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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

White supremacy is terrorism.

Bark louder, little dog.

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

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It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

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So many bastards, so little time.

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

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

by WaterGirl|  June 21, 20234:17 pm| 210 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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It’s another way-too-freaking-hot afternoon here in Champaign.  I’m on the porch and the thermostat says 95.

Anyway, that seems like a good day to stay inside and get caught up on some reading.  Like these guys are!


h/t Subaru Dianne for the image

Henry and I spent a couple of hours at the Vet School this afternoon for his last visit with the dermatologist who is moving to Michigan.  Best vet I have ever had, and she adores Henry.  She said she took some photos when she had Henry upstairs for his exam.  Henry adores her and the feeling is mutual.  I got to meet the 3rd year resident who will be looking after Henry now the Dr. Brame is leaving.

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

210Comments

  1. 1.

    Maxim

    June 21, 2023 at 4:20 pm

    Frist!

  2. 2.

    scav

    June 21, 2023 at 4:20 pm

    Trump Presidential Library’s Summer Reading Program.

  3. 3.

    Old School

    June 21, 2023 at 4:20 pm

    They are just looking for Trump’s golf pants.

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    June 21, 2023 at 4:22 pm

     

    Yes, THAT DURHAM 😡

    https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8JPvADe/

  5. 5.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    Pleasantly gray and gloomy here in NoVA. Only 63°!

  6. 6.

    twbrandt

    June 21, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    I am on vacation and currently in Stockholm, Sweden; a city I can’t say enough good things about. It’s a beautiful city, very safe, very walkable, with an excellent public transport system.

    My vacation read is A Better Man, by Canadian author Louise Penny. She’s one of my favorite mystery writers. This one is really good.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    June 21, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    @scav:

    Reading is Fundamental

     

     

    @twbrandt:

    As if all that makes up for the Socialism!

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    When you’re moving , there’s always that last pile in the middle of the living room.  You have packed up everything else, or thrown it away, or given it away, but there is just that last pile of odds and ends that you just can’t decide what to do with.

    I haven’t moved in decades, but I have never forgotten that I always got to that point in the process, and I would say fuck it, and I would throw it all in a bag or a box to deal with later.

    Even that box would not have contained a mix of papers and clothing.

  9. 9.

    Ken

    June 21, 2023 at 4:27 pm

    Ridiculous picture. Both of them have people to do their espionage for them.

    Speaking of spying, I recently thought of a Medium Cool topic.  I was watching a Mission: Impossible re-run, “The Carriers“. The team has infiltrated a Soviet* training facility where Russian* agents are being trained to pass as Americans. In one scene the team is confronted by policemen. One member demands a warrant, at which point the trainer congratulates him on responding as an American would.

    He then turns to the other trainees, played by George Takei and Greg Morris, and tells them “You were too passive. Americans have nothing to fear from their police.”  So my Medium Cool topic would be, “Scenes that play totally differently, now that we know actors’ biographies that the studios weren’t willing to publicize back then.”

    * Not named as such, but obviously meant that way.

  10. 10.

    Kelly

    June 21, 2023 at 4:27 pm

    Here in the Western Cascade Foothills summer is back after after several days of nice rain. Forecast highs for the week ahead in the 70s and 80. I’m heading outside :-)

  11. 11.

    scav

    June 21, 2023 at 4:28 pm

    @Baud: They do so love the stickers though, you must admit.

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:30 pm

    Where is Amir?  He wanted a new thread. :-)

  13. 13.

    twbrandt

    June 21, 2023 at 4:30 pm

    @Baud: speaking of socialism, I’ve seen very few obviously unhoused people in Stockholm, or in Oslo, Norway, where I was last week. The Swedes and Norwegians treat homelessness as a systemic issue and provide housing for those who need it, rather than a moral failing as we do in the US.

  14. 14.

    Kristine

    June 21, 2023 at 4:31 pm

    A little cooler here by the lake. 80F, and if the pattern holds a cool breeze will drift in later in the afternoon. The only problems are the air quality alerts and the lack of rainfall.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:32 pm

    @Ken: You rang?

  16. 16.

    scav

    June 21, 2023 at 4:32 pm

    @Ken: But is it really spying when the info comes with the en suite and the mints on the pillow?  During a golf vacation?

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    June 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm

    First day of summer and Sacramento is [checks] 81 and not 101; in fact we’ve not hit three digits once this year. It’s crazy, I tells ya!

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    June 21, 2023 at 4:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: Busy playing guitar at a cat.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    If it’s truly a thermostat, just dial it down to 80.
    ;)

  20. 20.

    Ken

    June 21, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    @WaterGirl: If you mean the Medium Cool topic, I added the note to get the edit time, and have now added the rest.

    If you mean that you’re volunteering to spy for me, I must say that I have absolutely no (wink wink nudge nudge) need for such services.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:38 pm

    @NotMax: Yeah, i hesitated as I was typing – thermometer or thermostat, I went with the wrong choice.

    It’s actually built into the fan that I have oscillating and blow on me at top speed.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    June 21, 2023 at 4:38 pm

    @twbrandt:

    You fool! They’re eating the homeless for food!

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:39 pm

    @Ken: Ha!

    I had not seen your edit, only your statement that you had an idea.  I will go back and read it now.

  24. 24.

    UncleEbeneezer

    June 21, 2023 at 4:39 pm

    @twbrandt: Author Bill Bryson wrote that Stockholm was possibly his favorite of all European cities that he visited in his novel Neither Here nor There.  His description of the parks and bridges and waterways was absolutely delightful and has always made me want to visit.

  25. 25.

    catclub

    June 21, 2023 at 4:40 pm

    @NotMax: ​
      I approve of your pedantry.

  26. 26.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 21, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    @twbrandt: I like Penny’s books too

  27. 27.

    JPL

    June 21, 2023 at 4:43 pm

    It’s 69 in my area.   Yup I live just north of hotlanta   ha.   My air conditioner is loving this year so far, but we’ll see what happens next year.

    I just read that the TX power grid is struggling again, so I hope it doesn’t fail again.

  28. 28.

    Dan B

    June 21, 2023 at 4:43 pm

    @Steeplejack:  The Jet Stream is extremely contorted.  It’s heading south down the very cool west coast, turns rapidly north along the Rockies all the way a few hundred miles into Canada, then south again near the Appalachians.  So Texas and the Midwest into Canada is roasting (Watergirl) while the coasts are quite cool.  The Jet Stream gets this loopy when the Arctic warms dramatically.  There’s little temperature difference between the poles and the subtropics so the Jet Stream slows like the Mississippi does from Arkansas to the Gulf.  There’s little elevation change so the river gets loopy.

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    June 21, 2023 at 4:43 pm

    It’s only 80 F here because we’ve had tons of much-needed rain. I braved the mucky roads earlier to have lunch with some family members, and one dining companion was a toddler. My kiddo is nearly 25, so I’d almost forgotten what is was like to dine publicly with toddlers. One star — would not recommend! ;-)

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:44 pm

    @Ken: I am intrigued, but I am not sure I understand exactly.

    George Takei was in a Japanese internment camp.  I have no idea who Greg Morris is.  I imagine knowing who he is would help me understand.

    Can you give me another example of another scene that plays differently?

    Like I said, intuited but uncertain.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    June 21, 2023 at 4:44 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I even liked the series on Amazon, and wished that they had renewed it.   Sometimes it takes a more time to build an audience.

  32. 32.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 21, 2023 at 4:45 pm

    Had lunch today with a friend who’s a retired FBI agent and friend brought up the topic of the FBI dragging on its investigation of Jan 6. Friend knows the guy in charge of that and said he’s a nice guy but would hesitate to confront powerful people, so friend wasn’t surprised by the foot-dragging

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 4:47 pm

    @Betty Cracker:  Laughing.  The last time I had dinner with a toddler in a restaurant, he politely asked his father to take him to the bathroom, and when they returned to the table afterwards, he  loudly proclaimed to the entire restaurant:

    I had a BM!!!!

  34. 34.

    raven

    June 21, 2023 at 4:49 pm

    Ah the U 0f I vet school, one of the best.

  35. 35.

    gwangung

    June 21, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    @WaterGirl: Greg Morris is black. Which introduces all sorts of irony and undercurrents with Uncle George.

  36. 36.

    Dan B

    June 21, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    @WaterGirl:  Reminds me of the ski area near Akron, Boston Mills.  They rented a lot of skis with their monogram.  My cousins skied there and laughed.

  37. 37.

    Ken

    June 21, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    @WaterGirl: Greg Morris was an African-American actor. I recall reading that he had some problems with the government and police over the civil rights movement, as so many did, but I’m not seeing that in his Wikipedia biography so perhaps I’ve mixed him up with another actor.

    I guess another example would the careers of homosexual actors, where the studio kept that secret (though often with the actor’s consent and approval). Watching Rock Hudson in any of his romantic lead roles today, we have a different reaction than did the audiences of the 1960s.

  38. 38.

    UncleEbeneezer

    June 21, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    Since this is OT, my rant:  when horrible people like Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh etc., die I freaking hate when people do that performative thing of announcing how THEY aren’t gonna celebrate or say bad things about these monsters.  Like, you wanna not speak ill of the dead?  Cool.  Nobody cares.  But the minute you start acting like that somehow makes you superior to those who do, that’s bullshit.  If my LGBTQ friends want to dance on his grave or wish for Pat Robertson to rot in hell, it’s really not anyone’s place to scold them for doing so.

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    June 21, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    @WaterGirl: LOL!

    My kid embarrassed me like that once at the grocery store approximately 23 years ago. Trying to model grown-up potty behavior, I casually remarked to the tyke that I had to poop but was waiting until we got home (unspoken corollary: “instead of just pooping whenever like YOU do, kid!”). It backfired on me at the checkout line when the kid loudly said, “Please hurry — my mom needs to POOP!”

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    June 21, 2023 at 4:53 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: Apparently their subway stations are works of art, as well. Or so I’ve heard, never been. The won’t let you in without an allen wrench in hand.

  41. 41.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 4:55 pm

    @twbrandt:

    The Swedes and Norwegians treat homelessness as a systemic issue and provide housing for those who need it, rather than a moral failing as we do in the US.

    I think the biggest problem with homelessness in the US isn’t that we treat it as a moral failing but that we don’t even treat them as human.  They are treated as an inconvenience for the housed who need to be gotten rid of.  Almost all the “solutions” to homelessness I see are about making sure the existence of homeless people doesn’t bother anyone else.

  42. 42.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 21, 2023 at 4:56 pm

    @twbrandt: ​
     

    I am on vacation and currently in Stockholm, Sweden; a city I can’t say enough good things about. It’s a beautiful city, very safe, very walkable, with an excellent public transport system.

    And mani interesting furry animals

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 4:56 pm

    @twbrandt:

    The Swedes and Norwegians treat homelessness as a systemic issue and provide housing for those who need it, rather than a moral failing as we do in the US. 

    They got universal healthcare too?!  The commies!

  44. 44.

    Joy in FL

    June 21, 2023 at 4:56 pm

    That image is great!  I have a Zoom meeting later this afternoon and I made that graphic into my Zoom background. My friends are going to love it.

    Thank you Subaru Diane!

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 21, 2023 at 4:56 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Friend knows the guy in charge of that and said he’s a nice guy but would hesitate to confront powerful people, so friend wasn’t surprised by the foot-dragging

    D’Antuono? Even while reading that article I couldn’t really keep track of who was who and which office they worked in and when. Marcy Wheeler and Allison Gill had a lot to say about him, but I couldn’t even follow Gill into those weeds on this, much less Wheeler. This was interesting though:

    Mueller, She Wrote @MuellerSheWrote 6h

    Anyone watching Jim Jordan praise D’antuono today during the Durham hearing should re-think where they place their rage about the WaPo reporting two days ago. Was it Garland that delayed the probe, or trump & Jim Jordan pals like Sherwin and D’antuono?

  46. 46.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 21, 2023 at 4:57 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, him.

  47. 47.

    gwangung

    June 21, 2023 at 5:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, that’s a BIG factor on the perceived “slowness” of Garland. He has to work with who’s in the DOJ, and a lot of them are far more partisan than professional. (And add to that is the natural reluctance of even the most hardcore investigators to overly pressure the powerful and well connected and all the complaints about the slowness seems a tin eared).

  48. 48.

    Delk

    June 21, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    Five years ago today I said goodbye to my sweet Gav.

  49. 49.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 21, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Pleasantly gray and gloomy here in NoVA. Only 63°!

    Unpleasantly rainy, windy, and unseasonably chilly across a river or two here in Calvert County.  We needed a little rain, but not this badly!

  50. 50.

    Suzanne

    June 21, 2023 at 5:07 pm

    @WaterGirl: Kids talk about poop all the time. I hope mine grow out of it someday.

  51. 51.

    japa21

    June 21, 2023 at 5:08 pm

    @gwangung: ​
      Actually, it doesn’t bother me that they slow tracked it. Gave the higher ups a chance to see who may or may not have tried to sabotage the efforts. And I am sure some of them would have been super happy to warn certain people of what was happening.

  52. 52.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 5:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  I was confused about Sherwin.  First he was in favor of delay but – unless I misunderstood – he then made comments in an interview that forced the DOJ to move forward?

  53. 53.

    twbrandt

    June 21, 2023 at 5:13 pm

    @Roger Moore: I think it’s both. The prevailing attitude is that if you are poor it’s your fault. And that leads to treating the poor as subhuman.

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 5:18 pm

    @WaterGirl: LOL!  Down in Florida, visiting my aunt and uncle, my 2-year-old nephew proclaimed, “I pooped!” when coming back to the table with his dad at a restaurant.

  55. 55.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 21, 2023 at 5:22 pm

    @Baud: “lutefisk is people!!!”

  56. 56.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 5:23 pm

    Hmmm, I wonder if this is similar to a case we’ve been hearing about in the news lately?

    The DOJ apparently does prosecute violations of the Espionage Act.

    Former FBI Analyst Sentenced for Retaining Classified Documents

    Kept Hundreds of National Defense Documents at Her Home in Violation of the Espionage Act

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former analyst with the Kansas City Division of the FBI was sentenced in federal court today for illegally retaining documents related to the national defense at her residence.

    Kendra Kingsbury, 50, of Garden City, Kansas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to three years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. Kingsbury pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2022, to two counts of unlawfully retaining documents related to the national defense.

    Kingsbury was an intelligence analyst for the FBI for more than 12 years, from 2004 to Dec. 15, 2017. Kingsbury was assigned to a sequence of different FBI squads, each of which had a particular focus, such as illegal drug trafficking, violent crime, violent gangs, and counterintelligence. Kingsbury held a TOP SECRET//SCI security clearance and had access to national defense and classified information. Training presentations and materials specifically warned Kingsbury that she was prohibited from retaining classified information at her personal residence. Such information could only be stored in an approved facility and container.

    Kingsbury admitted that, over the course of her FBI employment, she repeatedly removed from the FBI and retained in her personal residence (at that time in North Kansas City, Mo.) an abundance of sensitive government materials, including classified documents related to the national defense.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    @Ken: That helps a lot!

    I may use your idea for Medium Cool this Sunday., :-)

  58. 58.

    Nelle

    June 21, 2023 at 5:25 pm

    @twbrandt: Yesterday, someone who is moving, gave me a complete set of Louise Penny books.  I’m rich!  I’m rich!

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:26 pm

    @Dan B: I would laugh, too.

    I always wonder why they named Dick’s (Sporting Goods) that.

  60. 60.

    Dan B

    June 21, 2023 at 5:26 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:  I bet it’s toilet training that praises the kid for pooping in the terlet.  Praise is then expected.

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:27 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I can’t stop laughing.

    That’s worse than mine. :-)  But so funny!

    Having said that, your approach was sound, it just didn’t go exactly as you had pictured.  But you clearly raised a thoughtful kid!

  62. 62.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    @WaterGirl: @Ken: I’m pretty sure Greg Morris was a regular on the original M.I.

    And as to Putin and Salman, first there’s no need for espionage among friends, and second they do wanna see the really good stuff for themselves.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    June 21, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    @Scout211:

    Such information could only be stored in an approved facility and container.

     
    Like a country club bathroom.

  64. 64.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    Kari lake and Trump? Jezebel has the gossip.

    So, Kari Lake Has Basically Moved In With Donald Trump

    Ewwwwww! 🤣

    There’s no bond more delusional than the bond between two people who both believe they lost an election because the system is rigged, and not because they’re a couple of morally vacant bobbleheads who confuse bigotry with patriotism. But it’s a bond that Kari “God did not create [women] to be equal to men” Lake is really leaning into of late, apparently, in pursuit of being chosen as Donald Trump’s next running mate.

    Lake, the former local news anchor who lost Arizona’s gubernatorial race to Democrat Katie Hobbs in November, has reportedly all but moved into Mar-A-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach—to the extent that she’s there more than Melania. “Kari Lake is there every night … She’s there all the time,” a source told People. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.”
    . . .

    Meanwhile, Melania is reportedly hardly ever around the country club she shares with her estranged spouse, except for Saturday night dinners with Donald. If I needed to spend a couple of hours a week with my dumb husband to keep up appearances, watching him shovel ketchup-lathered burnt steak and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches into his sad, tiny mouth would be low on my list, but to each their own.

    And I’m not trying to insinuate that there’s an affair going on here between Lake and Trump (gross), but unfortunately, I do have to bring up the fact that Lake once said Trump had BDE. (If I could, I would travel back in time to ruin my parents’ first date and make sure that I’d never been alive to read that sentence.)

    “That guy has a backbone made of steel. I’ll tell you what he’s got—I don’t know if you’ve heard of this—but he’s got BDE. Anybody know what that means?” Lake said during a rally in August, initially referring to Ron DeSantis (I know. I’m sorry.) “Ask your kids about it later. I call it Big DeSantis Energy. He’s got the same type of BDE that President Trump has. And frankly, he has the same BDE that we want all of our leaders to have.”

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 21, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: If only.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well now we have the answer to the question from yesterday.

    We knew the timing was interesting, and that there was a reason this was coming out NOW, but we just didn’t know what it was.

    Now we do.

  67. 67.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    @Delk: I’m sorry.

    I never know what to call those days.  Anniversary sounds like it should be happy!

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    @WaterGirl

    Because Schlong’s wouldn’t fit on the sign?
    ;)

  69. 69.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    @Dan B: It’s been unusually cool and breezy in the western foothills of the Appalachians, and we’ve got several days of rain coming up from the south (probably lots of moisture running into the cool air), which we need kinda badly.

    @lowtechcyclist: yeah, that

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    @Suzanne: Everybody poops.

  71. 71.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 5:32 pm

    WG. I forgot to unlink all the links, but I just did that. Can you free me from moderation jail?
    Thanks!

  72. 72.

    Baud

    June 21, 2023 at 5:33 pm

    If Schrodinger’s Cat is around, this came across my feed.

    Why Biden Should Rethink Aligning with Modi
    It is the responsibility of the United States to hold India accountable by publicly condemning the Prime Minister’s downward spiral toward authoritarianism.

  73. 73.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    @Baud: but it was stored with a Shower Curtain In Front (SCIF)

  74. 74.

    Baud

    June 21, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    @bbleh:

    Ha.

  75. 75.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 5:35 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: Yup. I like this take too.

    Truth pic.twitter.com/0YB6WxO5yI— Hadrian Temple (@HadrianTemple) June 18, 2023

    Gotta click through to read the text.

  76. 76.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    @Ken:

    Huh. Where I thought you were going to go was “scenes that play totally differently, now that we know how American police actually work.”

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    @bbleh:

    I’m pretty sure Greg Morris was a regular on the original M.I.

    I just googled for a photos, and yes he was one of the stars of that show.  I just didn’t know him by name.

  78. 78.

    Timill

    June 21, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    @Nelle: Pennys from Heaven :-)

  79. 79.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 5:39 pm

    @WaterGirl: It may or may not be a good thing that I remembered that from watching the show when it was originally broadcast.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:39 pm

    @Scout211: I do not know what BDE is, no do I want to google it.  If someone here wanted to explain, I would be grateful.

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    June 21, 2023 at 5:40 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: That’s beautiful.

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    @Scout211: Yeah, even if you take out the links, WordPress doesn’t automatically free you.

    If you’re copying from somewhere with a lot of links, you can chose “Paste and match style” or whatever your browser calls it – that removes the links.

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    @JPL:

    A large part of Tulsa, OK, has been without power (as of late last night) since Saturday. Governor and lieutenant governor both MIA, so the secretary of state (not sure of title) had to issue the disaster proclamation.

  84. 84.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    @WaterGirl: the key is the ‘D’.  The ‘B’ is for ‘big.’

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    @bbleh: Ha!

  86. 86.

    Dangerman

    June 21, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    What? They didn’t want to sit (spelled carefully) on the same toilet Donald uses?

  87. 87.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    @WaterGirl: it’s another way of saying “manly” “macho” etc.

    Big D*ck Energy

  88. 88.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    @Dan B: Probably.  It was still funny. :)

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 21, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    @WaterGirl: Big Dick Energy.  Please be sick in an appropriate receptacle.

  90. 90.

    The Lodger

    June 21, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    @NotMax: Well, there are four balls* in front of some of the stores, so Dick’s has to be plural…

    *Football, basketball, baseball and golf ball. Relax.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    June 21, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    @WaterGirl: Something that Stephanie Clifford begs to differ with Kari Lake about.

  92. 92.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 5:45 pm

    @NotMax: Cock’s?

  93. 93.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 5:45 pm

    @Scout211:   Given Trump isn’t in Florida during the summer, camping out at MaL isn’t going to do Lake any good.  Has she been spotted at Bedminster?

  94. 94.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I agree.  And it would totally annoy Pat Robertson.

  95. 95.

    Ken

    June 21, 2023 at 5:48 pm

    @Steeplejack: That could work too. The Untouchables, Dragnet and Adam-12 have all been called “copaganda” for good reasons.

    It’s also interesting to compare the portrayals in movie and TV of standard police procedure in the 1960s and today.  Back then, cops on a domestic disturbance call were expected to knock politely on the door and talk to the people; nowadays they kick down the door with guns drawn and take someone away in handcuffs. And that’s portrayed as the right thing to do.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:49 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Hard to read when the words are all blurry like that.  :: tears ::

  97. 97.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    June 21, 2023 at 5:50 pm

    I can’t believe I hadn’t known before that you’re in Champaign. I lived there for a couple of years. Does the Courier Cafe still have good milk shakes? Used to hang out at The Brass Rail some, the Esquire. Also went to Papa Dells for pizza on occasion.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:50 pm

    @Steeplejack: That, too!

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:51 pm

    @bbleh: Speaking of Dicks’ Sporting Goods…

  100. 100.

    Dangerman

    June 21, 2023 at 5:52 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: For Donald, TMI (Tiny Manhood something or other; “E” woulda been better, but, in this case, there is an I in TMI)

  101. 101.

    Martin

    June 21, 2023 at 5:52 pm

    @Baud: Unfortunately the bargain seems to be that India presents an opportunity to reduce our economic dependency on China, and Modi > Xi, both in terms of aspiration and current state, and I think objectively that’s a fair assessment.

    In theory it’s a false choice, but if the US is going to be anti-immigration and generally anti-labor, that leaves us with a labor problem that will need to be satisfied overseas and as the 3rd most populated country on the planet, that workforce is generally going to have to come from #1 or #2, so that’s the choice we’ve forced ourselves into.

  102. 102.

    Suzanne

    June 21, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    @Scout211: Dude, do you think Melania regrets that piece of shit?!

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 21, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    Acyn @Acyn 27m

    According to sources in a Daily Beast article, Marjorie Taylor Greene called Lauren Boebert a “little bitch” here (video). 

  104. 104.

    jackmac

    June 21, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    While WaterGirl is coping with high temps in downstate Hotter Than Hell, Illinois and it’s almost 90 in my patch of Chicago suburbia, my daughter is bound for the city and tonight’s Fall Out Boy concert at Wrigley Field. I encouraged her to bring a jacket because winds blowing in off Lake Michigan (15 MPH from the north-northeast at the moment) will cause temps to plummet as much as 25-30 degrees after sunset in and around the Friendly Confines.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: I have already made an Open Thread will the full text of that.  Just waiting until we need an open thread.

  106. 106.

    rekoob

    June 21, 2023 at 5:54 pm

    @WaterGirl: Urban Dictionary is your friend. Big (name of sporting goods store) Energy.

    I believe Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride would say to Kari Lake, “You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means”.

    Rainy all day here in coastal Delaware. More rain tomorrow.

  107. 107.

    Suzanne

    June 21, 2023 at 5:55 pm

    Can they find the missing sub already?! Not just because I want them to find everyone alive and in good health…. I also want to click on the news pages without seeing headlines about it on the screen. It freaks me out.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:55 pm

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:  I haven’t been too the Courier Cafe since Covid, but I agree, they used to make great milkshakes.

    They probably still do!  Papa Dels is my favorite pizza.  Only went to the Brass Rail once – I’m not sure it’s even there anymore.  I recently passed that location and I think it was something else.

  109. 109.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 5:56 pm

    @Suzanne: Dude, do you think Melania regrets that piece of shit?!

    Not until the money stops flowing.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:56 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That may be the only true thing Marge has said in the past 3 years.

  111. 111.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    Soros’s family changed their name from the German-Jewish “Schwartz” to “Soros”, as protective camouflage in increasingly antisemitic Hungary.[39][40] Tivadar liked the new name because it is a palindrome and because of its meaning. In Hungarian, soros means “next in line”, or “designated successor”; in Esperanto it means “will soar”.

    Apparently George Soros’ father was a big proponent of Esperanto. Interesting.

  112. 112.

    Martin

    June 21, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    @trollhattan: We’ve yet to hit 80 here in SoCal. Hell, we’ve had maybe 10 days crack 72. The most overcast city in the US last month was San Diego. People are fucking depressed down here.

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    @rekoob:

    Urban Dictionary is your friend.

    Did you not see the part where I said I did not want to google that?

  114. 114.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 21, 2023 at 5:58 pm

    @Scout211:

    Hmmm, I wonder if this is similar to a case we’ve been hearing about in the news lately?

    The DOJ apparently does prosecute violations of the Espionage Act.

    I’ve been keeping a file of them in my email.  If I’m ever talking with anyone who gives me that bullshit about how only Trump got prosecuted for these offenses, I’ll be able to pull out a few emails with links in them.  (I’ve just added this one to the collection.)

  115. 115.

    Suzanne

    June 21, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    @Scout211: You don’t think she could have married some other old, rich d-bag who wasn’t such an embarrassment?!

  116. 116.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    June 21, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    @twbrandt: I was there in summer 2019. Stockholm is everything you said (I read down thread). We also hit Mora on Lak Siljan, then from there drove down the Fryken Lakes to Bengstfors where we stayed in a cabin in the woods on some lake I can’t recall the name of. It’s apparently a Swedish summer tradition to do that. Then we hit Lidköping on Lake Vänern, which is Sweden’s largest lake. Then to Stockholm for a week followed by a couple days in Vadstena staying in an old monestary or nunnery that had been converted into a hotel. That’s on Lake Vättern which is Sweden’s second largest lake. So it was a bit of a tour of lakes. Vadstena has a great old castle and there’s one in the Lidkoping area too. Lidkoping is a nice little city, Vadstena a very pleasant little town. Mora and surroundings were nice too. Very very nice trip all in all.

  117. 117.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:02 pm

    @WaterGirl: :) It’s a wonderful piece.  Apparently, the person who wrote it is semi-anonymous according to reply tweets.

  118. 118.

    Maxim

    June 21, 2023 at 6:02 pm

    @JPL: They didn’t renew it? Dammit, that makes me mad.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 21, 2023 at 6:02 pm

    @Scout211:

    Not until the money stops flowing.

    I’m guessing the addenda to that pre-nup (2017 and ’20, at least) won’t be available by FOIA request

  120. 120.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 6:02 pm

    @Ken:

    Greg Morris was an African-American actor. I recall reading that he had some problems with the government and police over the civil rights movement, as so many did, but I’m not seeing that in his Wikipedia biography so perhaps I’ve mixed him up with another actor.

    I think you are confusing Morris with someone else. As an aside, I don’t think that Mission Impossible ever dealt with American domestic issues, apart from organized crime. George Takei’s biography is tremendously important to him as a human being, but irrelevant to the future world depicted in Star Trek or to the character Sulu.

    I guess another example would the careers of homosexual actors, where the studio kept that secret (though often with the actor’s consent and approval). Watching Rock Hudson in any of his romantic lead roles today, we have a different reaction than did the audiences of the 1960s.

    It’s acting. Hudson was a great romantic lead, especially in comedies. I recall some British actor noting that coming out was problematic because some producers and some audiences could not accept him as a heterosexual romantic lead, and this limited the roles he was offered.

  121. 121.

    rekoob

    June 21, 2023 at 6:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yes, I did. I suppose I consider Urban Dictionary its own destination, not a search engine. As you wish!

  122. 122.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    @Steeplejack:  Stitt is in Paris at a weapons manufacturers convention, interviewing for some no-show board positions for when he’s no longer governor.

  123. 123.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    @jackmac: Hope she enjoys the show.  I don’t know their music, but Wrigley is a nice concert venue.  At least Rogers Waters and The Boss sounded great in 2012.

  124. 124.

    Almost Retired

    June 21, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    70 degrees and sunny here in Coastal Los Angeles County.

    Ordinarily, that would not be noteworthy, BUT FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS WE’VE HAD THE F%*&ING CLIMATE OF BELFAST OR SOME SUCH PLACE…..

    Sorry to shout.  I’m going to go play outside now.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 6:09 pm

    @karen marie:

    That can’t be! I read that he is promoting foreign investment in Oklahoma. 🙄

  126. 126.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    June 21, 2023 at 6:09 pm

    @Brachiator: As I recall, Ellen DeGeneres had much the same problem when she came out. And that was much more recent.

    I’d like to believe that in 2023 we’ve finally gotten to a point where producers understand that straight actors can play gay, and gay actors can portray straight. You know, that actors can act.

    As for Rock Hudson, I don’t look at the acting any differently. Ice Station Zebra is still one of my all-time favorite thrillers, and watching Hudson and Patrick McGoohan bristly manfully at each other is a big part of the fun.

  127. 127.

    Martin

    June 21, 2023 at 6:10 pm

    @The Lodger: But that’s wrong. Dick’s isn’t plural, it’s possessive, so it implies that Dick is claiming ownership of those 4 balls, which implies any number of things.

  128. 128.

    Maxim

    June 21, 2023 at 6:10 pm

    @Roger Moore: The other day, something reminded me of a restaurant in Sacramento that we ate at a few times over the years. I looked it up and found an article that said the restaurant had closed, and the building was being demolished, possibly to make way for new housing, since there were going to be new jobs nearby.

    Then there was a quote from the would-be developer, to the effect that “homeless don’t like to stay near new housing, so it moves it along to a different area.”

    Not homeless people (let alone unhoused persons). Just “homeless,” who then become an “it” that is moved along to be somebody else’s problem.

    It was sickening.

  129. 129.

    Martin

    June 21, 2023 at 6:11 pm

    @Almost Retired: It has been permanent March here.

  130. 130.

    narya

    June 21, 2023 at 6:11 pm

    @WaterGirl: OTOH, where I worked, the D was for Dyke, at least for some of us.

  131. 131.

    Geminid

    June 21, 2023 at 6:13 pm

    @karen marie: I was thinking that hanging out in Florida so much won’t help Kari Lake’s projected Senate run. But on second thought, maybe making personal appearances in the Grand Canyon state will hurt her prospects. A February OH Predictive poll showed that Lake’s net-negative approval ratings are second only to Blake Masters’.

    That was an encouraging poll. It found that Ruben Gallego was the only potential Senate candidate with a net-positive approval number. Five Republicans and Kysten Sinema were underwater. Gallego had a significant lead in all 2-way and 3-way matches.

    Phoenix-based OH Predictives does a lot of Arizona polling.

  132. 132.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    @Steeplejack:   Then you heard the same as me.  He is “promoting foreign investment in Oklahoma.”   He’s promoting it right into his bank account that’s in a bank in Oklahoma.

  133. 133.

    kalakal

    June 21, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Everybody poops.

    Rejected first title for an REM hit record

    Everybody

  134. 134.

    SteveinPHX

    June 21, 2023 at 6:16 pm

    @Suzanne: Kids talk about poop all the time because it’s the first thing they make. They are proud.

  135. 135.

    zhena gogolia

    June 21, 2023 at 6:17 pm

    @Suzanne: He was the one she was assigned to.

  136. 136.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:17 pm

    @Almost Retired: Are you a lizard?  (h/t Bill Hicks) 😁

  137. 137.

    karen marie

    June 21, 2023 at 6:18 pm

    @Geminid:   I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in AZ not overtaken by the MAGA disease who has anything nice to say about Lake.

  138. 138.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    June 21, 2023 at 6:18 pm

    @kalakal: Hmm. Is this an opportune moment for me to try to garner sympathy by saying I’m in the middle of colonoscopy prep and feeling sorry for myself?

    The procedure and instructions seem different every time. They were really, really insistent this time on cutting out fiber a week in advance. Neither of us ever heard of that before, and my wife just went through this a few months ago.

  139. 139.

    persistentillusion

    June 21, 2023 at 6:18 pm

    @jackmac: Oh Goddess, the coldest I’ve nearly ever been was Comiskey Park when that happened.  Line for the booth that sold hoodies was long.

  140. 140.

    zhena gogolia

    June 21, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Haha, the same thing is going on around here. I heard about the fiber thing here on BJ, but our doctors don’t seem to have gotten the memo.

  141. 141.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    @kalakal: LOL!

  142. 142.

    The Lodger

    June 21, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    @Martin: Sorry, I was using farmer’s market punctuation.

    BTW, it’s great that you’re back.

  143. 143.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 6:22 pm

    @Martin: So glad to see you here!

  144. 144.

    Mousebumples

    June 21, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    John B. Holbein (@JohnHolbein1) tweeted at 3:45 PM on Mon, Jun 19, 2023:

    Can you guess what happens when you give kids food stamps?

    …

    …

    …

    …

     

    They…

    ⚫live longer,

    ⚫invest more in human capital,

    ⚫are more economically self-sufficient,

    ⚫live in better neighborhoods,

    ⚫are less likely to be incarcerated.

    https://t.co/ICcAQHvdca https://t.co/vPU4noPK0Y

    (https://twitter.com/JohnHolbein1/status/1670895603960754179?t=FVVQLhDh9Wqq2_kMnCTJLg&s=03)

    Saw that earlier on Twitter and thought I’d share. More evidence that the GOP is not pro-life in any way approximating reality.

  145. 145.

    kalakal

    June 21, 2023 at 6:24 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    You most certainly have my sympathy.

    A procedure guaranteed to make you miserable and reduce your dignity.

    Never heard about the fiber bit before either

  146. 146.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 21, 2023 at 6:25 pm

    @Baud: I am quite unhappy with the symbolism of this visit. Right now after a major electoral debacle the BJP was on the backfoot. This is good publicity for the  BJP

    Biden has earned the benefit of the doubt from me. So I will be hearing his remarks closely before I say something

    I need to restart my blog, one post here is not going to cut it. I need to bear witness. 2024 is going to be pivotal to whether India survives in its current form.

  147. 147.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 6:25 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    As for Rock Hudson, I don’t look at the acting any differently. Ice Station Zebra is still one of my all-time favorite thrillers, and watching Hudson and Patrick McGoohan bristly manfully at each other is a big part of the fun.

    Yep. And Hudson was magnificent in the 1956 film Giant, along side Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean.

  148. 148.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 6:25 pm

    I am suddenly hungering for autumn. Had a pleasant siesta this afternoon with the bedroom window open, and now I’ve cracked the window by the desk in the front room. It’s gray and intermittently rainy here in Threadkill Lane, 62° and even a bit windy. I’m an “I like all four seasons” guy, but I’m getting an urge. I feel energized.​

  149. 149.

    kalakal

    June 21, 2023 at 6:26 pm

    Temp a cool 70 down here in Pinellas, Fl. We have been having a ton of rain since Saturday and every gardner is grateful

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack

    June 21, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    @Delk:

    RIP, Gav.

  151. 151.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I do not know what BDE is, no do I want to google it.

    I assume she means Big Dick Energy.  Honestly, I think it would be more fair to call it SDE, because it seems like it happens more often in men who are overcompensating for their anatomical inadequacy.

  152. 152.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 6:30 pm

    @bbleh:

    I’m pretty sure Greg Morris was a regular on the original M.I.

    Yep. And he was a regular for the entire run of the series. Supposedly, he did not like the movies, but they are their own thing.

  153. 153.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:31 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Haha!  Back to Meltrashania being Dipshit Donnie’s Kremlin handler.  Yeah.

  154. 154.

    Maxim

    June 21, 2023 at 6:31 pm

    It’s been cooler than normal here in the desert outside LA, also too. Highs in the 80s. No rain, though.

  155. 155.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 6:32 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: They were really, really insistent this time on cutting out fiber a week in advance

    Sending oodles of sympathy your way.

    The low-fiber diet made a huge difference for me this time around. Added: highly recommend.

    Plus, drink the prep through a straw and stick a popsicle in your mouth (or suck on a lemon) immediately after drinking the prep.

  156. 156.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 6:33 pm

    @Martin:

    In theory it’s a false choice, but if the US is going to be anti-immigration and generally anti-labor, that leaves us with a labor problem that will need to be satisfied overseas and as the 3rd most populated country on the planet, that workforce is generally going to have to come from #1 or #2, so that’s the choice we’ve forced ourselves into.

    The US doesn’t need so much labor that we need to import it from countries bigger than us.  We seem to have no trouble attracting plenty of people eager to work from Latin America.  The bigger problem is that there are a lot of people who don’t like the idea of solving our labor problems by letting non-Whites into the country.  Of course those people seem to be generally opposed to trying to solve problems at all.

  157. 157.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 21, 2023 at 6:35 pm

    @Mousebumples: Wait.  Kids who are able to eat on a regular basis are happier?

    What crazy talk is this?

  158. 158.

    BeautifulPlumage

    June 21, 2023 at 6:35 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I had the same thing recently. Plus all the meds were over-the-counter laxatives. My guess is this is easier on the body than the procedure used 12 years ago for my last one. I remember being very uncomfortable for that last 18 hours of that prep.

  159. 159.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 6:36 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Did you not see the part where I said I did not want to google that?

    Don’t google it.  Go to Urban Dictionary and search for it with their site search.  It’s a text-only site, so you’ll be protected from needing to gouge your eyes out from the stuff you’ll see on Google with an inappropriate search term.

  160. 160.

    Mousebumples

    June 21, 2023 at 6:40 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Wait. Kids who are able to eat on a regular basis are happier?

    What crazy talk is this?

    Haha, mind blown, right?

    Next they’ll tell us that women are happier when given bodily autonomy…

  161. 161.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    June 21, 2023 at 6:43 pm

    @Scout211: Plus, drink the prep through a straw and stick a popsicle in your mouth (or suck on a lemon) immediately after drinking the prep.

    Why?

    When I first went through this, there was a special lemon-ginger drink which was just awful. The taste of that stuff was the worst part of the prep.

    Now it’s just Gatorade laced with, well, you can guess what. Which I don’t ordinarily drink, and I have to get through 64 ounces of it tonight. But still, it’s not that much of an ordeal.

    I’m also surprised that the medications didn’t start till 4 pm, i.e., a couple of hours ago. I remember it as starting much earlier. I’m actually kind of anxious that there’s enough time for the things to happen that need to happen, but I guess they know what they’re doing.

  162. 162.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 21, 2023 at 6:48 pm

    @Martin: There are flaws in your analysis. India and China are not fungible. India is nowhere near China as a manufacturing hub for starters.

    Modi and BJP are bullies they are not going to stand up to China. They haven’t so far.

  163. 163.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 6:48 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    They were really, really insistent this time on cutting out fiber a week in advance.

    Kaiser was insistent on that when I had to do a colonoscopy last year.  They also made a big point about cutting back on red and purple colored food a few days ahead.

  164. 164.

    Kelly

    June 21, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Had my colonoscopy in November. Bidet toilet seat made the prep more tolerable. A bit late for you but I highly recommend. Easy to install.

  165. 165.

    Scout211

    June 21, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Why?

    You may not need the straw if you mix yours with flavored Gatorade. My instructions were to only mix it with water, no other liquid.  And the taste makes me gag. The straw sends the liquid to the back of your mouth, missing many of your tastebuds. But again, since you were able to mix yours with a flavored drink, it probably isn’t necessary.

    It is interesting about all the different instructions.

  166. 166.

    Jeffro

    June 21, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    I am watching Matt Gaetz absolutely ROAST John Durham, calling him “The Washington Generals” (ie, paid to show up and lose to the Harlem Globetrotters) and my. night. is made.

    Holy cow, GOP.  You’re swirling down the drain much, much faster than y’all realize!

    That and the Boebert/Greene catfight…I think I may just have to call it a week.  =)

  167. 167.

    Jay

    June 21, 2023 at 6:59 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    there is “unskilled labour”, eg construction workers, farm workers, etc, that really isn’t unskilled labour,

    the US and Canada get that from “down south”,

    then there is “skilled labour”, programmers, doctors, nurses, admin, engineers, etc, most of whom come from China, India, Pakistan, etc.

  168. 168.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 21, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    @The Lodger:

    It was the Scotsman’s** first time in the USA, and his American host took him to a baseball game.

    The leadoff hitter slapped a hard grounder into the hole, and the entire crowd, save the puzzled Scotsman**, stood and shouted Run! Run! Run! As they sat down, his host explained that if the hitter had made it to first base before the thrown ball, he would have been awarded the base.

    When the next hitter hit a grounder to the third basemen, the Scotsman** rose to his feet with the rest of the crowd shouting Run! Run! Run!

    The third batter let several pitches go by, and finally dropped his bat and started walking toward first base. When the Scotsman** leapt*** to his feet all alone shouting Run! Run! Run! his host pulled him down by the arm and hissed, He doesn’t have to run, he can walk.

    How so? asked the Scotsman.

    Because he has four balls, his host replied.

    The Scotsman** once more leapt*** to his feet and shouted,

    Walk prrrrrroudly, laddie!

    ** The “t” is silent. Sco’lan’, Lan’ o’ th’ glo’al stop!

    *** Bri’ish usage, donchaknow.

    :^D

  169. 169.

    prostratedragon

    June 21, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    @Brachiator:  I think a little mystery is an advantage for an actor; explains part of the motivation for stage names and other kayfabe. I’d be reluctant to give it up.

  170. 170.

    bbleh

    June 21, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    @Scout211: @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I’ve also had materially different instructions each time, and from various remarks made the last time, I have the suspicion that it’s up to the doc, and different docs have different things they want done and not done, and that’s what you get told to do.

    Some similarities across all of them, of course, and the anesthesia prep is separate (btw make sure your anesthesiologist is in-network or will accept network rates).

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    @Jeffro: I went to the link someone provided upthread, and I did not find a fight between Marge and the gun-toting-former-bar-owner.

    I did, however, find a bunch of fun videos where various Dems were roasting the GOP for their attacks on Adam Schiff and roasting John Durham mercilessly.

  172. 172.

    S Cerevisiae

    June 21, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    @Dan B: I read Dr. Jennifer Francis papers predicting this very same jet stream behavior over a decade ago, she was at Rutgers then but she was absolutely right.

  173. 173.

    raven

    June 21, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    @Martin: Good to have you back.

  174. 174.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 21, 2023 at 7:09 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Schlong’s? Schwanz’s?? Cazzo’s???

    According to Italian folk legend, the four things most essential to life are

    Vino fresco, aqua pura,

    Fica stresa, cazzo duro.

    Fica is Italian for “fig,” and yes, it has exactly the same figurative meaning you thought it did… (As for the rest, In the immortal patter of Tom Lehrer, The rest of you can look it up when you get home. 8^D)

  175. 175.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 21, 2023 at 7:10 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Choking the drink down is the worst. Everything else is tolerable. My two words to people doing it for the first time are “baby wipes.”

  176. 176.

    James E Powell

    June 21, 2023 at 7:11 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Greg Morris was Barney. He was the electronics & gadget guy. He would be in a crawlspace or inside a wall or on top of the elevator or some other hiding place, operating whatever electronics or gadgets the team needed to succeed.

  177. 177.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 7:14 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo

    Usually heard it with an Italian relation visiting rather than a Scot, anxious to attend a game to see Joe DiMaggio.

    ‘Walk-a with pride, Joe! Walk-a with pride!”

  178. 178.

    The Thin Black Duke

    June 21, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    @Brachiator: Don’t forget Seconds. John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece.

  179. 179.

    Dan B

    June 21, 2023 at 7:22 pm

    @S Cerevisiae:  I read reports like Jennifer Francis’ years ago as well.  It led me to predict that Sea level rise would nit be the first serious problem that would be extreme weather and serious problems with agriculture.

  180. 180.

    Uncle Cosmo

    June 21, 2023 at 7:23 pm

    @NotMax: Never once heard it that way. You are cordially invited to note that yerstruly is by ancestry cento per cento italiano.

    Also, for your particular reading enjoyment: Fa in culo!

  181. 181.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    @prostratedragon:

    I think a little mystery is an advantage for an actor; explains part of the motivation for stage names and other kayfabe. I’d be reluctant to give it up.

    Often a stage name is used because another actor already has that name. It’s funny when an actor can’t use their birth name.

  182. 182.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 7:31 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke

    Film doesn’t come close to holding a candle to the terse original novel by David Ely. IMHO.

    Remember (having read the book some years before the movie was released) going into the theater with high anticipation and exiting disappointed.

  183. 183.

    jackmac

    June 21, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    @persistentillusion: Same here. Except at Wrigley. The day started in the lower 80s, sunny and just a perfect summer baseball day. I knew better, but still went to the park with a short-sleeved shirt. Our seats were in the high upper deck along a fence and brisk winds off the lake blew right through us and the fence as temps dropped. I fled to the concourse for a (surprisingly inexpensive) Wrigley Field hoodie. Lesson relearned and I still have the hoodie!

  184. 184.

    TriassicSands

    June 21, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    It’s another way-too-freaking-hot afternoon here in Champaign. — WaterGirl

    WaterGirl, when I read that, I pictured you sitting, up to your neck, in a very large glass of Champaign — an excellent way to cool off on a hot day. Question: Do different brands and years have greater and lesser cooling abilities?

    Does an $820 bottle of Dom Pérignon Cuvée Champagne 2003 cool better than a $80 bottle of Bollinger Brut Special Cuvee?

    I had a cat with pemphigus foliaceus, an uncommon to rare autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the skin and forms extremely fragile blisters. I had to take her to an animal dermatologist for a diagnosis and treatment. (There are three types of pemphigus — foliaceus, erythamatosis, and vulgaris — humans also get pemphigus.)

    It’s a horrible disease. In my cat’s case the main problems were with her ears and dew claws. The blisters break very easily exposing the skin to infection. And, of course, where do cats take their dew claws every day — yep, into the litter box, where a bacterium or two have been known to hang out.

    There aren’t very many animal dermatologists, or there weren’t in the early 2000s — only two in WA State (a couple of hundred in the entire country at that time). The dermatologist was wonderful. The best vet I’ve ever seen. Pemphigus was no mystery to him — that’s where most cats (and dogs) with the disease end up. For the next 14 years, I gave Nootka gold injections. First once a week, and ultimately four times a year. She never had another outbreak.

    Most cats and dogs are treated with corticosteroids (either prednisone or dexamethasone), which taken long term have potentially really bad side effects (as they do in humans). The vet had bought up every ounce of gold salts he could get his hands on, because they had stop making it after it was no longer used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in people. Eventually, he ran out and for the last year and a half, I had to give her dexamethasone. Nootka never outwardly showed any side effects of the medication, but it is known to be hard on kidneys and she eventually died of kidney disease. However, kidney disease is the most common cause of death in cats over the age of 14 and she was 17, so I figured, even if it had hastened her death, she had a full life, free of potentially fatal infections. Not a bad deal.

    I don’t know if they are now using some of the many immunosuppressants that are now available for humans. The cost of monoclonal antibodies has to be prohibitive for most people.

    Note: photographs of severe cases of pemphigus are pretty horrifying. Foliaceus is less severe than vulgaris which causes deeper blisters but it, pemphigus, really is a horrible disease. Untreated, Nootka would undoubtedly have succumbed to infections.

  185. 185.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Don’t forget Seconds. John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece.

    When I first saw the film as a preteen, it was confusing, and also too downbeat for my tastes. But with later viewings I understood its sad beauty.

  186. 186.

    Amir Khalid

    June 21, 2023 at 7:43 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I got all sleepy waiting for the new thread and had to go to bed. Sorry.

  187. 187.

    Roger Moore

    June 21, 2023 at 7:44 pm

    @Brachiator: ​
     

    Often a stage name is used because another actor already has that name.

    They’re also very common because the actor’s given name is considered problematic for some reason. Maybe their given name isn’t colorful enough or manly enough (e.g. Marion Morrison aka John Wayne), or they’re afraid their name is too “ethnic” (e.g. Krishna Pandit Bhanji aka Ben Kingsley).

  188. 188.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Dick Van Dyke is a ridiculous name, but Richard Wayne Van Dyke was fine with it.

  189. 189.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 7:50 pm

    @Roger Moore

    Caused a minor tremor within the bowels of the industry at the time when Carrie Snodgress’ real name first appeared on marquees.

  190. 190.

    MagdaInBlack

    June 21, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    I finally broke down and turned on the ac and now ComEd will own me, again.

  191. 191.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 7:55 pm

    @Brachiator

    Rimshot punch line at the time was “He changed it from Dick Goatee.”

  192. 192.

    The Lodger

    June 21, 2023 at 7:55 pm

    @Brachiator:  Sometimes, the actor’s birth name doesn’t belong to another actor. Comedian Albert Brooks was born Albert Einstein. (On the other hand, his brother Bob also went into show business and kept his original last name.)

  193. 193.

    kalakal

    June 21, 2023 at 7:59 pm

    Diana Dors real name was Diana Fluck.

    In later life she did a lot of civic opening ceremonies, fetes etc leading to elevated stress levels amongst town mayors & assorted local dignitories, hoping against hope they wouldn’t screw up introducing her

  194. 194.

    WaterGirl

    June 21, 2023 at 8:00 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I put one up as soon as I saw your plea. :-)

    You haven’t sent me photos of your new kitty yet.  I missed the original announcement, not even sure if your kitty is a girl (guessing) or a boy kitty.

    What was the story of your meeting?  Surely seems like photos and a story would make a great Celebrating Jackals post. :-)

  195. 195.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 8:00 pm

    @NotMax:

    Rimshot punch line at the time was “He changed it from Dick Goatee.”

    Or, as Mary Tyler Moore once joked with David Letterman, “Penis Van Lesbian.”

  196. 196.

    NotMax

    June 21, 2023 at 8:01 pm

    @The Lodger

    And both were sons of the screen character actor billed as Parkyakarkus.

  197. 197.

    Brachiator

    June 21, 2023 at 8:07 pm

    OT: this wild story recently popped up in my news feed. The ridiculous lives of the rich and famous.

    Despite paying $100,000 every month for more than a year to maintain the Russian billionaire’s abandoned superyacht, Antigua has made a massive profit of $63 million on the sale of the Alfa Nero to ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The proceeds will add 4% to the country’s GDP.

    And this is also after paying $3.7 million in back pay to the crew.

  198. 198.

    prostratedragon

    June 21, 2023 at 8:08 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:  You can practice your JSmith Executioner Stare™ looking at the last couple of glasses of that stuff. But yeah, once that’s done the procedure should be no big deal.

  199. 199.

    zhena gogolia

    June 21, 2023 at 8:18 pm

    @NotMax: Who appears in a song sung by Shirley Temple in Stowaway!

  200. 200.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    June 21, 2023 at 8:25 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Sorry for you. I went through this last week. Several days of soup.  I was clean, so it went well.  Had an Italian Beef Sandwich afterward.

  201. 201.

    Maxim

    June 21, 2023 at 8:38 pm

    @kalakal:

    Diana Dors real name was Diana Fluck

    My dad went to school growing up with a kid named Bud Fluck.

  202. 202.

    prostratedragon

    June 21, 2023 at 9:19 pm

    That Tula Finkel is really some dancer. But then consider how useful it could be for Dana Owens to be able to move around with minimal fuss.

  203. 203.

    phein64

    June 21, 2023 at 9:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: They have cut the number of biscuits in a medium order of biscuits and gravy, which is their best breakfast IMHO.

    We’ve been going there since 1987, and my four kids still think of it as the special breakfast place.

  204. 204.

    phein64

    June 21, 2023 at 9:39 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Cologuard, if you are eligible.  Then you only have to crap into a box.  My wife’s family are polyp producers, so she cannot avail herself; I do not envy her.

  205. 205.

    jackmac

    June 21, 2023 at 10:15 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Had a colonoscopy three weeks ago and nobody ever wants to have one of these. The prep was lengthy (a colonoscopy attempt in February failed so my gastroenterologist added an extra day to prep). I’ve had a few of these over the years and the prep beverage tastes less odious each time. The actual procedure went very well and they found some polyps which were later examined and benign plus they noted scars from my previous bouts with ulcerative colitus (in remission for 15 years).  I have to go back in three years for another, partly based on my age (65-plus). But am quite relieved things were okay. I was also starving so my first stop post-procedure was Portillo’s for one of everything (actually just a drippy beef and fries).

    Best wishes and I hope your procedure goes well.

  206. 206.

    beckya57

    June 22, 2023 at 12:24 am

    You’re reminding me why I left Champaign.  In the 60’s here in Tacoma, ha ha 😈😈😈

  207. 207.

    StringOnAStick

    June 22, 2023 at 12:32 am

    Talk about crazy weather, we had a light frost Monday night.  I covered all the tender veggies.  Central Oregon being high desert means a clear night with a strong cold front can do that.  The same system caused 5 waterspouts in the waters around Portland.

  208. 208.

    Chris T.

    June 22, 2023 at 3:23 am

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Fica is Italian for “fig,” and yes, it has exactly the same figurative meaning you thought it did…

    I had no idea what you thought I should think it meant, but I put the whole “vino fresca, aqua pura, fica stresa, cazzo duro” phrase into Google Translate, and, huh, did not expect quite such an explicit translation.

  209. 209.

    Chris T.

    June 22, 2023 at 3:58 am

    @TriassicSands:

    I don’t know if they are now using [for pemphigus-in-cats] some of the many immunosuppressants that are now available for humans. The cost of monoclonal antibodies has to be prohibitive for most people.

    I have no idea if they are doing that either, but I now give one of our cats frunevetmab (brand name Solencia) for osteoarthritis. It makes a big difference for her, but it’s $80/mo… Tried in in the other cats, didn’t seem to make that much difference for them: all are old-ish and likely suffering from some arthritis pain, but only Alice shows an obvious effect.

    She just got her monthly shot today (the vet lets me take it home with an ice pack, it’s a simple subcutaneous injection in the same location where one would give a kidney cat her fluids). She hates the shot itself, because the frunevetmab has to be kept cold, but at least she doesn’t have to go in to the vet office for it.

  210. 210.

    SWMBO

    June 23, 2023 at 5:04 pm

    @WaterGirl: ​
      Rememberance Day?

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