Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

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

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

People are weird.

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

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Let me file that under fuck it.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

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

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

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

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Happy Holidays, Madam Vice President

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Happy Holidays, Madam Vice President

by | 172 Comments

This post is in: , ,

… To understand Harris’s 2022, I suggest looking at it as a tent held up by three poles. One is the Munich Security Conference in February.

Biden sent Harris to Germany on a critical mission at an important moment. In a Feb. 19 speech and in a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that same day, Harris warned of the looming threat to the rules-based international order posed by Russian troops massed for invasion. Harris sounded the alarm ahead of Russia’s assault on Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.

Another tent pole in Harris’s year is the U.S. delegation she led to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Thailand in November. North Korea made sure her third trip to the region was eventful by launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. Harris responded by coordinating the allied response to Kim Jong Un’s latest provocation…

To me, the third tent pole is the most important. After the leaked draft in May of what would later become the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision to end the constitutional right to abortion, the former California attorney general saw plainly the implications for other rights, such as marriage equality. She was eager to speak out, Harris told me, and instructed her staff: “I’m getting the bleep out of D.C.”

She traveled to 18 cities in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia, to host reproductive rights events. During those trips and at the White House, Harris met with 200 state legislators from 18 states, state attorneys general, students and clergy. All to build a coalition to push back against what was coming.

“This is about freedom and liberty,” the vice president recalled telling everyone she met. “Let’s take back the flag on this.”…

Harris has ably fulfilled the role Biden chose her to perform. She was an instrumental partner in helping to shepherd the first Black woman onto the Supreme Court. Also, Harris cast one of her record 26 tiebreaking votes to confirm the first Black woman to the Federal Reserve. With Democrats and their independent caucus-mates holding 51 Senate seats in the next Congress, Harris will no longer be needed for tiebreaking duty. Before I could even finish my question on this topic, Harris blurted out, “Praise be to God!”

Not being tethered to Washington by the pandemic or the threat of razor-thin votes means Harris can travel in the coming months. She can hear directly from the American people, and they can hear directly from her. They can take the measure of her. And they can see what I saw on Monday: a vice president better than her portrayal in the media.

When Vice President Kamala Harris learned the Supreme Court had reversed Roe, eliminating a constitutional right to an abortion and a half century of precedent, she quickly called her husband. “I was like, they bleep did it,” she recalled in an interview this week in her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive building. “I was so upset,” she added. “I first had to release that feeling in an appropriate place, and then my team, we just roundtabled around what we need to do and what this means. I was actually on my way to a maternal mortality event, and the connection between these two issues is profound. The same people jumping up and down as proponents of Dobbs [have] been virtually silent on the fact that women in America are dying every day in connection with childbirth.”…

Sitting across from Harris had me thinking about how I’ve devoted a good deal of my life to analyzing how the media, and Americans more generally, treat powerful women. And here is the most powerful woman—quite literally one heartbeat away from the presidency. She is the first female, first Black and first South Asian American vice president. But before that, she was the first female district attorney in San Francisco and first female attorney general of California. “In this year of our Lord 2022, it is a shame that we are still making firsts,” Harris said, recalling how her mother would say that while she “may be the first to do many things,” she should make sure she’s not the last. “That’s why it is very important to me to make sure that I create a path and widen the path for others,” she said.

But despite such achievements, it occurs to me during our interview that the vice president of the United States is actually trying to make me feel comfortable. Perhaps it’s a function of the world we all inhabit, but the female vice president is way friendlier and more accommodating than a man in her position would ever be. There is an anxiety in her office—the staff is obsessive about getting every last detail right. No one says it to me explicitly, but you can sense in the carefulness and precision of every word and gesture that the success of the vice president is about more than just her. Harris is saddled with the burden of being first. Anything she does will attract more scrutiny, anything she doesn’t do will attract more scorn. There is a tension that permeates the world surrounding her. Being first is never comfortable…

Then Harris stepped back. “You talked about your mom. I grew up a child of the Civil Rights Movement, and a big part of the methodology and the success of that movement was coalition-building, bringing folks together to understand what they have in common.” Since the court was sending abortion rights to the states, she said, “we need to get out of DC and go and support and be with leaders in the states. I convened state legislators in red states and blue states to one, remind them they weren’t out here fighting alone, but to also see what I could do, to bring my platform and whatever cameras and voice I could bring, to uplift and highlight the incredible work that they’re doing at a state level.”…

One of the favorite DC parlor games is to speculate on the relationship between the president and vice president, with Politico reporting this week on a forthcoming book describing tensions between the two offices. Harris, however, only spoke favorably of her experience with Biden.

“It’s a great relationship. We get on so well. We’re real partners. We have a lot in common that people would know,” she said. “Family is very important to both of us. We are both of us lifelong public servants and really care about real people. I started my career, and most of my career was in local and state government. He started in local government, so he and I will often be almost singing in unison about, what does this mean to real people? We both feel very strongly about that. We come at our work from a very similar orientation; worrying about working people, worrying about working families. We just like each other a lot. We just like each other. It’s really nice. It’s really nice. I feel very fortunate to have this relationship. It matters because then we can be partners in a very significant way, not just in name only, to work on these issues.”

She mentioned family, and as a largely secular Jew myself living through a period of rising antisemitism, I told her there was something meaningful about having her husband, who is Jewish, living in the Naval Observatory. “We had a big Hanukkah party last night,” Harris told me, while also mentioning she believed the couple was the first to put a mezuzah on the house of the vice president. “When we put up the mezuzah, my in-laws came, and they’re originally from Brooklyn, and they are exactly what you would know and expect,” Harris said.

“She would have to be very pleased, your mother-in-law,” I remarked.

“Oh, yes. My mother-in-law, Barbara, is very pleased and proud of her son. My father-in-law is equally pleased. My father-in-law, he’s an artist, so he’s got this coexisting thing, which my husband has, of being very kind and being very strong. Sometimes he just tears up about it all, especially when Doug did the convening for the summit on antisemitism because here he is, this kid from Brooklyn, started with nothing, my father-in-law, and his son is doing this work that could and does and will impact millions of people.”

Reader Interactions

172Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    With Democrats and their independent caucus-mates holding 51 Senate seats in the next Congress, Harris will no longer be needed for tiebreaking duty.

    I beg to disagree, 2 of those 51 votes belong to Manchinema

  2. 2.

    sab

    I get as annoyed as anyone when MSM and late night tv jokes about Biden’s age, but what the hell is he doing on a stepladder?

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A vintage armoured vehicle filled with Santas had to be freed by police after getting stuck in a Cornish lane. The Santas, who were believed to be on a pub crawl, got wedged in a hedge at Marsh Lane, near Hayle. Devon and Cornwall police were called at about 7.40pm on Thursday after reports that a vehicle had been damaged. No one was arrested.

    Ian Jepson, who shot video footage of the Santa jam, said the lane was blocked for about two hours. He said the Santas were on their annual pub crawl. “They shot past me singing and we later found them stuck where the lane narrows. They were quite tightly jammed but it says no parking. It was quite funny as they tried to free themselves.”
    ……………………….
    The tankful of Santas was also spotted earlier in the day in other towns along the west coast of Cornwall, including St Ives and Helston. Lisa Charrd, who filmed the group in St Ives, said: “There was a group of Santas in the tank and they were all very friendly and full of Christmas joy.”

    Yeah, I’ll just bet they were full of Xmas joy.

  12. 12.

    Geminid

    @p.a.: I could kind of feel the weather breaking in central Virginia yesterday evening. It was ten degrees warmer last night than the night before and that made a difference.

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

    @Geminid: Yes it does, we are also 10 degrees warmer here, five degrees warmer in the house, and my mood is much cheerier. Also helps that it is sunny.

  18. 18.

    HeleninEire

    Happy Christmas to my fellow Jackals. It’s a balmy 16° here in NYC; real feel 13°. Yesterday was 10° and -2° respectively. So today is…an improvement.

    🎄

  21. 21.

    marklar

    Marklar Marklar and marklar marklars, all you marklars!*

     

    *translation from planet Marklar: “Merry Christmas and happy holidays, all you jackals.”

  24. 24.

    Skepticat

    This reinforces my already positive impression of Kamala Harris, and I hope she gets more and continued support and appreciation.

    Bombed by the bomb cyclone (it was unnerving to see the barometer unwind like Chump’s approval ratings), I finally have power and internet back after two multiday power outages in five days. I can’t afford a whole-house generator, but as I work online, I can’t afford not to have one either. At my age, it’s probably not wise to rebuild in The Bahamas after Dorian, but I don’t think I’ll survive another Maine winter, especially as I was stupid enough to move away from the coast to a place with a very fragile grid.

  27. 27.

    JMG

    Merry Christmas one and all! It’s cold but sunny here, less windy than yesterday. As soon as Alice finishes her first coffee, we’ll open the rest of the presents (we exchange one gift on Christmas Eve, usually the biggest one), have brunch (scrambled eggs with Virginia ham), and before making the rib roast, we’re scheduled to watch the second Knives Out movie.

  28. 28.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    It’s just hit 20 degrees here and it looks like it’s going to stay above 20 for the rest of the week, night and day. Toasty!

    Merry Christmas, Happy Sunday, or happy whatever-you-celebrate, jackals!

  29. 29.

    zhena gogolia

    Merry Christmas!

    My jaw started hurting at 2 AM and I’m hoping I don’t need a root canal.

    Merry Christmas, goddamnit!

  34. 34.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Our neighborhood luminary tradition was back in (almost) full force last night. A luminary in case you don’t know is one of those small votive candles in a paper bag (in a bed of sand), which turns it into a glowing lantern. When you have rows of them going down both sides of every street for blocks, it’s quite a visual effect. I don’t know how old the local tradition is, but it’s been going on here for at least the 21 years we’ve lived here.

    It used to be an army of volunteers who would assemble, lay out, and then light the luminaries. Since lockdown they went to a serve-yourself model where they put kits out at a central location and you were supposed to put them together yourself and get them out and lit. 2020 and 2021 were very spotty. I tried to do some extras to fill in the gaps closest to my house, but it was a little sad. Also I think it rained in 2021.

    Still on the serve-yourself model in 2022 and extra work was required because the sand was frozen solid and you had to bring it inside to thaw for an hour before it was usable. But nevertheless, by nightfall the whole neighborhood was lit with only a few gaps here and there. It was a nice metaphorical sight, for whatever light metaphor you want to use that gives you hope going into 2023.

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack

    @Geminid:

    Not up here in Falls Church. It was 10° when I got up this morning, only a couple of degrees above yesterday. We do have a chance of hitting the 30s for the high today, though.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: I keep thinking that if we can get one of the two to abstain when they are against something, then if we play our cards right, Kamala could be the tie vote at 49-49, making it 50-49.  They get credit for not voting for whatever it is, but Dems still get the win.

  44. 44.

    Soprano2

    Merry Christmas to all the jackals and your families. 🌲🎅 It’s a balmy 7º here in the Missouri Ozarks, and we have a white Christmas for the first time in a long time. We’re going to my nephew’s house later today.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: That is my hope as well. Manchin may be a corrupt mf’er but at least he has a price and will tell you what it is,  Sinema on the other hand is just a prima donna, always looking for the spotlight.

  51. 51.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Merry Christmas Jackals!

    Two great Xmas jazz tunes I discovered recently:

    All I Want For Christmas Is You– Owen Rochester Jazz

    The Chipmunk Song– Sonny Magic Trio

    My only complaints about both of them is that I wish they were much longer.  Because so much of Christmas music is for radio and tv, the excellent jazz renditions never really get opened up with exploration and numerous solos, the way jazz (imo) is supposed to.

  54. 54.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Watched Triangle of Sadness last night, another whacky, discomfiting comedy from Ruben Ostlund.  His films are extremely dark humor and feature scenarios that push the viewer right up to the edge of being so uncomfortable that you almost have to bail.  All while making interesting social commentary. This one was fun and had an interesting twist that subverted traditional gender roles, but wasn’t as crazy-intense as Force Majeure or The Square, both of which, especially the latter, were absolute emotional roller-coasters.  Still a very interesting film for anyone who likes this sort of thing.

  57. 57.

    eachother

    “It’s Christmas Ebenezer”

    Even Scrooge opened his heart. After an epic Christmas Eve!

    At Balloon Juice, the heart opens every day.  Filled with good people this place is tops. 10,000 wishes fulfilled. A port in a storm or in a glass. 🍷🍷
    Merry Christmas

  60. 60.

    Layer8Problem

    @UncleEbeneezer:  My partner and I watched the first two episodes of Three Pines, which we both very much liked.  The other choice we had (I had, since I need to do more choosing apparently) was The Banshees of Inisherin, which Partner promised to give a shot at least up until the where the Martin McDonagh hijinks start.

  61. 61.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I want to thank whichever jackal pointed out that “Hill Street Blues” is now on Prime. I’ve watched the first two episodes. I’d forgotten how good it was at keeping the watcher involved

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    Well, #62 isn’t right. Try again. Blame the wee hour of the morn.

    Ah, finally found the link have been looking for. Almost forgot how much I like this holiday tune video.

    Oh, and repeating a recipe for those frigid days and nights: Instant Pot Wassail.

  66. 66.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Layer8Problem: We started Three Pines and it just felt way too cheesy for us.  Too bad, because the storyline, Indigenous representation etc., are right up our alley.  We’ve had the same issue with several series’ recently that we were excited for.  Usually drama/suspense/mysteries.  Can’t quite pin down what it is exactly as far as the writing or acting or whatever, but we usually notice it within first 15-20 minutes.

  69. 69.

    Layer8Problem

    @UncleEbeneezer:  I saw that too.  I let myself get caught up in a different place, different people, different assumptions, and excuse the off-notes.  Like the whole character of the victim just didn’t gel, or the goofy junior cop’s statement as the murderer is led away, and the others.  But Canada, and Sûreté du Québec, and Molina’s decent cop.  Maybe it’s an effect of reducing a book series to a few hours, which better writers might help.  We’ll keep watching.

  70. 70.

    NeenerNeener

    Merry Christmas, fellow jackals!

    Am watching season 7 of “Shetland” before my cheap BritBox subscription expires. One of the characters explains all her B&B customers bailing out on their reservations as “No one wants to watch a family explode on their holidays” but that’s exactly why I’m watching this show right now. After two months of Hallmark Christmas movies I needed some balance.

    I watched all of “Three Pines”. It’s nowhere near as good as the books, and the decision to make Agent Nichol comic relief was a bad one. I’ll still watch if they do a second season, though. Any Gamache is better than no Gamache.

  71. 71.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Layer8Problem: Had the same issue with Devil In Ohio (which is just the sort of twisted cult story I usually love) and Under The Banner of Heaven (which, the book I absolutely LOVED!).  Same for Peaky Blinders, The Alienist and Mindhunter and numerous others.  All of them are, on paper, all the things I usually love.  But they all have more of a Network TV feel to them rather than a Cable/Prestige feel, that’s hard to explain.  not knocking them.  Glad people enjoy them, I can see the appeal etc., they just don’t hit the sweet spot for our picky tastes.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    @NotMax:   Serious proofing problem in your wassail recipe.  By them.

    10 garlic cloves?

    I don’t think so.  Believe they meant the spice.

    Otherwise:  Dracula’s Bane.

  78. 78.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Skepticat: …I finally have power and internet back after two multiday power outages in five days.

    Reminds me of the classic An Irish Mother’s Letter to Her Son in America:

    It only rained twice last week. Once for three days and once for four days.

     

  81. 81.

    MattF

    Dave Barry on the Red Wave (from WaPo):

    For weeks the political experts, relying on Scientific Polling Data, have been predicting a Red Wave, with the Republicans taking control of the House and Senate as well as large swaths of Canada. The outlook is so dire that the New York Times tweets out a list of five “evidence-based strategies” for coping with election anxiety, including — we swear we are not making this up — “Plunge your face into a bowl with ice water for 15 to 30 seconds.”

    But then the voters — who do not have access to Scientific Polling Data — go to the polls. It takes a while to get the final results, in part because Arizona has chosen to tabulate the vote on a malfunctioning Etch-a-Sketch. But in the end the Red Wave turns out to be more of a pinkish squirt, with most of the candidates belonging to the Republican Party’s Loon Wing losing.

    It’s a good outcome for the Democrats, not counting the 14 New York Times readers who, tragically, drown in their ice-water bowls

  84. 84.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @UncleEbeneezer: One of the many things I forgot to pack yesterday for early-Xmas chez mon frere​ was my BAH HUMBUG mug (snagged a couple of years BC for $0.50 to shut it up when it was shrieking my name from a top shelf at the ReStore facility in SE Baltimore). So I took it down today…

    Best part of the season is yet to be: In a week or two when my rock&mineral-fascinated going-on-8 grandniece comes up to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, I’m tooling down there and we are going to go through my childhood mineralogy set (donated to her mom when she was in school), my teenage small-storage-cabinet of samples, a later-life collection of stuff from the NM Mineral Museum in Socorro and from Granada (ES), and a handful of specimens I brought back last autumn from the gift shop at the Česká geologická služba in Prague … and after we see how many we can identify, she’s gonna end up with one heckuva collection!

  86. 86.

    Another Scott

    Yay Kamala!! And Doug!

    In other news, ICYMI, … Dean Baker at CEPR:

    […]

    Anyhow, while increased benefits for lower paid workers can drastically improve their well-being in retirement, substantial increases in benefits for middle income workers would be costly. A Social Security program that, by itself, allowed middle-income workers to sustain their living standards in retirement would have to be close to twice the size of the current program. That does not look very feasible.

    For this reason, many of us have sought to create a simple low-cost voluntary retirement program that would supplement Social Security. The idea was to make it easy and cheap for workers to save for retirement.

    The strategy takes advantage of one of the clearest findings from behavioral economics. When it comes to voluntary retirement plans, workers will overwhelmingly go with a default option. If they are automatically enrolled in a plan, with the option to disenroll, many more workers will stay with the retirement plan than if they have to make the decision to actively enroll in the plan. This is true even when there is money on the table in the form of a matching contribution from an employer.

    For this reason, the idea was to make enrollment the default option. If workers decided that it was more important that they have the money to meet current expenses, they just have to opt out of their retirement plan.

    […]

    Secure 2.0 Makes Default Accounts National

    In order to ensure that all workers have a decent living standard in retirement it is necessary to have a national program. The Secure 2.0 Act provisions in the omnibus spending go a very long way in this direction. They will require employers with more than ten workers to put at least 3.0 percent of their pay in a retirement fund each year for their workers. The amount will rise by a percentage point each year, until it hits 10 percent.

    This is an optional contribution on the part of the employee, they can choose to have this money in their paycheck, if they would prefer to have the money now. In effect, this is just changing the default option. They will be saving, unless they choose not to, rather than the current situation where they have to make a conscious choice to save for retirement.

    Another provision in the bill makes the savers credit fully refundable. This is a federal tax credit that matched contributions to retirement accounts by low- and moderate-income workers. The problem was that it was not refundable, so that most of the people with an income low enough to qualify couldn’t benefit since they didn’t owe any income tax. The Secure 2.0 Act provisions fix this so that these workers can get the credit even if they don’t owe any income tax.

    The Secure 2.0 Act provisions are a big victory, but they don’t address the cost half of the picture. It would be great if, as part of this bill, every worker had the option to have their money invested through the Federal Thrift Savings Plan. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Workers will have to use private insurance companies and brokerages. This means much of their money will be diverted to the Wall Street types.

    […]

    This is a BFD, but just a first step. But all progress is incremental.

    Vanguard and similar low-cost mutual funds should start flooding the airwaves in January.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @UncleEbeneezer

    So glad to see someone else felt the same about Three Pines. It’s not by any measure terrible, but there’s no there there.

    As for The Alienist, the less said the better. Riveting book; ham-handed, sophomoric production.

  90. 90.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @NotMax: YES!!!  Loved the book but didn’t make it five minutes into the tv series.  Sad.

    Another series that we felt this way about was The Devil’s Own, which is all the rage according to reviews but we decided to bail after one episode.

  94. 94.

    kindness

    I find it so odd that Florida & Texas politicos try to outdo each other in making libs cry.  As if that was the most important projection of their dominating their (and the nations) progressive citizens.  It wasn’t always like that.  Cruelty should never be a virtue.  Sad how the world has turned there.  My heart goes out to the Jackals that live in those once fine states.  Merry Christmas to all of ya from the People’s Republic of California.  Move here.  You won’t regret it.

  96. 96.

    Miss Bianca

    @NotMax: I remember reading The Alienist a few years back (maybe more than a few, now that I come to think about it), and I remember liking it a lot.

    Made it two episodes into the TV series and bailed – just too gross and ham-handed, as you put it.

  97. 97.

    CaseyL

    Happy holidays, all y’all! Wishing everyone fun, love, and no horrible fights with family (or anyone else, for that matter).

    We’re thawed out in Seattle, and I was able to retire the space heater, even with a busted baseboard heater (which is being replaced tomorrow).

  98. 98.

    Suzanne

    OK, question for y’all:

    A couple of weeks ago, I had a bit of a baking mishap. Made a loaf cake, accidentally used a too-small loaf pan, ended up with some spillage. I thought I got all the burned stuff off the bottom of the oven. Fast forward to today…..turned oven on with sheet pans inside, and about five minutes later the kitchen was all smoky. Mr. Suzanne and I took everything out of the oven, cleaned out little crumbs of burned junk, cleaned the racks, etc…..turned it back on, and it got smoky again. This time, we took the sheet pans out. And no smoke. Our sheet pans are a few years old, and have definitely seen a lot of use. They are those USA Pan brand ones with the silicone coating. Coating looks to be wearing off after years of scrubbing. What is the issue? That silicone is supposedly okay up to 500 degrees.

  100. 100.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Suzanne: No help, just saying that the only sheet pans we use are bare aluminum from a restaurant supply place. They last forever and can be scrubbed hard. If we need non-stick, we use those Silpat sheets.

  103. 103.

    Suzanne

    I got a very nice set of cork yoga blocks (by Manduka) for Christmas. I am lying on the floor with my head on one right now.

    In the last 18 months, I have taken my yoga practice from “occasional” to “priority” status. It is remarkable, the change in body and mind. I estimate that the increased flexibility is responsible for a 3% improvement in mood, as flexibility/mobility chases away the angst.

  105. 105.

    Starfish

    @Gin & Tonic: This is the approach that we use, except with stainless steel. My husband really likes the various steel things that I cannot lift.

    The sheet pan is the least heavy. The pizza stone is the most heavy. The pots and pans are very heavy now.

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    @Gin & Tonic: I have a Silpat, which is great…..also silicone.

    This is so weird. I’m wondering if I should get rid of all the bakeware…. But why would this have just started happening?

  107. 107.

    Ksmiami

    Ps. Had new neighbors over last night for appetizers and warm glogg… highly recommend. Recipe: red wine, brandy, cane syrup, sugar, star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, dried cranberries, oj, orange zest, orange slices. Heat to boiling then simmer. Strain and serve over ice or in a mug.

  108. 108.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: Made me look.

    It looks like they say the coating is good to 450F, which is still pretty hot.

    Our 1963 vintage GE range was usually smoky until I cleaned it with some EasyOff oven cleaner (lye), but you probably don’t want to use anything like that on your silicone coated sheets except as a last resort (it might lift off the rest of the coating). Some web pages recommend trying hydrogen peroxide or baking soda.

    HTH a little. Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    @Suzanne: I envy you your hot yoga practice. I did Bikram for years. Nowadays, living where I live, trying to get any room’s temperature cranked up high enough to do it would be ruinously expensive.

    Hm. I may just have to build myself a wood-fired sauna. *That* would do it.

  113. 113.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: I bet there are sawmills not too far away where you could get some nice rough-sawn lumber. Even with a bench a sauna would not take that much wood. You can probably find enough free stones, too.

    Do you have any quarter-inch graph paper? That’s great stuff for designing projects large and small..

  116. 116.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    My Die Hard critique:

     

    Hans Gruber really wasn’t a bad guy.

    Still in the thrall of the proper ideals of revolution and redistribution, he decided to attack the heart of corruption – an international hedge fund that had gained countless billions through manipulation – choosing the minions that did the corrupt work as his targets. Surely they and their paid security would be disposable pawns in the wider battle. Plus, why not live well and have some sense of style while doing it?

    What was he stealing, anyway? Bearer bonds? Why would a hedge fund doing legitimate business amass so many in an in-house vault? Art? Cultural artifacts? Seems like a shady operation to me, probably doing drugs, guns and extensive money laundering.

    In the end, Hans only had responsibility for the guard (the minion of the corrupt company), Takagi and Ellis (who nobody was sad about when he died). Takagi put everyone at risk by hoarding the ill-gotten booty and refusing to give up the code. The FBI guys recklessly got themselves killed by storming in without assessing the situation or realizing that maybe Gruber was the good guy.

    How many did McClain kill in return?

    And this doesn’t excuse Holly, either. She’s a monster. She (as well as Takagi) tolerated Ellis’ coke bumping ass at the workplace, hired a beleaguered underpaid undocumented immigrant as a nanny, and punched a journalist in the face for doing his job.

  117. 117.

    Soprano2

    @rikyrah: 20 degrees will feel balmy after the past 3 days. The sun is out, so now we’re in the “wet pavement making my windshield dirty” phase. Have to have working windshield washer for that.

  119. 119.

    PaulB

    From the fabulous Fay McKay: The 12 Daze of Christmas.

    There have been a dozen different versions of “Carol of the Bells” posted here over the past few weeks. This is my favorite, from the a cappella group Pentatonix. The rest of their Christmas music is also worth a listen, as their arrangements are innovative and their vocal talents remarkable. A few other choices from the group: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Mary Did You Know, and O Come All Ye Faithful.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: If you are up to milling lumber that’s a nice way to create building material. A sauna would be a good starter project because you wouldn’t need to cut boards more than say, 7′ long because saunas are fairly compact structures. And the thickness of your boards wouldn’t have to be exactly uniform so you won’t have to be but so perfect when you start out.

    I’m curious: what kind of trees are you thinking of cutting.

  121. 121.

    Miss Bianca

    @Geminid: Overwhelmingly spruce. Unlike in Virginia, we don’t have much in the way of hardwood forests up here. We do get some scrub oak and aspen in the mix, also pinyon and juniper, but they don’t reach the height and girth of the spruce trees.

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: If the coating is only good to 450 degrees and you cooked something at 500 degrees… or if you put them in an oven set to 450 but the oven runs hot – I can imagine that the coating could get gummy if the temperature exceeds the stated amount.

    Just a thought.

  123. 123.

    HumboldtBlue

    Merry Xmas all! Had a wonderful Xmas Eve, excellent company, excellent meal, tons of laughs and fun, wonderful gift exchange, it really does make it more fun when you’ve got three girls to celebrate with, 14, 11 and nine.

    It’ll be cooking today, some cheddar biscuits, refried beans and I may even try a blueberry pie, make my first crust with lard.

  125. 125.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: If you have aspen I guess you could use it for posts and beams. They look like they’re straight and again, the relatively small size of the structure simplifies the work.  Aspen is soft I think, so cutting joining details like laps, notches etc. would not be tough.

    Design details are easily accessable; there are good drawings out there, and there are a gazilion YouTube videos of guys showing off their clever post and beam work. They usually will show you how they sharpen their chisels, too.

    And there are probably good examples of comparable structures that you can see at first hand.

  126. 126.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: That’s the thing….. I haven’t taken these to anywhere close to 450. In fact, we just used them a few days ago to bake cookies with no problems.

    My suspicion at this point is that they got coated in something. I was thinking that maybe SuzMom used wax paper instead of parchment and the wax is what was burning, or one of the Spawns spilled something on them while decorating their cookies. They definitely felt sticky to the touch, even after they cooled off.

  128. 128.

    Scout211

    @Suzanne: Is it possible that someone used a harsh dishwashing detergent or washed them in the dishwasher?

    I’m not sure if it is the same thing, but I had several utensils with silicone handles that started to get sticky over time.  I found out too late that silicone disintegrates if you use harsh detergents like dishwasher detergent. I had always washed those utensils in the dishwasher, which eventually ruined them. 

  131. 131.

    Suzanne

    @Scout211: Oh hell. Any and every one of those things has probably happened in the last few weeks.

    My life is barely controlled chaos, y’all.

  133. 133.

    StringOnAStick

    @Scout211: Dishwashers are handy, but the soap is very harsh.  I noticed that most of the colours had worn off from my parents constant use of their dishwasher.  I have the exact same Williams Sonoma dishes and rarely use a dishwasher and mine still look nearly new 25 years later; theirs and mine were purchased the same year.

  134. 134.

    Citizen Alan

    @oatler:

    I remember Victoria Jackson being on SNL, but I can’t remember a single funny moment from her. The only VIctoria Jackson bit I remember at all was her singing (loudly and off-key) “I Am Not A Bimbo!” which was not the least bit funny then or now. And it’s not just about politics, because I remember Jon Lovitz and even Dennis Miller being hilarious back before they turned into fascist a-holes. But never her. Victoria Jackson was like the female Charles Rocket, laying claim to SNL in eras where the show was only watchable because of other people.

  136. 136.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: But if you have a sawmill I guess you might as well cut square posts and beams out of spruce. Then you could cut notches, ledges etc. with a skillsaw and avoid all that chisel sharpening.

     

    @Miss Bianca:

  137. 137.

    Starfish

    @Suzanne: While I was looking for “how to clean silicone bakeware” I came across reviews that mentioned that there are a lot of fake things being sold on Amazon, including silicone bakeware, made of substandard materials that cannot tolerate the proper temperature range.

  138. 138.

    zhena gogolia

    @JML: I’m sorry! As I said earlier, I’m working on some kind of dental problem, now that my bronchitis has receded finally. Sigh.

  140. 140.

    Miss Bianca

    @Geminid: Well, now I’m going to go off on a rabbithole expedition labeled “Build-it-Yourself Sauna Plans.”

    I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY, YOU MONSTER YOU! :)

  141. 141.

    Ksmiami

    @Geminid: yes. We supported him from the start and will continue to. It’s tragic that  TX population centers are so impotent to drive change in the state.

  142. 142.

    JML

    @Suzanne: shouldn’t have let myself get lazy about masking, I guess. At least I’m fully vaxxed and boosted, but hells bells I feel terrible and slept incredibly poorly.

  143. 143.

    Suzanne

    @Starfish: Ugh, that sucks.

    These came from Sur la Table, after I got a gift card a few years back. I had researched recommendations, and went with the USA Pan ones, since there seemed to be a consensus that they are really good. (I think I even asked around BJ, since there are so many foodies here.) I have a bunch of them of different shapes and sizes, have used them for years, and have been really happy with them up until now. They’ve been used hundreds of times and this just started happening, so I don’t think that they suddenly failed or anything. I am more suspicious about the dishwasher (though I’m sure they’ve gone through it many times) or if somehow something got on them that shouldn’t.

  146. 146.

    Suzanne

    @JML: I’m not masking anymore, either. I probably should. Don’t beat yourself up about it.

    When I had COVID, I found that those Zarbees throat drops were really great. Much better than any other cough drop.

  148. 148.

    JML

    @Suzanne: Hopefully I have some Halls in the house. At least I had gone out and stocked up on groceries for the holiday and don’t really need anything. (plenty of gatorade, vitamin water, etc) Really hoping the fever breaks tonight and I can get some sleep.

    Had to cancel gaming with the boys for tomorrow, which is a bummer.

  149. 149.

    James E Powell

    @Starfish:

    Greg Abbott celebrates by dropping migrants in front of the Vice President’s house again.

    A chance for the good Christian churches of the DC area to show that they are not just about patriarchy & bigotry.

  150. 150.

    MomSense

    @JML:

    Hope you feel better!!  I didn’t mask for my kid’s wedding and got COVID – I felt bad about it but GD sometimes you just have to live your life.

  151. 151.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Starfish: Amazon sells a lot of fake stuff. I honestly think it’s impossible to stop the fake stuff. Too easy to copy stuff and find buyers in this world even more so with supply chain issues.

     

    @Suzanne: fwiw the Google says silicone mats should be replaced yearly depending on use. I’ve never used silicone. I just see the flexibility and think melting so I stick to old fashioned metal stuff.

     

    @JML: sorry about your extra special gift this year. Regular whole cloves,if you have some, work well for coughs.

  152. 152.

    Scout211

    @Suzanne: From the USA Pan site:

    Gently scrub pans with a sponge or nylon pad, mild dishwashing soap, and warm water. Avoid using harsh abrasives or steel wool pads as this can harm the non-stick coating and shorten the life of the pan. (USA PAN® bakeware has a non-stick coating that makes clean up easy and should not require vigorous scrubbing).

    And I found this (an older version):

    Hand wash bakeware in warm water with mild dishwashing soap using a sponge , rinse and dry thoroughly. Do not place in dishwasher. Follow recipe instructions, greasing and flouring as directed. Cooking spray is not recommended.

    Seems a tad bit high maintenance for me.  Heavy duty stainless steel bakeware for me from Revere Ware that I have had for decades. Steel scratch pad and then into the dishwasher.   (They don’t make it anymore).

    Also note that in the older version, cooking spray is not recommended. Some cooking sprays have added chemicals and baked on, can seem like varnish on pans. I imagine that would not be good for silicone.

  153. 153.

    Geminid

    @James E Powell: I’m wondering if Will Rollins has said anything about running against Ken Calvert again in 2024, in the California 42nd(?) CD. I saw that the Democrat who was edged out by Boebert in the Colorado 3rd CD says he’s running again. It seems like Rollins would have a good shot with a Presidential year electorate.

  154. 154.

    frosty

    @JML: It’s my fault. I got rid of COVID* for Christmas. It had to go somewhere – sorry ‘bout that, Chief!

    * Day 10 of the rebound, so done, finally. 20 days of it this month. Grrr.

  155. 155.

    Miss Bianca

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Oh, you’re here! Just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying The Thursday Murder Club. My God, does it need to be turned into one of those ITV series that gets put out on Acorn!

    Yep, should be reviewing hours of County Commissioner meeting footage, but here I am eating cheese toast and reading murder mysteries instead.

  158. 158.

    suzanne

    @Scout211: Yeah, they probably went through the dishwasher too many times. Oh well, I’ll get new ones.

    I’m sorry, I hate to be all disposable-culture, but there are six people living here and we put our stuff through its paces. If it can’t hold up to the dishwasher….that’s silly.

  161. 161.

    James E Powell

    @Geminid:

    I’m wondering if Will Rollins has said anything about running against Ken Calvert again in 2024, in the California 42nd(?) CD

    It’s the 41st & I hope he does run again. Calvert is an insurrection supporting right-wing dickweed. I expect to be retired by then, so I would have plenty of time to volunteer.

  164. 164.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

    It’s a balmy 60°F here. More rain on the horizon. Makes me happy. We desperately need the rain

  166. 166.

    CarolPW

    @suzanne: I use the Goldtouch Pro nonstick stuff (aluminized steel) from Williams Sonoma. The cookie sheets are foolproof. I use the sheet pans for all kinds of things, including a chicken thigh recipe I have with honey in it that trashed all the other sheet pans I cooked it on.

  167. 167.

    JML

    @frosty: ha! unkind of you to pass that one along, LOL.

    had some scones this afternoon; amazing how actually eating something can make you feel better! The cough + sore throat is going to be the bad one today; kinda feels like someone is taking a cheese grater to my throat every time I cough.

    The ibuprofen kicked in and the fever has dropped which is a huge help.

  168. 168.

    frosty

    @JML: Aleve really helped me. I spent the whole first day in bed; only moved to heat up some chicken soup. Felt about 90% normal by Day 6 and back on my feet by 7. For both the first round and the rebound. Pax the first time but not the second.

  169. 169.

    Suzanne

    @CarolPW: Thx for the tip. I am thinking along those same lines…. The Goldtouch has a ceramic coating, which is probably better than the silicone. And there’s a Williams Sonoma near my yoga place, sooooo perfect.

  171. 171.

    Geminid

    @James E Powell: I also hope Rollins runs again. He seemed like a strong candidate. If Rollins runs again maybe Watergirl will feature him on one of those “Margin of Effort” posts. That seat might be in tossup territory 20 months from now.

  172. 172.

    trollhattan

    Christmas Day pilgrimage to bro and sister-in-law for paella and pie. One does not miss either.

    25 miles down the road, car suddenly runs rough, feels like a dodgy tire so we pull off the freeway at the next exit, to a dire frontage road where we shut off and walk around looking for signs of what’s wrong. Tires are fine and the exhaust smells like a badly out of tune car. Nothing wrong visible under the hood and ta-da, car will not start. Turns over, no run.

    Two hours later, AAA and Lyft deliver the dead Volvo and us back at the house. Brother wonders why he flew out from NH for this, then checks the weather back home and settles the hell down. OTOH we had a great convo with the Lyft driver, who invited us over to his house where he promised we would have the best Afghan food ever. Tempting, believe me, but I question whether his wife would have appreciated the four surprise houseguests.

    No paella, no pie, no Volvo. Merry Frickin’ Christmas.

Comments are closed.