Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The lights are all blinking red.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

Democrats are back in array!

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

No one could have predicted…

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

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Reader Interactions

182Comments

  3. 3.

    cope

    A check is in the mail for replacing our Florida roof which will allow us to sell our Florida house and move to the Colorado house we close on 12/15.  We could not be happier though the process has been fraught and complicated and immensely frustrating.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    @cope: Exciting!  It sounds like you want to get the hell out of FL and can’t wait to get to CO.

    I’m sure our Colorado BJ peeps will throw you a welcome party. :-)

  8. 8.

    C Stars

    We’re making pizza tonight and watching the latest installment of Mysterious Benedict Society. Would not be my top choice but my kids love. Tomorrow we’ll start with some holiday decorating. Hopefully we’ll get a nice weekend soaking here in CA

  11. 11.

    Ripley

    I’m in line for a new position at work. Like, brand new – and I’m even afforded input on the job description. zoinks?!?

    My time there tempers my enthusiasm with some measure of cold reality, though; I know how non-decisive my boss can be, and it has to roll thru HR and his boss. Still… it’s been a long time coming.

    TGIF to everyone!

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    Some relatives of mine were supposed to go on a cruise to Antartica this weekend. Until this happened yesterday. Trip canceled.

    I confess I didn’t have “rogue wave hits cruise ship” on the list of possible problems.

  16. 16.

    Layer8Problem

    @WaterGirl:
    @C Stars:
    To elaborate, a ocean liner in 1899 (hence the name) receives a wireless telegraphy message from another of its company’s ships, a ship that vanished four months prior to these events, and goes to its aid.  Weirdness ensues.

  19. 19.

    C Stars

    @dmsilev: my mother recently went on a cruise to Antarctica. The seas were extremely choppy the whole time and it was always touch and go with regards to whether they’d actually be able to disembark and take some photos of penguins. They did, briefly, but I think it’s a pretty treacherous trip as far as passenger cruises go.

  20. 20.

    Martin

    Reminder that thanks to the equal pay deal the USWNT got, they’re getting half of the World Cup payout the men earn.

    FIFA prize pool for mens World Cup is $440M. Prize pool for women’s is $30M. So the men are guaranteed a prize of $13M for getting this far, while the women earned $2M for winning the whole thing last time they did. Get enough countries doing this and maybe FIFA will pay out equally.

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    Ohio Family is treating Ohio Grandma to a meal at the Nepalese restaurant in honor of her 91st(!) birthday.

    This restaurant was her choice, she doesn’t get out of her independent living facility very often these days so this is a thrill for her.

    I haven’t been to this place before but I have been to the sister restaurant and this place is just as disorganized. I had to bus the table myself. They just served the appetizer on a serving plate but no individual plates and only two forks for four people.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Ripley: That’s exciting!

    This is your chance to think through how the position can be set up to be a success in spite of your non-decisive boss.

    xx has decision-making responsibility for xx, with a duty to NOTIFY the non-decisive Boss Man of decisions…

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @C Stars: Yeah, it was always made clear that outings etc. were at the mercy of the weather and sea conditions and so forth.

    Viking gave them a full refund, and at least it happened before they left home so it’s not like they were halfway to Argentina when they found out that things went sideways.

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    We in NorCal had a nice storm yesterday and rain returns tonight, through the weekend. Yay. Another, oh, twenty of these by next April and maybe, just maybe we can break the string of critically dry years. Nobody is predicting that.

    Yesterday the State announced 5% allocation to the State Water Contractors for 2023, a number than can be adjusted in either direction as the year unfolds.

    And now, Dave, with sports!

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: Whole cruise canceled. I assume that the ship needs to be carefully checked for damage beyond the obvious  (you can see in the photo how high above the waterline the broken windows are…) and that will take some time.

  30. 30.

    Layer8Problem

    @dmsilev:  To get to Antarctica, or at least the Antarctic Peninsula part, you have to cross the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn, which is nasty.  I’d love to go there, but the potential for heavy seas in combination with my light thalassophobia freaks me out.

  31. 31.

    C Stars

    @Layer8Problem: I started watching because the premise and trailer seemed interesting. I’d like to watch it if it’s more sci fi mystery than horror, but I don’t want to watch straight up psychological horror, not right now.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    I just started reading the decision from the 11th circuit.  Wow, they get right to it.  Immediately after the title page: “Trump vs. USA” and the names of the three judges, we get this:

    This appeal requires us to consider whether the district court had jurisdiction to block the United States from using lawfully seized records in a criminal investigation. The answer is no.

    Holy crap, they aren’t messing around.

  34. 34.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Mother in law somehow survived Covid and will be moving out of Covid ward and into rehab.  Father in law only suffered mild symptoms and is on the mend.  My wife plans to visit them next weekend.  I feel bad because despite the great news on their recovery I’m just not in much of a Holiday Cheer mood this year.  It’s always a struggle for me but especially bad this year.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @dmsilev: Good strategic move.  Better to cancel the whole thing than have 1,000 (insert correct # here) people cancelling in a panic.

    And yeah, even with cars, things that you can’t see can be compromised after an accident.

  37. 37.

    Layer8Problem

    @C Stars:  I’m thinking it’s more sci-fi, but maybe Stranger Things sci-fi (I never saw that, just saw discussions).  It’s from the same people who did Dark, which I also didn’t see.  Some things are striking me as weird, like shipboard wireless, which I don’t think was a thing then except as experimental stuff; maybe they’ll explain that.  They seem to be thrashing mind/brain/in-yer-head stuff.

  39. 39.

    Delk

    All over the internet last week were stories about how to watch 1899. Supposed to watch in English (original) and not English (dubbed).

  40. 40.

    Ohio Mom

    Update: I took clamshells from the side table and we used those for plates.

    Now Eli is describing his meeting with his county social worker to plan what services he will get in the coming year. I am cracking up because MIL thinks it’s bad manners to mention Ohio Son’s disability and he is shouting over the din of the restaurant.

  41. 41.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: Small ship, by cruise standards. A few hundred passengers if memory serves. Still a logistical headache for all concerned of course.

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    @dmsilev: We hope it will be safe to take another cruise in a year or two. Will pass on Antarctica. We’re thinking the Viking “Barcelona to Venice” trip is a winner, hitting 4 or 5 countries.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    @Martin:

    A big part of the problem is that the men’s game is still the sport’s centre of gravity; it attracts nearly all the money in terms of sponsorships, TV rights for major leagues/tournaments, advertising, player endorsements, and of course corruption. The women players in the US might get the same base salaries as men, but women’s football still isn’t rich enough to pay them performance bonuses on the same level.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @WaterGirl: The very next paragraph:

    Former President Donald J. Trump brought a civil action seeking an injunction against the government after it executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence. He argues that a court- mandated special master review process is necessary because reason 1, 2, 3, and 4.  The government disagrees with each contention.

    Followed by:

    These disputes ignore one fundamental question—whether the district court had the power to hear the case.

    In considering these arguments, we are faced with a choice: apply our usual test; drastically expand the availability of equitable jurisdiction for every subject of a search warrant; or carve out an unprecedented exception in our law for former presidents. We choose the first option. So the case must be dismissed.

    I knew that Cannon got smacked down, but this is brutal and I am here for it!

  46. 46.

    Delk

    @Layer8Problem: it has to do with characters from different countries not understanding each other, but if they are all speaking dubbed English it really does not make sense.

  50. 50.

    Kent

    @dmsilev: I’ve taught the phenomenon of rogue waves in both oceanography and physics classes.

    They are based on a principle called “superposition” which basically states that if two waves interact, their combined crests and troughs will add or subtract from each other as the case may be.

    This happens on the ocean when you have a confused sea where the waves or swell is simultaneously coming from more than one direction.  If you have 10 ft waves coming from the north, and 10 ft waves coming from the east, when they  meet they will momentarily stack on top of each other and produce a 20 ft wave, which will just as quickly disappear when the two waves continue in their separate directions.

    Sometimes you have waves coming from 3 or more directions on the ocean which can cause momentary triple wave heights when they all overlap.  And sometimes you have waves traveling at different speeds in the same direction such that they overlap from time to time.

    That is why rogue waves are so unpredictable.  They can appear out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly

    BTW, noise canceling headphones work on the same principle.  They create a sound wave that is the opposite of whatever noise you are hearing and the two sound waves cancel each other out by overlapping each crest with a corresponding trough.

  55. 55.

    CaseyL

    Really cold weather has come to Seattle.  “Really cold for Seattle,” I should say; nothing like what the Midwest and Northeast get.  Also some snow, though not much near me (further north got quite a bit).

    I like chilly weather, but temps in the low 30s are about 10 degrees below my tolerance.  Also, my house leaks heat like a sieve, so I don’t turn the heat up much because the electric bills get insane.  So I bundle up in layers and have a sofa blanket to snuggle in.

    Oscar the cat has a much better idea: spend most of the day upstairs asleep in the (heated) waterbed.  I may join him.

    @trollhattan:  Fingers crossed California gets all the rain it wants!  I am constantly worried for Mono Lake and the Salton Sea.

  56. 56.

    RSA

    Browsing Facebook to find a bit of real-life surreality (photo of Disney and a drawing at the link):

    Walt Disney made a visit to what was then known as Edgewood Arsenal in January of 1942 to show his proposed design for a Mickey Mouse gas mask?

    At the time, Edgewood served as the Army’s primary facility for both chemical and retaliatory capabilities during WWII. Disney developed the mask design with assistance from the @Army to help calm children who were afraid of gas masks. About 1,000 Mickey Mouse respirators were eventually produced but were ultimately mostly unused when the war did not spread to American soil.

  57. 57.

    Scamp Dog

    @cope, @WaterGirl: If you’re interested, we can put together a BJ meetup. I’m in the greater Denver area, as is TaMara and several others. TaMara has my contact info. Where is you new place?

  58. 58.

    JPL

    @cain: I hope so but as long as the magas strive (or thrive) there is always the possibility.   The supreme ct is filled with those who abuse the rule of law.

  59. 59.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl: The wonderful Liz Dye, BENCHSLAP: Eleventh Circuit Sh*tcans Trump Special Master In Withering Takedown Of Lower Court Ruling

    To say the panel was unimpressed with Judge Cannon’s reasoning would be a gross understatement. At one point they note that she was “undeterred by [the] lack of information” supporting Trump’s claim to have a pressing need to get his Celine Dion photos back pronto. But the judges seemed patently appalled that a federal judge would find fear of criminal prosecution to be a legally cognizable interest in property seized pursuant to a warrant.

     

    “No doubt the threat of prosecution can weigh heavily on the mind of anyone under investigation,” they note incredulously. “But without diminishing the seriousness of the burden, that ordinary experience cannot support extraordinary jurisdiction.”

     

    In short, it was a total beatdown. Finding that the lower court “improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction,” the panel vacated the September 5 special master appointment in its entirety and remanded the case with an order for Judge Cannon to dismiss. They stayed the order for a week to allow Trump to try his luck with the Supreme Court, which already declined to intervene regarding the classified documents.

     

    Meanwhile over at Truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

  63. 63.

    Jerry

    Hey sci-fi freaks! I think I was hipped to this series on this here web blog, but just in case it wasn’t, check out Adrian Tchaikovsky’s book, “Children of Time.” My god, that was an excellent read! I just started the follow-up novel, “Children of Ruin.”

  65. 65.

    DFH

    Hello all,

    I don’t write much but read all posts and some comments from time to time. Since this is an open thread and I’ll be kicked back watching the Warriors ‘ere long, I wonder if any cat owners have heard of or maybe tried this product:  Feliway Optimum.

    https://www.amazon.com/FELIWAY-Optimum-Enhanced-Pheromone-Diffuser/dp/B097W651NJ#customerReviews

    Many reviews mentioned much quieter cats, some to the point of stopping use of the Feliway. Not sure I’d go through the expense, but does anyone know if these work? I suppose it’s like the Confediway, a different product designed to help us get through the next two years. Dunno.

    thanks!

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    @Alison Rose: “Storm drain done backed up on accounta leaves and I ran over a big rock. Lemme go water my lawn.”

    Lucky governor only has 40 million, plus or minus, to please on a given day.

  67. 67.

    cain

    @JPL:

    MAGAs will always overreach since they don’t really understand reality. The SCOTUS will as well. It’s the problem with ideologues – they are blind and are singly motivated. These people have been waiting a long time to kill specific things and they will not be denied.

  68. 68.

    Fair Economist

    @dmsilev: I find the Southern Ocean fascinating. Storms go around and around Antarctica endlessly, never hitting land and maintaining tremendous strength as a result. In sailing days, ships would sometimes venture down there for the speed boost from the tremendous winds they generate. Pretty daring, and not always successful.

    Fascinated enough to brave those storms? Well, not so far.

  70. 70.

    trollhattan

    @Kent: Fascinating. IDK if this wave was rogue, or just typical ocean in the middle of a Pacific typhoon, but one caught the flight deck of the carrier dad served on, to considerable effect. Mere water can fashion quite the hammer.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @C Stars:

    I think it’s a pretty treacherous trip as far as passenger cruises go.

    Never been myself, I spent more than enough time cruising various oceans, crossing the Atlantic 6 times, from Gitmo Bay to north of the Arctic Circle, and the Med. I’d bet the food on the cruise is better than what we had. Good times.

    But I’ve heard that it is often quite rough, sometimes they get there and can’t land because of the weather/sea conditions. I wouldn’t have minded going decades ago but not interested these days.

  73. 73.

    C Stars

    @Ruckus: I’m not interested either. Mom said that there were folks who were just terribly seasick, vomiting in their cabins the whole time. All for an afternoon to take pictures of penguins, who were cute and smelly. She went because her partner had it on his bucket list. She really enjoyed Argentina, though.

  76. 76.

    ian

    @cain:

     she’s gonna be a back bencher – her career is pretty much dead.

    I hope so.  Somehow, I don’t think getting smacked down in legalese is going to stop the current crop of Republican Senators from voting for her advancement.  The only thing stopping her career advancement is Dems holding either the Senate or the Presidency (or both, FSM willing) in 2024.  If her being an unqualified hack was a barrier to them voting for her, she wouldn’t be in the district court in the first place.

  78. 78.

    piratedan

    @ian: have to agree, considering the history of GOP politicians and media punditry, there’s no penalty for getting it wrong or even just flat out lying… there seem to be only a couple of guidelines… if you have power, feel free to abuse it, if you get called out on it… lie about it.

  79. 79.

    CaseyL

    @C Stars: Antarctica is on my bucket list, so I’ve done some reading of the various tour options offered.  Some companies offer the option of flying right over Drake Passage, and getting on a ship that’s already there (and of course flying back as well).

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @ian: ​
      FWIW most judges who are being tracked for eventual Supreme Court appointments are appointed directly to a Circuit Court. Trial and appellate court judges do very different jobs. In fact, many (if not not most) of the federal district court judge I have known consider it to be their dream job and have no interest whatsoever in moving to the appellate bench.

  84. 84.

    Kent

    @trollhattan:@Kent: Fascinating. IDK if this wave was rogue, or just typical ocean in the middle of a Pacific typhoon, but one caught the flight deck of the carrier dad served on, to considerable effect. Mere water can fashion quite the hammer.

    It is extremely unlikely to have been a regular wave because ships in high seas generally only head into the sea or run with it and avoid getting sideways to the sea at all cost.  That usually only happens if they have some sort of mechanical problem that causes them to lose power or steering.  When ships in a heavy sea have to change direction they do so very carefully by timing the waves.

  85. 85.

    The Moar You Know

    What am I up to?   Leaving in an hour and a half to go play the traditional Friday Gathering of the Conservative Drunks, aka the American Legion. Always a fun gig.  Does require gladhanding assholes and the occasional overt racist, but that’s any gig, anywhere, ever.

  88. 88.

    Leslie

    @Kent: I also found the ending unsatisfying. It made me wonder if they might be setting up for a season 2 somehow, but probably not, so yeah.

  92. 92.

    PBK

    @DFH: It’s worth a try.  Found it most useful for short term stresses such as introducing a new cat to the household.  Did not find it effective for long term problems such as cats that don’t get along.

  93. 93.

    Kent

    Pac-12 Championship game starting up.

    I find myself for the first time in my life to be in the uncomfortable position of rooting for USC since a USC beat-down of Utah will potentially launch my Huskies into the Rose Bowl to likely face Ohio State or Penn State and almost certainly send USC to the national championship.

    If Utah wins they are in the Rose Bowl and my Huskies drop to the Alamo Bowl to probably play Texas

    It is almost as complicated as some of the World Cup matchup scenarios.

  94. 94.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    The oceans can be relentless. Once, on a trip back to the US from a NATO cruise the DDG I was stationed on had a bit of an extended trip. We stopped in The most northern port in Norway – refueled. Sailed to Portsmith UK to – refuel. The south to the Azores to refuel. We should have been back to the states in about 4 to 5 days. 7 days later we were almost as far north as the St Lawerence Seaway but on the western side of the Atlantic. In those 7 days we had almost 6  days of 45-50 waves we had to sail into, which is why we ended up so far north. We then had to run along the coast south to Charleston, SC – home port. Fun times. There were 4 or 5 of us who DIDN’T get seasick. Out of just over 300 men. Good times.

    BTW for those who don’t understand, with waves that big you have to sail into the waves or directly opposite. On every wave the front half the ship would go up the wave, then as you go over the top the front half of the ship is out of the water bow pointed up at about a 30 deg up angle. It comes down hard into the trough between waves, with the bow going about 5 ft under the water. And then repeats this, wave after wave, hour after hour, day after day. As I said, Good Times. It is fun to watch from the bridge. For a bit.

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    See my comment above. I don’t need to imagine it. I’ve experienced it. BTW I failed to mention the wind speed. It was often 90 MPH. Or slightly more.

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @Leslie:

    It’s possible that it depends on your dad’s age. If he’s about my age it was likely the draft. That was the main reason for most of my fellow sailors. Many can tell you of watching a Marine drill sergeant counting off people in a Armed Forces Enlistment Station  and telling them that they were now in the Marines. I watched 1/3 on my draft physical day, raven watched 1/2 on his. Those guys were going to boot camp, to 1 week of advanced infantry training, then Vietnam, often for the balance of their time in and their lives. The navy gave one the chance of bootcamp and then forward machine gunner on a River Patrol Boat. A slim but not non existent chance. We had a commenter on BJ who did exactly that.

    Did I say that for a lot of people my age, we weren’t all that excited to die in that war, like 58,220 men and women did.

  106. 106.

    DFH

    @PBK:

    Thank you. Our main maladjustment is two littermate sisters who just don’t like each other. A third, male barn kitten found in a barrel, is a low-maintenance model, all 3 are five years old and 100% indoors.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    We did use a bit of fuel. And a bit of food went to waste. A note to others, eat when you are seasick, so you have something to give up. I’ve been told that otherwise it gets even worse. I wouldn’t know. But 10 days of saltines, PB sandwiches does leave a bit to be desired.

  109. 109.

    Joe Falco

    I waited until today to vote in the Georgia run-off. The location I went to had lines out the door. I eventually cast my ballot after waiting for 2.5 hours. It was worth it, but this really took me by surprise how busy it was.

  110. 110.

    HumboldtBlue

    @raven:

    I’ve watched all but two of USC’s games this season, and Georgia is the only defense that can slow them down.

    Georgia’s offense will have a field day against that SC defense, too. USC is one of the few teams that have the speed to run with the SEC.

  111. 111.

    raven

    @Ruckus: Yep, I always eat before I go deep sea fishing. Last week a couple brought their 12 year old and he, and the old man, got sick and I don’t think they ate before we left.

  114. 114.

    Leslie

    @Ruckus: My dad’s the prior generation. He joined up voluntarily a few months before Pearl Harbor and stayed in 20 years. Post-war Japan, Korea, etc.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    I walked into the enlistment office and tried to sign up for the AF. No go, I was 20 but didn’t have a 4 yr college degree. Asked if that was even for sweeping out hangers or some such. Yes it was. Saw no reason to join the army, I could be drafted for less time and so the navy called to me. I believe it said dumbass but I ignored that. But for sure dumbass came later….

  116. 116.

    HumboldtBlue

    @raven:

    You give Riley and Williams a second shot at your defense, and they’re gonna gash you. Williams is a joy to watch.

  117. 117.

    raven

    @Leslie: My dad was in before the war as well. He was standing in front of the YMCA in San Diego and they came on a loudspeaker a d told the swabs to get back to their ships. Guys who had been in the Navy for one day went to sea. People joined the military then because there was little other work.

  119. 119.

    Ruckus

    @Joe Falco:

    It seems possible that enough people in GA may have figured out that a brain damaged gentleman might not be their best choice over a fella that already has had a good go at the job. Here’s hopping that the voters aren’t as brain damaged as Walker.

  122. 122.

    raven

    In Fulton County, 17 of the 24 early voting locations reported wait times of more than an hour on Friday afternoon. It was more than two hours at Chastain Park Recreation Center in Atlanta just after 2 p.m., according to the county’s online wait times tracker. Fulton County said only voters would be allowed Friday at several libraries and a senior center that are serving as early voting locations.

    Statewide, deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling said on Twitter that 324,200 votes had been cast statewide by 6:15 p.m. on Friday, on a pace that is already a new single-day record. “It is a record and we have time to build that number higher. Yes, we expected a record, but this is beyond what was expected. It’s BIG,” he said.

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Trial and appellate court judges do very different jobs. In fact, many (if not not most) of the federal district court judge I have known consider it to be their dream job and have no interest whatsoever in moving to the appellate bench.

    I did not know that. Thank you for this.

    Learning about ocean waves and the Courts. Neat on a Friday evening as I wait for a delivery of some Thai food. Panang curry with chicken.

  124. 124.

    Ruckus

    @Leslie:

    Mine was drafted into the navy. He wasn’t SoCal born but he came to LA at 1 yr old, got there from Kansas as a 1 yr old by horse drawn wagon around the start of our involvement in WW1. Have I said before that I’m an old and that he’s been gone for over 2 decades?

  125. 125.

    PBK

    @DFH: I hope our cat expert Lady WereBear sees this.  We haven’t dealt with littermates yet!  Hope you have many happy years with your three…we just let a barn cat in tonight; it’s cold out and we haven’t set up any shelters yet.  We’ll see if he decides to stay in!

  128. 128.

    C Stars

    @CaseyL: Yeah, that sounds like a good option, although I wonder how the flying conditions are. It was definitely a memorable trip for my mom, and fortunately she does not get seasick.

  130. 130.

    HumboldtBlue

    @raven: ​

    he’s from DC!!!

    Who initially went to Oklahoma! SC safety gets a cut on the nose and the Fox guys treat him like he’s Rocky.

    Holy cow, I just made some excellent mac and cheese.

  131. 131.

    Joe Falco

    @raven: I believe it. While I was in line, poll workers kept printing off the sign-in sheets for people waiting in line. They had five people at one table handling all the filled-out sheets and punching the information in on voter cards. When I got to cast my ballot, I was #2621. So that might give an idea of how busy it was at that one location.

  134. 134.

    HumboldtBlue

    @raven: ​ 

    The Pac12 is nothing if not entertaining. They’re not the SEC, but then nobody is. I’ll put USC up against Michigan or TCU. Georgia is just a class above, considering they’ll send another dozen players to the NFL next April.

    The biggest difference between the SEC and everyone else is defense. The SEC has far better depth on the defensive side of the ball.

    Utah just left that USC offense too much time.

  135. 135.

    NotMax

    @Layer8Problem

    Yup yup. Technically more adept and stylish than was Dark but not near as thematically cogent; still I enjoyed following along with it.

    That said, YMMV greatly as it goes out of its way not to spoon-feed clues as to what the bloody hell is happening. And (non-spoiler) a giant caveat that some may find the last episode of the season a cop-out or cheat, while others will acknowledge it’s about the only way to stitch together what amounts to an extensive set-up (if what is revealed at the last is actually valid and palpable).

  136. 136.

    PAM Dirac

    @raven: He went to the high school I went to (although only about 45 years later). One of the memorable games he had in high school was heaving a ~60 yard Hail Mary as time expired to win a league championship. The best football video I’ve seen was from this game taken by a phone in the student section. The students were reciting the Hail Mary prayer and got to Amen right as the ball was caught in the end zone.

  138. 138.

    Steeplejack

    I tweaked some settings on my Chromebook and got PBS Passport working much better than before. So I have been streaming up a storm this week: Annika, Scottish water cops with Nicola Walker; Astrid, French cop paired with an autistic criminal archives worker who turns out to have a knack for solving crimes; and currently Luna and Sophie, German buddy-cop light drama with two women. Side benefit has been to cut down on my bad-news reading and doomscrolling.

    Currently watching My Lottery Dream Home, one of my HGTV shelter shows. Kind of an unusual episode: looking for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in Manhattan for $2 million. ¡Caramba!

    I’m going to Sighthound Hall tomorrow morning for a USA-Netherlands World Cup watch party. There should be some good food. I have already prepositioned some bubbly for mimosas.

  139. 139.

    Origuy

    Just got back from the Banksyland exhibit in San Jose. It was installed in a warehouse in the outskirts of the city and they sent an email a few days ago with the address. Some very powerful pieces, including a series of works about Palestine. It’s only here a few more days before it goes to San Diego.

  140. 140.

    Splitting Image

    I’m watching the 1981 BBC version of Sense and Sensibility. I bought the DVD set of Austen’s novels that the BBC put out awhile back, so I’m going to be going through them all. It has lower production values than the 1995 movie but sticks closer to the source material. (True of most of the BBC’s productions.)

    Never a bad time to binge on Jane Austen, I say.

  141. 141.

    DFH

    @PBK:

    Thanks, I’ll be feeling pretty old by the time our crew is up there but here’s to a good number of good years for all of us.

    We feed about a dozen barn cats, but two summers ago we had 25 out there.

  142. 142.

    Ruckus

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Been there, wonderful place. I think it was that was the cruise before the one I described, when we stopped in Oslo for 2 days.

    And yes it was a hugely different experience than sailing an open 80 ft boat would be. I’ve sailed before, owned a sailboat (smaller!) and it’s huge fun and all that and it can turn into a disaster in a second on a sailboat. I didn’t mention that we had to turn and go with the waves once because we had some issues with bits and pieces being torn off the ship, one of the mooring line reels broke free and something one no longer sees, the trash chute broke off and left a hole in the stern, at least it was above the water line. All the electronics for the steering gear was my responsibility and that is in the room the hole was in, so I got to see everything. Turning a 450 ft ship in waves that size was not an every day maneuver, had to be done exactly correct or we risked capsizing.

  143. 143.

    RevRick

    I’m writing two sermons, one for this Sunday’s service, and the other for Christmas Day, which will be recorded after Sunday’s service for a YouTube video.

    This Sunday, I’ll preach “Not Just a Vision of Peace” based on Isaiah 11:1-10 and John the Baptist’s call to repentance in Matthew 3:1-10 (repentance being first and foremost a change of worldview assumptions).
    My Christmas sermon will be “”What Do You Want for Christmas?” based on Isaiah 52:7-10, beginning with my own journey as a kid to adult to parent, and then flip the script by asking what God wants for Christmas.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    @Leslie:

    Sounds about right my dad’s been gone about the same length of time.

    Did your dad ever talk about his time in the service? Mine did not. Even when I signed up, was in, or got out. I have pictures of him in uniform and his records but that’s as close as I got to hearing word one about his time in. Never a word.

  148. 148.

    Leslie

    @Ruckus: Mine told the occasional story, yeah. The time he was swimming in some warm ocean and had a close encounter with a sea snake; the time he was playing poker and a drunk, irate shipmate almost threw him overboard; and the time he caught an arsonist who was setting fires on the ship in order be the hero who put them out. He made a friend in Japan while he was stationed there and they wrote to each other up through at least the 1970s, despite the language barrier.

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack

    @Fair Economist:

    Aubrey and Maturin’s transits through the Southern latitudes in the Patrick O’Brian novels were always harrowing. Desolation Island was the worst, I think. Dreadful weather and pursuit by a Dutch warship.

  151. 151.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I’ve watched all but two of USC’s games this season, and Georgia is the only defense that can slow them down.

    Utes are doing all right after a shaky start. I haven’t seen USC get a first down for quite a while.

    I have no favorite in this match-up.

  152. 152.

    sacrablue

    Three Pines on Prime Video was on my agenda for tonight. Unfortunity my access to Prime is totally screwed up and buffering every five seconds.

  153. 153.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @C Stars: Drake’s Passage between South America and Antarctica is notorious for rough seas because at the Roaring 40s latitude there’s no land to break up the winds circling Antarctica.

    When I went we were extremely luck to have calm passages both ways, and the weather cooperated for all but one landing.

    But the tour company made it very clear if you had another sort of medical emergency it would be two day’s sailing before they could get you to a hospital. (They did have a ship’s doctor with a more advanced sick bay.)

  158. 158.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @dmsilev: The better Antarctic cruises use smaller ships because there’s strict rules limiting 50 people at a time to help preserve the environment. My tour send people ashore in groups of 25 in waves to stay under the limits.

    There are tours that use larger ships, but they usually don’t do landings, which is a major drawback.

    Oddly enough, it’s actually not the cold — usually roughly 30 — degrees give or take, since the ocean moderates the temperatures along the coast.

  159. 159.

    danielx

    Friday night. Took spousal unit to immediate care center because of fever 101.6, horrible cough, generally miserable. Tested negative for covid, influenza a, influenza b, who knows…..in any case, treatment of symptoms. Shit ton of respiratory ailments out there.

  162. 162.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Your right about USC’s defense. I am not really familiar with USC; I only saw the ND game. I didn’t realize their defense was bad. Not too good at tackling, TBH.

  163. 163.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @CaseyL: I sympathize. It was below freezing last night here in the SF Bay Area, and houses here aren’t built for that kind of weather either. I lowered the inside temperature and put on a sweater, but the heat pump has still been running constantly.

  166. 166.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Clicking around twitter I see there’s…. something…. going on with Matt Taibbi and HUNTER’S LAPTOP (dramatic squirrel music), and I just saw a chyron on MSNBC for a Politico article on “Musk leaks twitter files on Hunter Biden”.

    Am I gonna have to find out what the hell this is?

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @danielx:

    Hope the spouse gets well soon. I had an unknown respiratory thing last month (not COVID, not flu) that kicked my ass for almost a week. Feel like I’m still recovering: I mostly feel all right but have very little stamina when I do something.

  168. 168.

    HumboldtBlue

    Look at Utah, that’s a whuppin’.

    Ohio State fans are loving it, but the Buckeyes are gonna get whacked by Georgia as well.

  169. 169.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    is something going on with this site? My nym and email aren’t being saved, and I’ve lost the formatting buttons

  174. 174.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @ Mr. Bemused Senior
    Cool, thanks!
    (reply button not working either)

    ETA: That JMM piece is probably fewer than half the word’s in Taibbi’s unreadable thread.
    But remember “vampire squid”? that was awesome

  176. 176.

    James E Powell

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I am a Buckeye & I would look forward to a game against Georgia. Not with expectations of a win, but I’d like to see them play.

    They are expanding the playoff to 12 teams. This year, there are only two teams worthy of a championship game.

  177. 177.

    HumboldtBlue

    @James E Powell:

    I’ve developed a soft spot for TCU based solely on the fact that they have repeatedly come back from single and double-digit deficits several times this season.

    An expanded playoff means more money for the NCAA, the programs and TV, but it’s still gonna come down to the same five to six teams every year, but having teams like TCU and Utah, who are a step below the top but who have excellent programs and teams, is at least better than yesteryear when polls and the whim of a president would determine a champion.

    I am of a mind that Georgia whups whoever they play, although I think Michigan is far better suited to play them this year than last.

  178. 178.

    Citizen Alan

    @Brachiator: I would assume based on my observations that most federal judges consider appellate courts to be a lot more work than the district courts, where a judge with a good efficient staff can leave at 2pm every day.

  181. 181.

    Ruckus

    @Calouste:

    elon’s bullshitting worked before why isn’t it now?

    When someone shits on the front porch it’s usually because they are  an idiot. He’s not exactly an idiot but he is shitting on and staining/stinking up the front porch so it’s likely his ego and that maybe he’s closer to idiot than has been accepted before now. Considering that he bought twitter for twice the asking price and has basically destroyed it in what less than 2 weeks, I’m going to go with egotistical idiot.

  182. 182.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If you are on an apple product it may be the version of operating system. I was fully updated on version 15.whatever and was having a few issues. updated to version 16.latest and it works far, far better. It’s not perfect but far, far better is OK by me.

    I don’t have a clue as to why but that’s my experience.

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