The fun thing about Dark Brandon is it did come about organically, because despite what has been reported, there are plenty of unapologetic Joe Biden supporters who celebrate the positive things he's done, so it was able to take off in that environment because it was genuine. https://t.co/LfaSbyBV5B
— The Biden Accomplishments Guy (on Threads) (@What46HasDone) July 24, 2023
We cannot let politicians who are trying to divide our country win. True patriotism means fighting to make our nation better for each generation. pic.twitter.com/lc2FW3Z9ZH
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 23, 2023
President Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, a White House official says. Emmett Till is the Black teenager who was tortured and killed in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. https://t.co/WjljJ9VwbE
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 23, 2023
.@POTUS and I have made maternal health a priority. We called for the expansion of Medicaid postpartum coverage from two months to 12. So far, 35 states have answered.
500,000 women are now covered for a full year of vaccinations, pelvic exams, and postpartum depression care.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 23, 2023
The #EqualRightsAmendment—which would enshrine gender equality in our Constitution—was introduced 100 years ago today. Yet it still hasn't been ratified.
Democrats passed legislation last Congress paving the way for the ERA's enactment. I remain committed to getting it done.
— James E. Clyburn (@RepJamesClyburn) July 21, 2023
I promise you the view that the subjugation of women isn’t really that big of a deal and it will not drive significant votes next year, is more common in political circles than you think. It’s way wrong, but minimizing the impact women have in politics is SOP for many politicos. https://t.co/QuTwkTAz0f
— Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) July 21, 2023
*TL, DR the embedded Benjy Sarlin tweet: The DeSantis campaign put together a ‘viral’ video featuring explicitly Nazi imagery. Per the NYTimes, it was a bridge too far for decent people, but withdrawing the video amid claims that the campaign had nothing to do with it outraged Nazi-curious Repubs. Another DeSantis DeSaster, illustrated with a well-known meme-gif…
On The Road – Albatrossity – Backyard Babes
Baud
I don’t understand that Sarlin tweet. Or should I say, that Sarlin X.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I didn’t either.
New Deal democrat
Just wanted to drop this here. The best thing I read over the weekend:
With the demise of the Twitter bird and its replacement by an X, postings at that site can no longer be called “tweets.”
Now they are Xcretions.
Baud
@New Deal democrat:
Xcellent
Kay
@Baud:
The DeSantis campaign presented their homophobic ad to media as the work of grassroots supporters.
eclare
@Baud:
I think it means that DeSantis pissed off both anti Nazi Republicans and Nazi loving Republicans by trying to come up with his own Dark Brandon type meme.
So he pissed off everyone, quite a talent!
Anne Laurie
@Baud:
@zhena gogolia:
I expanded my explanation, which is posted right above the comments. Is it clearer, now?
Betty Cracker
I used my right hand to stop a dog fight yesterday. Not recommended! Zero stars!
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone😊😊😊
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker: 🙏🏾🙏🏾😪😪🤕🤕
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
Thank you.
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
OMG are you OK? Those can be very dangerous!
Kay
It’s interesting how they’re doubling down on the subjugation of women in the same way they’re doubling down on the war on woke. They either don’t believe the poiiling, they have their own polling, or they just completely buy the Christopher Rufo theory of the electorate.
They (essentially) lost the midterms on this agenda and it hasn’t changed the approach at all.
Baud
I laying down a marker now. Be the primaries are over, DeSantis will appear in public in blackface.
Betty Cracker
According to a new Fox News poll, Trump is up 30+ in SC and DeSantis is trailing Nikki Haley. In Iowa, where DeSantis and his awful wife have camped out, Trump is up 30 points over DeSantis, and Tim Scott is just 5 points behind him. He’s sure looking like a loser!
Anne Laurie
Seconded, from personal experience. I can understand if you don’t want to drop everything and go to an urgent care clinic, but… keep a close eye on any wounds, and seek medical attention immediately at the first sign of infection.
(Aftercare: A box of thin disposable gloves lets you cover any bandages, keep the site from getting touched / soiled, etc. Just be sure you keep changing the glove, and the bandage!)
Kay
I’m helping with this one and (as usual) am obsessed. There have been two polls, one has opposition at 60% and the other at 57%, so that’s good for us.
Early vote is often overplayed as an indicator in Ohio so that’s a little shaky, but still everything looks good for the “NO ON 1” side, which is us :)
bbleh
@Kay: they CAN’T be wrong. They’re too personally invested in their worldview and the theories that accompany it — it’s literally part of their self-image, their identity. Any observations that conflict with it therefore must be either false or due to some as-yet-undiscovered dark machination by the forces of evil. Theirs is the One True American Way (also something something Bible something), so what happened before (probably fraud) will not happen again, QED.
And good on you re Prop 1. Now they’re trying to gerrymander the constitution!
Betty Cracker
@eclare: I’ll be okay, but damn it hurts! I’m hoping to avoid medical attention by keeping the wounds clean and slathering on antibiotics.
One of my dogs got into it with a neighbor’s off-leash dog, and I’m pretty sure it was my own dog that got me. It’s amazing how quickly a 20 lb. creature that manifests as a snoring, farting throw-pillow 95% of his life can turn into a wolf! ;-)
@Anne Laurie: Thanks! Good advice — that’s what my sister the nurse practitioner told me (after scolding me for not going to urgent care right away).
zhena gogolia
@Anne Laurie: Okay, I thought it was about Biden, not DeSantis.
Baud
@Kay:
They told themselves that they needed to reboot after 2012 but Trump showed them that doubling down on hate and misogyny was a winning strategy, and not just with the MAGA set. It’ll be a long time before they change ways now.
SFAW
Re: DeathsAnus:
His campaign may be floundering — or foundering, I hope — but the FTFTFNYT is doing their level-best to try to “fix” that.
From their front page:
“A ‘Leaner-Meaner’ DeSantis Campaign Faces a Reboot and a Reckoning”
No, I will not click on it, even if it’s not a tongue bath, because fuck them and fuck Pinche Sulzberger.
Baud
@SFAW:
How are they facing a reboot? They’re doing the reboot. It’s not some external force they have to deal with.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: DeSantis has basically handed Rufo control of the state university system, even though Rufo is unqualified and a resident of Washington State. It’s beyond outrageous.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
Oh gosh, yeah you had to step in to save your dog. As others have said, keep a very close eye on it. I know cat infections are different, but both of my parents ended up at the ER due to cat bites gone bad. Luckily they both avoided the nickname Stumpy.
I hope you feel better and can take it easy today!
ColoradoGuy
I hate to tell you to go in to Urgent Care … but you really should get it looked at by a professional. You really don’t want anything to happen to your hand.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
We might have Rufo and the rest of the antiwoke ninnies to thank for sparing the nation DeSantis, however. They’re the people who thought this was a winning issue.
SFAW
@Kay:
But unless they vote is more than 60 percent “NO” in all
88137 counties, then it will pass*. At least, according to new rules passed by the Ohio lege in a double-sekrit session. .* The additional 49 counties each have a population of one MAGAt voter. Those counties were created in the same double-sekrit session I mentioned in the next sentence. **
** Yes, I’m kidding, but given how fucked up Ohio has become, it would not surprise me to find out I was right.
Geminid
From Florida activist Ade Ferro (@adeferr):
“The Senator from Florida, y’all!”
Princess
@Kay: This feels like a case where the No side has an advantage just because of the nature of the question. It’s hard to get enthusiastic to rush out and vote to make your future votes less effective. Anyway, I’m seeing lots of energy for No among my Ohio friends.
SFAW
@Baud:
As I said, I didn’t click to find out. I’m just thrilled the FTFTFNYT is doing their best to Stop the Woke (or whatever TF they’re doing).
Princess
@Betty Cracker: That’s scary but I’m glad it wasn’t your own dogs fighting.
artem1s
@Betty Cracker:
DeSantis knows he only has to finish second and the (desperate) rally around him will begin all over again. And more importantly the sweet grift will go on until Super Tuesday. He only needs to keep the MSM attention until then. Iowa and NH are all about name recognition. He’s also betting on a third party spoiling the fun for TFG.
Hopefully all of this GQP mess will forever drive a stake in the notion that Iowa is not a realistic representation of who is going to win either nomination.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: True. I think there’s at least a small chance their extremism will finally alienate enough non-MAGA Floridians so they turn out to vote. The latest Rufo-DeSantis project is to try to make a crude, buffoonish, unqualified and corrupt far-right state senator the president of Florida Atlantic University. The extremist takeover of New College was horrifying enough, but the guy they’re trying to foist off on FAU is even worse, and that’s a school with 30K or so students rather than fewer than 1K, so maybe they’ve bitten off more than they can chew at last.
SFAW
@Geminid:
What a dumbfuck Li’l Marco is.
narya
@Betty Cracker: My concern for the well-being of your hand is purely selfish–I want you to have both hands available for typing your memorable rants. (More seriously, sending wishes for quick and unproblematic healing.)
Geminid
@SFAW: That could have been a staffer who screwed up, but if Rubio has something tweeted under his name he owns it.
Baud
@Geminid:
I think that’s from a few years ago, no?
SFAW
@Geminid:
I made the same assumption (re: possibly a staffer), but it went out under his name, so …
SFAW
@Baud:
The classics are timeless?
But you are correct, [Of course, I didn’t realize it was old until you pointed that out.]
WereBear
Bad news from Florida, via Greg the Uber Driver. His TikToks have been minute after minute of driving through empty airports and walking empty hotels, asking, “Where are the tourists, Governor DeSantis?”
Ocotillo
@Betty Cracker: Get better sooner. I am also relieved to read it was another dog. I recall the boys were having some difficulty getting along a while back.
M31
and his running mate with a Nazi armband
WereBear
@Betty Cracker: That’s awful!
jonas
@WereBear: I’m sure DeSantis’s policies are probably having some effect on who decides to vacation in FL these days, but who in their everloving right mind vacations in FL in July or August? I visited central FL once about 30 years ago in July and I’m *still* trying to get re-hydrated. Isn’t this a bit like driving around northern Minnesota in January wondering where the tourists are?
Geminid
@Baud: When I checked the comments after Ms. Ferro’s Tweet they indicated that this was not new: “a classic,” I “never get tired of seeing this one,” etc. So I should have put the July 22 date after Ferro’s Tweet and not Mr. Dam’s.
Ken
@WereBear: I thought maybe a threatening tropical store was keeping them away, but the NHC site shows no nearby activity.
It also has the good news that “long-lived Don on its last legs”.
gene108
@jonas:
Sometimes July-August is the only time to schedule a vacation for some people, ie work is slower, kids are on vacation, etc.
Kathleen
@Betty Cracker: Is that your “Yelp” review? I hope you’re OK!
Another Scott
@Baud: @New Deal democrat:
That last frame was a bit too on the nose…
Cheers,
Scott.
narya
@Kay: I am really glad to hear this take from you. I’m in a blue corner of a blue city in a blue state, so I do not trust the takes of the people around me (in the sense that we all agree), but I continue to have the sense that there is a deep well of anger, still simmering away. I also get the sense that The Youngs are more on top of this (and on top of gun violence and climate change) than the MOTU are picking up.
oatler
That twitter kinda sucks lately. Everything posted here is like a subscription-only NYT article.
Kathleen
@Kay: From that same Ohio Capital Journal article:
frosty
@Baud: Me neither. I mean, I know what some of the words mean, even sock puppet and edgelord, but not when you string them together like this!
artem1s
Yea, I don’t think this is a necessarily a good sign for the NO side. I’m seeing a lot of signs (literally and figuratively) that the churches (Catholic and televangicals) are putting pressure on their congregants to vote YES. Unless the Dems are heavily courting union votes and the support of AA base, the white male voters in the blue districts are going to decide this vote (just like when Ryan lost to Vance). Even if the NO’s prevail, the YES’s will know exactly who they need to go to for a signatures to put a ballot criminalizing abortion back in the OH constitution.
They’ve already passed a defense of traditional marriage amendment in Ohio. You can expect that back on the ballot next year and a ballot criminalizing abortion too. I’m afraid we are in for a couple of decades of competing ballot measures every election in OH. Their goal in August is to measure support (nothing else is on the ballot) and use that data to maximize turnout for the general in 2024. There’s not going to be GOP primary in OH just like in 2020. Because OH is an open primary state. We going to see a lot of “F you I got mine” GOPers ratf*cking with the Democratic primary ballot. And the (not) Green Party, Occupy Ohio and Kucinich assholes will be pushing JFK or the Third Way or No Name.
marklar
@jonas: “Isn’t this a bit like driving around northern Minnesota in January wondering where the tourists are?”
Strongly recommend visiting Gooseberry Falls State Park (outside Twin Harbors, north of Duluth) in January!
Another Scott
@Geminid:
[grumble]
Not to pick on you, as you’re not the source, but this illustrates one of the really pernicious things about Twitter and the Web in general.
Marco’s tweet was from March 2019.
Click-bait will be the end of civilization.
[/grumble]
Have a good day!
[eta:] Ninja’ed by Baud, of course.
Cheers,
Scott.
WereBear
@jonas: No. It used to be a Station of Disney to bring kids to DisneyWorld when they are out of school. About 80 conferences have been canceled.
Betty Cracker
Terrible advice for DeSantis: (Politico)
No, that’s NOT what got him here, Nick. What got him here was Trump’s endorsement, and what kept him here is an extraordinarily well-funded and disciplined state party apparatus. Fortunately for America, that ends at the Georgia state line.
Ron IS being Ron, and Ron is an unlikeable asshole.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
In blackface, in a Klan robe with a Nazi flag on the front.
Seriously, DeathSantis can throw his white trash, fascist ass to the sharks.
Bupalos
@Kathleen: doing the annecdotal sign-count thing…I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see NO ON 1 signs in some yards I would not expect. And the count is about even in a slice of exurbia I’d expect to be 70-30 in support of any R trash.
Kathleen
@Bupalos: Same here! I’m in very blue Hamilton County.
Geminid
@Another Scott: There was no harm done by Ms. Ferro’s tweeting that screenshot. Many of her respondents recognized it from old, and the others were informed by it even if it was not current.
In other circumstances such a retweet could be misleading, but in this case I thought the goofy Rubio tweet was timeless.
Matt McIrvin
@WereBear: Before the COVID pandemic, things at Disney World had gotten to the point that it was understood there was no “light season”. The closest you could come was to visit in early September when most places were in the first or second week of school and nobody was willing to take time off, or maybe the second week of January right after people had gone home from their Christmas/New Year’s vacations. But it was getting bad even then.
If there is a light season, that’s a major change. And honestly part of it probably is just global warming, and part of it is screwups on Disney’s part. But the conference cancellations are DeSantis’s doing.
mrmoshpotato
@SFAW:
That’s a terrible thing to say about dumbfucks!
Chris Johnson
@New Deal democrat:
𝕏: Ketamine is a hell of a drug.
JoyceH
If you do wind up seeking medical treatment for the hand, you might want to describe it as a bite from some strange dog, unless you’re very familiar with the laws in your area and know it won’t result in Animal Control getting involved and maybe taking away your dog. If my dog accidentally bit me, I would never tell anyone in authority. Some of the dangerous dog laws have too little leeway.
Matt McIrvin
@Chris Johnson: But that’s K! X is a different drug entirely!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chris Johnson: Honestly, what is that supposed to achieve? Maybe Musk is changing his name to Yi or something.
Betty Cracker
Here’s something funny from The Daily Beast: Joe Rogan, who is an absolute meathead, won’t invite Trump on his show because now he has standards or something, and this has infuriated pardoned MAGA loons Roger Stone and Steve Bannon. Stone made insulting comments about Rogan’s masculinity and challenged him to a cage match. (Will we ever get to see one lousy cage match between far-right douchebags? Probably not!) Bannon is trying reverse psychology to shame Rogan into hosting Trump, calling Rogan’s listeners “low-information,” which is probably the truest thing Bannon has ever said.
mrmoshpotato
@jonas:
LOL!
frosty
@Betty Cracker: I’ll join the chorus. You’re acting like a guy. Don’t do that, go to Urgent Care,
RevRick
@Kay: My cousin in Ohio urged her friends to vote “No” on Facebook yesterday. Since she has seldom been overtly political in her posts, I take that to be a very encouraging sign.
sdhays
@New Deal democrat: I didn’t know what they hell you were talking about, but I just read the CNN article on this and…I surprised myself that Elon Musk can still surprise me with his shittiness and stupidity.
WTF? The Twitter brand is one the last remaining assets that he hasn’t lit on fire… And the planned rebrand is…a letter of the alphabet, with no relationship to communication other than being a (more rarely used) letter. And he’s hemorrhaging money, and rebrands are expensive (although…maybe not if you don’t give a shit about making them successful and hope to trick people into doing stuff like designing your logo for free?).
What a moron.
Scout211
When Mr. Scout went to the doctor for a puncture wound near his ankle due to a bite from a neighbor’s dog (a heeler) he was prescribed an antibiotic. But the doctor would not let him out of the clinic unless the owner certified a valid and up to date rabies vaccination. Luckily, she was able to fax over a copy and Mr. Scout could avoid the rabies series.
So a random unknown dog story would could cause far more problems than is necessary. Bringing the proof of up to date rabies vaccination would be a better idea, IMHO.
There was a brief investigation by the county but no one was ruled at fault in Mr. Scout’s dog bite. The owners paid for our out of pocket medical expenses.
I don’t know Florida laws since this is California. But the danger of rabies seems to be the priority here, not locking up the dog. Unless there is no known evidence of rabies vaccination.
ETA: So Betty, you are reading this, when you go to the doctor, bring your proof of rabies vaccination.
sdhays
Normally, I would assume he said that as a complement.
Ken
And really not even that, in the world of products, trademarks, and branding. X has been used for so many things that I will be surprised if Musk isn’t the target of a dozen trademark and copyright lawsuits within a week of the release (“No, see, X-Men refers to blue check buyers…”).
Even x.com is on shaky ground, as Popehat posted to his Mastodon account:
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker:
That is a-dor-a-ble! Shame that Rogan is too stupid to understand that he’s still an idiot and an asshole.
Hope your hand will be ok.
Subsole
@Betty Cracker:
Hey. You guys remember the Coalition Provisional Authority, back under Dubya?
Remember that? When they just handed an entire country, with an army and a treasury and schools and museums and farms and dams and dogs and cats and women and children and, like, an entire history over to a bunch of freshly-decanted College Republicans to just do whateverthehell with???
Dunno why that popped into my head just now…
Omnes Omnibus
@gene108: I don’t think they are questioning why people go on vacation in July/August. More wondering why they would chose Florida for a vacation during that time frame.
NotMax
@sdhays
Repeating from an earlier thread:
X-raze.
mrmoshpotato
@Subsole: And they were greeted as liberators?
Baud
I would change Twitter’s name to D. No one uses D for anything.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: It’s pronounced Du-mas! :)
Subsole
@Ken:
Totally unrelated to anything, but man, I loved old-school X-com.
Subsole
@mrmoshpotato:
They were certainly greeted, yes.
Layer8Problem
@mrmoshpotato: And the locals appreciated the liberating, right? As I recall that was an important question.
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: My old high-school roommate did his undergrad work at the University of Florida before going on to become a world-class scientist (not an industrial zero like me). I can’t begin to imagine what he thinks about what’s going on with FL’s public university system.
narya
@Scout211: AND confirm that the other dog involved is up to date as well, especially if you’re not 100% certain that it was your dog who got you.
sdhays
@Baud: I’d suggest “L”. Because he’s eventually going to admit a big “L” on all of this, and it would be better to acknowledge it sooner rather than later.
Sanjeevs
@Subsole: Iraq was all Hilary’s fault. Nothing to do with Republicans.
All the left and right wing podcasters agree.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Subsole: “Hello, I would like to apply for a summer internship. I don’t have any work experience but I was president of the College Republicans at my Bible College…”
“Congratulations, you are now Minister of the Interior for Iraq. Can you start tomorrow?”
We just watched a documentary about Hurricane Katrina called Trouble the Water. Like many people, TFG had made me forget W a little, think that in hindsight maybe he wasn’t so bad.
It was nice to be reminded that W’s administration was in fact every bit as horrible as I remembered and we had and have good reason to hate him.
different-church-lady
@Another Scott: She sure was right about Q!
Baud
@Scout211:
I don’t know why Betty C has to go to the doctor if she’s been vaccinated against rabies.
Betty Cracker
@Scout211: Good to know about the rabies certificate! I’m hoping I don’t have to see a doc but will at the first sign of trouble. I’ll bring certificates if it comes to that. No one meant to bite me, so I don’t want any dogs to get in trouble. It was stupidity on my part.
NotMax
Breaking:
Musk to relocate Twitter HQ and operations to Brooklyn neighborhood in and and around “key subway stop.”
//
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Not even a dog fight, I got between my little 40-pounder’s jaws and a bone he found in the street that I was trying to wrestle away from him. Even the little guys have amazingly powerful jaws! He drew actual blood and I was pissed.
Ken
@Baud: The problem is that Musk owns the “X” domain name, and has been trying (and failing) to do something with it for decades.
It’s oddly similar to the way producer Jon Peters spent most of the 90s trying to make Superman Lives. His, er, unique vision for a Superman movie included a battle with a giant spider. When that project finally fell apart, he picked up Wild Wild West and insisted that it have a giant mechanical spider.
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: A leader in Florida? A leader in what – bullshit? Among his latest leadership events, he actually turned down a big chunk of Federal money to fight climate change just to show his MAGAtude. Nobody needs that kind of leadership. Although a Red state turning down Federal $$ is kind of a new twist.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Ken:
Have you heard Kevin Smith’s version of those events (he was briefly attached to the Superman movie)? It’s absolutely hilarious.
“I grew up on A street. But not THE street.”
catclub
@WereBear:
Tourists not coming to Florida in summer seems less worrisome than not coming in winter. I am amazed anyone would want to go to Florida in the summer.
Cameron
@mrmoshpotato: You forgot the pudding on the hands and the sassy white boots.
Nelle
@frosty: i got chomped by a dog on the back of my thigh a year and a half ago. What made a difference was hydrocooid wound dressing, sent up by my daughter’s FIL, a doc. I did go in to see a doctor here to make sure I didn’t need stitches; he was impressed with the kind of dressing and said it was speeding the healing.
catclub
Not anymore. Have you heard how much Federal money the medicaid expansion offered?
TS
@jonas:
We did a summer holiday to the US many moons ago & went to Disneyworld in July. I don’t remember it being too hot!!
Disneyworld on the other hand – was a minimum 2 hour wait for most rides – and at 2am it took us an hour for a 5 mile drive back to our hotel. There was a massive parade – as I remember after midnight & everyone stayed for it.
So people used to visit Florida in summer – not sure about now.
Geminid
@Chris Johnson: And it’s a black X. Made me think of the Rolling Stones song about depression.
“I see a red door
and I want to paint it black.
No colors any more,
I want them to turn black.”
RevRick
In an understatement of the year, Yahoo finance said the homeowners insurance situation in Florida is challenging. They reported that the industry has not made a profit since 2016 and has suffered billion dollar underwriting losses the past three years. Fifteen insurers have ceased underwriting, three have withdrawn from the market, and seven went insolvent. This despite $6,000 annual premiums.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Baud: I feel like F or F- would be more appropriate.
Betty Cracker
@Cameron: Red states (including FL) have turned away billions in Obamacare subsidies, letting uninsured citizens die and hospitals go under rather than take that filthy fed money, so it’s not really a new twist. The climate change angle is new, and maybe that will get some attention. Unaffiliated and/or low propensity voters need to wake the fuck up.
catclub
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Just remember, the ONLY good thing GWBush did in his 8 years as Prez was to tell Cheney to fuck off on bombing Iran.
M31
good thing Apple moved on from the “OS X” name otherwise their lawyers would be shopping for their 3rd vacation homes as we speak
Cameron
@catclub: Thanks. I forgot about that.
@BettyCracker
catclub
@Betty Cracker:
Also Chris Christie turning down train and tunnel money for NJ.
NotMax
@Geminid
Dynamite Tracey Ullman sketch.
:)
Baud
@Geminid:
I read that the shit is about to hit the fan in Israel with regard to the court neutering bills.
M31
@Betty Cracker: and Larry Hogan’s first act as gov of MD was to turn down about 1 billion $ in fed subsidies for an east/west subway line in Baltimore city, which would have linked the blacker areas of the city to the N/S white corridor
the fucker
he used the state $ that would have gone to this to build highways in suburbia and enriched himself and developer cronies
the fucker
Omnes Omnibus
@M31: Scott Walker turned down high speed rail funds for WI. He did ask if he could have the money and use it for highways instead. The Obama admin said no.
schrodingers_cat
@Betty Cracker: I did that once when my cats were fighting, got bit. My right hand swelled to twice its size and I had to get industrial strength antibiotic shots. Doctor said that I could have lost my finger if I had come a bit later. Have it checked out ASAP.
UncleEbeneezer
@Betty Cracker: Public challenge
to fightof performative masculinity…another thing that the Barbie movie absolutely nailed in the most hilarious way.Geminid
@Cameron: There was a story that in 2008 Israel approached Bush’s people and requested help for an attack on Iran including tanker refueling and permission to overfly Iraq, and Bush turned him down. Of course, Cheney would have wanted to send along a few B-2 bombers, and a few score fighter jets, and a couple hundred cruise missiles etc.
Speaking of Israel, their Knesset just passed the bill removing their Supreme Court’s ability to curb government decisions on grounds of “reasonableness.” Among others, opposition MKs and a 150 member business council warned that this change in Israel’s Basic Law could destroy the country.
But Netanyahu’s coalition partners including his own Justice Minister warned him that a failure to pass the law would destroy his coalition, and he chose the route more dangerous to Israel. Polling shows that the the 4-party governing coalition would be crushed if elections were held soon, so they’re sticking together for now.
Redshift
@Ken:
Ahhhh…
There was a loose transcription of some Musk rambling about his plans by (I think) a fanboi yesterday. The middle bit I caught when someone I follow replied to it went, roughly:
(Or it may have been parody, who can tell?)
Baud
@Geminid:
Seems weird that a simple majority could change a Basic Law.
gvg
@jonas: Sorry, no. People have to vacation when the schools are out. Especially if they have kids. Florida and Disney plus all the other theme parks etc…..well people come in the summer. Not totally logical or ideal and they do complain, but they come.
Personally I would suggest the water parks. Get in the water and stay there till dark. Hit the parks after 10 pm..if you come, spend all the money at the woke parks.
Chief Oshkosh
@Betty Cracker:
The trick is to use someone else’s right hand to stop dog fights.
I hope you heal quickly and that the dogs are ashamed of themselves and in atonement bring you bon-tons and martinis while you recover on the couch.
catclub
Yeah, and I read that the Latino vote is going to turn Texas blue. The israelis keep electing netanyahu. It is not by accident.
Yarrow
@oatler: It’s possible to lurk on Twitter by using Nitter. Go to Nitter.net, enter the username, and you can lurk on their account.
Last week the Tweets tab wasn’t working but Tweets & Replies was. Now it looks like Tweets is working again. If you don’t like the dark theme, click on the Preferences icon in the upper right corner, go to Theme and select a different one. Remember to Save Preferences and it should change it for all Nitter tabs.
hueyplong
Bet I’m not the first to think that Twitter’s new logo should be a blue cartoon bird with Xs for eyes.
Chief Oshkosh
@WereBear:
Wow, THAT could have an impact. Do you know the size of the cancelled conferences? Something that leaves Sarasota’s convention center empty is not good, but something that leaves Orlando’s or Miami’s CCes empty for a week or so could be disastrous. Those are cash cows that impact several strata of the local economies.
Yarrow
@catclub: The Bush II administration actually did a lot of good with PEPFAR, expanding HIV treatment and prevention. People often overlook it but it’s one of the very best things he did.
NotMax
@hueyplong
Years and years ago I suggested a Goodbye Kitty logo with an X in place of each eye.
:)
Geminid
@Baud: It does. Like England, Israel has no written constitution, and evidently sections of the Basic Law can be revised by majority vote.
Netanyahu won a 64-56 majority Knesset last November from what was basically a 50-50 electorate because two opposition parties fell short of the 3.25% threshold and their collective 6% of votes were lost. Labor turned down Meretz’s appeal to run a joint slate, while Balad split from the Arab Joint list. Meretz recieved 3.15%, and Balad 2.85%, so both were blanked.
That was Israel’s 5th election in 4 years and there was a lot of apathy generally.
Netanyahu’s two Ultra-Orthodox party partners, on the other hand were highly motivated because they’d been out of government for the first time in years, and feared they might lose their subsidies and draft deferments. So they had an exceptionally high turnout.
NotMax
@Yarrow
That and the Do Not Call Registry make up the sum total of the list.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@catclub: Nothing changes until it does.
Baud
@Geminid:
I did not know this.
scav
@hueyplong: Yes, Elon is being sooo on-brand. His proudest achievement would be emphasizing his personal development of an
x-company.
UncleEbeneezer
One of the reasons Conservatives are so mad about Barbie is that the movie so effectively and hilariously mocks Men by accurately showing how silly we look when we build our identity around performing masculinity in ways that we think will be attractive to Women, even though the shit we are doing really just appeals to other men.
These are some of the biggest-laugh moments of the movie because they are so dead-on, and also brilliantly delivered by Gosling and the other Kens.
cmorenc
A disappointingly large portion of the twitter comments on Biden’s establishment of the Emmett Till national monument are vile examples of disrespectful, contemptuous indifference to why his lynching was a shamefully significant event in American history, attempting to trivialize and deflect from it.
scav
@cmorenc: Well, consider the commenting population of x-holes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My understanding was/is that was the price of Colin Powell negotiated for his presence in the campaign and administration, and then later the Iraq War.
Matt McIrvin
@UncleEbeneezer:
I have not seen this movie, but this is a phenomenon I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, in connection to the absurd incel/PUA subculture, my own youth and the weird toxic boy environments I grew up in. A lot of performative male heterosexuality is not about women at all, but about establishing one’s bona fides as a cool guy (and as a straight guy) with other straight men–while pretending that this is not the case, and the homosociality of it is utterly bizarre.
schrodingers_cat
Twitter is good despite what Musk is doing to it. He is trying so hard to kill it.
Just this morning I found this lovely photo of Nehru and Oppenheimer which I had never seen before.
Subsole
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Oh yes.
The Covid response was awful, breathtakingly awful, but in hindsight it shouldn’t have been a surprise.
The cream of that party had already let one city drown on national teevee. Why wouldn’t the dregs let an entire nation smother while they laughed?
eclare
@cmorenc:
Why would you read those? I very selectively choose which comments to read.
Subsole
@Geminid:
May they all hang together, as they so dearly wish. And soon.
Betty Cracker
@Baud: I’m not sure which is worse — 1) having a centuries-old constitution that people mistake for holy writ, which makes it nearly impossible to address urgent issues, or 2) not having a constitution, which means whatever set of wankers are currently empowered can capriciously change essential rules and institutions.
Matt McIrvin
@Omnes Omnibus: If the choice is really between going to Florida in the summer or going to Florida never, and if you do want to take your kids to Disney World at some point in their childhoods, you’ll do it. Disney World is/was a destination that some families prioritized highly enough that they’d make that choice. It wasn’t true for my family when I was a kid, but it was for some.
Even though there’s a lot of cool new stuff there, I think we might be seeing a transition where many people just stop thinking that way. The total experience of it has deteriorated and there are plenty of theme parks in the world that are easier to deal with.
Mike in NC
So the front page of the morning newspaper tells us that the coral reefs in the Florida Keys are dying, but hey — at least they’re not ‘woke’ — right, Ron?
rikyrah
@Kay:
And, like, women aren’t supposed to notice?
I mean…really?
UncleEbeneezer
@Matt McIrvin: Yup. And so much of Cis/Het performance of masculinity inevitably ends up in Homoerotic territory.
sdhays
@Geminid: In the decades since I first heard of Benjamin Netanyahu, he has never failed to choose to make Israel less safe and more likely to be be completely destroyed in the future. It’s sad how so many Israelis don’t see that.
Subsole
@UncleEbeneezer: Yeah. The thing that just shines through in all their speeches and books and
semenarsseminars and endless online blathering is that these guys don’t like women. At all.I don’t think they’re even really attracted to them as physical or emotional beings. They just want them as proof of their masculinity. They want a mirror they can fuck.
I feel really, really sorry for anyone they fuck. Just sad, selfish, joyless sex. Utterly mechanical. No soul, no fire, no joy or silliness. No time to appreciate the little games you can play together, because they’re too busy making a competition out of it.
Matt McIrvin
…The other thing about Disney World particularly is that a lot of the attractions there are actually mostly indoors and air-conditioned (including the queue space), so the climate is less of an issue. That’s not true of everything, of course.
Geminid
@Subsole: Israeli MKs aren’t elected from districts, but rather by the votes their party slate wins. So there are no by-elections; if an MK cannot serve their party selects a replacement.
This government doesn’t have to call new elections until 2027, I think. It might last that long, but even coalition members doubt if it can.
narya
@UncleEbeneezer: Another thing I’ve noticed in my own life: the “straightest” men I’ve known–i.e., men who truly have zero interest in having sex with men–are also the men who have no problems with others’ homosexuality and who are most likely to be disgusted by toxic masculinity. They have zero need to “perform” masculinity and think it’s ridiculous.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@sdhays:
You can take the Jewish Russian immigrant to Israel, but you can’t take the Russian out of them.
Redshift
Another fun thing on the birdsite recently was one-time Balloon Juice punching bag Conor Friedersdorf (hadn’t thought about him in years) defending the authors of the Florida Black History standards and whining about Kamala Harris being mean to them, and the response of actual historians:
The ludicrousness of a pundit saying “no fair” to the idea that when you’re talking about something being egregiously wrong, you only talk about the parts that are, y’know, egregiously wrong, because the fact that not everything is wrong doesn’t redeem it! 🙄
In addition to the horrors that have been widely covered, these “historians” without history or education degrees required teaching about the “Civil Rights Act of 1967” (it was 1968), and provided a list of people who should be taught as having “influenced the Civil Rights movement” that consists of white politicians and Black conservatives whose only contributions were writing about civil rights well after the fact.
Geminid
@sdhays: Well, according to polling, a majority of Israelis see that now, at least.
The last government headed by Bennett and Lapid was promising, I thought. It was composed of 8 parties though, and had only a 61-59 majority. That changed to 60 votes when one of Bennett’s party dropped out early on, and then last June the rest of Bennet’s party collapsed and he had to call another election.
Villago Delenda Est
This morning I have sad news to report to the dog and cat loving masses of Balloon Juice: Her Serene Highness Princess Mocha has departed this mortal coil for sunny fields filled with mice for her to chase and sometimes catch. Needless to say, I’m pretty shook up about it. Healing will come…I’ve got all this kibble that SOMEONE needs to eat, and it’s not going to be me. You may recall her from some of the calendars, a ball of black and brown and white and every shade in between of floof, which is what inspired her name.
Yarrow
@Villago Delenda Est: So very sorry. It’s always hard to say goodbye to a furry family member. I really love the name Princess Mocha.
schrodingers_cat
@Villago Delenda Est: I am so sorry! Mocha sounds wonderful. May she rest in peace.
Old School
@Villago Delenda Est: My sympathies.
Manyakitty
@Villago Delenda Est: so very sorry to hear this. Sending all the love and purrs 💔
UncleEbeneezer
@Subsole: Yes. Not an accurate mirror, mind you, but a funhouse one that shows them the imagined Man they want the world (especially other dudes) to see.
zhena gogolia
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m so sorry!
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
Ron IS being Ron, and Ron is an unlikeable asshole.
Getting right down to the basics I see…. Little ronnie is that for sure.
Does anyone actually like him?
Seems barely tolerate is about the best he can do.
I will ask, if he goes nowhere on the national side – hopefully, might he be reelected for gov? Because it seems he is working hard to get out of Dodge, as if he’s got zero future in FL. Or anywhere actually.
dirge
Seeing these two conversations juxtaposed is illuminating. Of course women aren’t supposed to notice. This is a conversation amongst men, about how manly they are. Locker room talk. How dare women barge into our safe space and try to make it all about themselves, just because they’ve been mentioned in passing.
rikyrah
@Kay:
This is being done to stop the Pro-Choice referendum on the ballot…but, then, I know you know that.
sdhays
@narya: Truth.
eclare
@Villago Delenda Est:
I am so sorry to hear about Princess Mocha. RIP.
Chief Oshkosh
@Villago Delenda Est: I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Their little paws just wrap around our hearts and it is hard when they pass.
CaseyL
@Villago Delenda Est: Sympathies and condolences. She sounds like a wonderful kitty.
Redshift
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m sorry to hear that. It’s always tough.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@narya: A comment I’ve made frequently to my wife: what kind of “man” wakes up every day worried whether he’s still a man, has to check in the mirror whether his balls are still attached, feels he has to go out and “prove” it?
Also about “hold my beer” performances: In 40+ years of marriage, it must be hundreds of times that I’ve checked in and asked, “would my date be impressed if I [stupid thing that most young guys, including myself once, would be tempted to do to Impress The Date].”
Her answer, so far, has been 100% emphatically NO.
There was a restaurant near us we loved, that sadly closed during lockdown. Their special gimmick was a 700-degree stone that was placed on your table and cooked your food in front of you. The menu had a warning about not trying to impress your date by licking the hot stone.
You know that warning was there because somebody tried it. And how many of those dates do you think were actually impressed by either the act or the subsequent trip to the ER?
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: Ohio State Senate chair is whining about “hypocrisy” or something because it’s looking not so great for the fascists.
sdhays
@Kathleen: The “both sides” here seems to be doing a lot of work. It boils down to “a couple Republican counties are turning out higher than expected” but “even a large number of Republicans hate the proposed amendment so those turning out might not be voting yes”.
Geminid
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: People often ascribe Israel’s rightward drift to the influx if Russian immigrants in the 1980s, but I’m not sure this is so. For one thing, this right-left split was evident in the 1970s, when Begin’s Likud party broke Labor’s lock on Knesset power.
For another, there is a party in opposition that is made up primarily of Russian immigrants. It’s leader, Avignon Lieberman was a bar bouncer in Russia. Lieberman is conservative, but he hates Netanyahu’s guts. The immigrants resent the power of religious authorities over marriages and the draft exemptions granted Ultra-Orthodox men, among other issues. The two Ultra-Orthodox, or “Haredi” parties have been key members of Netanyahu’s coalitions over the last decade.
But what probably most drove Israelis to the right was Yasir Arafat’s suicide bombing campaign in the early 2000s. That killed almost 700 Israelis and left many of the rest hostile to a peace settlement.
Anyway
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
First I am hearing of it. pepfar was an interest of Dubya. No credit to Powell here.
West of the Rockies
I think Musk is a lucky, functioning moron. He has a history of making stunningly bad decisions. He could purchase the ice-water franchise and declare, “It’s too cold and clear and flavorless. I shall add dirt and cheese and heat it up–it will be called X^7*ter and be loved by trillions! 💩 “
dirge
“By there mere appearance of the Other,” says Sartre in Being and Nothingness, “I am put in the position of passing judgment on myself as on an object, for it is as an object that I appear to the Other.”
Always comes back to unexamined existential dread, the inevitability of narcissistic injury, and lashing out at scapegoats.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Is your tetanus shot up to date?
scav
To an extent, it’s unfortunate how much the (simplified, headline) Darwinean et al theory of evolution focuses on sexual competition in attracting mates — the whole flashy tail and come-hither-looks between sexes kurfuffle. Status certainly impacts how many offspring one manages and a lot of that completion is likely within the same sex. So yeah, a lot of the most toxic performative aspects of masculinity and femininity could very well be driven by within-sex competition. And that’s even before the complicating afterburner of the brain kicks in.
Brachiator
@Villago Delenda Est:
Very sad news.
Wishing you the best as you deal with your loss.
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m sorry.
narya
@Villago Delenda Est: Adding my condolences! So sorry . . .
MomSense
@Villago Delenda Est:
I’m so sorry.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Unless the state constitution is changed, no.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
DeSantis got a law passed that lets him run for president without resigning as governor. And I think he can run for one more term as governor.
Might he later run for the Senate, or try for the presidency again? Who knows?
He is failing on the national stage, but seems to have some favor in Florida, at least for now.
Sure Lurkalot
Interesting read this A.M.
Masculinity is the Crisis
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
I’ve found that a hose turned on full blast was always a better way to end a dog fight. Now that means of course that one was available but still that actually worked without getting in the middle of 2 animals that had 100% made the decision to fight for all they were worth and have the tools – teeth and nails, to easily draw blood.
Tom Levenson
@Villago Delenda Est: So sorry. May Princess Mocha’s memory gladden your heart. It’s so hard to loose our quadrupedal partners.
Kay
@artem1s:
The Right wing Cathollc vote is important in Ohio – I agree with that. They gave the state to Bush in 2004. They’re important and can swing a closer race but they’re not that big as far as total numbers. I don’t think they’ll be able to overcome normie “NO” voters on this one. Agree the campaigning in the churches is outrageous though BUT will turn off many more moderate/less political Catholics. I guess the Ohio Catholic Church has decided they can throw every more moderate Catholic under the bus in order to court the 27%. It’s a business. I’m sure they’ve run the numbers.They’re running that religion on a “base” strategy.
I think it looks good but then I always think I will win right up until I don’t :)
It FEELS good, you know? Like Issue 2 in 2011.
M31
@Ruckus: a book by Robertson Davies has an old, wise, crazy peasant woman describe the best way to stop a dog fight: lick your finger then stick it completely up the anus of one of the dogs
they’ll be so surprised they’ll stop fighting
not trying this one
Matt McIrvin
@dirge: The more I see horrible shit dismissed as “locker room talk” the more I think the locker rooms (and things like them) are the problem.
sdhays
@Brachiator: If the state’s economy craters (as has been hinted might be happening) while the rest of the country hums along, he might lose his lock on Republicans in the legislature.
Very hard Republican governance convinced Kansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky to vote for Democratic governors.
Matt McIrvin
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: The Man Card is a cruel master. Remember the ad for the AR-15 that literally referred to it as renewing your Man Card?
Old Dan and Little Ann
@Ken: Thats hysterical. Wild Wild West was one of the worst movies I have ever seen in the theater. I’ll never forget walking out and wondering, “Why the fuck was that giant spider included?”
Ruckus
@NotMax:
@Brachiator:
I checked as to when little ronnie was elected to be governor and it was 2019 and this is his first term, FL is one of 48 states with 4 yr terms for governor, and he can run again. So he could be reelected, of course he might not want to be governor any longer, which is why he is attempting to leave town. But he appears to have a better chance to be reelected than becoming president. I said better, not good.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: As far as I can tell, he’s term-limited out and cannot run again in 2026 (unless he can get the state constitution changed). But it’s consecutive terms, so he could come back in 2040. And he’s pretty young. My guess is that he’d go for the Senate instead to stay relevant and try for another Presidential run.
NotMax
@Kay
While not particularly applicable to your comment, reminded of a quasi-relevant cute little number.
;)
Ruckus
@M31:
I’ve heard this one before, possibly right on this here blog.
I’m not trying it either.
Matt McIrvin
@Ruckus: DeSantis was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. This is the first year of his second term.
Kathleen
@sdhays: Yup. That’s the way I read it. Fingers crossed. Just from Dem perspective, if the turnout of volunteers at Hamilton County Democratic Party HQ to write post cards is any indication, the base is very fired up.
Kathleen
@Villago Delenda Est: I am so sorry.
Betty Cracker
@Villago Delenda Est: So sorry. :(
NotMax
@Ruckus
DeSantis was re=elected governor in 2022.
Matt McIrvin
@Redshift: Friedersdorf’s whole thing is framing his asinine critiques of liberalism as if they are helpful strategic suggestions coming from within the house of liberalism (or not too far outside it), so that some liberals who aren’t familiar with Friedersdorf give them a hearing. Is it still working?
Amir Khalid
@Villago Delenda Est:
I suppose you’ll be donating the kibble to a local shelter, while Her Serene Highness frolics in the fields beyond the Rainbow Bridge. May her memory ever be a blessing.
Matt McIrvin
@NotMax: Right, and the whole reason we’re even talking about him as a presidential candidate is that his crushing reelection win in 2022 made him the biggest really unambiguous success story for the right in an election cycle where otherwise they didn’t do as well as expected. It became savvy to insist that whatever DeSantis was doing, that was the way forward.
But DeSantis’s thing turns out to be to get on whatever ridiculous culture-war bandwagon the right is putting out today, bang that drum HARD and use state power in an authoritarian way in service of the political theater. The “DeSantis won the pandemic” stories were really just the COVID-era version of that.
Kelly
Many years ago a few weeks after we moved our dog and our new neighbors dog started fighting in our yard. Mom heads out the door to break it up and to her horror sees the new neighbor’s 4 year old daughter has a handful of each dogs fur and is shouting “Bad Dog, Stop It”. They did.
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m sorry. In time, I hope another winsome kitty will find her way into your heart.
sheila in nc
@scav:
It is absolutely true that women vie with other women for status in a way that makes no sense to men.
I used to go to a yearly “all girls” Christmas party given by some of my tennis buddies. I remember one time making conversation with another woman there, who noted something like, “Isn’t it great we can just relax and be ourselves without the guys around? Not worrying about what we look like or anything?” I kept my mouth shut but thought, “You poor deluded child.” I mean, 99 men out of 100 won’t notice or care if your manicure isn’t perfect or your dress is a couple of years out of date or your makeup isn’t quite right. But I promise you, all the women at that party would notice — and judge. Not all women are like that, for sure, but it’s foolish to assume that other women will have your back in that respect.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Matt McIrvin: = Conor is a small minded and disingenuous concern troll.
So glad I canceled my sub to The Atlantic this year.
mrmoshpotato
@Cameron:
My mistake.
Matt McIrvin
@narya:
I’m reluctant to make that equation, but I think that for me, it’s not so much that I’m somehow “secure in my masculinity” as that I don’t see why I should be. What is the point? Why is it even good to be masculine? It seems like a neutral at best thing to me, maybe in need of some kind of overhaul to even be positive.
I identify as male because I feel like I am male, and that’s how I’ve always been, but “BEING A MAN” has so much awful associated baggage. The people I associate with the most on a day to day basis aren’t men at all, and there is nothing wrong with them.
dnfree
@Matt McIrvin: I feel the same way about being female. I’m female, but I’m not particularly “feminine”. It’s not in my nature to represent that image. I think virtues that are claimed to apply to one gender or the other are mostly universal. Who doesn’t want to protect their family? Who doesn’t want to nurture their family?
I have never had the ability to flirt, or to subtly get someone to do something for me by batting my eyelashes and looking helpless, and I roll my eyes if I see someone doing that.
Manyakitty
@Brachiator: I hope he runs for Russia.
Villago Delenda Est
@Chief Oshkosh: In Mocha’s case, it was her little claws, but I hear you! And thank all of you for the kind words and condolences. I’m contemplating the post-Mocha life…perhaps a kitten could grow into her paws. A shorthair, this time, I won’t have all the Mocha-fur cleaned up for MONTHS!
Paul in KY
@Geminid: Maybe the greatest song they ever did?
Paul in KY
@Matt McIrvin: I took my 6 year old son back in late June. Was really, really hot that week (and I lived in Homestead for 3 years). However, we had a really fun time. Stayed at the Contemporary Hotel and just monorailed here and there. Got really drunk in Epcot. Ate some fine meals. Son so loved meeting Mickey and the parades and rides.
We will go back in about 3 years or so. Will get the FastPass next time. Ride waits for us plebians were the only downside.
rikyrah
@catclub:
and high speed train money in Florida.
And, Wisconsin. – Was supposed to fund high speed rail from Chicago to Minneapolis.
Paul in KY
@Villago Delenda Est: Very sorry VDE for the loss of your beautiful cat. I bet she’s frolicking with my Mongo right now. I know she was a glorious cat.
Paul in KY
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I would have liked to witness the complete idiot who tried the licking maneuver. Boy, that would have been funny!
rikyrah
@Matt McIrvin:
I am still of the belief that everyone should experience DisneyWorld once….The entire thing is amazing. What that corporation has created down there….
To see it through:
A child’s eyes…
or
An adult who always wanted to go to Disney, but was denied as a child….
Who cut the onions?
rikyrah
@Villago Delenda Est:
so sorry for your loss :(
satby
@Villago Delenda Est: Condolences on Mocha’s passing. She was loved and knew it, and that’s the best thing on earth to them. You gave her that.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: You certainly pay for the experience, but everything has the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed. They really are a quality operation, IMO.
BeautifulPlumage
@Villago Delenda Est: my condolences on your loss
StringOnAStick
@Villago Delenda Est: I remember her photos from the calendars; she was indeed a gorgeous feline. I’m sorry for your loss.
sab
@Kelly: OMG that sounds scary. The one time I jumped into the middle of a dog fight one of the dogs ( mine) bit me by accident when she was intending to bite her sister. The look of shock in her eyes as the teeth sank in was kind of hilarious if it hadn’t hurt so much. No infection resulted and they never fought again.
I spent three days in the hospital with after surgery for a seriously infected hand after my husband’s cat bit me, also by accident or mistaken identity. She had fallen out the dog door during the night, spent the night in the backyard utterly terrified, and bit whoever touched her when I picked her up to bring her in. She had been mentally damaged by veterinary malpractice when she was overdosed on anasthetic for spaying. As a result she tended to go blind when she was overstimulated, and she was very overstimulated when she fell out the dog door.
sab
@sheila in nc: My husband keeps telling me ” I don’t notice your clothes, and you look weird on the rare occassions you wear makeup.”
NotMax
@sab
Same quote works both ways?
:)
sab
@NotMax: I don’t think so. He thinks I am cute in my Covid mask with my ears sticking out sideways. ( Pixie or elfin). He would prefer no mascara. As a brunette I can do that.
Eye makeup I can’t really feel, so I don’t care whether I wear it or not. Foundation or pancake type makeup is horrible and makes my skin crawl. I don’t even like most skincreams or sun screen. Greasy stuff all over my skin makes my skin crawl.
I married a freckled guy so he doesn’t care about freckles. It takes major slathering of foundation to cover freckles. I refuse to do it. First husband had issues with that.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: I talked to my parents about it a while back. They said, “It wasn’t the expense, we never went to Disney World because YOU never wanted to go.” I was the one doing the denying.
And I think the reason for that was that the big mascot characters in their TV ads freaked me out. I imagined it as being this overwhelming experience. Of course I didn’t realize that a meet-and-greet with one of those creatures is something you stand in line for, not something that was constantly being thrust upon you.
I think my sister did go down to Orlando with friends once or twice. She had a little friend who was absolutely obsessed with Disney World–had a book with autographs of all the mascot characters.
So I went for the first time as an adult, with a kid of my own. And despite all the annoyances and the heat and the unsettling weirdness of the Disney corporate style, I actually loved the place. Still do. I realized what “Disney magic” literally means–it’s magic as in stage conjuring. It’s like being inside the world’s biggest stage-magic trick, with the gimmicks all around you.