Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

This fight is for everything.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I really should read my own blog.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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

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

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Not all heroes wear capes.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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

He really is that stupid.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Politics / Proud to Be A Democrat / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Beginning to Agree Satire Is No Longer Possible

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Beginning to Agree Satire Is No Longer Possible

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The Reichwingers are absolutely furious at Christie — they’ve all decided to call him ‘White Lizzo’. Because what could be worse than comparing a white man to a fat, black woman?

‘Biden will not lie down & give up! This is practically cheating, if you squint hard enough… ‘

Okay, we can still make fun of our extraplanetary (mis)adventures, I guess…

Reader Interactions

211Comments

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    It’s summertime.  Politics news is wonky in the summertime.

    Meanwhile, … Science.org:

    This week, social media has been aflutter over a claim for a new superconductor that works not only well above room temperatures, but also at ambient pressure. If true, the discovery would be one of the biggest ever in condensed matter physics and could usher in all sorts of technological marvels, such as levitating vehicles and perfectly efficient electrical grids. However, the two related papers, posted to the arXiv preprint server by Sukbae Lee and Ji-Hoon Kim of South Korea’s Quantum Energy Research Centre and colleagues on 22 July, are short on detail and have left many physicists skeptical. The researchers did not respond to Science’s request for comment.

    “They come off as real amateurs,” says Michael Norman, a theorist at Argonne National Laboratory. “They don’t know much about superconductivity and the way they’ve presented some of the data is fishy.” On the other hand, he says, researchers at Argonne and elsewhere are already trying to replicate the experiment. “People here are taking it seriously and trying to grow this stuff.” Nadya Mason, a condensed matter physicist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign says, “I appreciate that the authors took appropriate data and were clear about their fabrication techniques.” Still, she cautions, “The data seems a bit sloppy.”

    […]

    What are the reasons for skepticism?

    There are several, Norman says. First, the undoped material, lead apatite, isn’t a metal but rather a nonconducting mineral. And that’s an unpromising starting point for making a superconductor. What’s more, lead and copper atoms have similar electronic structures, so substituting copper atoms for some of the lead atoms shouldn’t greatly affect the electrical properties of the material, Norman says. “You have a rock, and you should still end up with a rock.” On top of that, lead atoms are very heavy, which should suppress the vibrations and make it harder for electrons to pair, Norman explains.

    […]

    (Pairing of electrons is what causes the reduction of the resistance to zero. No pairing, no superconductivity.)

    Time will tell.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Ken

    Seeing that still picture for the “Dark Brandon” clip made me realize something. I was visiting my sister one time, and she was watching some reality TV show. Two of the contestants were sharing some deep plot-twist secret, and one of them reacted with this absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top gaping expression, I suppose meant to convey amazement. And I thought at that moment “you’re ‘acting’ on TV, but you’re not even ready for community theater.”

    Now I’ve realized that many Fox newsreaders are not even ready for reality TV.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    @Another Scott:

    They come off as real amateurs,” says Michael Norman, a theorist at Argonne National Laboratory. “They don’t know much about superconductivity and the way they’ve presented some of the data is fishy.”

     
    Sounds like they’ll be internet stars.

  9. 9.

    bbleh

    Biden Cinch For Nomination, As Economy Roars
    And Trump Faces Multiple Criminal Trials
    Why Democrats Should Be Worried
    Analysis by The Times

    Ok, no more.  Too easy anyway

    And OMG, watching conservabots attempt to process actual humor is itself humorous.

  10. 10.

    Suzanne

    “That’s actually a really dark joke at the expense of the American public! Brandon is not a compliment!”

    LAWL. Cry harder, fascists. It’s funny.

    In updated news, SuzMom got in to see the orthopedist this week, and they did a great job setting her mind at ease that she is not imminently dying, and they gave her enough clear information (with my help) that she has agreed to get a hip replacement. Sooooo good news. She called yesterday to get it scheduled and they are going to call her back on Monday with the details. So, another surgery isn’t great, but it is much better than extended suffering!

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    Weekend potpourri.

    1) Funny and informative, always a nice combo. Settle back with mug o’ java in a comfy seat.

    What’s the deal with airport codes?

    2) Chinese cars hitting European markets.

    “This isn’t a logo, this is a complete sentence.”

    3) Retro media mention.

    Whether lightweight or understated is in the eye of the beholder. Amusing nonetheless gentle James Bond spoof Hot Enough for June to be found on Tubi and also Plex. Dirk Bogarde, Robert Morley and Leo McKern more than ample excuse to put one’s feet up and escape into the world of 1960s Cold War espionage.

    4) Repeated for the weekend crowd.

    Time, I guess, to start contemplating a possible NYC meet-up.

    Will be traveling there from the 22nd through September 6th. First weekend is completely taken up for me with a fershslugginer wedding, however the next (Labor Day holiday) weekend is wide open. Looking for preferences of dates/times among September 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th and also suggestions regarding a venue.

  13. 13.

    Shalimar

    People have been calling Chris Christie fat his whole life.  This one probably hurts even less than most since there is no reason he should know who Lizzo is.

  14. 14.

    Delk

    Didn’t get a chance to mention it yesterday but August 4th marked my tenth year of sobriety.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Brandon is not a compliment!

    Neither is it an insult, or so my buddy Brandon says.

  17. 17.

    lowtechcyclist

    ‘Mornin’, y’all!

    On my way to central Florida with my wife and son, for a week with the in-laws and then a week on the beach at Anna Maria island

    ETA: Last vacation before the permanent one. 😊

     

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    @Another Scott: Over the last week or so, there have been several attempts at replication. None have seen both a zero-resistance state and the corresponding magnetic signature of superconductivity (the Meissner Effect, where magnetic flux is pushed out of the material when it goes superconducting). There are some partial replications, but so far nothing definite.

    The theorists have come up with a mechanism that could explain it, using an exotic (but reasonably understood) effect called a flat-band dispersion. The problem there is that theorists can explain most anything, whether or not that anything actually exists…

  22. 22.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    So Trump wrote that Truth Social post about coming after people, and within hours, the DOJ filed a request for a “protective order” in which Trump’s post is mentioned. What does a protective order mean?

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    @dmsilev: +1

    The problem there is that theorists can explain most anything, whether or not that anything actually exists…

    Hehe.  :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    MattF

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Apparently the killjoys at DOJ haven’t mastered the trick of ignoring the explicit meanings of the various threats Trump posts on his very own social media site.

  29. 29.

    Lapassionara

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: As I understand it, the DOJ does not want Trump to be able to share the information he is given in discovery with the public. This would be such things as witness transcripts, etc.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That among the many things one can’t do, is threaten another person. Not that that ever stopped my ex’s husband from threatening me (when I had a PO between him and my sons) but it did make for some very uncomfortable moments for him and shut his lawyer right the fuck up.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    @eclare

    It’s turned into a three day production, with yours truly now cast as chauffeur back and forth from country to city multiple times for some who can’t or won’t drive.

  35. 35.

    Quiltingfool

    @OzarkHillbilly: OT…Do you have the book “Caves of Missouri”?  Published in 1956, Mo Dept of Geological Survey and Water Resources, author J. Harlen Bretz.

    Reason I’m asking is I have this book, can’t remember how I acquired it (hey, been over 30 years since I worked at Ozark Caverns!).   If you don’t have it, I’d be happy to give it to you.  I think you’d get a kick out of it – caving in the 50’s!  Some historical background about some show caves, too.

    You’re the only spelunker I know, lol.  Let me know if you’re interested, and we can coordinate through Watergirl.

    Got to go get some work done, but I’ll be reading comments later today.

  37. 37.

    delphinium

    When reading about all of the stupid, outrageous things said by Fox folks and other RWNJs, am always reminded of the Voltaire quote Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

  39. 39.

    Matt McIrvin

    “White Lizzo”? They lifted Todd in the Shadows’ crack about Meghan Trainor?

    (which he acknowledged was musically unfair to Lizzo, labor issues aside)

  40. 40.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sounds like some people are mad that their plausibly-deniable disguise for their profane hatred of Joe Biden got hijacked by people who like Joe. Or was the Dark Brandon meme created by enemies and then hijacked by Friends of Joe?

  42. 42.

    Urza

    @Another Scott: On the off chance they’re right, it might be expensive to make, but the materials are super common so we wouldn’t be fighting China or whoever to extract them.
    I’m holding out for multiple confirmations though since it is unlikely.
    If true, it’ll change the world in so many ways.  Our current tech will look like a rotary phone.

  44. 44.

    Matt McIrvin

    @OzarkHillbilly: As always with this kind of thing, I feel sorry for people actually named Brandon when the name becomes a national joke about something unrelated.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    Anyone else having issues with making Patreon payments since August 1?  I managed to change a card for Wonkette and that went through, but nothing else is going even on the new card.  No errors, nothing from my CC company, just not going through.

    Grr…

    Sorry Billin – I hope it’s resolved soon.  (I feel for the folks who may be depending on that income and having it suddenly dry up.  :-( )

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  49. 49.

    Kristine

    @Another Scott: I had a Patreon issue last fall–they had an problem with my credit card, which to that point had been working fine for over a year. For reasons, I didn’t realize this until a few months had passed, and when I tried to reestablish the accounts with the same card, Patreon wouldn’t take it.

    Fast forward to June–I was able to reopen accounts with the same card. Nothing about that card had changed, so no clue what the problem was.

  50. 50.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Another Scott: There’s a “megathread” on Reddit, in /r/physics if anyone wants to read superconductor experts discussing why they’re skeptical of the claim and what needs to happen to constitute confirmation.

    I gather the megathread idea is to pull all discussion into one place rather than have 10,000 separate threads clutter the forum.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Quiltingfool: Bretz’s book has long been recognized as the bible of Missouri caving. For some reason or other I never bought a copy. Thanx for the offer but I doubt I would read it at this point. If you have a Grotto* near you, you might consider donating it to them. Some have libraries that members can check books out from and even if they don’t, I suspect some member of theirs would like to have it.

    *Grotto: NSS affiliated caving club.

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR:

    Or was the Dark Brandon meme created by enemies and then hijacked by Friends of Joe?

    I believe that’s the story. Somebody somewhere mentioned Chinese propaganda farms as the original source.

    And how dare those colonial rebels hijack “Yankee Doodle” and start singing it themselves. It’s meant to be satirical, dammit! It’s just not fair!

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: ​ As I understand it, Dark Brandon had it’s start when a Chinese govt propagandist added the laser eyes to a pic of Biden and the Biden campaign hijacked the image and called it “Dark Brandon.” Who knows if that is correct.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Matt McIrvin: ​ I suppose I could take all the “angry white men” comments personal (I am a man, I am white, and I am quite often angry) but for some reason they roll off me like water off a duck’s back.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    Osita Nwanevu
    @OsitaNwanevu
    28m
    Honestly, Hanania’s career has been a useful experiment. How much open racism can you express in public while still being published at major publications, even as many prominent journalists, pundits, & editors know you’re racist? Dialed it in just right for a while. Good to know!

    The racism is the main thing here but don’t forget he also hates women and thinks we’re subhuman. That’s just groovy with the powers that be at the NYTimes and the WaPo.

    “Why do all these Nazis keep ending up in my newspaper, hired at my college, promoted in my Substack?”

    One would think these clownish, cowardly, low quality “public intellectuals” would ask themselves that question but they’re ninnies who are afraid of their own shadow so they won’t.

  68. 68.

    Shalimar

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The protective order is something DoJ was most likely going to file next week anyway.  It isn’t specific to Trump’s post yesterday.  It is an order to prevent Trump from sharing any of the confidential information his lawyers get in discovery.

    Including Trump’s post yesterday in the filing is a warning to Trump and his lawyers that DoJ is watching every single public statement and will react quickly when he crosses the line to explicitly violating the magistrate judge’s order.

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Thanks for the pointer.

    Here’s the clicky linky thing.:

    Here’s what’s at the top at the moment:

    cosmic_magnet

    22 hr. ago

    As someone who has worked professionally in the field of high-Tc superconductivity for many years now, one of the biggest misconceptions I’m seeing is that a substantial portion of the world seems to think that simply showing a photo of “magnetic levitation” is proof of the Meissner effect and therefore superconductivity. It’s not. To help non-professionals better understand, here are at least five things that must be shown to prove superconductivity, off the top of my head:

    1. Resistive transition to an R = 0 state below Tc. Everybody knows this one, but it needs to be actually R = 0, not R = 10^-5 or some other “low” value. Also, the width of the transition cannot be extremely narrow. For fundamental reasons, the width of the transition is proportional to Tc, so for a room temperature superconductor we would expect a very wide, gradual transition in R(T). This is doubly true for a material that depends on dopants (disorder) to generate superconductivity.

    2. Magnetic field expulsion, ie the Meissner effect. This needs to be shown in both zero-field cooled and field cooled data. If it’s only shown in zero-field cooled measurements then that could indicate a “perfect metal” state or a magnetic state, but not superconductivity. Also, the Tc needs to agree with the Tc from resistivity measurements. This sounds silly to say but there have been claims of room temperature superconductivity where the values of Tc are contradictory!

    3. A jump in the heat capacity at Tc, which is connected to the condensation energy (or energy saved) by the electrons when they form Cooper pairs.

    4. Quantum measurements. Superconductivity is a fundamentally quantum effect. You cannot derive it from classical physics. This means you need to show quantum measurements of the superconducting gap opening at Tc, quantized charge number 2e, and preferably also the phase coherence and symmetry of the wavefunction. This can be done with tunneling experiments and optical absorption or spectroscopy.

    5. Persistent current. If there is truly a superconducting state, then current will flow forever. The definitive proof of traditional superconductivity was when researchers made rings out of the material and dunked them into a cryostat for a long, long time. They observed no discernible decrease of the circulating current in the rings lasting for literally years. If there’s any decay at all, even if it takes days or weeks, you don’t have a superconductor.

    As an aside, DFT calculations have never correctly predicted a superconductor before, so the likelihood they have now is quite low. DFT is a low-computational-overhead technique useful for getting a quick and general picture of what you’ve got, but it struggles in cases where there are strong correlations or largely unknown interactions. LK-99, even if it isn’t a superconductor, is going to be a very complicated material likely with a lot of competing effects. DFT calculations pushed out in less than 5 days are going to be less than useless. They’re simply stunts done by the authors to grab easy citations to fluff their H-index, because the first person to publish anything will be the first cited.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    @Anyway:

    My gut feels fine. It was not hurting; I just knew I needed to replenish the biome after 10 days of clindamycin. I’ve been trying to eat gut-helpful foods like yogurt, kefir, etc. And I have been taking some Florastor capsules, recommended by a friend.

    My leg is more of a concern. It has been hurting a bit, and I have to go through a big production to change the dressing every day. Hard to do with the wound location and only one set of hands. I’ve got another follow-up appointment on Tuesday.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @Anyway

    For the Friday dinner and the Sunday breakfast, AFAIK anything goes.

    For the Saturday wedding,”formal,” which as I’ve confirmed with the groom’s mother actually means “nice.” No longer own a dress jacket or suit, so that’s a load off. Did make the concession of ordering a long sleeve shirt (something else don’t own). Plan to as soon as possible morph into more casual attire for the reception.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    Scott Lemieux
    @LemieuxLGM
    16h
    John Eastman had a cushy teaching gig at a major research university while he was clumsily plotting an autogolpe with the president and writing that an African-American woman born in California was ineligible to be president. True story!

    Our elites are dumb and low quality. I genuinely believe this happened because they engineered a country where there is huge income inequality so they are lodged up top and there’s no competition from below to knock them out of the sinecures. Quality has suffered. They never had to compete and it shows. It’ll get worse every succeeding generation too as the nepo babies promote their own nepo babies. This is a quality death spiral.

  76. 76.

    smith

    Re the Sam Stein tweet up top: The Dem party itself may be getting fewer contributions, but overall Act Blue fundraising at the end of Q2 is $25.8M ahead of where it was in 2019. Could it be that people are redirecting their funds to individual candidates, various advocacy and activist groups, and state parties? I know I decided to go that route a few years back when I got tired of the weak sauce the party’s consultants were coming up with in the face of GQP’s ever-increasing fascism.

    As to the repurposing of the “Brandon” insult, they thought “Obamacare” was an insult, too.

  77. 77.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: Heh, I had to pass on a wedding recently when the morning of, I finally read the invite and found there was a very specific dress code.

    “Fuck that shit. I’ll be damned if I am going to go out and buy a suit that I will never again wear.”

  79. 79.

    dmsilev

    @Another Scott: I would add to that (excellent) post a note that the original preprint about LK-99 showed a heat capacity curve which had absolutely zero indication of anything superconducting, and the authors blithely ignored that minor inconvenient fact and just talked about some other (not particularly interesting) information that they derived from that curve.  To me, that was one of the glaring red flags in the original data (there are several others; maybe the authors have something, but they did an absolutely shit job characterizing it).

  83. 83.

    CliosFanBoy

    @Anyway:  I just found out there are CHRISTMAS! Aloha shirts! I am so set for December!

    Retired in May from teaching college.  I was among the last of the “tie people” among the male profs. Now all I wear is Aloha shirts, except for church or a nice dinner out, which get a short-sleeve dress shirt and, MAYBE, a tie.

  84. 84.

    Anyway

    @Steeplejack: ouch! Leg sounds painful, didn’t realize the dressing had to be changed daily. Hope they’re pleased Tuesday with the way it’s healing — glad it’ll be looked at soon.

  86. 86.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @CliosFanBoy: Oh yeah, there’s one of them in every county!

    I saw your post about chemo.

    I think you have me confused with somebody else. (eta: I now am reminded that JR in WV is going thru chemo) No chemo for me.​

  90. 90.

    Kay

    @smith:

    “Because small donors are a proxy for enthusiasm, if people aren’t concerned about the drop-off in contributions, then they just aren’t paying attention or whistling past the graveyard,” said Ari Rabin-Havt, who served as deputy campaign manager on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. “The impact is from top to bottom. You can see it in the ActBlue number, you can see it from the DNC down through every group. There has to be a quick examination among Democrats about what is creating this enthusiasm gap.”

    Sorry, he just isn’t a credible source. That’s the Bernie Theory – that his hitting up his supporters constantly for two cycles of small donations = winning. He bled those fucking people like an ATM and there was no President Sanders.

    “Enthusiasm gap” is a bullshit red flag. I’m pleased Biden runs a lean campaign though. We have our own grifters to starve.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I would think not having Trump in office is the prime reason people aren’t as “enthusiastic.”

    When you’re not facing immediate danger, you tend to calm down.

  92. 92.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: Not only did he bleed them like an ATM (I am going to steal that line) he also made them uber cynical about the Democratic party. The election is rigged BS started with BS and his cult during the 2016 primaries.

    The horseshoe left is the beta testing ground for Republican attacks

    DNC is rigging elections

    BS was robbed

    Blaming HRC for legislation that Bill Clinton signed (and BS voted for)

    and so on during the 2016 elections.

  93. 93.

    sdhays

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ve never understood about 90% of wedding traditions. The desire to micromanage the clothing of even the guests is just a totally foreign concept.

    My wife and I had two wedding ceremonies since our families were on different sides of the globe, and we were the only people who bought anything special to wear (at least we certainly didn’t tell anyone to buy anything). We honestly wouldn’t have cared if people showed up in shorts and flip-flops.

  96. 96.

    smith

    @Kay: Unfortunately, a lot of candidates seem to have bought the Bernie theory. I have often had the experience of making a donation, and within the hour getting a text or email or both asking for more. This, in addition to the fact that campaigns rarely if ever send a simple “thank you” before hitting you up for more really leaves a sour taste. I have no idea what crackpot fundraiser thinks this is a good way to cement your relationship with your donors, but that guy seems to be advising all of them.

  98. 98.

    Tenar Arha

    @Nukular Biskits: I can’t remember, was it you who I told that I’d let you know if the 70mm Oppenheimer was worth it?

    Anyway 👍👍, and if it was you, you should definitely try to see it on a bigger screen in the 70mm version. It looked even more amazing than the standard HD digital projection projection I saw it in on that first release night showing.

  102. 102.

    Alison Rose

    @Delk: Congrats!! The tenth wedding anniversary gift is tin or aluminum, so I guess…buy yourself some foil and sculpt a big 10? But seriously, that’s awesome 🎉

  104. 104.

    Alison Rose

    @smith: I hate that, donating and then a day later, getting an ask. They are perfectly capable of running a merge/purge on their donor lists and removing emails from people who have donated within the last X number of days, but no campaigns seem interested in doing so.

  105. 105.

    schrodingers_cat

    @sdhays: Indian weddings are huge affairs but no one tells guests what to wear. When I was going through my rebellious phase as a teen, I wore pants and sported a short haircut to my uncle’s wedding and no one batted an eyelid.

  110. 110.

    sdhays

    @schrodingers_cat: I’ve been to an Indian wedding and Chinese weddings and it’s the same – unless you’re part of the core family, no one really expects you to dress up.

    I also have never been able to wrap my mind around the idea of bride’s maids having to buy their own shitty dresses that the bride picks out. If you want someone to participate in YOUR wedding, pay for that shit yourself.

  111. 111.

    Burnspbesq

    @Delk:

    Didn’t get a chance to mention it yesterday but August 4th marked my tenth year of sobriety.

    Good on ya, mate! Best wishes for year eleven.

  112. 112.

    Ishiyama

    At the very least, the application for a protective order will result in an exchange between Trump and the Judge, in which she schools him on the tools that she has available to compel his obedience – and then, if he keeps it up, the escalating sanctions start. “Sit in the corner for an hour” – in lock-up.

  114. 114.

    Albatrossity

    @Kay:

    John Eastman had a cushy teaching gig at a major research university

    He was at the Law School at Chapman University. Law schools generally conduct no research, and Chapman is basically a Bible college with some research-intensive outliers funded by major donors. Last I looked Chapman was an R2 in the Carnegie scale of research universities. For comparison, Cal State – Fresno is also ranked R2.

  115. 115.

    kalakal

    So it appears the latest fad amongst  people with more teeth than braincells aka TikTok pranksters is going into a library with a book, going to a staffed desk, ask for help with reading a page and then ripping the page out and handing it to the staff while secretly filming hoping for the staff to freak out. Had some clown this week do this. Got the response ” That’s not a library book, now kindly go away is there any library business we can help you with?”. He seemed most disappointed.

  116. 116.

    RaflW

    @sdhays: I will say that if BF and I ever get married (17 years without!), I’d ask people to wear festive attire, but make it clear that is in the eye of the dresser, not the host.

    If you feel fun and comfortable in it, wear it! The point is to celebrate, not just the couple, but the friendships and kinship that support the couple.
     

    ETA: is it just me, or is spell check getting more aggressive? It seems to now take a typo and a space and the next word and moosh them together into a word far afield of what I wanted.

  119. 119.

    Burnspbesq

    @Kay:

    I lived five minutes away from Chapman for 29 years, and I’m here to tell you that Lemieux is full of it when he refers to it as a “major research university.” It’s the safety school for spoiled affluent white kids who didn’t work hard enough in high school to get into USC.

  120. 120.

    Villago Delenda Est

    How stupid is Rachel Campos-Duffy?  So stupid that she’s never heard of meme inversion, and Biden has done it.

  121. 121.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @smith: “Care to make it monthly?”

    IF I WANTED TO I WOULD HAVE!

    That is annoying, but I’m willing to overlook just about everything– even the solicitations “from pets”, which I really, really hate– except texting. Campaigns should not text. Do not do this. Stop it.

  122. 122.

    Another Scott

    @Albatrossity: Maybe she’s thinking of that kook from Stanford (and/or Hoover)??

    Dunno.

    [eta: Yet another example of the dangers in reading and replying to threads from the bottom up…]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  123. 123.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Kay:

    The racism is the main thing here but don’t forget he also hates women and thinks we’re subhuman. That’s just groovy with the powers that be at the NYTimes and the WaPo.

    Earlier this week I commented that WaPo published an article by Charles Murray that opined that broken windows policing worked and benefitted “urbanites who are minorities or have modest incomes, or both.” Like slavery taught skills. Maybe time to move on to the LA Times.

  125. 125.

    CliosFanBoy

    @schrodingers_cat:   My wife and I went to a Hindu wedding here in the US some years back. (Both parties 1st generation Indian-Americans, but it was a love match and not arranged).  I was amazed that.

    1. No one was paying attention.   Everyone was passing food around as the priest seemed to go on and on.

    2. How long it was!  The groom later complained to me that the priest was one of those who loved a captive audience, and so he did talk far too long.  Even the Bride and Groom tuned out.

    But my wife and I dressed nicely, and so did the guests (as far as I could tell.)  My wife was in heaven with all the food. Alas, I am a picky eater, and I hate South Asian food. (sorry)

  126. 126.

    John S.

    @zhena gogolia:

    My wedding was renaissance themed, so naturally we suggested that guests attend in themed attire. But we didn’t require it.

    I would say 90% of our guests were in themed attire, and it was spectacular.

  127. 127.

    sdhays

    @RaflW: Yes, exactly! Asking people to dress up is totally reasonable! It’s just micromanaging everyone’s attire like you’re putting on a musical is weird.

  128. 128.

    RaflW

    @kalakal: I give it about five minutes before a dope does this to an actual library book and gets ear-hauled out of the building, while another librarian calls the dope’s mom for her credit card number for the replacement book.

  129. 129.

    Elizabelle

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:  LOL.

    And Pitchbot’s got merchandise!  T shirts, hoodies, coffee mugs ….

    Doug J. Balloon, who I do not support, is now selling official merchandise. We accept all major credit cards with secure checkout. Shipping is free and orders should arrive within 10 days to any US address. Here’s why that’s bad news for Joe Biden.

    I want bumperstickers!

  130. 130.

    Kelly

    @Suzanne: I drove my Mom in for Mohs surgery to remove a basal cell skin cancer just below her right eye on Wednesday. It was an all day process. The dermatologist removed the cancer. It was so close to her eye a specialist plastic surgeon repaired the hole. She’s resting comfortably. I first noticed the spot 2 years ago. She dismissed it as just a sore. She claimed our primary care doc looked at it and said it was nothing to worry about. Mrs Kelly, who has had 3 Mohs surgeries for basal cell was skeptical. After decades of robust health Mom had a TIA in January and also needed 6 weeks of treatment for a pressure ulcer (bedsore) on her heel. She turned all the doctor scheduling and driving over to me. Drove her to see a lot of medical folks from January through March. All of them said you need to get that looked at. I put a note about the sore on her appointment with our primary care doc. Turned out she’d been hiding it behind her covid mask.

    She’s come around to the surgery is a good thing. She’ll have another spot taken off by her shoulder blade after this heals. Encouraging her to get her cataracts fixed after that.

  131. 131.

    sdhays

    @John S.: That makes sense. A themed party could definitely be fun. The key is for everyone to be having fun and hopefully comfortable.

  132. 132.

    RaflW

    @sdhays: Not a major reason we’re in no hurry, but the whole ‘bridezilla’ over-orchestrated, “what if everyone wears cerulean blue?!” thing is off-putting.

    We’re attending a party this afternoon in a town park to celebrate a couple who had a six person, 10 minute wedding a month or two ago. Second marriage for both, and they just want to have fun with friends and not have it be so O.T.T. (over the top). We’re so happy to go!!

  135. 135.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax: ​
    One of my favorite bits of ephemera is the luggage tag from my sole flight into Pangborn Memorial Airport:

    “EAT Wenatchee, Washington”

  138. 138.

    Another Scott

    Short thread:

    Teri_Kanefield
    @[email protected]

    My response to all the people saying “Trump needs to be treated like the rest of us if we were criminal defendants.”

    Most people get third-rate low level prosecutors who shake their fists and bluster and screw up and give the defense lots of openings.

    Trump is getting special treatment: The nation’s best prosecutors.

    After mulling over the indictment, here is what I think . . .

    1/

    Aug 05, 2023, 10:08 · Edited Aug 05, 10:09

    They don’t want to go after Trump as a third-rate mob boss who blusters and threatens people.

    Those are a dime a dozen and everyone knew this about Trump when he was elected president in 2016.

    They want to nail him as the first president in United States history to make a serious effort to overturn a presidential election and remain in power.

    Type #1: Third rate mobster. A dime a dozen.

    Type #2: The would-be tryant trying to subvert the Constitution itself.

    2/

    At the same time, the DOJ’s cool filing asking for a protective order shows that they will immediately use to their advantage any of Trump’s usual shenanigans.

    They know who they are dealing with.

    Trump only knows how to deal with people who bully back. He is outclassed.

    Trump is a criminal defendant. In the contest between defendant and government, the government has all the power.

    That’s why defendants have rights.

    Trump is powerless right now.

    3/

    Good, good.

    She’s always worth clicking over to, and scrolling down a page or so for the new stuff.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Tom Lehrer gave up on satire when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize.

  144. 144.

    trollhattan

    @CliosFanBoy: My first experience at a Catholic wedding I was probably in junior high. Ceremony went on, and on and on and on. At long last the couple were declared “man, and wife” to my great relief.

    Then, they began communion for the 2-300 in attendance.

  145. 145.

    Haroldo

    @Delk:

    Didn’t get a chance to mention it yesterday but August 4th marked my tenth year of sobriety.

    An anniversary well worth celebrating. Congratulations!

  146. 146.

    Ken

    @Another Scott: Trump is a criminal defendant.

    Are we at the stage of the legal proceedings where we can take out full-page ads in the New York Times calling for his execution, and of his co-conspirators? I understand that is an accepted part of the process with long historical antecedents.

  147. 147.

    kalakal

    The missus and I got married at Ft DeSoto Park on the beach in Fl. The only uniform element was everyone wore sunglasses.

    I once went to a High Anglican wedding.

    It was mind numbingly tedious. The sermon lastest about 3 weeks and was completely inane. It used the “Tree of Life” as a metaphor. Starting with the roots it took about an hour just to reach the topsoil.

  148. 148.

    schrodingers_cat

    @CliosFanBoy: My grandparents marriage was also not “arranged”. They are rarer but not non-existent

    I am not a huge fan of the wedding banquet cuisine, which can be a tad rich. Also there is no “Indian food” or “South Asian food” and I am not a huge fan of most Indian restaurant or commercially available food that is available here.

    If you don’t my asking, do you know which part of India was the couple from.

  149. 149.

    Bill Arnold

    @delphinium:

    the Voltaire quote Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

    Since this thread has pursued the origin of the Dark Brandon meme, poked briefly at that quote.
    Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities (November 8, 2021, Quote Investigator)

    Voltaire 1765: Certainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde, est en droit de vous rendre injuste
    …
    Translation 03: Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices

    The first modern form of the attribution is around 1914.

    1914: As long as people continue to believe absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities (Spoken by a fictional version of Voltaire)

  152. 152.

    Nukular Biskits

    It’s hot outside.

    Everybody else: How hot is it?

    It’s so hot outside that the guys on the garbage truck offered me a Gatorade when they stopped to pick up the trash.  Seriously.

  153. 153.

    Kay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I was angry about it. The donations. I think a lot of the teenagers and young twenty somethings were naive about political fundraising and spending and he was milking young people who make 25k a year. I can’t stand waste and I hate when they get ripped off. The fact is they ARE young and they ARE naive and there are WAY too many vultures preying on them. I agree too that his two campaigns left a group of his young supporters feeling bitter and used – not by Hillary Clinton but by Bernie Sanders. These would not be the “Leftist” identity people in their 40s and 50s and 60s. These would be loosely attached sort of vague “liberals”.

  154. 154.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I would be very happy to never attend another wedding. Surveying the youths of my acquaintance, I at least don’t think I’ll backed into any formal church/2-300 people in a hall or hotel extravaganza

    I was talking to a friend whose nephew had a destination wedding (Cabo San Lucas, I think), and we all figured half the point was to weed out the guest list and avoid the above. Come to find out that two years later the bride is still bitter more people didn’t take their vacation days and spend thousands of dollars to witness her Special Day

  156. 156.

    Kay

    @Burnspbesq:

    Thanks for the correction. However. That doesn’t explain the University of Texas and Stanford designating this creep who is a Right wing comment section come to life as a “visiting scholar”. They need to take a hard look at WTF they’re doing.

    You should read the blurbs on his book. These people are the biggest suckers in the entire world and my question is do they READ anything? They can read this guy and not think “hmmm- that sounds just like a Nazi!” None of this is original to him. How can they NOT have encountered this before?

  157. 157.

    Rand Careaga

    @Burnspbesq:

    It’s the safety school for spoiled affluent white kids who didn’t work hard enough in high school to get into USC.

    In my set—I lived in Southern California in my youth—we used to describe Pepperdine University as the school for rich Republican kids who were so dumb that even USC wouldn’t take ’em.

  159. 159.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Our wedding was in front of the justice of the peace’s Christmas tree in his living room (he forgot that we had an appointment with him and invited us over).  It was great, about 7 people total.

    Highly recommended.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  160. 160.

    JAFD

    @Kelly: Getting cataracts fixed is definitely worthwhile.  Can get along without glasses, most of time, since I got mine removed.

  165. 165.

    cain

    @bbleh: I’m curious are Gen Z and younger Millennial media people doing the same kind of bullshit that teh boomer/gen x media people are doing? I mean the older folks grew up in Reagan era so they are wired for Republicanism. But what about these younger folks?

  166. 166.

    Anyway

    @Another Scott:

    Maybe she’s thinking of that kook from Stanford (and/or Hoover)??

    I thought Eastman was from Claremont — that’s a RW school in California, right? Saturday, too lazy to look it up.

    So many RW kooks and funders to keep track.

  175. 175.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Bill Arnold: I had the same reaction. I looked at his other articles, and decided it was (probably) was not snark ?

    Eta: I did not watch his videos, so I dunno.

  176. 176.

    trollhattan

    FAAFO–Chino, CA edition.

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta is opening a civil rights investigation into the Chino Valley Unified School District after it adopted a controversial policy that requires the school to notify parents if their child is transgender.

    The “Parental Notification Policy” requires teachers and school staff to inform parents if a student requests to use different pronouns or a different name than that on official records, or if the student uses bathrooms or joins programs that do not align with their sex assigned at birth. It also requires parents to be notified if their child is involved in violence or expresses suicidal thoughts. The school board voted 4-1 on July 20 to enact the policy.

    That same day, Bonta sent a letter to the superintendent and board expressing “serious concern” about the legality of the new rules, given that they could violate California’s antidiscrimination and privacy laws. School board president Sonja Shaw defended the measure Friday. “This (investigation) is a ploy to try to scare all the other boards across California from adopting the policy,”

    Shaw said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “They are making dangerous assumptions when they say parents are dangerous to their children. They are overstepping their boundaries.” Chino Valley Superintendent Norm Enfield and the school district were notified of the investigation moments before the public announcement. Andi Johnston, a spokeswoman for the district, said they are still reviewing the correspondence.

    The California Department of Education says “disclosing that a student is transgender without the student’s permission may violate California’s antidiscrimination law by increasing the student’s vulnerability to harassment and may violate the student’s right to privacy.” It advises that schools consult with students about who can or should be informed of the student’s gender identity.

    In 2005, a federal court ruled in C.N. v. Wolf that a California school district violated a student’s right to privacy by disclosing her sexual orientation to her parents. Federal courts have also recognized gender identity as protected under the Constitution’s fourth amendment right to privacy. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Chico Unified School District’s policy of protecting the gender identities of students from their parents. U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez said that the privacy interests of the school district and the student overrode parental rights. In doing so, Mendez also kept intact guidance by California school officials.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article277978328.html#storylink=cpy

    I trust the Chino parents backing this proposal are sanguine about the district’s budget now being shunted over to lawyers defending the district, henceforth.

  181. 181.

    Alison Rose

    @trollhattan: Oh fuuuuuuck that shit. I’m glad Bonta is going after this. JFC these assholes either don’t realize or don’t care that this could literally get a kid kicked out of their home or killed.

  182. 182.

    hueyplong

    @Bill Arnold: The first thing I think of when seeing a commercial movie promoting a toy and an incipient movie franchise, while making its creators historic amounts of money, is COMMUNISM.

    As “woke” runs its course we’re about to be back to “communist” as the preferred shorthand for whatever makes red-assed internet trolls feel extra red-assed and trolly.

  183. 183.

    Juju

    @trollhattan: Blame the couple for that. With a catholic ceremony the couple has the option to do a full mass with the ceremony or just the ceremony. A full catholic mass and wedding ceremony is excruciatingly boring, and I say that as a person who was raised catholic. A mass by itself can be excruciatingly boring.

  185. 185.

    cain

    @CliosFanBoy: My first wedding was a big deal (oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son) so a ton of people showed up – and of course nobody pays attention. Indian weddings is all about catching up.

    In the old days, in the south – people would come to weddings and it would take them a few days because they couldn’t afford cars or a flight (and they were going to a village anyways) and so when they showed up – a wedding would last days because nobody is going to travel for a few days and only hang out for one day.

    My dad did NOT like long weddings and made sure that he told the priest to cut it short. Remember that scene from Princess Bride? Where the Humperdinck was urgently whispering to the priest – “Man and WIFE! Man and WIFE!” – that was my dad :D

    As modernity set in and people could afford cars and plane trips – the length of an indian wedding went from 2-5 days to 2 days. (eg the weekend, cuz people actually had stuff to do, kids have school etc)

    When I got married the second time (the first time was an arranged marriage, although we dated for 6 months) It was one hour, and we removed all the misognistic parts, and adapted it for two couples in their 40s and 50s. If anybody wants to see the ceremony – happy to share. It’s on youtube.

  186. 186.

    trollhattan

    @Juju: I’ve been to others, long since, that avoided the communion bit entirely, but this was back in the Paul VI era and rules were still rules, damnit! Plus both families were Italian.

  189. 189.

    trollhattan

    @Alison Rose: Right? I wonder how many straight-A students suddenly declared they did NOT want to go to school anymore.

    “Think of the kids.” is code for “Forget those ungrateful assholes, what about my politics?”

  190. 190.

    Ken

    @trollhattan: Sonja Shaw: “They are making dangerous assumptions when they say parents are dangerous to their children.”

    Well, no, not an assumption; the crime statistics for child kidnapping, abuse, and murder.

  191. 191.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Rememebe how the defense of Clarence Thomas being flown around the world on private jets and vacationing at a private resort (I’m still working my brain around that one) was that he and Crazy Ginni just like to park their old Winnebago with the folks in WalMart parking lots? (link to the dread NYT)

    His Prevost Marathon cost $267,230, according to title history records obtained by The New York Times. And Justice Thomas, who in the ensuing years would tell friends how he had scrimped and saved to afford the motor coach, did not buy it on his own. In fact, the purchase was underwritten, at least in part, by Anthony Welters, a close friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.

    that was in 1999, it was 8 yrs old, and new ones went for about $1,000,000 at the time

    [Welters] would not say how much he had lent Justice Thomas, how much the justice had repaid and whether any of the debt had been forgiven or otherwise discharged. He declined to provide The Times with a copy of a loan agreement — or even say if one existed. Nor would he share the basic terms of the loan, such as what, if any, interest rate had been charged or whether Justice Thomas had adhered to an agreed-upon repayment schedule. And when asked to elaborate on what he had meant when he said the loan had been “satisfied,” he did not respond. […]

    “He told me he saved up all his money to buy it,” said Armstrong Williams, a longtime friend who worked closely with Justice Thomas in the Reagan administration.

  192. 192.

    cain

    @schrodingers_cat: I can imagine. :D

    My wife and my parents get along really well – but occasionally she gets  frustrated with them and her mother. It is a generational thing more than a cultural clash thing.

  193. 193.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Alison Rose: I hate that, donating and then a day later, getting an ask. They are perfectly capable of running a merge/purge on their donor lists and removing emails from people who have donated within the last X number of days, but no campaigns seem interested in doing so.

    And why is that? Because those bloodsuckers** are exquisitely aware that the highest return on electronic panhandling investment comes from those who have already contributed to a political campaign of even distantly-related politics. So you get hit up again & again & again & again & again & again & again & again & again & again &… So you need to unsubscribe & unsubscribe & unsubscribe & unsubscribe & unsubscribe & unsubscribe, as often as necessary. (Of course as soon as you choose to contribute to a campaign or cause the whole rigmarole repeats and you’ll need to repeat the unsubscriptions as well…)

    ** NB all professional fundraisers are bloodsuckers who gobble up an obscene percentage of the take, regardless of political persuasion – more “America’s only native criminal class” than politicians themselves, pace Sam Clemens…

  196. 196.

    Juju

    @trollhattan: Did the reception make up for the length of the ceremony?  Some of the best wedding receptions I’ve been to have been Italian marrying Italian. The food was usually so good and so much of it, plus cookies and Jordan almonds to take home.

  198. 198.

    MattF

    @Uncle Cosmo: Sorta suspected that was the reason. The correlation may be large, but the irritation is large too— it’s why I generally avoid making contributions. There are a few good actors who take a contribution, say ‘thank you very much’ and then go away, but they are few and far between.

  201. 201.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Uncle Cosmo: That’s the reason I use separate email account for any political donations. The campaigns can spam me all they want, I almost never log into that account.

  207. 207.

    Hamlet of Melnibone

    I’ve never given a political donation via solicitation.  After Trump won in 2016, I started donating directly to campaigns via ActBlue in 2018, 2020, and 2022.  My focus has been competitive races.  I’ll typically look at the races that 538 thinks are winnable and try to send money to a bunch of the lower profile House races.  I targeted some of the SoS races where anti

  211. 211.

    Albatrossity

    @The Lodger:

    Claremont is Eastman. Pepperdine is Ken Starr. Please keep your waste of oxygen law profs straight.

    Claremont does not have a law school. Eastman was in the law school at Chapman University, and is also associated with the Claremont Institute, a “think tank” which is not affiliated with the Claremont Colleges, amusingly.

    Please keep your bible colleges masquerading as universities straight. ;-)

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