Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

White supremacy is terrorism.

We’re not going back!

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

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

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

This blog will pay for itself.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

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

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Always Moar Process Progress

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Always Moar Process Progress

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… We choose to… do [these] things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

Reader Interactions

235Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    confront the root causes of pain and trauma that many are feeling.

    For many, the root cause is the GOP.

  2. 2.

    Jeffg166

    My yenta wagon and I greatly appreciate the curb cuts when I am schlepping groceries home.

  3. 3.

    Nina

    Acting Commissioner of SSA Kijakazi has been great, she implemented a lot of subtle things that will have real impact going forward.  But she was never going to make it through a tight Senate confirmation with Manchin/Sinema without a hell of a fight.  So O’Malley is good, local, and confirmable for a 5 year term that will end at the end of the next presidential term.  Good decision in case of electoral disaster.

    I keep hoping that more people will pick up the fight for disability marriage equality.  The financial penalty that prevents people on disability from getting married hurts a lot of people who don’t have a lot of political power, and it’s sad.

  4. 4.

    oldster

    The real troll would be celebrating the ADA today and making Mitch the poster-boy.

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    There’s some big changes coming to accessible design. I know that normies, if they see this at all, with think this is NBD….. but it will absolutely change the built environment significantly.

  11. 11.

    eclare

    Going to see Barbie today at 1!  My first trip back to a theater since the before times.

  14. 14.

    Kathleen

    Of course instead of what Katherine Clark said, the Fascist Enabling Quislings of the Consort Media lead off the Today Show this morning with the Hunter Biden story (brought up from previous thread below).

    There are not enough words to describe my loathing and contempt for most of the mainslime media.

    Katherine Clark

    Instead of chasing Trump conspiracies and fanning culture wars, Democrats are tackling real issues: Cutting costs. Increasing wages. Creating jobs. We’re growing prosperity for everyone — and rejecting the GOP agenda of division.

  17. 17.

    danielx

    Looking at FTFNYT opinion page this morning, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but:Diversity Programs Miss the Point of a Liberal College Educationby Christopher F. Rufo
    Evidently the Times’ editorial staff believe in diversity a great deal more than Rufo, since they’ve provided him a first class platform from which to dispense utter swill.​​​

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne: These sound great! I am with elderly people who need and use accessibility features. I’m sometimes shocked at how bad things currently are, even in places where accessibility design should be one of the highest priorities, like retirement communities.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: I’ve been meaning to mention that along with everything else that’s happened this past month, we also had to put Miss Kitty down. This left us with 68 pouches of Whiskas cat food (the gravied chicken flavor variety packs) some dried cat food and some kitty treats.

    Every time I look at the pile I think of you and your cat rescue work. If you can make use of it, you can contact me at karstedm2 at gmail dot com.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack

    @oldster:

    Speaking of Mitch McConnell, as usual there’s a story behind the story: “McConnell has fallen multiple times this year, sources say.” And that “minor” fall that inexplicably kept him out of sight for six weeks?

    [. . .] McConnell fell in March at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, where he slammed his head and suffered a concussion and broken ribs, which sidelined him for nearly six weeks before he returned to the Senate.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @danielx: The chickenshit Times isn’t allowing comments under Rufo’s essay, the lily-livered fuckwits. This sentence from Rufo’s piece has massive theological implications:

    Universities require competent administrators, but their role is to support the scholarly mission of the university, not use it as a vehicle for their favored political interests.

    That the slouching, neck-bearded, corduroy-jacketed fraud didn’t burst into flames when he typed that is all the proof needed that there is no benevolent, justice-interested deity.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: They will be good changes. They will be expensive.

    To note: this will apply only to new builds, because it’s absolutely infeasible to implement this in existing buildings.

    Accessibility stuff is a thing owners and developers really hate. It inflates the amount of space required for a lot of functions that don’t generate revenue. The only way to make it happen is with the force of regulation and enforcement behind it.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Universities require competent administrators, but their role is to support the scholarly mission of the university, not use it as a vehicle for their favored political interests.

     
    “In this respect, Universities are fundamentally different from the State of Florida under Ron DeSantis.”

  31. 31.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m so sorry Ozark! She had a good life with you. And on top of all your other sadness over your brother, that’s terrible. Condolences again.

    I will; if you’re sure another four-ped isn’t in your near future. We do go through it quick around here. Thanks for thinking of us.

  32. 32.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    The highest priority of retirement communities is profit. 

    That makes them like, well, everything else.

    Agreed on avoiding them, tho!

  36. 36.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    Most everything else doesn’t get paid by some third party to service a highly vulnerable and largely invisible population.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    @danielx:

    by Christopher F. Rufo

    Their favorite subject! Their article about him a couple of years ago was unintentionally hilarious it was so ass kissing PLUS they added this photo of him in an outdoor setting, gazing moodily at the horizon, thinking Big Thoughts. They all think he’s a genuis – although -and this is the kicker- the Rufo agenda has been a disaster for DeSantis nationally. It isn’t popular. It isn’t even a clever or effective political tactic. It’s a big flop. If Christopher Rufo actually had his finger on the pulse of America Ron DeSantis’ campaign would be successful. Republicans would have won the midterms.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    So, in fairness, I mostly only see the bad NYT stuff that gets circulated here and on social media.   Does the NYT actually feature strong op/eds from our side of the “debate.”

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Pope Hat says the judge was right to make the two sides rewrite the Hunter Biden plea agreement.

    Some reasons:

    First, the plea agreement for the misdemeanors doesn’t have any non-prosecution language….

    Second, the diversion agreement — that is, the document that describes how if Hunter Biden stays clean for two years the government will dismiss the information charging him with being an addict in possession of a firearm — does have the non-prosecution agreement….So the agreement says that the government won’t prosecute Hunter Biden for any federal crimes “encompassed” by the statements of fact attached to the plea agreement (about the tax crimes) or the diversion agreement (about the gun crime). But what does “encompassed by” mean?

  42. 42.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Oh, fuck them. That’s not even “both sides”. They have printed thousands of words by these ninnies about “cancel culture” and how liberal law students are not deferential enough to Right wing power brokers.

    They need to do some editorials on conservatives using state power to quash speech they don’t like.

    They need to at least cover that with 1/00th of the insane obsessiveness they showed with “cancel culture”

  43. 43.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:If Christopher Rufo actually had his finger on the pulse of America Ron DeSantis’ campaign would be successful. Republicans would have won the midterms.

    While it’s unpleasant to have to deal with…I’m fine with the GOP mouth-breathers continuing with Rufo’s line of “attack”.  Same with their continued embrace of trump.  Do what feels good, Republicans!  It will keep costing you elections, but you do you.

  44. 44.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: I can’t believe Rufo actually wrote this with a straight face, metaphorically speaking:

    The university was conceived as a home for a community of scholars who pursued a variety of disciplines, but were united in a shared commitment to inquiry, research and debate, all directed toward the pursuit of the highest good, rather than the immediate interests of partisan politics.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    In the context of a midterm they lost – and they lost on battling “woke”, specifically. No one normal gave a shit. They won on wildly exaggerating crime (and the NYTimes helped them along with that too) but where they ran on battling “woke” 22 year old social workers and kindergarten teachers, they lost.

  46. 46.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: I am sad to hear about Ms. Kitty. My cat, Toast, got me and my son through some very hard times just by being around, allowing petting, requiring scheduled feeding and door openings…. I hope the dogs you can distract from the missing meows.

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    btw the Times has a piece up by one “David Broder” and I think I actually gasped.

    it’s not that David Broder.  (no need – most of the snooze media is still doing that David Broder’s “both sides” schtick to a tee)

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I think DeSantis flailing is the bigger defeat of the War on Woke.  He is Mr. Antiwoke. Or Antiwo for short.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    Maybe they’re finally, finally figuring out this isn’t actually popular. They can’t get qualified high quality people to work at that small public college they ruined. Some segment of parents –  +50% I bet- are going to start worrying about a pro-slavery position being taught in FL public schools. So now we get this pack of lies about what they were trying to accomplish.

  51. 51.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Coupla thoughts for today:

    1.  I started rewatching the original “Justified” when it cycled through after the most recent episode of “Justified: City Primeval”.  The writing in both is fantastic, but the one thing that bothers me about all “angry, rulebreaking cop” tropes in entertainment is this – in real life, a cop can fuck up in an agency, bureau or department, and there’s always a soft landing in some other department.  It isn’t like a firing or discipline actually matters.
    2. We hadn’t turned on the AC all summer because we seem to be in a pleasant  climate bubble this year.  A little self-discipline and successful manipulation of the whole house fan and ceiling fans took care of it – and the utility bills show the love.  Two days ago, the heat went up some, and I think the components of the fan had swelled so as to bind it up, so we engaged the AC – 76 two nights ago was unbearably cold.  Last night, we tried 80 and it was perfect – plus, the windows were closed, so no pollen (which had been killing me).  I don’t know if this is a metabolic thing or not.
    3. We had hailstorms last month, so we get a new roof!  The current one is 12 years old, so yay!
  52. 52.

    eversor

    @oldster:

    Horrible as Mitch is I think the worst offender is Abbot.  A man who, despite requiring a wheelchair, is not only anti anything for disabilities but rigged up a military grade system of buoys and razor wire at the Mexican border.

    The system is ridiculous.  Any actual “invading” military would make short work of it and it won’t stop a fucking thing.  They buy time, they don’t stop crap.  And even a halfway competent swimmer can get around it.  All it does is kill and maim the weak, sick, crippled, old, and small children.  We are also not going to be invaded by Mexico.  They tried that once, it didn’t end well for them.  They are also a close ally and the border is not some hell hole.

    It’s a system to keep out cripples like Abbot, also pregnant women.  Not to keep out strapping young men.  Which is what I thought the whole fuss was about?  And we gleefully name our deserts stuff like Death Valley because they are all lethal beyond belief.  If someone is not scared of American deserts razor wire isn’t going to impress them.

    I say we celebrate the disabilities act by tossing Abbot in the Rio Grande and making him navigate his contraption and then crawl through the desert.  Since it’s not cruel, he should have no problems doing it.

  53. 53.

    Suzanne

    @Baud:

    Most everything else doesn’t get paid by some third party to service a highly vulnerable and largely invisible population.

    This is how pretty much all medical and behavioral health care is handled in this country, cradle to grave.

    It just blows my mind….. all this really important, critical work, that was mostly the domain of unpaid women: childcare, elder care, housework, Meals on Wheels, the PTA….. I really do not get why we just don’t pay people directly to do it. The right wing wants to take us back to the time when women were supported by their husbands and thus were under their control. We could just….. pay people to do this work for their own families and communities, much more successfully, I might add.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Thanks! I’m pleased that they used braggadocious quotes from his own dumb book as evidence of the 1A violation.

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    btw the Pitchbot tweeted (X’d?) a link to a piece by a Fred Bauer who is pushing for DeSantis to launch a “normie insurgency”

    Sure thing – the guy trying to run to trump’s right is going to ‘go normie’ all of a sudden.

    Focusing excessively on culture war issues may also cost DeSantis among college-educated Republican primary voters. In national polling from Quinnipiac, he went from winning “white” college-educated Republicans by 29 points in April to losing them by 5 points in July. He lost some of those voters to Trump over that period, but Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and Chris Christie (who have comparatively downplayed themes of cultural combat) also saw a boost among that demographic over the past three months.

    DeSantis might instead find more of a political opportunity in a “normie” insurgency — presenting himself as an alternative to Trump who can help restore some sense of sanity (maybe even normalcy) to contemporary life.

    Because when I think of sanity and normalcy…the very first person who pops into my head is Ron DeSantis.  =)

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @Suzanne:

    I think the elderly are different in kind from other adults, no matter how crappy it may be for everyone. YMMV.

    Agree about what the GOP wants.

  58. 58.

    M31

    @Baud: I think “NYT Classics” would be a big hit.

    they can start with that one from 1933 where they opined that Hitler didn’t really mean all that stuff about the Jews, he just said it to get elected, the scamp

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    @danielx:

    Looking at FTFNYT opinion page this morning, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but:Diversity Programs Miss the Point of a Liberal College Educationby Christopher F. Rufo

    Even by the FTFNYT’s piss-poor standards, this is appalling.  Rufo’s claim to fame is that he’s good at coming up with turning what should be trivial issues into big scary shit for the entire right wing to get mad about, and yell at their local school boards about.

    That’s who the FTFNYT just decided their op-ed page would benefit from the presence of.

    But I guess now he’s Somebody, and if he’s a Somebody on the right, they’ll give him space.  If Adolf fucking Hitler was resurrected and became an important figure on the right, they’d give him an op-ed.  Because they’d figure he was an important voice who needed to be represented there.

    Fuck the fucking NYT.

  60. 60.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Its a lawyerese quibble.  I don’t completely  agree with Ken – I think the phrasing is correctly tailored by the government, and that the problem is really the defense team making a massive stretch as to the wording and context which made the judge say “whoa”.

  62. 62.

    Kathleen

    @satby: I only watch local news. Never got into cable talk shows and stopped broadcast “news” when Bush was “elected” and the news media yawned and shrugged its collective shoulders at the Brooks Brothers riot.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    In light of the current mania, from 2002:

    The Russian Ministry of Education has included Barbie along with a list of other toys and games, such as Pokémon, that face a ban because of the supposedly harmful effects they have on the minds of young children. Barbie, in particular, is under fire because the doll is thought to awaken sexual impulses in the minds of the very young, and encourage consumerism among Russian infants.

    The Ministry sent a request to the Russian Government this month to create a special commission to examine the psychological effects of toys and games which provoke aggression, fear and ‘premature sexual manifestations’.
    [snip]
    One of the principal causes for concern, government sources have said, is Barbie, a runaway success for Western-orientated children growing up amid a blossoming Russian retail trade. Source

    Barbie movie, for the record, is being withheld by Warner Brothers from release in Russia along with all other company product due to the invasion of Ukraine.

  64. 64.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Nate Hochman to join the NYT Editorial Board and the Harvard Institute of Politics…..

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    They keep going around in circles on this but their problem is if they drop their social issues focus they don’t have anything to offer. 

    He essentially admits that in his piece -he says DeSantis was popular in FL for environmental issues and more pay for teachers. Those are liberal issues. If you care about the environment why wouldn’t you just choose the liberal rather than some weak imitation of one?

    They act as if they CHOSE this anti woke agenda and they can choose something else. That isn’t what happened. They had nothing BUT social issues. That’s where Rufo came in – he gave them something, at least.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    If you care about the environment why wouldn’t you just choose the liberal rather than some weak imitation of one?

     

    IMHO, the reason, especially in the South, is hatred of black people.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    I’m amused too how he describes the riidiculous anti woke panic they all ginned up as “very online” – that means “out of touch with normies”.

    I mean, it IS “very online” – looking at actual elections voters don’t seem to give a shit – but every single political pundit and analyst ALSO thought it was a winner. They’re ALL very online.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I guess there’s a real world component where they pay the Moms of Liberty folks to dominate lightly attended Board of education meeting to intimidate officials.

  74. 74.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Baud:

    LOLing – the ultimate troll is to cite 303Creative and Citizens United back at right wing authoritarians.

  75. 75.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:They keep going around in circles on this but their problem is if they drop their social issues focus they don’t have anything to offer.

    This right here.

    The free market worshippers can’t begin to compete in the blessed ‘marketplace of ideas’.

    We could, conceivably, have two parties competing for votes on the basis of who has the best plan for addressing runaway climate change.  Instead we have one party with pretty good ideas about how to address runaway climate change, and another party intent on showing your kids pictures of Hunter Biden’s schlong…on tv…live from the halls of Congress.

  76. 76.

    Soprano2

    @Betty Cracker: Unless, of course he agrees with them, then the university should use every vehicle available to advance political interests. I agree, he should have burst into flames when he wrote that, the cognitive dissonance was so great.

  77. 77.

    Baud

    @Soprano2:

    Yeah, usually they like trolling their readers for engagement.  So I wonder what they’re afraid of.

    Maybe they had to promise Rufo that he wouldn’t receive any push back.

  78. 78.

    Trivia Man

    Credit where it’s due: the ADA may be the best thing to come out of the GHW Bush administration. I seem to recall even he saw the value in it and helped it pass against the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects.

    it costs money! Every company will just do these things voluntarily because otherwise they’ll be at a competitive disadvantage! REGULATIONS OF ANY KIND ARE OF THE DEVIL!

  79. 79.

    OverTwistWillie

    Movie houses are definitely different after lockdown. 6-8 screens is now the sweet spot, with reserved seating, recliners, maybe one screen with food service, a liquor license and an in-house branded large format screen.

    Mostly abandoned ticket booths and the lack of employees at the front of the house gives a tumbleweeds blowing in the wind vibe.

  80. 80.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: But Kay, he has his finger on the pulse of the only places they believe actually matter – small towns in rural America, where not that many people live but they have “real values”. *rolleyes* This is how they think, that they are actually the majority but even if they aren’t they’re right so of course what they want should prevail everywhere. “It’s for your own good, you don’t know what’s actually best for yourself” they say to all the places where people actually live.

  81. 81.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    In Griftopia, things get a life of their own. It’s true on the liberal side, although we have way fewer. There’s no real analysis of whether Momsfor Liberty are winning any more school board races than normal Righties would. The only people who collect the race results are liberal education people on Twitter. Moms for Liberty seem to lose as many as they win. I have no idea if they’re popular or effective and either does anyone else. I know out very online media cover them a lot but that’s not “winning a school board race”. That’s a successful grift.

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    @Dorothy A. Winsor

    Two steps forward, one step back.

    Unpacking Bob Iger’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good PR Week

    Many in Hollywood hoped the re-upped Disney CEO, long considered the corporate leader most in tune with talent, would emerge as a levelheaded mediator who could end the labor impasse. And then he spoke his mind. Source

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    Speaking of ‘always moar progress’…while this is just a drop in the bucket (of what should be a GOP anti-trump firehose blasting away), every little bit helps:

    GOP group is running anti-trump ads in Iowa featuring disillusioned trump voters who won’t back him in 2024

    A portion of the Republican Party — perhaps 30 percent — supports the former president but worries he could not win the White House, Ms. Longwell said. The Iowa ad campaign is meant to send a message not only to those primary voters but also to the Republican challengers in the field, who Ms. Longwell thinks should focus more on Mr. Trump’s political vulnerabilities.

    “Part of the problem has been that there hasn’t been another candidate to emerge who voters intuitively see as more electable,” Ms. Longwell said. “The No. 1 reason Trump is dominating right now is because of lack of political talent from the people who are challenging him.”

    Iowa is already emerging as a crucial battleground in the primary race. A decisive January victory by Mr. Trump in the state, which has retained its place as the starting gate of the Republican nominating fight, would propel him into the next primary contests with momentum that could be difficult to stop.

    “We believe strategically there’s basically only one path for somebody to unseat Trump’s dominant hold,” Ms. Longwell said. “Beat him in Iowa and you change the contours of the race quickly.”

     

    Republicans, y’all better hurry up – it’s almost August, y’know.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    So I was pissed at Diane Feinstien for staying too long – and you all have heard my rant about Ginsburg – WHICH I STAND BY :)

    BUT. There’s a double standard in the coverage of Feinstein and McConnell. They knew McConnell was in bad shape- come on.

    Our Media are just super sexist, in addition to all their other failings. It’s such a shit industry. Packed with sexual harrassers and other trash.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    The media know Republicans don’t care a bit about the age of their politicians.  So who would they be writing such stories for?

    Write a story about old Democrats, however, and you get engagement from both sides.

  95. 95.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: You’re right — DeSantis did get credit for raising teacher pay and spending on the environment before the pandemic. Covid denial was a gateway to all kinds of anti-government crackpot stuff for lots of people, and Rufo and DeSantis are cashing in on that. For now. Looks like a loser nationally though.

    @Baud: In Florida, anti-communist hysteria is part of the package too.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: But but but then we would be denied the challenge and pleasure of successfully translating them to something that makes sense. Might not be what you intended to say but dems da breaks.

  97. 97.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Baud:

    The Bard has eternal truths to speak.  No wonder the Klingons found him to be so profound they claimed him as their own.

  98. 98.

    Soprano2

    OT – the contractor started on my bathroom renovation/repair yesterday. He got the bathtub and 2/3 of the floor in the bathroom torn out yesterday. There was a lot of termite damage to the wood behind the tub – one board was deteriorated and barely sitting on the concrete support underneath the tub! Today he’s going to tear out the rest of the floor and the vanity, and then start rebuilding the floor. He kind of wants to tear out the cultured marble that surrounds the tub, but I said no because if he did that I’d have to get a cheap tub surround. I may talk to him about doing that at a later time when I can plan for it – I figure that would be a one day job. That cultured marble is nice – it was a splurge for us when we redid the bathroom, but we didn’t want the hassle of tile around the tub/shower. So it’s going to be a PITA for a couple of weeks because while we have a toilet in the workshop outside we don’t have another bathroom, so no other shower or bathtub.

    On another note, we had the initial intake appointment for my husband’s neuro psych testing on Tuesday. She was able to have him tested Tuesday afternoon, because she needed to have it done then in order to have the results by the time he goes back to the doctor on August 21st. I had to fill out a questionnaire about changes in behavior I had noticed in him. I had been told by a friend that this would be verbal questioning in front of him, so I was EXTREMELY relieved to fill out a form instead. I also e-mailed some information to the doctor yesterday; it was things that weren’t asked about on the form or things I thought would be helpful, like when the first thing happened that made me think he might be having a memory problem. I guess in August we’ll find out what the doctor thinks the diagnosis actually is. I don’t know if much about our lives will change after that, but at least I’ll have a name to put to what’s happening to him. I feel both relief and dread at the thought of that. It’s so cruel and unfair for this to happen to him, but life surely isn’t fair at all.

  101. 101.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    “Corporations should reflect all the characteristics of the people in charge of them, so long as they agree with right wing talking points.”

    – Future SCOTUS Opinion

  105. 105.

    Soprano2

    @Jeffro: The problem with DeSantis trying a “normie insurgency” is that he has no idea what normal people are actually like or what they want.

  106. 106.

    Scout211

    @Soprano2: My sympathies. Mr. Scout was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s early this month. The neurologist was surprised with the results of the MRI because his symptoms are currently mild, but his MRI showed moderate atrophy. He’s on two memory medications now.

    My mother had Alzheimer’s so I know how this goes. But as a spouse, you are never prepared.

  107. 107.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: That’s what I think too, Rufo insisted on no comments because he knows what they would say. We can’t have white conservatives having their feelings hurt. /s/s/s/s

  109. 109.

    Paul in KY

    @OzarkHillbilly: My condolences on Ms Kitty’s passing. Know it had to be done. If it was anything at all like with Mongo, she passed quickly and very peacefully.

  110. 110.

    Soprano2

    @Trivia Man: I had a female customer ask me why the toilet in the “regular” stall was so low compared to the one in the handicapped stall, and why didn’t I put a tall toilet in there too. I told her “because we have to have a tall one in the handicapped stall, and because they cost $500+ while a regular toilet is a lot cheaper. If you want to pay for a tall toilet, I’ll put one in there”. Of course, she doesn’t want to pay for it!

  112. 112.

    Yarrow

    @Baud:

    Most everything else doesn’t get paid by some third party to service a highly vulnerable and largely invisible population.

    Retirement communities are not the same thing as nursing homes, although they can include nursing sections. Independent living sections of retirement communities, or places like The Villages that are 55+, are retirement communities but for the most part the people who live there pay to live there.

    Even so, residents who live independently in any of those types of places often need assistive mobility devices, whether as simple as a cane or all the way to a scooter. And it’s shocking how bad some of the design is around those issues at places that are specifically built for older people.

  116. 116.

    Scout211

    @Eolirin: Here’s the statement from WhiteHouse.gov

    Link Link to complete statement.  

    President Biden announces new landmark rule to strengthen mental and physical health parity requirements and improve mental health care access for more than 150 million Americans

  117. 117.

    Eolirin

    @Suzanne: That’s the part of the Build Back Better plan that Manchin killed. There seems to be a consensus around that need from the Dems. We just don’t have the numbers to do anything about it yet.

  123. 123.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: The “Moms” are trying their stuff here, but there’s a lot of pushback to it. That’s one thing that tells me Springfield is more liberal than it used to be. Of course, there are also three good-sized universities here, so education is important to people in this city, and they don’t want these grifters screwing up their kids’ education.

  124. 124.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Are you through with glass as a fictional subject? The reason I ask is because I saw this headline in the Jerusalem Post and thought, “This story might make for a good YA historical novel!”:

       Archeologists discover ancient glass workshop near European Alps.

    The site contains artifacts from the La Tene Period, ca. 450-100 BCE.

    On the other hand, another Jerusalem Postheadline did not suggest a very good YA storyline:

       Naked woman opens fire on California highway

  125. 125.

    Soprano2

    @Kay: Oh yeah, how often do they talk about Chuck Grassley’s age? Mitch McConnell can have an obvious health problem and they barely comment on it.  If Grassley and McConnell were female, they would mention their age in every story. Once women are past a certain age, they think we should just go away out of the public eye. They don’t think that of men – they’re the “experienced elder statesmen”. I also notice that they rarely talk about Bernie Sanders age – isn’t he as old as Biden, or even older?

    Atrios says this kind of thing about TFG, that reporters could label him “disgraced former president” in every story, but for some reason they don’t do that. They shape people’s perceptions of politicians whether they want to admit it or not.

  127. 127.

    Percysowner

    I debated putting this here, because it’s pretty personal, but here goes. I’m 70. When I was a kid in the 50s my Mom did something unusual, she worked part time. She had been a librarian before I was born and wanted to keep working. So two days a week she ran the book cart at our local hospital. For those who are saying WTF, people stayed in hospitals for a much longer time back then and the library would bring books that could be checked out to the patients during their stay. Anyway, my Mom had MS. She still showed up for her 2 day a week shift. She finished her rounds every day. She needed to lean on the book cart to help her get around, but she did it. Then one day they called her in and told her that it was “too depressing” for people to watch her “struggle” to do her work and they fired her. It broke her heart. She died 2 years later, and I have always believed that being told that she was worthless because she was ill, well maybe it didn’t cause it, but it sure didn’t help.

    The ADA would have protected her and kept an employee who was DOING THEIR JOB on the job. I thank God that it exists and that other people have a chance to continue to be productive and not feel that they are “too depressing” because they are ill.​
    ​

  129. 129.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: at least I’ll have a name to put to what’s happening to him

    Be prepared for the possibility of a muddled diagnosis. Sometimes these things aren’t so clear cut.

  130. 130.

    suzanne

    @Yarrow:

    And it’s shocking how bad some of the design is around those issues at places that are specifically built for older people. 

    ADA remediation is hella expensive, y’all. Like, staggeringly so. If we want it done, we need to subsidize it.

    BTW, houses of worship are exempt from the built environment portions of the ADA. This is pretty limiting for older people.

  131. 131.

    Soprano2

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Our Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (the son of Shrub’s Attorney General) had an op-ed in last Sunday’s paper saying ESG needed to be “reined in”. His assumption was that companies using it as part of investing were always giving up returns in favor of politics. He never entertained the idea that investing in that way could lead to greater long-term returns, and only at the end of the article did he grudgingly admit that because companies are part of the free market, they were free to invest in this way if they want to. He seems to think the government should rein this in though, and dictate to investment firms how they can invest their client’s money. Republicans have changed a lot because of TFG, but to me this is one of the most jarring changes – how they’re willing to interfere with the free market now to impose their views on business and industry.

  132. 132.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Geminid: What a cool historical find.

    All I can say about the naked woman is, she apparently has anger issues.

    I’m not writing anything at all at the moment. I have a draft of a sequel to Glass Girl with my editor. But at the moment, it all feels pointless. It’s possible I’m depressed. But it’s also possible I just don’t have another book in me.

  133. 133.

    Soprano2

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I told the contractor that I was ready for him to start so that he could finish!!! I’ve been planning this for 6 months, and we’ve needed to do it for two years, so I’m definitely ready for it to be done. I’ll be taking a few showers in the locker room at work, though. If I had known when he was going to do it a month ago, I could have gotten a key from the neighbors and borrowed their bathroom, because they’re on a trip to California until sometime in August.

  135. 135.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    The media know Republicans don’t care a bit about the age of their politicians.  So who would they be writing such stories for? Write a story about old Democrats, however, and you get engagement from both sides.

    I’m just not sure this is true. I used to read them on Twitter – they complain about their politicians a lot and it’s the flip sideof liberal complaints -in their world Biden wins every battle because Republicans are weak. I didn’t see the age thing specifically, but as a general rule they really do criticize their politicians. It’s just not for what we think it should be for – it’s for a lack of manly decisiveness or Biden “outsmarting” them.
    And they do hate McConnell! Trump told them to.

  136. 136.

    Soprano2

    @Scout211: My sympathies to you, this is hard. I always knew it was a possibility I would have to deal with this, because I’m 14 years younger than Mr. Soprano and his father had some kind of dementia (back in the early ’90’s I don’t think they differentiated among the different types as much). And yeah, even though I’ve known for at least 1 1/2 years that something was wrong, I’m still not ready for it. I’m not ready to go to a support group yet, because I’m not ready to see my future.

  137. 137.

    suzanne

    Also, I just want to note FYI…. the built environments portion (“Accessible Design Guidelines”) changes every few years. And there are other accessibility codes that are stricter in some jurisdictions. So updating to current standards is always an endeavor.

  138. 138.

    Yarrow

    @suzanne:  I understand that. The places I’m thinking of have been built recently, like lots of these mushrooming retirement places have been, so they’ve gone up well after the ADA has been law. Still shocking. I can’t go anywhere now without looking at trip hazards, wheelchair ramp access, grab bars, etc. Once you see it you can’t unsee it.

  139. 139.

    Wapiti

    @Soprano2: After my dad’s neuro exam, I went online and found a pdf or jpg of the Montreal cognition test. It might be helpful for you to look at that before his eval just so you can see what the doctor’s checking.  link to a .gov site

  144. 144.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Baud:

    “What do you mean, your business supports inclusion of all demographics, ethical business practices and responsible environmental responses?  What the hell is wrong with you??!?”

  145. 145.

    Kay

    @Percysowner:

    I think the ADA is great too and I’m sorry about your mom. I can’t believe we did that to disabled people for all those years- monstrous. I had an older customer at one of the rural post offices where I worked who was in a bad car wreck as a little kid – head injury, brain damage. He never went back to school. There was no disabled program of any kind. He sat at home from 4th grade on.

    I liked when Fetterman got sick after the election because I felt like it was a put up or shut up moment for Democrats and we “passed”. We talk a good game but in that case we had to show it and I think we (mostly) did. You either support these people with health challenges or you don’t. We say we support them.

  146. 146.

    Miss Bianca

    @Nina:

    I keep hoping that more people will pick up the fight for disability marriage equality.  The financial penalty that prevents people on disability from getting married hurts a lot of people who don’t have a lot of political power, and it’s sad.

    Color me naive, but this is a subject I know very little about. Can you say more? Is it a matter of losing benefits/disability payments if you get married?

  147. 147.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: Yes, but not often. They had a takedown of the Supreme Court yesterday (at least it was yesterday in the paper-paper).

  151. 151.

    rikyrah

    @danielx:

    Looking at FTFNYT opinion page this morning, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but:Diversity Programs Miss the Point of a Liberal College Educationby Christopher F. Rufo

    Muthaphuckas.

  152. 152.

    Yarrow

    @Soprano2:

    I’m not ready to go to a support group yet, because I’m not ready to see my future.

    Totally understandable. This is hard, scary stuff and a big responsibility. Sometimes it’s too hard to look at it right away.

    Just FYI, there are courses for caregivers that can be helpful. That’s not quite a support group and has a defined start and finish, as it’s a course. Online support groups can be good and you can dip in and out of those as needed. Also a great place to get resources.

  153. 153.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Steeplejack: That’s one explanation for the concussion and broken ribs. Until proven otherwise, I agree with the growing body of scuttlebutt* that his dom wife got a little rambunctious. Not kink shaming; it happens to the best of us.

    *voices in my head count, right?

    PS: I hope that the Senator has a peaceful recovery, surrounded by family and friends who encourage him to keep up the good fight and continue to make clear what a shitty, shitty party he’s running.

  154. 154.

    suzanne

    @Yarrow:

    I can’t go anywhere now without looking at trip hazards, wheelchair ramp access, grab bars, etc. Once you see it you can’t unsee it. 

    100% true. I am nerdy, so I am constantly spotting it. It’s so bad that I see many more places do it wrong than right.

    Trip hazards and thresholds even have their own section in the guidelines!!!

    The thing I see all the time is an accessible restroom, designed with no storage or counter space, and then the tenant goes and buys a little cabinet at Target or Hobby Lobby or whatever to hold their TP and soap, and then they stick it right in the clear space between the toilet and the sink, which is supposed to be left clear for a person in a wheelchair to pull up next to the toilet.

  155. 155.

    Yarrow

    @Percysowner:  How awful. So sad for your mom. The ADA has done amazing things. It’s always eye opening to visit other countries that don’t have the same kind of laws and see just how hard it is to get around if you’re not completely able to walk without needing any assistance, and sometimes even then it’s a challenge.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Yarrow: I worked in accessibility to polling places for two years over a decade ago, and it is amazing how much I continue to notice those things.  BTW wider doors, wider hallways, lever door handles, etc., improve quality of life for people who do not have disabilities as well.

  158. 158.

    WereBear

    @Jeffg166: And everyone with a stroller, those who are ambulatory but do better with a ramp, null deliveries, and guide dogs can use them as training cues.

    They benefit everyone.

  161. 161.

    Yarrow

    @suzanne:  Oh, lord. Thresholds! A dangerous issue for sure! Don’t even get me started. I can’t not see it. I understand in older places that it’s hard to bring it up to code but new builds really have no excuse. But here we are. Ugh!

    Is there an ADA compliance hotline? There should be! I’d be calling it all the time. LOL.

    A family member built a house on some property. It was supposed to be their retirement house. The husband is NOT an architect and used some guy he knew who built barns to design it. The master bathroom is so inaccessible that two of them can’t be in there at once. They have to go sideways to get around each other. She can’t go in the bathroom at night without having a light on because she’s always whacking herself on the counter that sticks out too far and in the wrong place. It’s AWFUL. And the door isn’t wheelchair compatible so if one of them ever needs a walker or a wheelchair it’s going to be a nightmare.

    People! Get an architect who’s experienced in building the kind of building you want! Don’t hire a barn guy to build your house! And think ahead! If you’re thinking of retiring there, plan for accessibility.

  162. 162.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @WereBear: The one thing I do notice around my over-55 building is that the ramps have bumps on them to notify those with limited sight that they’re approaching a street, but the bumps make it hard on people with walkers and wheelchairs. I having trouble wrestling my shopping cart over them.

    There’s good stuff you don’t even think of. For instance, the elevator doors are slow to close to accommodate people who are slow for a variety of reasons.

  164. 164.

    Yarrow

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    BTW wider doors, wider hallways, lever door handles, etc., improve quality of life for people who do not have disabilities as well.

    They really do. We all benefit.

  165. 165.

    Geminid

    There is a Sinead O’Connor article today in the Middle East Eye (@middleeasteye.net):

        “Sinead O’Connor told Israel’s Itamar Ben-Gvir that his ‘soul had failed’ after death threat.”

    Sinead O’Connor canceled a 1997 Jerusalem concert organized by Jewish and Arab women after threats of violence. Ben-Gvir bragged that his hate group had deterred her, and Ms. O’Connor told him off in a public letter.

    Ben-Gvir is in the news a lot these days. Although as an 18 yer-old he was rejected for military service in the IDF because of his radical, Kahanist views, Ben Gvir now is Netanyayu’s national security minister, in charge of Israel’s national police force.

  166. 166.

    Yarrow

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Does the whole ramp have bumps? That’s not good. There’s one at a building I have to go to that is that way and it’s awful. Even hurts to walk on if you don’t have thick soles on your shoes.

    The ones I usually see have a small, maybe 2-3 foot section of bumps as the ramp gets to the street. Other than that the ramp just has grooves so it’s not slick when it rains.

  168. 168.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks for the advice, you’re right that sometimes medicine is more of an art than a science. His MRI showed evidence that he had a stroke at some time in the past, I’ll be interested to see what part of the brain that was. I’m betting that this is vascular based on his until recently poorly-controlled diabetes. It’s still not great, but it’s a lot better now that I know how he should take insulin and we have that 24-hour monitoring meter. Those things are a game changer for diabetics.

  169. 169.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Katherine Faulders

    @KFaulders

    NEWS – Lawyers for former President Trump have arrived at special counsel Jack Smith’s offices this morning for a meeting as a potential indictment looms, sources tell me

  170. 170.

    Scout211

    @suzanne:

    Trip hazards and thresholds even have their own section in the guidelines!!!

     

    We built our house 15 years ago with universal design/aging in place design.  It’s been great since we are now, uh, not young anymore.  The bars in the tubs and showers are great.  I thought it would be years before I used them but I actually have used them for 15 years.  We don’t have bars around the toilets but we have enough room for a wheelchair transfer and reinforced walls in case bars are needed in the future.  We have three doors with zero thresholds and several other aging in place features.

    15 years ago we had to push our builder to add all of these universal design features in our home because he felt that it would cost so much more and take away space that could be used for other things.  I can’t imagine how much it will cost for commercial buildings.

  171. 171.

    Glidwrith

    @Suzanne: A dark thought: after I realized one of the reasons wingers don’t want sex ed is because their children would understand their parents shouldn’t be raping them, wingers also wouldn’t want anyone other than family in their homes to observe the elder abuse and domestic violence they are committing.

  173. 173.

    Yarrow

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    For instance, the elevator doors are slow to close to accommodate people who are slow for a variety of reasons.

    Assuming they’re maintained. If not, they can kill you, like happened to me recently when the elevator at one of those places closed on me and the elderly person I was with, as we were in the elevator doorway.

    I had to throw myself in front of the door and push against it with my entire body using my legs as leverage to keep it from crushing us, as I eased the elderly person out so they wouldn’t be crushed and then leapt out of the way as the doors closed……and the elevator went nowhere. Hadn’t been called to another floor. Just decided it had to close when we were in the elevator doorway and almost kill us.

    I had a meeting with management after that. It was terrifying.

  174. 174.

    Ken

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: The Bard has eternal truths to speak.  No wonder the Klingons found him to be so profound they claimed him as their own.

    Though it should be noted that Baud‘s quote is from the Ferengi edition.

    And, to contribute some slight content to the ESG sub-thread, even the Ferengi recognize that there are circumstances where immediate profit should be deferred to achieve a greater long-term profit.

  175. 175.

    Yarrow

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That may be a requirement in your area. It’s helpful for sight-impaired people, as you said. Also can slow down a wheelchair that got away. Which hopefully wouldn’t happen but it does.

  176. 176.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Oh, fuck them. That’s not even “both sides”. They have printed thousands of words by these ninnies about “cancel culture” and how liberal law students are not deferential enough to Right wing power brokers.

    They need to do some editorials on conservatives using state power to quash speech they don’t like.

     

    CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

  177. 177.

    Soprano2

    @Wapiti: Thanks, I can look at it but he had his evaluation on Tuesday. It was supposed to be August 10th, but the Dr. is going to be on vacation next week and said if he didn’t test this week she wouldn’t have the evaluation done in time for his August 21st appointment.

  178. 178.

    prostratedragon

    Suzanne@10: Those look good. Just last night I was out, and encountered all three of those design areas. They are manageable for me, but a little easier is better. The toilet one I solve by parking the chair and walking in on foot — but of course many in chairs do not have that option. Too many doorways and hallways, even the chair-accessible doors, require setting up a straight pool shot. Welcome changes.

  180. 180.

    M31

    @Yarrow: Don’t hire a barn guy to build your house!

    just imagining the kitchen, “OK, the trough we’ll put right here opposite the manger”

  181. 181.

    NotMax

    Do plan to visit the newly opened Grand Central Madison complex deep, deep, deep beneath Grand Central Terminal.

    The escalators to the platforms are wild (two minutes to reach the other end). Also lots of elevators, although have to change from the ones which connect the rail platforms to the underground concourse to ones that go up from there, some of which open directly onto streets outside the terminal proper,

  182. 182.

    Ken

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Lawyers for former President Trump have arrived at special counsel Jack Smith’s offices this morning for a meeting as a potential indictment looms

    Didn’t that happen a couple weeks ago? With no indictment. It left me disappointed.

    Though if Smith is doing this to keep Trump anxious so he keeps confessing to crimes on television, by all means continue.

  185. 185.

    Jackie

    @Kay: I was amused by the GQP’s poopooing of the 81 yr old McTurtle’s frozen in place incident, yet lamenting Biden’s choice of footwear for climbing slippery metal stairs.

    McTurtle is “fine;” Biden is old and feeble.

  187. 187.

    Scout211

    @Yarrow: People! Get an architect who’s experienced in building the kind of building you want! Don’t hire a barn guy to build your house! And think ahead! If you’re thinking of retiring there, plan for accessibility.

    Universal design/aging in place has many added features that you can conceal until you need them, too.  We have a portion of our kitchen counter at wheelchair level that poses as a desk right now. We have a removable cabinet under one of our master bathroom vanities with tile underneath that has enough room for a wheelchair. There are many feature in universal design that are concealed until needed.

    But the difficult issue for the majority of people is retrofitting their homes for accessibility because for for them, building a new home is not a possibility.

  191. 191.

    UncleEbeneezer

    NEWS – Lawyers for former President Trump have arrived at special counsel Jack Smith’s offices this morning for a meeting as a potential indictment looms, sources tell me.

  194. 194.

    suzanne

    @prostratedragon:

     

    Too many doorways and hallways, even the chair-accessible doors, require setting up a straight pool shot. Welcome changes.

    Yeah, we typically design to the “front approach” door style. The ADA requires 32″ clear at a door on an accessible route, which means a 36″ leaf size. It is always, always a point of discussion for me with clients to go larger, because so many wheelchairs are big. But going larger with the door requires bigger clear space inside, and bigger space requires…. more space. And that means less space for something else, or more money for more area.

  195. 195.

    Ken

    @Jackie: It’s a little harder to acknowledge weakness when your party still has the “that man is weak, I can kill him and take his sheep and women and gold” mindset. Er, metaphorically. Mostly.

    I do agree with yesterday’s discussion, that when McConnell goes (for whatever reason) the infighting among Senate Republicans will be epic.

  196. 196.

    Steeplejack

    @Jackie:

    I am maliciously gleeful this morning that as the MSNBC shows report on McConnell’s freeze they leave the complete 20-second clip running in the background while they’re talking about it. His rigid posture and frozen stare are not consistent with “feeling lightheaded,” which is how his staff tried to spin it.

  198. 198.

    suzanne

    @Scout211:

    But the difficult issue for the majority of people is retrofitting their homes for accessibility because for for them, building a new home is not a possibility. 

    Many houses can never be successfully retrofitted. Houses are actually the worst buildings we build, in terms of quality and design.

  199. 199.

    Gin & Tonic

    Sy Hersh, who once was a journalist, now completely beclowns himself on the regular.

    Yes Hersh, this is definitely something a U.S. official told you and not just one of your many fever dreams or your Russian handler. pic.twitter.com/8mg8G7bOCM— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) July 27, 2023

    You’ll have to click through for the full quote, where supposedly an unnamed “US official” refers to Zelensky as a “poor waif in his underwear.” I guess you’re supposed to skip over the fact that this is a phrase never used by Americans, but is a literal translation of the common russian phrase “мальчик в трусиках.”

  200. 200.

    Another Scott

    Progress? Tesla doesn’t want to talk about lack of progress…

    Reuters:

    Tesla created secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints

    […]

    Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.

    Managers told the employees that they were saving Tesla about $1,000 for every canceled appointment, the people said. Another goal was to ease the pressure on service centers, some of which had long waits for appointments.

    In most cases, the complaining customers’ cars likely did not need repair, according to the people familiar with the matter. Rather, Tesla created the groundswell of complaints another way – by hyping the range of its futuristic electric vehicles, or EVs, raising consumer expectations beyond what the cars can deliver. Teslas often fail to achieve their advertised range estimates and the projections provided by the cars’ own equipment, according to Reuters interviews with three automotive experts who have tested or studied the company’s vehicles.

    […]

    CarAndDriver.com’s 40,000 mile long-term test of a Model 3 (from 2019):

    An electric vehicle’s efficiency varies dramatically with outside temperature (internal-combustion efficiency also varies but to a much smaller degree). For example, in our best month, August 2020, we averaged 107 MPGe over 1812 miles. Our worst was February 2021, when we averaged 55 MPGe, almost 50 percent worse, over 1182 miles. The difference? The average temperature in February was 27 degrees, while in August it was a balmy 79. Cold temperatures obviously work the cabin heater more and also make charging less efficient. Even parking outside in wintry weather uses energy to keep the pack from getting too frigid. On one bitterly cold night when the mercury dipped down to 5 below zero, the Model 3 consumed 5 percent of its battery capacity just sitting overnight trying not to freeze.

    […]

    C/D FUEL ECONOMY
    Observed: 83 MPGe

    EPA FUEL ECONOMY
    Combined/City/Highway: 116/120/112 MPGe
    Range: 310 miles

    83/116 = 28% lower mileage than EPA/Tesla estimates.

    (In contrast, my 2023 Kia Niro SX Touring PHEV has a claimed 31 mile all-electric range. I regularly get close to 40 miles before the engine comes on.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  201. 201.

    Citizen Alan

    It’s 7:45 a.m. and I am nearly shaking with rage right now.

    My furniture was picked up in Mississippi on 7/8 (two days late). The “First Available Date of Delivery” (FADD) was 7/15, one week later. I flew into Fresno on the 14th. Next day, no furniture and no one answers at the moving company. I get the runaround for the next 2 weeks until this morning, I finally get a clear statement.

    My furniture was shipped to NEW JERSEY where it was put into a warehouse, where it will sit until they come up with a route from New Jersey to Fresno. No indication of when that will be. I am sleeping on an air mattress in an apartment empty save for the folding metal chair and folding card table I bought so I would at least have a place to sit when I ate. I also had to go to DXL and drop almost $500 on clothes since my stuff will not be here before my start date.

    I need to hire a lawyer, I think. I mean, I AM a lawyer, but right now I’m too angry to write a coherent demand letter.

  203. 203.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Soprano2:

    “It’s for your own good, you don’t know what’s actually best for yourself”

    But isn’t this what we constantly tell those same people? Of course, we happen to be objectively correct, but that’s just a quibble…

  204. 204.

    Ohio Mom

    @Miss Bianca: I admit, I only have a vague idea about marriage penalties for disabled people. Disability benefits law is a vast area and it’s a challenge enough unraveling what applies to Ohio Family. But this article seems a good introduction:
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2022/03/31/whats-next-in-marriage-equality-for-people-with-disabilities/?sh=5c36d0246eb7

    The limits on resources is another rule that needs updating. Have more than $2,000 in unsheltered assets (e.g., money in a bank account) and you can lose your Social Security and/or Medicaid.

    Some people go on and off disability programs — for example, they find a job that is accommodating, the business closes and they need benefits again. Or their disabling condition progresses. I suspect they particularly get caught in these traps.

  205. 205.

    Jeffro

    @Soprano2: Rufo insisted on no comments because he knows what they would say. We can’t have white conservatives having their feelings hurt.

    Which is funny, because that’s Rufo’s supervillain origin story – he got his feelings hurt at/felt guilty after a diversity training at his workplace years ago.  Awwwwwww

    A campaign to mail him a gazillion pacifiers wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world…

  206. 206.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    I love white collar true crime and it’s always a variation on that story:

    Tesla created secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints […]Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.

    All the energy and creativity goes into cutting corners and scamming. It’s like they completely lose the plot of normal, productive work.
    Tesla did this instead of improving the range or at least halting their practice of exaggerating the range. There’s whole groups of employees in these scammy companies who are like “what do we do in this company, again? Our…job? Is it…lie on the phone?”

  207. 207.

    UncleEbeneezer

    NEW: Stephanie Lambert has been INDICTED in Michigan for tampering with voting machines in 2020 on behalf of Donald trump

  209. 209.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Citizen Alan: I had something similar happen during my move from Ohio to Wisconsin.  I ended up having to sue.  Pro Tip:  look at CA’s consumer protection laws.  I used WI’s statutes to get around mandatory arbitration and choice of jurisdiction clauses.  I didn’t win on the consumer protection counts, but they got me into a WI courtroom and I won on the contract claims.

  210. 210.

    Scout211

    @Citizen Alan: OMG! That’s horrible. I hope you can find a lawyer to help you immediately. Yes, you are a lawyer but you don’t yet have an office right now. Hopefully, it will only take a sternly worded warning letter in legalese. Hopefully, you can find someone soon.

  211. 211.

    Soprano2

    @Yarrow: If either one of us ever needs a wheelchair we’ll just have to move to another house, because there would be no way to make the narrow doorways in our house wheelchair-accessible.

    There is an apartment building in my city that was renovated specifically to follow ADA standards for people who need accessibility. I think that’s a smart idea, because there’s definitely a market for it.

  212. 212.

    Citizen Alan

    @Scout211:

    Update: I just found the email they sent three days after picking up my furniture that was not actually labeled as being connected with my move. It purports to describe the ‘delivery conditions’ and supercedes every single verbal statement made. They have up to 21 days after the First Available Date of Delivery (July 15) not counting weekends or holidays, so AUGUST 14!  Another 2 and 1/2 weeks on a fucking air mattress!

  213. 213.

    Tenar Arha

    @Citizen Alan: Damn. I’m sorry you’re going through that. That sucks. And yeah, if you’re that mad, better to offload it to someone else. My best wishes on your new job & home though.

  215. 215.

    Soprano2

    @suzanne: See my comment above. I wouldn’t even try to retrofit our house for anything but the lightest access. The doorway to our only bathroom is 30″ wide – or it might only be 28″. One good thing with our house is that it’s like the older houses in that most doorways don’t actually have doors on them, but the ones that do are narrow. Also, our bedroom is a converted attic upstairs; hubby put in a spiral staircase to it to free up a bunch of space in the living room, but you can see how that would be a problem for someone with accessibility issues. As it is I keep a death grip on the railings every time I go up or down it, because falling down those stairs would be really bad.

  216. 216.

    Soprano2

    @Citizen Alan: Whoa, yeah you need an attorney. That’s not reasonable – they don’t know how to get from New Jersey to Fresno? Are they kidding?

  217. 217.

    Soprano2

    @Chief Oshkosh: We do, but I don’t think we’re trying to pass laws to force them to not go to church, or make their kids read certain books, or anything like that.

  219. 219.

    rikyrah

    @Soprano2:

    This is how they think, that they are actually the majority but even if they aren’t they’re right so of course what they want should prevail everywhere. “It’s for your own good, you don’t know what’s actually best for yourself” they say to all the places where people actually live.

     

    Which is why they are insistent about overturning the will of the BLUE dots in their Red States. Creating laws that strip those Blue Dots of their own autonomy. Overriding the laws that their duly elected representatives think are best for their constituents.

  222. 222.

    suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL: Nope. ADA compliance (on the physical accessibility stuff) is handled via litigation. It became a huge issue some years back…. multiple disability rights groups started filing lawsuits by using Google Earth to find places that were noncompliant.

    HOWEVER, accessibility requirements also live in the ICC/ANSI codes and A117.1 standard, so building inspectors and plan reviewers can enforce those requirements. However, if building owners and tenants are making changes after the certificate of occupancy is provided, then it is unlikely that they would get caught.

     

    ETA: Republicans made it more difficult to enforce the ADA requirements.

  223. 223.

    Percysowner

     

    I want to thank everyone for their kind words. This has stirred up a lot of emotions, so right now I’m processing.

  226. 226.

    rikyrah

    @suzanne:

    BTW, houses of worship are exempt from the built environment portions of the ADA. This is pretty limiting for older people

     

    Which is so wrong. I mean, being forced to take some of those tithes to actually HELP people?

    Heaven forbid.

  227. 227.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    It’s just not for what we think it should be for – it’s for a lack of manly decisiveness or Biden “outsmarting” them.

     

    They were sold a bill of goods that Biden was a doddering old fool.

    But, then, Dark Brandon keeps on collecting wins against them..

    so, what does that say about them?

  229. 229.

    rikyrah

    @Percysowner:

    The story about your mother breaks my heart. So absolutely wrong.

     

    My aunt’s closest friend had a older sister that was disabled.

    They grew up in Mississippi, which of course, no facilities, if they existed, were open to Blacks.

    When her sister passed, she  only wished that the programs available now had been available then. But, then, it was families like hers that fought for programs to not only be created but also  be available to ALL, no matter the race.

  232. 232.

    Geminid

    The moving company is probably tryng now to put together a fairly full trailer load before they haul it cross country.

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