    (I do like Mrs. Durin, tho. Would prefer a show that’s just her giving lifestyle and/or mining tips.)

  117. 117.

    Geminid

    @cain: The British are hampered by their election laws. No midterms for them. This government has a majority large enough to withstand by-election losses, and is not required to call a general election until January, 2025.

    And it’s a centralized system. Aside from mayors and local councils, power is concentrated in the parliamentary majority and its government.

    I also think that the monopoly party organizations have on candidate selection is a negative influence, but that’s another story.

  121. 121.

    kalakal

    @Martin: It’s a steady downhill slide. In defense of my fellow countrybeings the Great British Media makes Fox & co look like amateurs. They’re a lot more subtle* and have been doing drip drip attacks on anyone to the left of Genghiz Khan for over a century.

    Every so often reality catches up, Labour gets in by default and spends a decade making themselves unpopular by doing the hard work of cleaning up the mess. Then it’s back to the party of fiscal responsibility & freedom, sunlight uplands and everyone gets jam for tea

    *They’re not always that subtle and some is just batshit crazy.

  122. 122.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @kalakal: I have a feeling that at the moment, Baud! has more favorable polling than Truss.

    Wait. Someone call up Tony Jay and find out how to put Baud into Parliament. We may have been focusing on the wrong office.

  123. 123.

    thruppence

    Just filled out my ballot (straight D, natch) and will slip it in a drop box within the hour. Good luck to us all, we sorely need it, the country needs it.

  126. 126.

    ALurkSupreme

    @Martin:  Three hours, damn.   Sincerely sorry to hear that.   I went to the bank, dropped off my property tax payment at the courthouse, voted, and was back home in less than an hour.  Downtown Athens is pretty easy for almost everything unless there’s a UGa football game.

  128. 128.

    kalakal

    @Geminid: This

    And it’s a centralized system. Aside from mayors and local councils, power is concentrated in the parliamentary majority and its government.

    Even worse 90% of the funding comes from central government. Unlike here local authorities have very little financial discretion/independence. To add insult to injury the Tories have been abusing the system, handing out the bulk of the money to Tory voting areas

  130. 130.

    oatler

    @NotMax:

    “if the dresses/skirts were a half inch shorter they’d be a belt.”

    Straight from the Mayor of Squaresville.

    That Annette Andre was something else , gotta say.

  131. 131.

    Ken

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s OK, ultimately Galadriel decided not to go all the way with the hunky avatar Sauron was using.

    (As of course everyone knew, what with the series being a prequel. Although, since they don’t have rights to any of Tolkien’s Second Age material, they could do whatever they want and — maybe — eventually reconcile it with the LoTR.)

  132. 132.

    Ken

    @thruppence: Just filled out my ballot (straight D, natch) and will slip it in a drop box within the hour.

    Careful, I heard that drop boxes might be filled with dynamite.

  134. 134.

    JML

    Ugh. Have a two hour strategy session with my new boss this afternoon, and I feel like I have nothing new to bring to the table. (and have been feeling like he’s not very impressed with anything I’ve done since he started) I’m am so up inside my own head today.

  136. 136.

    Gravenstone

    @Old Man Shadow: I think the sampling swab from said kit would have to be surgically removed from the skull of whoever thought this was a good idea, had I kids and ended up receiving said kit.

  137. 137.

    Ohio Mom

    @JML: Ugh. Always hated it when it felt like my boss had a secret agenda. Yours has an idea about what direction he wants to go in, he should just tell you instead of expecting you to come up with something as a newbie.

  138. 138.

    JML

    @Ohio Mom: well, I think I know what he wants me to do, but underwritten in everything he said was a level of contempt for everything we’ve been doing (he’s not entirely wrong, but at the same time I’ve been doing this solo in the dark with one hand tied behind my back), so I kinda feel like throwing up now…

  140. 140.

    red4751

    @Leto: “Two more straight D votes here in PA.” Good. I’m finally getting use to the high gas prices, crime, inflation and empty shelves they say don’t exist.

  141. 141.

    Frank McCormick

    Thanks Tamara! That someone exhausted, bleary-eyed, and needing solace chose to share it with the rest of us shores up my esteem of human nature.  (Catching up on the day’s political news doesn’t usually do that.)

     

    I’m now amusing myself wondering whether your own evening meal is simple, elaborate, or take out. I need to remind myself to check your update tomorrow for a potential “recipe”.

     

    [I’m not a frequent commenter here, but before the ransomware incident I was a daily visitor. My main amusement then was reading an article but not the byline and attempting to identify the voice. Unfortunately, even in retirement, there are only so many hours in a day. And, surprisingly commenting on Twitter and political blogs has captured the bulk of my time.]

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