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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Country Pride (Friends in *Those* Places, Too)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Country Pride (Friends in *Those* Places, Too)

by Anne Laurie|  June 17, 20237:25 am| 169 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Music, Open Threads

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Garth Brooks' Bud Light controversy: Country singer refuses to bow down to critics https://t.co/QEbFiqDJzl

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 16, 2023

“If you’re an asshole, there are plenty of other places.” https://t.co/INdtwUPMTJ

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) June 11, 2023

… Brooks, who’s set to open Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk in Nashville’s lower Broadway area later this summer, shared his thoughts on the Bud Light boycott during a panel at Billboard Country Live this week. “I want it to be a place you feel safe in. I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another. And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. We just are,” Brooks said, referring to the transphobic backlash faced by Bud Light following its partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Brooks continued, “It’s not our decision to make. Our thing is this: If you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you’re an asshole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.”…

Much more in that Billboard interview:

.@garthbrooks Talks Major Label Radio Dominance, How His Nashville Bar Will Serve "Every Brand Of Beer" & Possible New Chris Gaines Music #BillboardLive https://t.co/eT1zxAohei

— billboard (@billboard) June 7, 2023

Billboard Country Live kicked off today (June 7) in Nashville with some major superstar energy, via a conversation between Garth Brooks and Billboard’s executive editor, West Coast and Nashville, Melinda Newman.

The pair engaged in a sprawling 50-minute talk touching on the past, present of future of Brooks’ unparalleled career, including his Las Vegas residency, new and old music, the radio network he’s launching this summer via TuneIn and why he’s grateful social media didn’t exist when he was a younger artist.

Regarding the radio network, a suite of stations dedicated to country and more, Brooks spoke about how curating country music that will be streamed in the 120 countries will offer him “a chance to shrink the world,” and show audiences the roots and sounds of the genre. He noted that while European labels used to request he take the steel guitars and fiddles off his work in order to get European radio play, via TuneIn he’ll be presenting real country music that “will lean a little bit more traditional.” …

Hes been pro LGBT forever. Literally featuring gay couples in his 90s videos at the height of the AIDS epidemic. I'm proud of his consistency especially in a genre with fans that don't always support inclusion

— Ameshia Cross (@AmeshiaCross) June 10, 2023

He performed at the concert on the Mall for Obama’s first inauguration. He did “Shout” & got the crowd loud. https://t.co/UA1lRTgWs3

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 12, 2023

"At some point you have to stop and just listen. The hammering of these hundreds and hundreds of hammers and you know what they’re doing, they’re building love, man. And it’s the greatest feeling on the planet." – @garthbrooks, Habitat Humanitarian 👷‍♂️ #FridayFeels pic.twitter.com/usflmeleyx

— Habitat for Humanity (@Habitat_org) June 16, 2023

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Reader Interactions

169Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 7:32 am

    Good for him. And thanks, AL.

  2. 2.

    eclare

    June 17, 2023 at 7:38 am

    Wow.  I did not know all of this about him.

  3. 3.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    June 17, 2023 at 7:40 am

    I’ve never been a modern country fan (I like a lot of the vintage stuff) so I didn’t know that much about Brooks’s civil rights views but I do recall the SNL Mango skit he did with Chris Kattan back in the day and thought at the time he must be alright if he’s willing to do a skit like that. Glad to see that impression confirmed.

  4. 4.

    Spanish Moss

    June 17, 2023 at 7:41 am

    Always loved his music, but didn’t know about this side of him. Thanks!

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 7:50 am

    “A dream for some, a nightmare for others!”

    Footage shared on social media and by local news outlets captures six Nevada counties under siege, with thick carpets of bugs moving slowly and efficiently across the state. A local hospital had to deploy brooms and leafblowers to clear the way for patients to get into the building, a spokesperson for the Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital, told local news outlet KSL.

    Not only do the bugs make for terrifying plague-like images and videos, they make roadways dangerous when large numbers of them get crushed.

    “They get run over, two or three come out and eat their buddy, and they get run over, and the roads can get covered with crickets and they can get slick,” Jeff Knight, an entomologist for the Nevada agriculture department, also told KSL. “The bigger issue is these afternoon thunderstorms and put a little water on that and it gets slick, we’ve had a number of accidents caused by crickets.”

    Despite their name, the insects are not biologically crickets but technically large shield-backed katydids that closely resemble grasshoppers, according to the University of Nevada, Reno. They don’t fly, and instead walk or hop.

    They lay eggs in the summer, which lie dormant in the winter and then hatch in the spring. But this year, due to an unusually rainy winter, the hatchlings were delayed. The large number of insects moving across Nevada can remain at their peak for four to six years, before being brought back under control by other insects and predators, Knight told the Guardian.

    ian bremmer @ianbremmer
    a plague of crickets in nevada
    the end is nigh
    (w/ short video)

    My gift to you this Saturday morn.

  6. 6.

    CliosFanBoy

    June 17, 2023 at 7:52 am

    I apologize, but I have to share a bit.  We had to say goodbye to our little 16-year-old mini dachshund, Candy, yesterday due to congestive heart failure.  She was a shy, affectionate, funny little girl who followed my wife everywhere.  When my wife and I got home at the same time she’d run past me to greet my wife, and only then come back to me. We adopted Candy and her “sister” Brandy in spring 2019 as a bonded pair of elderly wiener dogs.  Brandy died suddenly of a heart attack last July, followed by my big buddy, Spud, in August.  All were elderly dachshunds.

    We still have Jazz, who we adopted last fall.  She’s mostly standard dachshund and a double-dapple, so she is deaf and mostly blind.  But she was very respectful of Candy, understanding that she was elderly and the alpha.  I am so going to miss my sweet little girl even though I know we gave her so much love.   You can find photos of Candy (and Brandy and Spud) on one of the previous BJ Pet calendars if you still have them.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 7:53 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    I’m sorry about your loss.

  8. 8.

    ian

    June 17, 2023 at 7:57 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “They get run over, two or three come out and eat their buddy, and they get run over, and the roads can get covered with crickets and they can get slick,”

    I feel like I’m reading the script of a walking dead episode, not a story about crickets

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 7:58 am

    @CliosFanBoy: Sorry to hear this.

  10. 10.

    Tim C.

    June 17, 2023 at 7:58 am

    Now I feel bad for making some Chris Gaines jokes the last couple of decades.   Party on Garth!

  11. 11.

    Suzanne

    June 17, 2023 at 7:58 am

    I know that it’s fairly lame of me, but I am a longtime Garth fan. I got to see him perform a few years ago and it was fun AF.

    I will also note that he wrote some very big checks to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and I would bet others.

  12. 12.

    Suzanne

    June 17, 2023 at 8:00 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m so sorry. Many hugs.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    June 17, 2023 at 8:10 am

    @Suzanne: That’s not lame. Brooks has a lot of fans for a reason- he’s a good musical artist, and a positive one.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 8:11 am

    In Sleeping with the Ancestors, written with Herb Frazier, Joseph McGill Jr relates a fascinating, decades-long quest for truth. His work as a preservationist led to the formation of the Slave Dwelling Project. All over America, McGill sleeps overnight in former slave quarters. In an informative and engrossing book, he now tells the story of this groundbreaking endeavor.

    The idea came to McGill after a visit to Anne Frank’s hiding place in Amsterdam. Cramped quarters gave Anne, her family and friends temporary sanctuary from the Nazis. For McGill, “being there connected that space to her and her diaries that told of her life in hiding … That tour taught me the importance of preserving historic buildings.”

    McGill started out as a civil war re-enactor. Now, as a Black man, his job is particularly important. He is part of a growing movement to save landmarks of Black history. Calling attention to the perilous condition of many slave cabins, his is a clarion call, grounded in the message that Black history is American history.
    ……………………………..
    His subtitle is: “How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery”. For sure, his book will help counter the toxicity of these times. With carefully researched fact, he refutes countless Gone With the Wind-like fictions, tales that comfort white supremacists. He confronts racist fantasy head on, through vivid first-hand reportage and thoughtful scholarship. Briefly living as our forebears did, he challenges nostalgia for a nation that never was. Amid rightwing book bans and anti-woke laws, this is a book long overdue. What is at stake is the unifying possibility offered by America’s heritage.

    Another one for the “To read” pile.

  15. 15.

    Suzanne

    June 17, 2023 at 8:14 am

    I will also note this about Garth’s specific approach here: it’s probably the right one. He never tries to tell any of his religious fanbase that God never mentions homosexuality or trans people in the Bible, he never tries to convince anybody of anything, he doesn’t get into any debates. He essentially says that everyone can feel however they want to feel things, but that, when they’re in his spaces (his bar, his concerts), the code of public conduct is to keep one’s hands and opinions to oneself. And if you don’t want to do that, that’s completely fine and you can just go do that elsewhere.

    This is the rhetorical approach I wish we would take more. It takes the wind out of the bigots’ sails when we tell them, “you can feel however you want”. They want to trigger us. They enjoy that. It helps them feel righteous.

  16. 16.

    kalakal

    June 17, 2023 at 8:15 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    Sorry to hear of your loss. She sounds like you gave her a good life and shes given you a lot of love and happy memories

  17. 17.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 8:15 am

    @Suzanne:

    Agree 100%.

  18. 18.

    eclare

    June 17, 2023 at 8:18 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    So sorry about Candy.

  19. 19.

    geg6

    June 17, 2023 at 8:28 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    I’m so sorry.  RIP Candy.  She was a very good girl.  Many hugs.

  20. 20.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 17, 2023 at 8:31 am

    @Suzanne:

    This is the rhetorical approach I wish we would take more. It takes the wind out of the bigots’ sails when we tell them, “you can feel however you want”. They want to trigger us. They enjoy that. It helps them feel righteous.

    That’s fine, as long as publicly expressing their bigotry at whatever frequency and volume is as far as it goes.

    But when they pass laws to erase any mention of LGBTQ persons or the history of Black persons in America from the public schools and denying appropriate medical care to women and trans persons, yeah, I’m triggered.

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    June 17, 2023 at 8:33 am

    Good Morning, Everyone.😊😊😊

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    June 17, 2023 at 8:35 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    Sorry for your loss😪😪

  23. 23.

    Mai Naem mobile

    June 17, 2023 at 8:36 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I am sorry to hear about your puppy. It sounds like you gave her a wonderful life for the short time you had her. RIP Candy.

  24. 24.

    satby

    June 17, 2023 at 8:36 am

    @CliosFanBoy: Adopting senior dogs takes a very special human. Letting them live out their lives in love and comfort takes kindness and courage. You gave Brandy, Candy, and Spud a second chance at a happy, well-loved life. Good on you and your wife; and thank you, because without people like you, rescues couldn’t save them.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    June 17, 2023 at 8:37 am

    @lowtechcyclist: Agreed.

    I think the proper rhetorical response it, “if you hate LGBT people, you can teach your kids to also hate LGBT people. At home, at your church, whatever. If you don’t want your kid to read books, you don’t have to let your kid read books. But in our shared public schools, in our public libraries, we’re not going to teach that. Other people’s kids can read books.”

  26. 26.

    geg6

    June 17, 2023 at 8:38 am

    @Suzanne:

    He’s a big Pirates and Steelers fan.  He and Trisha Yearwood are two of a small but mighty group of quietly more liberal country artists.  People like Billy Ray Cyrus, Dolly, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and a bunch of younger artists.  I’m not a country fan at all, but I will listen to them

  27. 27.

    Mai Naem mobile

    June 17, 2023 at 8:40 am

    I’ve liked Garth Brooks from way back. I probably like his older stuff better and he’s been on the correct side of politics for a long time. There’s a few non RW country music folks. The RW ones just tend to be louder.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    June 17, 2023 at 8:42 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    You don’t need to apologise for sharing your loss. We’re all here to provide comfort at moments just like this. Candy was a good and loving girl, and you and she gave each other happiness in the time you had together. RIP Candy.

  29. 29.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 8:43 am

    @CliosFanBoy: ​
     
    So sorry for the loss of your wonderful puppy.

  30. 30.

    skerry

    June 17, 2023 at 8:44 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m so sorry for your loss.

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 8:45 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Well, if this ain’t a “blech”-worthy item, I don’t know what is.

    OK, technically, it might be “yech,” (or “yuck”) not “blech,” but still …

  32. 32.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 8:47 am

    Navigator Research
    @NavigatorSurvey
    Only three in ten Americans find Ron DeSantis’ plan of adopting approaches like the ones proposed in Florida on a national scale to be appealing (net -19; 29 percent appealing – 48 percent not appealing) a 17-point decline since mid-April.

    Only 30% want to “Make America Florida” as it turns out. Decline is interesting though.

  33. 33.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 8:47 am

    As a general rule, I can’t stand country music — in no small part because of the presumed demo — but Brooks is a good man.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    June 17, 2023 at 8:48 am

    @CliosFanBoy: Sad news, but it’s wonderful that you gave her several years of happiness.

  35. 35.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 8:50 am

    @Kay:

    Now, if only those numbers were in Florida, too. And if the FL Dems could find someone other than Charlie Fucking Crist to run as their nominee.

    Betty Cracker: any way you can get Crist to move to Wyoming? At least there, the damage might be reduced.

  36. 36.

    OldDave

    June 17, 2023 at 8:52 am

    @CliosFanBoy: So sorry for your loss.  Dachshunds have a way of working themselves into one’s heart, as I’ve found out over the last quarter of a century.  May you find comfort in the days to come.

  37. 37.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    June 17, 2023 at 8:54 am

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    I’m with you on “modern country” as far as the men are concerned (love the modern husband-killing women and old timey-stuff – not a fan of “gun-flags-‘Murka-truck-Jesus” dudes that seem so prevalent lately).

    Good on Garth, though.

  38. 38.

    Burnspbesq

    June 17, 2023 at 8:54 am

    Musical talent (or lack thereof) aside, it’s nice to know that Brooks’ hear is in the right place.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 8:55 am

    @SFAW:

    That polling comapny is funny because they also poll on Disney favorability

    “Disney remains broadly liked”

    Unlike Governor DeSantis, who has dropped 20 points in a month :)

    I just love watching this. Christopher Rufo needs to lose.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 8:55 am

    Rex Chapman🏇🏼 Retweeted
    Michael Harriot
    @michaelharriot

    Y’all wanna hear the TRUE story of Nikki Haley?

    A thread

    Worth the read.

  41. 41.

    frosty

    June 17, 2023 at 8:56 am

    @Suzanne: My mom surprised me by being a big Garth Brooks fan. I’d never paid much attention, figuring he was just another Big Hat country singer. A few years ago, when I drove home from NC with her ashes I blasted her Garth CDs the whole way in her memory. Good music!! Who knew??

  42. 42.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 8:58 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m sorry. She sounds like a sweetie.

  43. 43.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    June 17, 2023 at 8:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Not gonna look. You can’t make me look. You can’t, can’t – aaaaaagh.

    I looked.

  44. 44.

    JML

    June 17, 2023 at 8:58 am

    @SFAW: yeah, I’m not a fan of country music really at all, but Garth Brooks seems like a real mensch. Which is particularly good in a genre where they’ve allowed if not embraced some pretty rotten behavior and people.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 9:00 am

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:  :-)  My work here is done.  :-)

  46. 46.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:01 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That sounds like an amazing book

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    June 17, 2023 at 9:02 am

    @Kay: pre-decline: “We want Competent MAGA-lite!”

    post-decline: “He ain’t competent or likable, and he’s MAGA-plus!”

    (or whatever – I don’t know.  I do know that he’s not keeping the base entertained like ol’ trumpov does, that’s for sure.  Maybe that matters to them?)

    Sorry, Ron – get your own fake reality show for a decade and call us back if you want to run again.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 9:04 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  49. 49.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    June 17, 2023 at 9:04 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Monster. LOL

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    June 17, 2023 at 9:05 am

    A quick looksee/read: Travelling to pastures old in the Orobie Alps – a photo essay

    Very enjoyable.

    And with that, I go to work. Good day all.

  51. 51.

    Betty Cracker

    June 17, 2023 at 9:06 am

    @Kay:  People say to know DeSantis is to despise him; that poll is a proof point! I am here for anything that humiliates DeSantis and Rufo. Their influence should decline since they are thoroughly toxic shitheads. 

    @SFAW: The latest Mrs. Crist is from up north somewhere, IIRC. Maybe they can move there?

  52. 52.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:06 am

    You’re full of internet gems today.

  53. 53.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 9:07 am

    @Jeffro:

    I feel like we need a different spokesperson for Rufo’s agenda to test this because you can’t tell if people don’t like Rufo’s agenda or people just don’t like DeSantis. It’s funny how often that happens- where a popular “state wide” politician just flops nationally.

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 9:10 am

    @Betty Cracker: ​
     

    The latest Mrs. Crist is from up north somewhere, IIRC. Maybe they can move there?

    Not really what I was hoping, — Wyoming or Mississippi or Outer Slobovia would be preferable — but at least it would get him outta FLA.

  55. 55.

    Chris T.

    June 17, 2023 at 9:10 am

    @ian:

    I feel like I’m reading the script of a walking dead episode, not a story about crickets

    They’re Mormon Crickets, which means they’re neither Mormon nor crickets.

  56. 56.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 9:12 am

    @Kay: ​
     

    I feel like we need a different spokesperson for Rufo

    The only Rufo-spokesperson I want to read/hear about is the clergyman speaking at his funeral. Rufo’s a fucking menace to this country and its people.

  57. 57.

    hedgehog mobile

    June 17, 2023 at 9:12 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m so sorry.  My house panthers and I send love.

  58. 58.

    Raoul Paste

    June 17, 2023 at 9:12 am

    @CliosFanBoy: It takes a special person to sign up for impending outbreak when you adopt a pair of elderly dogs.  It doesn’t make it hurt any less, but you did a good thing.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 9:13 am

    Garth Brooks stopped working for 14 years because his soon-to-be ex wife told him she was raising their three children alone because he worked all the time. Obviously he had plenty of money to do that but still a risky move- dropped out at his peak. The three daughters are grown now so he tours again and he seems to be as popular as ever.

  60. 60.

    frosty

    June 17, 2023 at 9:14 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: When we were in New Orleans a few years ago we toured the Laura Plantation. I was shocked to find that sharecropppers lived in the slave cabins until 1977!

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 9:14 am

    @Chris T.: ​
     
    Maybe if someone erected local statues of Brigham Young or Joseph Smith, they’d all flock to them? [There’s probably a joke to be made about making them wear magic underwear, but I need NotMax to come up with that one.]

  62. 62.

    Jerry

    June 17, 2023 at 9:18 am

    Garth’s Friends in Low Places is one of the greatest country anthems of all time.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 9:18 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    My husband thinks it’s all “optics”- said Republicans wouldn’t like DeSantis because he’s short and has a squeaky voice.

  64. 64.

    kalakal

    June 17, 2023 at 9:20 am

    @Chris T.:

    They’re Mormon Crickets, which means they’re neither Mormon nor crickets.

    The Jerusalem Artichokes of the insect world

  65. 65.

    Avalune

    June 17, 2023 at 9:21 am

    Awe sorry about puppers.

    Leto and I are on our way to Philly for the second time this weekend. Biden is joining the labor unions in his first rally since announcing his run. In solidarity!

  66. 66.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:21 am

    My writer group (Barrington Writers Workshop) is celebrating its 45th anniversary today in an event that lasts from 1-6. First, there’s a group pic under the marquee of a vacant movie theater that currently reads “Congratulations BWW 45 years,” which is kind of cryptic. Then there’s a speech and a champagne and appetizer reception. Then there’s a panel of 3 writers talking about The Writing Life. And then we sell books. We hope. The three panelists are well known and will be selling too, so I don’t expect to get a lot of traffic. Also, I’m sharing a card table with two other writers. By 6:00, I’ll be exhausted. I’m not used to being “on” for that long anymore.

  67. 67.

    bluefoot

    June 17, 2023 at 9:22 am

    I’ve never really been into Garth Brooks’ music, but he’s been an outspoken LGBTQ ally since I first heard of him back in the 90s. He’s taken a lot of flak for it but he just keeps on keeping on. Massive respect.

  68. 68.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 9:22 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    The weirdest thing to me is I think he does that “blank face, dumb” look deliberately. I think it’s supposed to be a “tough guy” demeanor.

  69. 69.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:23 am

    @Avalune: I’m jealous. That sounds satisfying.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    June 17, 2023 at 9:25 am

    People like to crap on Charlie Crist, and some dump on Florida Democrats for picking him. But Crist is not the reason Ron DeSantis won reelection. No Democrat would have beaten him last year.

    It could be that Nikki Fried would have run a 2 or 3 points better than Crist. We’ll never know. But Florida Democrats chose Crist as their candidate, and by a good margin. I figure they know their state better than I do and they had a lot more at stake, so I’m not gonna run them down, or Crist either.

  71. 71.

    Edmund dantes

    June 17, 2023 at 9:25 am

    @SFAW: plenty of other people in the Dem primary to choose from, but Florida Dems chose Crist.

  72. 72.

    kalakal

    June 17, 2023 at 9:26 am

    Crist is very likeable in person and actually did tear into DeStumpy at the last election (made no difference sadly) but he needs to step back and get out of the way, he’s had his shot. I get why they picked him last time, the local Dems felt, rightly, that he was easily the candidate with the most name recognition. I’d have gone with Fried personally but I got a lot of “Who She?”

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    June 17, 2023 at 9:29 am

    A leg-end in his own mind.

    A suburban Chicago man is facing firearm charges after he told officers he accidentally shot himself in the leg while dreaming that an intruder was breaking into his home, police said. Source

  74. 74.

    Splitting Image

    June 17, 2023 at 9:29 am

    Another mostly non-fan of country here, so I mostly missed Brooks’ heyday, but there’s no question he’s one of the good ones.

    It seems these days like any fiftyish white male who can get through a day without making a complete ass of himself gets treated like one of the Seven Sages of Greece, so it’s nice to see a dude of his age turn out to be genuinely good.

  75. 75.

    kalakal

    June 17, 2023 at 9:33 am

    @Splitting Image:

    It seems these days like any fiftyish white male who can get through a day without making a complete ass of himself gets treated like one of the Seven Sages of Greece

    Ahah! That’s where I’m going wrong.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    June 17, 2023 at 9:34 am

    @SFAW

    “And that, little Gideon, is the story of how we made the infestation a brief one.”

  77. 77.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 9:34 am

    @Geminid:

    No Democrat would have beaten him last year.

    People don’t think enough abut WHY the field is what it is- DeSantis being a strong opponent in a good position tends to discourage good, young candidates. They want a race where they have a better shot. A weaker candidate would have had stronger opponents because good people want to enter races they can win.

  78. 78.

    JPL

    June 17, 2023 at 9:34 am

    @CliosFanBoy: It is so difficult to say goodbye to our furbabies and I’m sorry for your loss.   RIP Candy.

  79. 79.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 17, 2023 at 9:41 am

    @NotMax: Yes, this genius lives just a few miles up the road from Ms Winsor and me.

  80. 80.

    Kristine

    June 17, 2023 at 9:44 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I am so very sorry.

  81. 81.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:51 am

    @MagdaInBlack: Cripes. Thanks for the warning.

  82. 82.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 17, 2023 at 9:54 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Beware the economically insecure Lake Barrington folks> Median income $105k. 😉

  83. 83.

    Kristine

    June 17, 2023 at 9:54 am

    @NotMax: They even mess up in dreams.

  84. 84.

    kindness

    June 17, 2023 at 9:55 am

    Good for Garth.  I saw him once at the first Bottlerock music festival they have in Napa every year.  It’s a rock festival so Garth wasn’t on the main stage, but one of the secondary side stages.  I left the main area to go check his set out and he was fun.   I didn’t grow up in a country house.  But I enjoy most of it, even though it isn’t my main squeeze.

  85. 85.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 9:58 am

    @MagdaInBlack: So maybe they’re too poor to buy books? Anything is possible!

  86. 86.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 17, 2023 at 10:00 am

    @NotMax:

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    @MagdaInBlack:

    @Kristine:

    I am at a loss for words.

    Oh, wait.  Keep that crazy sleepshooting(?) in the suburbs!  Good! Grief!

  87. 87.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 10:02 am

    @NotMax:

    Hopefully, he won’t dream of being sexually assaulted.

  88. 88.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 17, 2023 at 10:03 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    So maybe they’re too poor to buy books? Anything is possible! 

    There are books on how to NOT shoot your leg in your sleep?

    Ya learn something everyday I guess!  And it’s only 9AM!

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    June 17, 2023 at 10:03 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    I dreamed I shot Joe Hill last night
    Instead I just shot me
    //

  90. 90.

    Nukular Biskits

    June 17, 2023 at 10:04 am

    I like his earlier stuff and still have the CDs.

    I didn’t realize he was such a progressive. Good for him! We need more like him!

  91. 91.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 17, 2023 at 10:07 am

    @NotMax: 🎶I dreamt I shot the sheriff, but it was my own leg, you see🎶

  92. 92.

    Nukular Biskits

    June 17, 2023 at 10:10 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    No apologies required.

    Take comfort in the times you had together.

  93. 93.

    Miss Bianca

    June 17, 2023 at 10:11 am

    @CliosFanBoy: Awww…so sorry to hear it. My condolences.

  94. 94.

    Nukular Biskits

    June 17, 2023 at 10:16 am

    @SFAW:

    A big, fat “WHATEVER DID I DO TO YOU?!?!?!?” regarding that suggestion Crist relocate to MS.

    We have too many do-nothing Democrats in this benighted state as it is, which allows “conservative Christians” like Tate Reeves (who refuses to expand Medicaid) and Phillip Gunn (MS Leg Speaker who said abortion should be illegal even for 12-year-old incest rape victims.

    I’d like this state to move at least into the 20th century. And, yes, I meant 20th.

  95. 95.

    brendancalling

    June 17, 2023 at 10:19 am

    For the record, Nashville itself is quite LGBTQ+ friendly. There as several gay performers out there, many gay writers, etc. The problem ain’t Nashville, it’s Tennessee.

    And Garth is very much a good egg, if not my taste.

  96. 96.

    Heidi Mom

    June 17, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @CliosFanBoy: I’m so sorry for the loss of your good girl.

  97. 97.

    Old School

    June 17, 2023 at 10:20 am

    @Tim C.:

    Now I feel bad for making some Chris Gaines jokes the last couple of decades.

    Nahhh… no need to feel bad about that.

    FYI – Garth still has plans on releasing five more Chris Gaines albums.

  98. 98.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 17, 2023 at 10:21 am

    God save the queen, man — Joe Biden

  99. 99.

    p.a.

    June 17, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    I’m sorry for your loss.  What you do is so special!

  100. 100.

    Heidi Mom

    June 17, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @geg6: And Brad Paisley!

  101. 101.

    Roger Moore

    June 17, 2023 at 10:23 am

    @SFAW:

    The religiously correct response is a plague of seagulls.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 10:25 am

    @CliosFanBoy:

    RIP, Candy. 🌈 🐾

  103. 103.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 10:27 am

    @MagdaInBlack: ​
     
    “Florida Man Moves to Chicago Area to Fight the Woke”

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 10:28 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I agree with you 1,000%, but “several years of happiness” made me laugh, for some reason. Maybe thinking of some other relationships.

  105. 105.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 17, 2023 at 10:34 am

    @SFAW: Oh no. Lake county has its very own home grown breed of “Florida Man.”  Kyle Rittenhouse is from the general area, further north but…ya.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 10:35 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I’m not used to being “on” for that long anymore.

    You need to become one of those “grumpy” writers that people idolize because they can’t be bothered with their readers. Uncompromising!

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    June 17, 2023 at 10:35 am

    @Baud: ​
     

    Hopefully, he won’t dream of being sexually assaulted.

    Woke the cats with my laugh at that one.

  108. 108.

    Gvg

    June 17, 2023 at 10:38 am

    Speaking as a Floridian, I thought Crist had a better shot than Fried and would have had to hold my nose to vote for her. This state is not all that ready for a woman Governor IMO and Nikki strikes me as a flake. Not really ready for the big time and not that smart. She likes crypto for Pete’s sake. I think she can be fooled too easily. Which gets me back to the Democratic Party has fallen apart in this state. Some of the democrats I have seen run and win have had previous problems with corruption charges but are back because there are apparently no younger ones running and no party organizing, so their name recognition gets votes because the republicans are worse. Crist is not a flake and knows quite a lot about how things work.

  109. 109.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 10:43 am

    @Steeplejack: I already am a grumpy writer. That’s why it’s a strain to be around people for 5 hours.

  110. 110.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 10:45 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Never mind! 😺

  111. 111.

    Mai Naem mobile

    June 17, 2023 at 10:50 am

     

     

    @OzarkHillbilly:  Nikki Haley is such an ugly POS. I hadn’t realized the dad taught at a HBCU. I could swear she’s  talked about her parents having a good sized retail business which she also worked at.

  112. 112.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 17, 2023 at 11:03 am

    pic.twitter.com/15jtieweag— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) June 16, 2023

    Fucking hell!

    Both hilarious and infuriating.

  113. 113.

    UncleEbeneezer

    June 17, 2023 at 11:08 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: On a related note, but fiction/horror, I just started When The Reckoning Comes by Latanya McQueen:

    “LaTanya McQueen’s When The Reckoning Comes is so deliciously uncomfortable there were moments where I had to put the book down, take a deep breath, and like Mira, its protagonist, urge myself to go further. This is a novel, like Octavia Butler’s Kindred, that reminds its readers that as long as people don’t acknowledge how much of the past still shapes the present, it will bring its whips, its hatchets, and fists to make us learn.” — Megan Giddings, author of Lakewood

    A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.

  114. 114.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 17, 2023 at 11:12 am

    Daniel Ellsberg has died.

  115. 115.

    Another Scott

    June 17, 2023 at 11:13 am

    @UncleEbeneezer: In case you’re still looking for input on your question yesterday, I left a comment on the dead thread this morning.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  116. 116.

    japa21

    June 17, 2023 at 11:19 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Is that the old Catlow theater?

  117. 117.

    Leto

    June 17, 2023 at 11:27 am

    Avalune and I made it to the convention center.  There’s so many people here. We made it into the building, but then the line to get into the convention floor wraps around three sides of building. So many union members here. AFT, IBEW, Philly Federation of Teachers, SEIU, NEA, but to name a few. Again, very large turn out. We’ll check in and update along the way.

  118. 118.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 17, 2023 at 11:29 am

    @japa21: Yes. Before the pandemic, it was still showing films, but covid killed it.

  119. 119.

    Ohio Mom

    June 17, 2023 at 11:32 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yes, worth the read, thanks for the link. Caucasian but not white is quite the stretch, that thread reinforced everything I believe about Nikki Haley and her heartless ambition.

    I was introduced to the 1965 Immigration Act by Calvin Trillin, who credited the law with bringing ethnic food of all kinds to the U.S. — one way of earning money for people just arriving, with only rudimentary English at their command, is to open a restaurant serving their mother’s recipes.

    Just another legacy of LBJ’s (hat tip to Raven).

  120. 120.

    Kay

    June 17, 2023 at 11:34 am

    @Leto:

    Thanks for the update. I’m interested.

  121. 121.

    UncleEbeneezer

    June 17, 2023 at 11:41 am

    @Another Scott: Thanks.  It really comes down to whether or not playing with him will be fun for me, or will I be thinking about his bullshit views the whole time.  Otherwise it’s not something that is likely to come up.

  122. 122.

    Chief Oshkosh

    June 17, 2023 at 11:42 am

    @Suzanne: I don’t see that it’s lame at all. Brooks is a great songwriter, musician, and performer. And he did it the hard way, playing tiny bars around OK, KS, AR, TX, but mainly Stillwater, OK. He failed on his first foray to Nashville, went back to the basics (again, mainly in Stillwater), and eventually found his groove. He’s for a long time advocated live-and-let-live: at best try to love one another, at worst just mind your own fucking business. Nobody’s perfect, but there is a lot to admire about the guy.

  123. 123.

    cain

    June 17, 2023 at 11:44 am

    @CliosFanBoy: So sorry to hear this. Candy sounds wonderful – thank you for adopting these senior pets. At least they live their twlight years in love.

  124. 124.

    Jackie

    June 17, 2023 at 11:45 am

    @Leto: That’s awesome! Glad y’all are there; I couldn’t handle that crowd! Just reading your description gives me claustrophobia!

  125. 125.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 17, 2023 at 11:46 am

    We love to hate on the FTFNYT, but today they published a good piece, with explanatory graphics, on how the Nova Kakhovka dam could only have been blown from the inside – meaning by russians. This link, which came from Twitter, seems to work well.

  126. 126.

    opiejeanne

    June 17, 2023 at 11:47 am

    @HumboldtBlue: There’s a name that evokes a memory of my mom. She worked at Nuclear Undersea Warfare (NUWC) when the Pentagon Papers were released and she was beside herself because she handled sensitive documents for the Navy.

  127. 127.

    JeanneT

    June 17, 2023 at 11:49 am

    @CliosFanBoy: ​
     
    So sorry for you and your famiy. Our dogs and cats age too fast!

  128. 128.

    Nukular Biskits

    June 17, 2023 at 11:50 am

    @opiejeanne:

    I could be wrong, but I think you mean Naval Underwater Warfare Center.

    I used to work sonar systems earlier in my career and spend time in New London and Groton.

  129. 129.

    cain

    June 17, 2023 at 11:51 am

    @frosty: You know.. he does have some rock music albums. He took on a different persona to do it.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Brooks_in…the_Life_of_Chris_Gaines

    He looks nothing like a country western singer in the pictures. I actually liked that version of him. He’s a remarkable person – while doing the search – I read an article where he refused his wife’s offer to take his last name.

    I think his songwriting truly reflects who he is.

  130. 130.

    Geminid

    June 17, 2023 at 11:51 am

    @Ohio Mom: I just shopped at the farmer’s market in Stanardsville, Virginia. I was not surprised to see a Mennonite lady and her daughter selling vegetables and baked goods. I got some onions and a packet of chocolate crinkle cookies (someone beat me to the lemon squares!).

    Diagonally across from them were some Asians selling organic beef and pork from their farm in Madison County. I bought some pork bratwurst. I think it was a mother and son, and my guess is that they are from Tibet. There is a small Tibetan community in the Charlottesville area. The daughter had a booth right behind them. She was selling original art cards and stickers.

  131. 131.

    RaflW

    June 17, 2023 at 11:53 am

    Someone tweeted a pic of a florid man drinking Bud Light at Bedminster on June 13th. For some totally mysterious reason, Fox isn’t labeling Trump as “defiant” or “bowing down” to the woke. Huh.

  132. 132.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 11:53 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It’s their domestic political desk that sucks.

  133. 133.

    opiejeanne

    June 17, 2023 at 11:54 am

    @Nukular Biskits: Yes. misremembered the exact name. She worked at the Pasadena facility before it moved elsewhere, but she still had a job with a different alphabet soup organization in the same building, IIRC, but I don’t remember the name of that one.

  134. 134.

    cain

    June 17, 2023 at 11:54 am

    @kalakal: I think the problem is the local dems and their organization. They really need the folks from Georgia coming over and helping.

    I think the Florida legislature is cashing checks that are going to bounce – they’ve over extended themselves.

    I think we can flip Florida if we put the right people in charge there.

  135. 135.

    Sure Lurkalot

    June 17, 2023 at 11:55 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    And another excellent thread about the odious Nikki Haley

    Sorry not sorry for piling on.

  136. 136.

    Hungry Joe

    June 17, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    I interviewed Brooks once, long ago, as he was skyrocketing to fame. Don’t remember much that he said, but he was low-key and funny, genuine and genuinely nice. Didn’t seem in the least impressed with himself.

  137. 137.

    Ruckus

    June 17, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    @Geminid:

    That’s not lame. Brooks has a lot of fans for a reason- he’s a good musical artist, and a positive one.

    Not a fan of C/W but you are right, he’s good. And he’s good in several directions. I’d bet he likes the money he makes because it allows him to spend it well, as Suzanne noted, rather than sitting on it and being Scrooge McDuck about it as so many do.

  138. 138.

    Leto

    June 17, 2023 at 12:09 pm

    After almost a half hour, we’ve made it to the front side of the center. I think we’ve already had some people drop out because of the line/wait. Group behind us was joking that if they didn’t get in, 1) they’d head over to Reading Terminal to grab a bite to eat and 2) head home to watch some NCIS. Don’t care for NCIS, but Reading Terminal is supposed to have a lot of good food so a quick trip over might be in the cards.

  139. 139.

    UncleEbeneezer

    June 17, 2023 at 12:09 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Great thread.  But Harriot still hasn’t apologized or in any way owned up to: 1.) refusing to vote for Hillary in 2016, 2.) tweeting out a list of alternative, write-in candidates on the day of the election and 3.) when people called him out afterwards, just doubling down with a long thread on why the Clintons were so terrible and how he’s a long-time supporter of the Dem Party and besides, it didn’t matter because he was in a deep red state etc., etc. (the same bullshit excuse that he would never accept from my white relatives in PA who used them as a rationale to vote for Johnson).

    So while I love his work generally, it’s hard for me to take lectures about White Supremacy from him because while I’m reading them all I can think about is: for all his knowledge, this is the same who dude who refused to do the easiest, painless, most obvious action that we all had at our disposal in 2016 to protect Civil Rights by avoiding a Trump-selected Supreme Court. He knows the history, the importance of voting and the power of SCOTUS all too well and really has no excuse.  And for someone who will gleefully point out other peoples’ refusal to hold themselves accountable, apologize, admit their mistakes etc., none of that apparently applies to him.  He pulled the same bullshit that he rightfully scorns White People for doing and helped throw Black People, Women, LGBTQ People, Immigrants etc., all under the bus, just like my white, Libertarian/Independent family members did.

    All that said, fuck Nikki Haley.

  140. 140.

    Another Scott

    June 17, 2023 at 12:10 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Thanks.

    Nexta has a short summary (in a single post):

    Kakhovka HPP collapse was most likely caused by an explosion in the tunnel of the concrete base of the dam – New York Times

    🔹 The concrete base, which was underwater and 20 meters high and up to 40 meters wide, was absorbing most of the load on the dam. On June 15, nine days… pic.twitter.com/HSxuX3mQhJ

    — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 17, 2023

    Slava Ukraini!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  141. 141.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 17, 2023 at 12:10 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Caucasian but not white is quite the stretch 

    So is the jury still out on whether we can call Nikki white trash?

  142. 142.

    trollhattan

    June 17, 2023 at 12:11 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​Katy Lied!

  143. 143.

    trollhattan

    June 17, 2023 at 12:12 pm

    @CliosFanBoy: ​Aww, sorry to hear that. You were lucky to have one another, to be sure.

  144. 144.

    NotMax

    June 17, 2023 at 12:13 pm

    @Leto

    Reading Terminal? DiNic’s roast pork and broccoli rabe sammich.

  145. 145.

    frosty

    June 17, 2023 at 12:15 pm

    @Leto: Yes! Go to Reading Terminal and try not to have one of everything. 

  146. 146.

    Sure Lurkalot

    June 17, 2023 at 12:16 pm

    @CliosFanBoy: condolences to you and your wife on the loss of your pup Candy.

  147. 147.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    June 17, 2023 at 12:16 pm

    @Leto: ​Reading Terminal is supposed to have a lot of good food

    I’ll vouch for that. Mind-boggling variety of choices.

    I always stop at this place when I’m in there. Chocolate is too a food group!​

    The Head Nut is also a great place to get some stuff to take home after you’ve sated your appetite (probably not a good idea to go hungry). Hundreds of varieties of nuts, candies, dried fruit, and everything else you could think of, all sold out of bins by the pound.

  148. 148.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 17, 2023 at 12:17 pm

    The story of the South African “peace” delegation gets stupider by the day. The President was accompanied by a charter plane carrying somewhere around 100 people (estimates vary) comprising his security detail and reporters. They flew to Warsaw and were grounded there because they were carrying a shitload of weapons and didn’t have the right paperwork. Ramaphosa went on to Kyiv, but that second plane remained grounded in Warsaw and eventually the passengers were let off to go to a hotel. Ramaphosa has now gone on to St. Petersburg to fellate VVP, but that second plane is still in Warsaw, and some of those journalists are now saying it couldn’t go to St. Petersburg because Hungary denied it overflight rights. Um, look at a fucking map, OK?

    Latest story is that charter plane is headed back to RSA.

  149. 149.

    trollhattan

    June 17, 2023 at 12:19 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: ​One need only produce a flaw, and water takes care of the rest. Roosha left the door open to blame Ukraine dropping a HIMARS or somesuch weapon on the top, but nothing about the videos remotely suggests such a thing.
    Another example.

    The 2009 accident occurred when five DWR employees were directed to descend into the river valve outlet chamber deep inside the dam, and open the valves to 100 percent as a maintenance test.

    The turbulence caused by the massive water flow through the valves caused hurricane-force winds inside the tunnel, ripping a steel bulkhead from its mountings and blasting the workers off their feet. They were pinned against equipment inside the tunnel, holding on for survival until other workers were able to shut off the massive water flow. All survived, but one suffered a broken leg and arm.

    A subsequent investigation found that DWR supervisors ignored prior advice from U.C. Davis engineering experts, who warned in 1993 that the valves should never be opened to 100 percent. That’s because an “energy dispersion baffle ring” lining the tunnel, meant to reduce turbulence, had been damaged in 1968 when the dam was completed.

    DWR removed the baffle ring in April 2009, four months before the test. It did so without consulting its Division of Dam Safety, which should have approved that action first. The test was ordered because DWR “wanted to determine the destructive effects” of opening the valves to 100 percent, according to the investigation.

    This did not threaten the dam but destroyed a significant piece of the works. Just the force of water.

  150. 150.

    Sister Golden Bear

    June 17, 2023 at 12:19 pm

    @CliosFanBoy: So sorry to hear about your loss.

  151. 151.

    Leto

    June 17, 2023 at 12:22 pm

    @NotMax: that sounds good!

    @frosty: ur not my mom!

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: oooo!

  152. 152.

    Sister Golden Bear

    June 17, 2023 at 12:25 pm

    @Kay: Don’t have them handy, but there are other surveys the show broad support for LGBTQ+ rights, and that the majority reject the things like “don’t say gay” and “bathroom bill” laws.

    Also worth noting that DeSantis barely won the governorship originally, so I’m not sure it’s accurate to say he’s widely popular. I suspect it’s more a case that he’s crushed dissent, and Dems ran a bad candidate again him during his re-election. And of course the FL Democratic Party is a hot mess.

  153. 153.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 17, 2023 at 12:30 pm

    @NotMax: Oh my lord, be still my growling stomach. That sounds fantastic !

  154. 154.

    Ruckus

    June 17, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    @Kay:

    Little ronnie also makes them look stupid and weak for supporting him. Not that many other of the choices are really any better….

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    June 17, 2023 at 12:34 pm

    @MagdaInBlack

    Perhaps a pic will help sate.
    ;)

  156. 156.

    Leto

    June 17, 2023 at 12:35 pm

    Made it to the floor. Have heard three speakers so far and they’re very vocal about all the things Biden/Harris have done. Laying out specific tangible examples of what they’re doing to help us all. Good stuff.

  157. 157.

    Ruckus

    June 17, 2023 at 12:35 pm

    @Kay:

    I don’t believe that look is fake. That “blank face, dumb” look is him.

  158. 158.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 17, 2023 at 12:36 pm

    @NotMax: Oh Wow !  Yer a big tease, damn it 🤗

  159. 159.

    Baud

    June 17, 2023 at 12:58 pm

    @Leto:

    👍

  160. 160.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    June 17, 2023 at 2:37 pm

    @CliosFanBoy: So sorry to hear that!  The holes they leave in us are so much bigger than anyone who hasn’t lost an animal family member can imagine!

  161. 161.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    June 17, 2023 at 2:49 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thank you for that!  I learned a lot.  This is a beautiful example of the fact that history is a force.  It is a current.

  162. 162.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 4:05 pm

    @Leto:

    You’ve never been to the Reading Market?! I thought everybody in the Philadelphia area was required to go there as part of orientation. So go! “Supposed to have a lot of good food” is a gigantic understatement.

  163. 163.

    Steeplejack

    June 17, 2023 at 4:37 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Link or even a mention of where this happened for context? (Somewhere in California, presumably.)

  164. 164.

    Another Scott

    June 17, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yubanet.com – Oroville Dam in California (from March 2017).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  165. 165.

    LiminalOwl

    June 17, 2023 at 7:12 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thank you. Requested at the library (they don’t own it yet).

  166. 166.

    Bostondreams

    June 17, 2023 at 10:36 pm

    Good article here about queer country singer Brooke Eden. She mentions the role that Garth Brooks and his wife Tricia Yearwood played in helping her find the courage and strength to be publicly out enough to marry her wife.  The piece features this great quote:

     

    “You know, it’s so funny, because the media talks about queer people being “groomers.” And I’m like, “If you could groom people, I would be straight as f***!” [laughs] Like, growing up, I did beauty pageants. My mom put me in pink every day. My hair was always in curls. I was the freakin’ homecoming queen. All of these quintessential “girly” things. … So, if I could have been “groomed” to be one thing, I would’ve been straight, for sure!”

  167. 167.

    JustRuss

    June 18, 2023 at 12:35 am

    Friends of mine saw Garth in Vegas last week.  He’s an amazing performer.

  168. 168.

    Brianc91764

    June 19, 2023 at 1:00 am

    @bluefoot: His sister, who was his bass player in his early career, was gay, although that wasn’t necessarily the reason for his stance.

  169. 169.

    Paul in KY

    June 19, 2023 at 9:21 am

    @CliosFanBoy: You guys were so kind to adopt them & I know they had great lives while they were with you & your wife.

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