Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In after Baud. Damn.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

This fight is for everything.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

A consequence of cucumbers

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

… among the most cringeworthy communications in the history of the alphabet!

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

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Politics / GOP Death Cult / Sunday Morning Open Thread: It’s the Summer of Retro

Sunday Morning Open Thread: It’s the Summer of Retro

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This post is in: , , , , ,

Not bad for a summer jam (okay, I’m old)…

Could be worse!

… The volcano island located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands has erupted at least seven times since late Friday, Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center said.

It was the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the mountain caused a deadly tsunami in 2018 along the coasts of Java and Sumatra, the center said. There were no casualties reported in the latest eruption and no evacuation order was issued. The nearest settlement is 16 1/2 kilometers (10 1/2 miles) away…

The second-highest alert on a scale of four has remained in place since 2018. Authorities in May warned residents and tourists to stay 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the crater. Up till then, people used to trek to the top to observe the nature’s spectacle.

Scientists at the center said that since the 2018 eruption and collapse, Anak Krakatau island is now only about a quarter of its original size…

Anak Krakatau, which means “child of Kratakau,” is the offspring of the famous Krakatau, whose monumental eruption in 1883 triggered a period of global cooling.

Speaking of oozing hellscapes… I suspect there’s *one* paleolithic GOP Death Cult monster who’s thanking his dark lord that TFG’s big news broke Thursday:

… Gingrich allegedly communicated with senior advisers to former President Donald Trump about television advertisements that relied on false claims of election fraud, according to documents obtained by the House select committee that investigated January 6. The panel also claimed Gingrich played a role in the effort to submit fake slates of electors in battleground states that Trump lost, according to committee documents…

As the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents shows signs of wrapping up, the probe into the attack on the US Capitol and efforts to subvert the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election has carried on.

Prosecutors have interviewed witnesses in recent weeks and, in at least one case with right-wing podcast host Steve Bannon, issued a new subpoena for grand jury testimony, people familiar with the matter said.

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Happening Now: President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden host a Pride Celebration with Betty Who on the South Lawn.

    Who?

  3. 3.

    eclare

    @Baud:

    Strangely enough, I had heard of Betty Who because they played for a date on The Bachelorette (no judgment, it’s an escape!) several years ago.

  5. 5.

    Rusty

    I was at the Capitol Pride parade in D.C. yesterday with two of my children.   It was one of the most joyful events I have attended.  The crowds on the route kept cheering and roaring  for hours.

  6. 6.

    Mousebumples

    Went to a Wisconsin Breakfast on the Farm event yesterday with my parents and sister (+ her family). Lots going on, and the 3 year old 100% was done by the time we headed back home. Baby missed most of his morning nap, so it was early to bed for both last night.

    Good morning, all!

    (eta – breakfast on the farm is 100% not a Pride event, so I suppose a bit off topic, but I think this is an open thread…?)

  8. 8.

    Chris T.

    @HumboldtBlue:

    A section of the highway has collapsed due to a truck fire

    Must be another one of those dangerous petrol-fueled vehicles…

    (if I repeat this trope often enough can I leave off the /s? please? Also: it was in fact a fuel tanker truck, hence double petrol-fueled.)

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich testified today before a federal grand jury investigating January 6, a person familiar with the matter says

    Sadly, Newt didn’t fall into an erupting volcano.

  11. 11.

    Chris T.

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Sadly, Newt didn’t fall into an erupting volcano.

    There’s still time. And we can even do it without leaving the country, as Kilauea is all goopy again!

  12. 12.

    Layer8Problem

    “Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich testified today before a federal grand jury investigating January 6 . . .”

    I was wondering the other month why his deep insights and canny observations weren’t being solicited for our political opinion shows lately. Probably nothing to do with this.

    It would bring me great joy to see this nasty piece of work get taken down for the January 6th business after all the damage he’s done.

  15. 15.

    satby

    Was awakened this morning about 5am by gunfire that was very close. Sounded like “in my back yard” close, 5 quick (semi-automatic) shots, then complete silence. About an hour later the cops showed up across the street, but no one arrested and no ambulance called. While the bigots around IN like to blather about “Chicago” as a code word, I’ve heard way more gun fire here in 7 years than in a far longer time span there.

  16. 16.

    lowtechcyclist

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Sadly, Newt didn’t fall into an erupting volcano.

    He didn’t need to be turned into a Newt, he was born that way.

    And he hasn’t gotten better.

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    @Baud: I think that Betty Who song is fairly popular. I mean, I don’t get to listen to a lot of new music — limited to what’s played in fitness classes — and I’ve heard this one.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I’m always shocked to realize Gingrich is still alive.

    Me too. Then I always look him up on Wikipedia so I can comfort myself with “He must be ancient” and then I’m always shocked to realize he’s almost a year younger than I am. Every time. It’s like getting chronically rick-rolled.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    Artwork interlude (not AI generated*). No idea if it is specifically or intentionally related with the cause but the artist obviously took pride in her/his work.

    *have lost or misplaced the original reference datum, IIRC it’s an installation which has been there for some years at a museum in Italy.

  30. 30.

    satby

    @eclare: @Dorothy A. Winsor: Someone was probably shooting at a raccoon, or that’ll be the excuse. If it even came from that house (?). The last two groups of renters upstairs and down were evicted, but I consider the landlord to be problematic, since his tenant screening is apparently non-existent. 

    Individual shootings and murders are seldom random, and I don’t overly worry about it but I’ll quick get inside if I’m outside. Living in a red state seething with rageaholics and guns isn’t very peaceful though.

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Huh. I went on Google Maps to see the location and extent of the problem. I had to put in a destination (from NoVA) to see driving conditions, and I tried several places just north of Philadelphia. But the Google Maps lady thwarted me; she didn’t offer I-95 as a full route. She sent me up I-295 or took me off I-95 well south of the Philly metro area and sent me around to the west on I-276. Smart lady!

  33. 33.

    wenchacha

    Lindsey Graham is such a worthless, mewling, whiny jerk. I cannot stand him. What a piece of shite.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @Chris T.

    Pele is partial to a certain spiritous liquid.

    Pele’s Chair, a large lava rock formation that looks like a giant chair from afar. It is situated on the eastern tip of O’ahu. The Hawaiian culture suggest it is a good idea to leave an offering of food, flowers, or gin (YUP – gin, apparently Pele is a fan) … Source

  40. 40.

    satby

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): You may not have been around when I mentioned my late father, a long time homicide detective in the 60s and 70s in Chicago, but he taught me a couple of things. 1. a gun in the house is just asking for someone in your family to be killed by it and 2. murderers almost always know their victims. Of course, now that we live in the era of mass shootings, #2 needs to be amended to exclude mass slaughters, but it still holds for most gun homicides. So I feel pretty safe most of the time, as safe as any one of us can.

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    @HumboldtBlue:

    We have some amazing research institutes in New England.  Most people know of Woods Hole, but Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences here in Maine is doing really important work.  They both publish regular articles that we could highlight here.

  43. 43.

    Chris T.

    @Steeplejack:

    I went on Google Maps to see the location and extent of the problem.

    “Tacony”, wherever that is. I’ve driven that stretch of I-95 before but only to get somewhere north or south of that part so I’m not really up on the area. Plus it’s probably also very different than it was before the turn of the century…

  44. 44.

    Baud

    President Biden: “Today, I want to send a message to the entire community — especially to transgender children: You are loved. You are heard. You’re understood. And you belong.”

    I forgot that obligatory “Both sides are the same.”

  45. 45.

    James E Powell

    The panel also claimed Gingrich played a role in the effort to submit fake slates of electors in battleground states that Trump lost, according to committee documents…

    A question that has stuck in my mind for some time – and this only applies to the people like Gingrich, Mike Lee, and others who are not in Trump’s inner circle – did they really think these schemes would work?

  46. 46.

    HumboldtBlue

    @MomSense:

    Yes, it’s very early and details are scarce, but it appears yes she was.

    Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrested in SNP finance inquiry

    More details:

    Nicola Sturgeon is in custody after being arrested in connection with the investigation into the Scottish National Party’s finances.

    Scotland’s former first minister and ex-SNP leader was detained as a suspect and is currently being questioned by detectives.

    Ms Sturgeon’s husband, the party’s former chief executive Peter Murrell, was previously arrested as part of the probe along with ex-treasurer Colin Beattie. Both men were subsequently released without charge pending further inquiries.

     

  47. 47.

    eclare

    @HumboldtBlue:

    I know we have enough to pay attention to here, but the UK is also having problems.  First BoJo resigns from Parliament in a huff before he could be kicked out, now this.  And of course, Brexit issues.

  50. 50.

    NotMax

    @Layer8Problem

    Dunno about brands but it’s not a case of pour a splash or two on the ground and take the rest home. People continue to leave the entire unopened bottle.

    FSM only knows what might happen if folks began leaving offerings of this stuff instead.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    @HumboldtBlue:

    AP’s take:

    LONDON (AP) — Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested by police investigating the finances of the governing Scottish National Party, British media said Sunday.

    Police Scotland said a 52-year-old woman was detained “as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.”

    “The woman is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives,” the force said.

    U.K. police do not name suspects until they are charged. The BBC and other media outlets identified the arrested woman as Sturgeon.

    Several senior SNP figures have previously been arrested and questioned as part of the investigation. None has been charged.

    (Emphasis added.)

    Seems like a great way to damage a political enemy’s reputation, if someone were so inclined. :-/

    To be clear – even some of the good guys get caught up in hinky political fundraising issues. I have no idea if that is the case here or not.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  53. 53.

    oldgold

    In 1860 a South Carolina pol, James Petigru, famously remarked, “South Carolina is too small for a republic, but too large for an insane asylum.”

    After watching the Palmetto State’s pols prance across the the nation’s stage this weekend commenting     on the Trump indictment, in particular, the execrable Lindsey Graham, who gave his trademark shouty, petulant, and irrational defense of Trump on This Week this morning, I am starting to believe Petigru was wrong.  Regardless of size, South Carolina is and always has been a big political insane asylum and Lincoln made a mistake not letting them leave the Union and form their own small sick Republic.

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack

    It is my dream—an impossible pipe dream, possibly—that when the January 6 indictments come down they include not just Trump but the whole edifice of quislings, apparatchiks, grifters and shitbirds who were involved in what was a coup attempt.

    It wasn’t just a “demonstration” that got out of hand. There were the fake elector schemes in several states; who organized those? There were the procedural shenanigans in Congress itself. Why was Chuck Assley so sure that he would be “certifying” the ballots, not Mike Pence? Why was Ted Cruz repeatedly braying that the “questions” should be sent back to the state legislatures? Josh Hawley—I can’t even. Why did so many GQP reps vote against certification with virtually no evidence of election problems? Why was the whole gamut of law-enforcement agencies woefully “unprepared” for what went down?

    For too long our national policy has been to look forward, not back. As gin-soaked scribbler Peggy Noonan put it when the Dubya torture memos came out in 2009, “Some things in life need to be mysterious. Sometimes you need to just keep walking.” Salt in the wound: she added, “It’s hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking, Oh, much good will come of that.” Grr.

    Obligatory George Santayana quote: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

  55. 55.

    Steeplejack

    @Chris T.:

    I saw the location. I just couldn’t call up a route that would show me the extent of the delay (red highlights on the route) and the estimated time delay.

  56. 56.

    Nukular Biskits

    Mornin, y’all!

    How many of you have called (yes, CALLED!) the offices of your two US Senators and US Representative to express your opinion concerning Trump indictment?

    All three of mine put out posts on social media using the same “weaponization of DOJ” bullshit talking points.  I called all three and politely asked them WTFO?  Interestingly enough, none of them have uttered a peep since the indictments were unsealed.

    Anyway, don’t rely solely on providing feedback via social media. CALL THEM!  I’d also suggest a old-fashioned letter but it’ll take a couple of weeks to actually reach the poor beleaguered staffer who then has to figure out which boilerplate response to mail back.

  57. 57.

    Layer8Problem

    @NotMax:  There’s the makings of a short story in this, about someone striking up a conversation with a well-informed, slightly irritable woman of strangely indeterminate age at the bar of the Moana Hotel, who favors very dry martinis.

  58. 58.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Our local NPR station is fundraising. They were giving away a meal, with wine pairings, and reservations for two at a three star restaurant in Chicago (that I never heard of). The estimated value was $1200. I asked Mr DAW what he thought was worth, and he guessed $90. I laughed and laughed.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    For too long our national policy has been to look forward, not back.

    Agree 100%. I think the indictment of Trump is great for the country. We need to actually resolve something, take it all the way, instead of burying it and moving on.
    I knew our rigidly conventional (and chickenshit) political media would be all upset and horrified by it, though.

  65. 65.

    UncleEbeneezer

    it is worth recalling a sobering feature of the racial history of the United States: Every major step undertaken to advance African Americans and to redress the consequences of racial subordination has been met with charges of “reverse discrimination” and unfair “preference.”

    Yup. I’ve done a lot of reading on Racism/White Supremacy over the past few years and this is undeniable and relentless. White People (not all/only) have violently objected to ANYTHING proposed to give justice and equality to Black Americans. Voting Rights, School Integration, Affirmative Action, Major Police Reform, etc.

    Slavery is our Original Sin, but the steadfast refusal to try to actually remedy the damage that centuries of racist policies have done, is the sin that we just can’t seem to quit. One of my favorite black podcasters pointed out the other day that America paid reparations to Japanese-Americans for all the damage/loss of the WWII internment, and to Native/Indigenous-Americans for the multi-faceted genocide against them, but for some reason, Reparations for Black People is a no-go and most Americans (even on the Left) still manage come up with all kinds of excuses against it.  And sadly they usually use the framing that returning to Black People the stolen wages, property and generational wealth etc., that was purposely stolen/denied them would be just “too unfair” to everyone else.

  69. 69.

    jonas

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: ​
      Is Alinea still around? If it is, I’d wager that was the place. It was regularly listed among the top restaurants in the US, if not the world. I dined there alone once about 10 years ago and the bill for the full tasting menu with wine pairing was $400 with tip. Not surprised if its $500-600 pp now. The meal, btw, was insane. I’ll never forget this one dish that came decorated with these small, pea-sized gelatin balls filled with lobster butter that burst in your mouth with each bite.

  75. 75.

    p.a.

    Speaking of retro, anyone still have film cameras?  They’re back in demand!  If you have them in a box in the back of a closet, take a look at what you have and go online.  Might pay for a dinner or two from their value, or use them yourself!  Film and processing is readily available again.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    It wasn’t just a “demonstration” that got out of hand. There were the fake elector schemes in several states; who organized those? There were the procedural shenanigans in Congress itself. Why was Chuck Assley so sure that he would be “certifying” the ballots, not Mike Pence? Why was Ted Cruz repeatedly braying that the “questions” should be sent back to the state legislatures? Josh Hawley—I can’t even. Why did so many GQP reps vote against certification with virtually no evidence of election problems? Why was the whole gamut of law-enforcement agencies woefully “unprepared” for what went down?

    Why were Members of Congress, including some who had been sworn in only days earlier, giving “tours” of the Capitol building, including rooms that would normally not be included? Who were in the tour groups? How did the MoCs get permission to conduct these tours during a time when all public tours had been suspended because of Covid regulations?

  79. 79.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Altadena had a nice turnout for our Pride event.  I was on my way home from work so I only got to pass by it but there was probably a hundred or more people in our Grocery Outlet parking lot celebrating, dancing etc., with all sorts of rainbow flags and clothing.  Lots of families.  I was very glad to see it.

  80. 80.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Good point! There are so many loose ends and 🤔 angles that need serious examination. Pence and the Secret Service on the loading dock, etc.

  82. 82.

    narya

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I want to eat there, for the experience, but I simply have not been able to bring myself to pony up the dollars for it. If I win the lottery, it’ll be one of the things I do.

    @James E Powell: I think they thought there might be enough chaos to replay the Brooks Brothers “riot” and the installation of W. I think all of the threads were attempts to keep as many options open as possible–and I think they only failed because of the attack on the capitol. That is, the violence was so overwhelming, and televised, that it brought a lot of the crazy to light. They have not stopped trying: witness the “independent state legislature” fan fiction before SCROTUS right now.

  83. 83.

    Anoniminous

    @HumboldtBlue:

    In 2015 Hurricane Patricia reached sustained winds of 215 mph at 872mbars of pressure — which is insanely high and insanely low.   The only reason it wasn’t the first known Category 7 hurricane is there isn’t a Category 7, the Saffir-Simpson Scale stops at Cat 5 at 157mph+.

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    @narya:

    I think all of the threads were attempts to keep as many options open as possible [. . .].

    Also a good point.

  85. 85.

    Ohio Mom

    @HumboldtBlue: Part of me thinks you are right, BJ is missing a climate expert (especially considering this is supposed to be a full service blog), the other part of me has my fingers in my ears, La la I can’t hear you, because I can’t bear to think of the world I will be leaving for Ohio Son, to fend for himself while it grows more and more obvious every day that he’s really deficient at fending.

    The good news is, it’s finally raining here, everything growing in the ground needed a drink.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    @sdhays:

    One would think they’d love the drama.

    They don’t like real drama- driven by actual events. They like narrative drama – driven by them.
    Real things might…get…out..of..control!

    I genuinely believe this indictment is very good for the country. We need a real accounting.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    Yup, that’s another. I hope (and have to believe) there are investigative teams hard at work on these many anomalous incidents, and that we the public will know the results in due course.

    I also hope law enforcement authorities are paying very close attention to all the not-so-thinly-disguised calls to violence being uttered by GOP leadership in the wake of the Trump indictment.

  90. 90.

    Anonymous At Work

    The potential wire fraud charges would have been nice to start with, rather than end with, because it would have at least hampered, if not cut off, all the funding Trump uses to pay for lawyers for underlings (so long as they cover up/perjure on his behalf).

  91. 91.

    Delk

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: the chef was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth and they wanted to remove most of his tongue. He refused and opted for aggressive chemotherapy and eventually was diagnosed cancer free. He temporarily lost his sense of taste but it returned.

  94. 94.

    narya

    @Delk: His book about that (Life on the Line) is interesting–I’ve read it and would be happy to send it along to anyone who wants it. He didn’t have much good to say about Charlie Trotter

    ETA: I have to head out for a beer 5k, so if you DO want the book, grab me in some other thread.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    I genuinely believe this indictment is very good for the country. We need a real accounting.

    Amen.

  98. 98.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack: @SiubhanDuinne:

    Some of this is discussed in the January 6 Committee Final Report. Here’s a link to the page with the various downloads. The Final Report is an 845 page PDF:

    E.g. (light formatting edits)

    Members of the mob carried flags and turned the flagpoles into weapons. Michael Foy, from Wixom, Michigan, carried a hockey stick to the Ellipse—he draped a Trump flag over it.50 Just hours later, Foy used that hockey stick to repeatedly beat police officers at the inaugural tunnel.51
    Former New York City police officer Thomas Webster carried a Marine flag, which he later used to attack an officer holding the rioters back at the lower West Plaza.52 Another individual, Danny Hamilton, carried a flag with a sharpened tip, which he said was “for a certain person,” to which Trevor Hallgren (who had traveled with Hamilton to Washington, DC) responded: “it has begun.” Later, Hallgren commented that “[t]here’s no escape Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler. We’re coming for you….Even you AOC. We’re coming to take you out. To pull you out by your hairs.” On January 5th, Hallgren took a tour of the Capitol with
    Representative Barry Loudermilk, during which he took pictures of hallways and staircases.53

    (Emphasis added.)

    There may be more in the other documents (that’s all I see in the final report that’s relevant when searching for “tour”).

    HTH!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    @Delk: ​Grant was, for a time, an in-law. Never made it to Chicago to eat at Alinea during that time, though.

  102. 102.

    JWR

    I just watched Chris Sununu spin like a top to CBS’s John Harwood, who’s not putting up with his BS at all, unlike Sununu’s interview with Walter Isaacson on Amanpour & Co the other night, further solidifying my opinion that Isaacson is a hack. But Sununu’s trying to bothsides this thing, claiming that GOP voters don’t believe this indictment isn’t political, which is the fault of… wait for it… the DOJ. I kid you not. And why this idiot? Is he the media’s choice, or the GOP’s?

  103. 103.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Layer8Problem: @Jackie:

    I retweeted Tamara, she said his mouse armor is even more impressive.

    @Anoniminous: @Ohio Mom:

    Even at a microclimate level here on the coast, the weather patterns have shifted drastically since I moved up here 20 years ago, and not for the better, at least when it comes to local flora and fauna.

    There’s a reason the giant redwoods thrive here, and it’s due to the heavy fog and mist — not rain — but that steady, dripping wetness is no longer as steady or as prevalent and that’s very concerning.

    As Ohio Mom points out, not so much for us oldsters, but the next generation and the ones after that are looking at some serious impacts on climate and weather.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Another Scott:

    Very interesting, thanks. Here’s what Loudermilk’s Wikipedia entry has to say about the incident (edited to remove footnote numbers):

    Allegations of aiding the January 6 United States Capitol attack

    On May 19, 2022, the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack requested that Loudermilk appear for an interview about a tour he led of the United States Capitol Complex on January 5, 2021, the day before the 2021 United States Capitol attack. House Democrats had suggested Loudermilk aided in the attack, which he and House Republicans disputed. In June, Capitol police concluded that there was nothing suspicious about Loudermilk’s tour. Capitol police chief Tom Manger said, “There is no evidence that Rep. Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021.” The next day, the committee released video of Loudermilk leading the tour of the Capitol complex on January 5 in areas “not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints”;the footage showed the group walking through tunnels underneath the Capitol, but not within the main building. A man in the tour group can also be seen taking photos of hallways. The committee then shared footage claiming the man was at the riot, showing footage of a man at the storming of the Capitol the next day.

    Loudermilk filed an ethics complaint against Representative Mikie Sherrill and other members for alleging he gave a reconnaissance tour of the Capitol on January 5.

    Hmmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

  107. 107.

    trollhattan

    @p.a.: In a contrarian move I bought a few high-end compact 135 format cameras when digital was ascendant and film gear prices plunged. Two or three are now collectable, as is my Hasselblad kit, which also had cratered to maybe a dime on the dollar at one point.

    Oddly, if I wished to sell them it looks like the collecting mostly occurs in Japan, or at least most listings I see on fleabay et al are there. As though they traveled the globe and vacuumed up a lot of film stuff.

    Processing and printing is ghoulishly expensive compared to when film was king, but The Kids who are going retro don’t know that and are willing to pay the price.

    Last time I used a darkroom, Reagan was “president.”

  108. 108.

    trollhattan

    @kalakal: I wonder if Wife #3 is ready to help?

    What’s she doing since losing her “job” at the Vatican? Taking Newt to doctor appointments?

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Capitol police chief Tom Manger said, “There is no evidence that Rep. Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021.”

    And that statement was quickly debunked.

    One of the problems with all things January 6 is that we don’t know how much, or if, we can trust law enforcement. So many agencies seem to be infected with MAGAts and fascist wannabes.

  111. 111.

    kalakal

    @Steeplejack: I share that dream.

    There needs to be consequences, not just for the doylems that vandalised the Capitol, not just for TFG, but for the whole rats nest of officials, elected and unelected, who took part in this failed coup.

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    Thing I learned this week.

    There’s a type of sailing vessel known as a hermaphrodite brig.

  113. 113.

    trollhattan

    How much snow did California get last winter? A whole lot.

    Highway 108 over Sonora Pass reopened on Friday afternoon after 211 days, the longest closure since 2004/2005 when the route was closed for 220 days, according to Caltrans officials.

    The last time the pass was closed for this long was 2017, when it was closed until June 13, Caltrans said. The route had been shut since Nov. 14, 2022. While the highway is open now for the spring and summer seasons, vehicles traveling over Sonora Pass may run into water on the roadway from the seasonal runoff, Caltrans District 9 officials said. They advise drivers reduce their speed when traveling through wet areas.

    Meanwhile, maintenance crews have cleared snow up to the eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park on Highway 120 over Tioga Pass. However, rock removal, more clearing of snow from the shoulder of the roadway and parking areas and repairs to guardrails are needed before the highway reopens.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article276296806.html#storylink=cpy

    Sonora Pass is 9,624 feet elevation and Tioga is 9,945. One does not burst from the car and start a marathon at either, if one lives at sea level.

  115. 115.

    kalakal

    @trollhattan: hmm must have a look at our collection of old cameras, a few years ago they were worth zip.

    My FIL had a great collection of old cameras that he restored. My favourite is a Graphlex Speed Graphic complete with the flash rig, just like the ones the press always uses in the old movies.

    At one point the really valuable bit was the handle for the flash, apparently that’s what was used for the handle of Obi Wan’s light saber, and Star Wars cosplayers would pay big bucks for one

  116. 116.

    scav

    @NotMax: Purely as a public marker, I’m going to guess it has something about the rigging being a mix of two kinds and go look it up.  Ok, maybe a mix of structural hull elements but no further.  Off to be embarrassed.

  117. 117.

    James E Powell

    @JWR:

    It’s the political media’s never ending search for the Reasonable Republican. It’s never ending because such persons do not exist.

  119. 119.

    Ohio Mom

    @HumboldtBlue: The winters here in southwestern Ohio definitely used to be colder, longer, and snowier. As a winter-hater, I kinda like it, the same way I’d like to have cake and ice cream for breakfast every day.

  121. 121.

    Maxim

    @p.a.: One of my young cousins has gotten into film photography. Film makes regular appearances on his birthday and Christmas wish lists.

  122. 122.

    JWR

    @JPL:

    Was McMaster’s on?

    No. At least I don’t think he was on. But I’m getting Sununu fatigue these days. And that’s from just 3, maybe 4 interviews. He talks so quickly, while saying so little, and that gets really tiring, really quick.

  126. 126.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Timill: Not a tangent at all.  The 1619 Project definitively makes this point with regards to Reparations quite well.  The only explanation for Racial Inequities in EVERY aspect of America, that makes any sense, is that it is entirely the result of our history (and present) of countless laws designed to get exactly that result.  As Ibram X. Kendi puts it: the only other alternative explanation is that you believe Black People are somehow inferior and did this all to themselves.  And you’d still have to completely overlook centuries of racist policies enacted by a majority-white America.

  127. 127.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Philly needs to get the contractors that LA hired after the Northridge earthquake collapsed part of the Santa Monica Freeway.

    The concrete might not have been fully dry (at least that was the local joke) when it reopened 66 days later, 74 days ahead of schedule. Contractor collected a huge bonus. We ended paying double the price, but it was money extremely well spent since it was costing the LA economy $1 million per day when the freeway was closed — it’s one of the busiest stretches of freeway/highway in the U.S.

  128. 128.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @trollhattan: They also finally opened Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4, which is remote and one of the least travelled passes in the Sierras, but extremely scenic. It’s one of only seven nationally designated scenic byways in CA, and of 151 in the entire nation. You can do a loop drive using it and the Sonora Pass in a day or two, depending on how long you stop along the way.

  130. 130.

    Chris Johnson

    @p.a.: That’s cool. I have my Dad’s old large format camera. Square pictures, about 2″x2″.

    Not sure quite what I’d take pictures OF, but yeah it would be so cool to bust that one out. Beautiful old thing it is.

  131. 131.

    sab

    @satby: My dad the pathologist who moonlighted for the coroner told us the same thing. A gun in the house is dangerous. Suicides, accidents, family murders or someone you know wants your gun and knows you have one.

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