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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Never A Dull Moment Break

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Never A Dull Moment Break

by Anne Laurie|  September 9, 20238:31 am| 138 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Jan 6: Insurrection, Nature & Respite, Open Threads, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

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As fall migration begins across the Northern Hemisphere, apps like Merlin, which is put out by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, have caught on among birders and non-birders alike. pic.twitter.com/kHYPhfXs5a

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 8, 2023


(I’m not a birder, but even I can identify blue jays: They’re the ones yelling Thief! Thief!… because, according to folklore, that’s what they are.)

Having mastered the Aspen
Ideas Festival and life of Steve Jobs, I would now like to explain how turning on Starlink would’ve have caused World War III just like Elon, I mean Mr. Musk, says…(1/87) https://t.co/Sf4N7q9GA9

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) September 9, 2023

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Never A <del>Dull Moment</del> Break 1

I (also) approve this message / tactic:

The IRS is launching an effort to pursue 1,600 millionaires who owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

The agency's leader says a boost in federal funds and help from AI tools offer new means of targeting wealthy people who "cut corners." https://t.co/CrgZGDzzgU

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 8, 2023

once again, this town probably has been insanely woke since like 1824 and every church is flying an LGBT flag, https://t.co/5oNz1lXja5

— John Ganz (@lionel_trolling) September 7, 2023

There’s layers to this story…

New Jersey Dating Coach Gets 4 Years for Capitol Riots https://t.co/bKGUK7zLAf via @thedailybeast

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 8, 2023

someone should announce that you're only allowed to eat one lithium battery a week https://t.co/2CeAxxOHwh

— Sen. Lemon Gogurt (I – Podcastia) (@Ugarles) August 31, 2023

It's going to turn out that Ramaswamy is running because he bet someone that he could make RFK Jr look sane https://t.co/CQI7RD6uwX

— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) September 8, 2023

In his defense: as an old person who is bad at technology, Senator Marshall has an easier time calling his usual drug dealer than navigating the Dominos app https://t.co/ncyiCcl1NI

— The Mall Krampus (@cakotz) September 7, 2023

“Live long and prosper with health insurance!”

George Takei joined other striking “Star Trek” stars on picket lines outside Paramount Studios. pic.twitter.com/xYv5UDUuzi

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) September 8, 2023

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Previous Post: « Dank Grey Dawn Open Thread: The Diseased Elephant in the Room
Next Post: Do You Live In Wisconsin? You Have One Job. »

Reader Interactions

138Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 8:34 am

    The town in this picture is Montpelier, Vermont, which voted 88% for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

    Corporate sellouts.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 8:39 am

    The IRS is launching an effort to pursue 1,600 millionaires who owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

    Jackbooted thugs! Stealing all those poor people’s hard earned moneys!

  3. 3.

    p.a.

    September 9, 2023 at 8:42 am

    Hey Nimarata, give your party’s policies, small-town America will become ghost-town America.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 8:42 am

    “It is easier to get a fentanyl tablet and cheaper to get a fentanyl tablet delivered to your home than it is to order a piece of pizza.”

    Speaking only for a friend of mine, that is certainly true.

  5. 5.

    p.a.

    September 9, 2023 at 8:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: b-B-But they’re the jerb createrz!  They tolds me so themselfs!

    Maybe they meant job crater-ers?

  6. 6.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 9, 2023 at 8:44 am

    I know a Birder who talks to other Birders, and they love these bird identifying apps.

  7. 7.

    p.a.

    September 9, 2023 at 8:44 am

    “It is easier to get a fentanyl tablet and cheaper to get a fentanyl tablet delivered to your home than it is to order a piece of pizza.”

     

    Senator outs himself as a no-tipper.

  8. 8.

    Ramalama

    September 9, 2023 at 8:45 am

    I’m loving the variety of features/tweets/topics on this thread. +1 for a town photo anywhere in Vermont.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    September 9, 2023 at 8:48 am

    The “I can’t… order… pizza” incompetent is like the guy who doesn’t know how to call ahead to a motel. They’re failing at ordinary adult chores. We don’t have time to help them all.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    September 9, 2023 at 8:50 am

    Merlin is amazing. Terrific thing. Now if someone would make a really good plant identifier we’d be all set for outside identifying trips.

  11. 11.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 9, 2023 at 8:51 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Are the IRS agent going after millionaires going to be the ones with guns etc. that Grassley (I think) threatened would be there if the funding went through? Because if so, I want pictures.

  12. 12.

    Scout211

    September 9, 2023 at 8:53 am

    Another well-known pair of insurrectionists were sentenced yesterday.

    A Tennessee man dubbed “zip-tie guy” on social media was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in prison in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

    U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth sentenced Eric Munchel of Nashville to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, the Justice Department said in a news release. Munchel, 32, was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

    . . .

    Munchel’s mother was also sentenced Friday, to 30 months in prison.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 8:55 am

    once again, this town probably has been insanely woke since like 1824 and every church is flying an LGBT flag,

    About a month ago I finally got a “Gay Ally” sticker for my truck (in fact I bought 3 of them figuring they would get ripped off the truck) (so far the first one remains on it). Last week I was driving thru Sullivan when I spotted a gay flag on the sign of the St. John & St. James Episcopal Church. Surprised the fuck out of me. Even if it is an Episcopalian church, this is still Sullivan. Just want to give them a small shout out.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 8:56 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Worse than guns, they are coming with calculators!

  15. 15.

    peter

    September 9, 2023 at 8:57 am

    @Kay: There is an app called Seek which uses the data from iNaturalist for identification purposes. It’s very good, and since the iNaturalist data is constantly improving, the app will improve along with it. It correctly identifies most of the tree and bush species in our neighborhood.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 8:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Go Sullivan!

  17. 17.

    Anne Laurie

    September 9, 2023 at 8:59 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: I know a Birder who talks to other Birders, and they love these bird identifying apps.

    Oh, absolutely, I keep meaning to install one myself!  It’s just that even this ex-Bronx kid can identify three basic bird calls: blue jays, mourning doves (I learned that my freshman year in Michigan, after wondering why so many owls were calling during daylight), and English sparrows (who go choip! choip! with a Bud Abbott accent).

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 8:59 am

    @Kay: ​They’re failing at ordinary adult chores.

    That’s what wives are for. Don’t tell my wife I said that.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    September 9, 2023 at 9:07 am

    Merlin’s sound ID is amazing! I tried several bird call ID apps before Cornell launched that function with Merlin (which began with photo and/or user description input ID). All the sound ID apps I tried before sucked, so I was skeptical when Merlin added sound ID to their app. Then I turned it on and saw it accurately identify half a dozen birds in 30 seconds. It can tell a Fish Crow from an American Crow. Sorcery! ;-)

    @Kay: My husband is the flora person in our family, and he has a plant ID app that he seems pretty happy with. I’ll ask him what it’s called!

  20. 20.

    Scout211

    September 9, 2023 at 9:08 am

    @peter: There is an app called Seek which uses the data from iNaturalist for identification purposes

    I love iNaturalist.  What a wealth of information and I love that you can search in so many different ways, especially by locale.  I have it bookmarked for my county.  Having an app that uses the iNaturalist database sounds promising.

  21. 21.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    September 9, 2023 at 9:10 am

    New England seems to be a unique case when it comes to which party rural States support. Vermont is blue but NH and Maine aren’t completely Republican. In fact I’m half convinced NH would be solidly blue except for their determination not to be exactly like those Vermonters. And also the Massholes.

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    September 9, 2023 at 9:10 am

    LMAO. Showing a picture of Montpelier reminds me of the time Trump said, “I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris”, and it turned out 75% of Pittsburgh voters went for HRC.

  23. 23.

    Layer8Problem

    September 9, 2023 at 9:11 am

    @Anne Laurie:  ” . . . this ex-Bronx kid . . . ”

    As a current one, which neighborhood?

  24. 24.

    Phylllis

    September 9, 2023 at 9:14 am

    @p.a.: As her hometown has become.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    September 9, 2023 at 9:16 am

    The MyPillow conspiracy theorist has been freaking out during depositions for a Dominion lawsuit, according to The Daily Beast:

    Footage of one deposition shows Lindell melt down when he’s shown a customer complaint describing a MyPillow product as “lumpy.”

    “No, they’re not lumpy pillows … when you say lumpy pillows, now you’re an asshole! You got that? You’re an asshole is what you are!” Lindell bellows, repeating the insult when he’s prompted by his attorney to stop.

    “Lumpy pillows? Kiss my ass. Put that in your book,” he said. After promising he was “done” with his tirade, he couldn’t resist adding, “Obviously you don’t have a MyPillow, too. You don’t, do you?”

    One thing I give Trump lots of credit for: he inspired many terrible and dumb rich people to self-immolate! They’ve bankrupted themselves and squandered unearned reputations in his service.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 9:17 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I assume Lumpy Pillows would be too obscure for the rotating tag.

  27. 27.

    bbleh

    September 9, 2023 at 9:17 am

    Musk, TIFG, Ernesto Cruz, Tucky Carlson, Mr. MyPillow … how did we end up in the Age of Man-Children?  I mean, was it this bad before and I just didn’t notice?  Or were their wives or bosses or whatever kinda keeping them in check?  What a colossal embarrassment.

    Also, while I’m feeling grouchy, I’m getting REEELY tired of articles (hello CNN) and blog posts with breathless Hot Takes on the Hidden Meanings gleaned from the subtabs of the Latest Poll Results (meaning within the last 12 hours or so).  It’s NOT true that “you can prove anything with statistics,” but it sure as hell is true that if you are particularly discriminating in your cherry-picking you can usually find some statistically insignificant results from a tiny subpopulation that supports your preferred narrative.

  28. 28.

    Skepticat

    September 9, 2023 at 9:19 am

    @Kay: Now if someone would make a really good plant identifier we’d be all set for outside identifying trips.

    Try Plant Net and/or Seek.

  29. 29.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 9, 2023 at 9:20 am

    Musk also gave Isaacson confidential text messages he had received from Ukraine’s Deputy PM, without asking for consent or even notifying him that he’d done so. The Deputy PM first learned of this when being interviewed by the FT’s Chris Miller.

  30. 30.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 9, 2023 at 9:21 am

    @Betty Cracker: I’m not a lawyer, but isn’t that sort of thing generally considered unhelpful?

  31. 31.

    Layer8Problem

    September 9, 2023 at 9:23 am

    We stayed in Montpelier last month for a few days.  It’s a lovely town with good people.  It was seriously hammered by the flooding earlier this year and they’re rebuilding.  If anybody’s going up to look at autumn leaves consider stopping in and helping out local businesses.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 9:24 am

    @Gin & Tonic: At the very least it gives the opposing lawyers a good way to get under his skin.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 9:24 am

    X is no longer labeling ads for some users

    Not disclosing advertisements runs afoul of the FTC’s rules.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    September 9, 2023 at 9:25 am

    @Baud: Probably, but it would be a good band name!

  35. 35.

    Starfish

    September 9, 2023 at 9:26 am

    @Anne Laurie: What’s really cool about Merlin is that it will identify the birds by their calls, so even if you can’t see them, you can know what bird is making the sounds.

    Edit: I see Betty got there first.

  36. 36.

    Nukular Biskits

    September 9, 2023 at 9:26 am

    Mornin’, y’all.

  37. 37.

    Nukular Biskits

    September 9, 2023 at 9:29 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Jackbooted thugs! Stealing all those poor people’s hard earned moneys!

    And that’s exactly how Republicans are going to spin it.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    September 9, 2023 at 9:31 am

    @Scout211: In less than 24 hours, I have seen 3 different reports of the mom’s sentence: 47 months, 36 months, and now 30 months.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    September 9, 2023 at 9:32 am

    Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊

  40. 40.

    hells littlest angel

    September 9, 2023 at 9:34 am

    The Merlin app is fantastic. Thanks to it, I now know most of my neighborhood birds.

     

    And Senator Marshall is right: it’s really hard to find a pizzeria that will deliver a slice.

  41. 41.

    Kelly

    September 9, 2023 at 9:34 am

    @Kay: Google Lens image search is useful for plant id. Often returns several candidates that I can pick the right one. Most reliable for flowers.

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 9, 2023 at 9:35 am

    The agency’s leader says a boost in federal funds and help from AI tools offer new means of targeting wealthy people who “cut corners.”

    Oh noes!  Some people are gonna be losing 2 houses!

  43. 43.

    hells littlest angel

    September 9, 2023 at 9:36 am

    @Kay:Now if someone would make a really good plant identifier we’d be all set for outside identifying trips.

     

    PlantNet is pretty good. Not 100% reliable, but good.

  44. 44.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 9, 2023 at 9:39 am

    If Shithead Ted doesn’t like the beer recommendation, he can always move to Cancun.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 9:39 am

    @Nukular Biskits: ​ Of course. I was quoting* somebody.

    *Not really, but they all say similar things so often it could easily be a quote.

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 9, 2023 at 9:44 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    “No, they’re not lumpy pillows … when you say lumpy pillows, now you’re an asshole! You got that? You’re an asshole is what you are!” Lindell bellows, repeating the insult when he’s prompted by his attorney to stop. 

    “Lumpy pillows? Kiss my ass. Put that in your book,”

    BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

    Completely normal reaction from a grownup if you ask me. 😏

    The only thing missing is him yelling out, “You know who has lumpy pillows?  YOUR MOM!”

  47. 47.

    Jeffro

    September 9, 2023 at 9:45 am

    @peter: Seek is what I use, too!

  48. 48.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 9:45 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    September 9, 2023 at 9:46 am

    @Kay:

    😹 Let Darwinian selection take care of it.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    September 9, 2023 at 9:46 am

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Good morning.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack

    September 9, 2023 at 9:47 am

    @Kay:

    I think there is a good plant/​tree identifier. I just can’t remember what it’s called.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    September 9, 2023 at 9:47 am

    I think that dating coach guy Stedman is on to something – J6 should be a national holiday!  Just not quite the way he thinks.

    I can already think of 5-6 new traditions that would go along with this holiday…

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    September 9, 2023 at 9:48 am

    @Scout211:

    I was delighted to see that. I had been wondering about zip-tie guy and had seen nothing about him at all. I worried that he was one who managed to cleanly disappear.

  54. 54.

    tobie

    September 9, 2023 at 9:51 am

    @peter: What a great tip. Thanks.

  55. 55.

    Ken

    September 9, 2023 at 9:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Worse than guns, they are coming with calculators!

    As Terry Pratchett said in Going Postal, it’s the warfare of clerks, and it harries the enemy through many columns and files with a patience that is first boring, then terrifying.

  56. 56.

    Kristine

    September 9, 2023 at 9:53 am

    @Kay: The Seek app is pretty good. It’s an offshoot of the iNaturalist app.

    It’s dodgy for things like asters–there are so many and a number of them look alike–but overall it’s been pretty good.

  57. 57.

    Kristine

    September 9, 2023 at 9:54 am

    I love the Merlin app. I especially like the new Sound Recordings feature. I can stand out on the deck in the morning and id all the birds.

    And I see @peter: already mentioned the Seek app.

  58. 58.

    tobie

    September 9, 2023 at 9:59 am

    I linked to this shameless piece of fan fiction by Walter Isaacson yesterday. The obsequiousness on display is nauseating.

    https://time.com/6127750/elon-musk-history-innovators/

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:00 am

    My town in Western Mass  has a lot of farmland. There are at least 3 working farms at walking distance from my home.  HRC and then Biden got over 70 percent of the vote here.  The outer ring around Boston is purple, rest of the state is pretty blue

    And it has been this way for a long time. It was an abolitionist stronghold during the era of the Underground railroad.

  60. 60.

    gene108

    September 9, 2023 at 10:02 am

    1. Sen. Marshall isn’t wrong. No one delivers pizza by the slice. In many parts of the country, they don’t even sell pizza by the slice.

    2. Vivek’s just pandering to the lowest common denominator of white bigotry. It’s pathetic. Sadly, it’s been somewhat effective for him.

    ETA: I had a procedure where I could be awake, but was given a fentanyl drip for sedation. Surgeon had the afternoon free so he went at it for a couple of hours. I felt like the warm glow of a sunrise. One of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever had.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 9, 2023 at 10:03 am

    @Baud:

    I assume Lumpy Pillows would be too obscure for the rotating tag.

    But it would make a nice change from Green Balloons as a safe word.

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:05 am

    @gene108: Indian Damien is utterly amoral. He is the beloved of Modi supporters on Indian Twitter. They love his performative bigotry.

    *Indian Twitter (this is Twitter with handles that are in India

    Most Indian Americans with the exceptions of the devout RSS and Modi supporters find him cringe and despicable.

  63. 63.

    persistentillusion

    September 9, 2023 at 10:09 am

    @Kay: I use, and like, Picture This for plant ID.

  64. 64.

    Scout211

    September 9, 2023 at 10:10 am

    @WaterGirl: In less than 24 hours, I have seen 3 different reports of the mom’s sentence: 47 months, 36 months, and now 30 months.

    Here’s the DOJ news release:

    Maybe the other reports tacked on the supervised release.

    Lisa Marie Eisenhart, 59, of Woodstock, Georgia, was sentenced by Judge Lamberth to 30 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

    Munchel and Eisenhart were both convicted of conspiracy to commit obstruction and obstruction of an official proceeding, both felonies, as well as entering and remaining in a gallery of Congress, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building on April 19, 2023, following a stipulated bench trial before Judge Lamberth.

  65. 65.

    gene108

    September 9, 2023 at 10:14 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    My mom follows women online in India who have cooking videos. One lady she follows had her sister interviewed by a media outfit, because they’re somehow related to him. They’re families are from the same ancestral village in Palghat.

    He is getting media attention in India. Kamala got some media attention in India, too.

  66. 66.

    Ken

    September 9, 2023 at 10:14 am

    In criminal sentencing aspirational terms, it’s hard to top the 11,196 years in prison that crypto-scammer Faruk Fatih Özer and his brother and sister were just given by a Turkish court, for stealing about $2 billion in customer funds.

    Link here (warning, it’s coindesk, which has a very ad-forward cookie policy and no way to turn them off).

  67. 67.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:15 am

    Speaking of Indian politicians, I come from a non-Congress family, especially post Indira Gandhi’s semi-dictatorial emergency. But since last year’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, where Rahul Gandhi walked the length of India from TN to Kashmir, he has won me over.

    Check this video out and you will get a glimpse of what I am saying.

    Rahul Gandhi with Kunal Vijaykar who hosts a popular YouTube show Khane me kya hai? (What’s for dinner). Vijaykar and Gandhi hang out one evening sampling delicacies that Delhi has to offer.

  68. 68.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:18 am

    @gene108: Bhakts are not fond of Kamala, but they love themselves some Damien, I mean Vivek.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 9, 2023 at 10:20 am

    @gene108: I felt like the warm glow of a sunrise. One of the most amazing feelings I’ve ever had.

    My first shot of morphine was like that. I’d had emergency surgery w/o anesthetic and when they stuck that needle in my ass I felt a warm golden wave wash over me. It didn’t kill the pain, but it became a beautiful pain, glorious even.

  70. 70.

    Another Scott

    September 9, 2023 at 10:27 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Who orders “a piece of pizza” for delivery??  These people are trying really hard to break our brains.

    And Kay’s right about the nimrod who cried and cried and didn’t call a hotel to try to get a room.  The last time I walked into a hotel to try to get an unreserved room was about 35 years ago (and it worked fine because it was in the suburbs and about 3 in the afternoon).  I don’t pine for those days, and tell all my followers about it looking for clicks, and think that things work the same way 35 years later.

    Hey, nimrod, there are these things called “smart phones” which have things called “web browsers” which let you do things like visit “hotel web sites” or “hotel price search engines” that let you find rooms available.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  71. 71.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 9, 2023 at 10:30 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    help from AI tools

    Okay, yeah.  AI tools would be helpful for an understaffed IRS to pick out the most likely targets to investigate.  I think AI tools are wildly overhyped, but this sounds like an area they could be helpful.

    I wouldn’t want to depend on them if the IRS wasn’t understaffed.  They’ll have prejudices and blind spots that start to show if you use them for everybody.  When you’re drowning in too many possibilities to check, definitely useful.

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    September 9, 2023 at 10:32 am

    @hells littlest angel: It’s tough to find a corner store that will deliver penny candy, also too.

    I guess we have to vote for theh GQP, otherwise things will just get worser and worser.

    [ sigh ]

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    September 9, 2023 at 10:35 am

    @Another Scott:

    He’s an amateur. I can plan trips now between and around really localized weather events. I can go west ahead of a snowstorm and beat it again coming back east with a smartphone and an hourly weather prediction. You can get a halfway point in either distance or time and a motel that is there. They’re just miserable people who like to complain and won’t help themselves to all these great tools.

  74. 74.

    moonbat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:36 am

    Glad to see that the modest trim to the monies going to rebuild the IRS that Kevin McCarthy was so proud of is not stopping them from doing the right thing and going after these guys who commonly cheat (excuse me, cut corners!) on their taxes.

    You want to balance the budget and shrink the deficit, Repugs? Just make all these millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share.

  75. 75.

    Cameron

    September 9, 2023 at 10:36 am

    You can get fentanyl delivered?  Shit.  I’ve been going to the drive-thru all this time.

  76. 76.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 10:37 am

    @Baud:

    Like I said. Lazy.

    I mean, what else do you call it?? They get paid to inform people. That is their job. They accepted a contractual obligation to do so. And they can’t even bother to inform themselves. No, the folks they are supposed to inform have to come along and provide the context (which, to reiterate, the article was ostensibly written to provide) in community notes.

    Just sloppy, slapdash thinking. Abject dereliction.

    These media assholes got their idea of small-town America from a Hallmark romance special. And instead of acknowledging that reality is very different, or at least more nuanced, they try to cram us all into their ridiculous narrative cobbled together in some Hollywood writer’s room.

  77. 77.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    September 9, 2023 at 10:37 am

    @Baud: FTC rules regarding disclosures are woke communism.

  78. 78.

    zhena gogolia

    September 9, 2023 at 10:41 am

    @Another Scott: I want my root beer barrels and red hots! And those little candy buttons stuck on rolls of paper!

  79. 79.

    kalakal

    September 9, 2023 at 10:43 am

    @Betty Cracker: Sounds like a Frank Zappa album

  80. 80.

    Cameron

    September 9, 2023 at 10:43 am

    And here I thought the Lumpy Pillows was a ’60s nostalgia band.  They need to go after this crazy bozo for copyright infringement.

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 9, 2023 at 10:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Seconded. I knew I was in major pain, but I didn’t care.

  82. 82.

    Trivia Man

    September 9, 2023 at 10:43 am

    For plants I use Leaf Snap. It can use the leaf, flower, bark, or fruit

  83. 83.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 9, 2023 at 10:44 am

    @kalakal: That was Lumpy Gravy.

  84. 84.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 9, 2023 at 10:45 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m so old I remember when Republicans used to campaign on “we don’t need to raise taxes, we’ll just get the revenue by pursuing all the tax cheats”.

    I’m not quite sure when that became “tax cheats, we’re on your side and we’ll fire all the auditors to help you.”

    I guess about the same time as they abandoned “we’ll balance the budget”

  85. 85.

    kalakal

    September 9, 2023 at 10:47 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I know, it was a failed attempt at a joke

  86. 86.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 9, 2023 at 10:48 am

    @Another Scott: Hell, I’ve been closed out of a hotel room even when I booked it online. And prepaid it. Months in advance.

  87. 87.

    Ken

    September 9, 2023 at 10:48 am

    @Cameron: You can get fentanyl at the drive-thru? I’ve been licking the handles of Wal-Mart shopping carts all this time.

  88. 88.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    September 9, 2023 at 10:51 am

    @Steeplejack: I have PictureIt on my phone and I love it.

    correction: PictureThis

  89. 89.

    Phylllis

    September 9, 2023 at 10:52 am

    @zhena gogolia: Mast General Store. I can heartily recommend in-person visits, particularly to the original store in Valle Crucis, NC.

  90. 90.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 10:55 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Google Lens is also pretty good. Not just for plants. Its good for any reverse image search.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    September 9, 2023 at 11:00 am

    @Phylllis: Ooh, thanks!

  92. 92.

    MazeDancer

    September 9, 2023 at 11:02 am

    Walter gonna have to cash in all his Morning Joe/CNN/60 Minutes chips to survive his hubris-filled, foolish mistake of choosing a crazy, untalented, not likable, racist, traitorous transphobe for a subject.

  93. 93.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    September 9, 2023 at 11:02 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    After my quad tendon repair on my right leg in early 2021 (tore my left one on a dive trip just before Christmas 2022), I was in the recovery room and felt a huge wave of pain starting.  I have a high tolerance, but this was unreal, and I was strident about needing something because I was panicking. Nurse finally came over, looked at the doc and they both nodded (I guess my BP/pulse was showing legit panic), and she gets the tiniest hypo of fentanyl and sticks it in my ringer bag – instant relief, and I felt like a million bucks. At that moment, I said “Oh. Now I get it.”

    They laughed, but told my wife that I shouldn’t be allowed to sign any contracts, make big decisions or take work calls for 48-72 hours.

  94. 94.

    Mai Naem mobile >

    September 9, 2023 at 11:02 am

    This is so I don’t even know how to describe it weird? It’s supposedly(really does seem legit) Queen’s ‘I want to break free’ done in North Korea in front of Kim Jong Un

    https://youtu.be/jYvcdhCbzJw?si=F0RiftM6XT09HNhs

  95. 95.

    Another Scott

    September 9, 2023 at 11:08 am

    @Mai Naem mobile >: Weird is a pretty good word for it.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    Ben Cisco

    September 9, 2023 at 11:08 am

    Weird random thought: I haven’t encountered ONE mosquito since returning to Alabama in 2018. Not one. Not even at Mama Cisco’s (where I am currently wrapping up a week-long vacation/82nd birthday celebration). Place used to be lousy with them.

    Not that I have a problem with that AT ALL. Just seems a little strange.

  97. 97.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 11:11 am

    @Ben Cisco: Come to Mass, we have lots of mosquitoes. We have also had lots of rain this summer.

  98. 98.

    noncarborundum

    September 9, 2023 at 11:12 am

    @Ben Cisco: Climate change has driven them all up North to Massachusetts.

     

    grumble grumble *scratch* grumble grumble

  99. 99.

    narya

    September 9, 2023 at 11:17 am

    Add me to the list of people who discovered the wonders of opioids (in my case, after fibroid embolization surgery). The weird thing is that it doesn’t make the pain go away at all–it just makes you not care. Once they finally gave me some ibuprofen the pain stopped, which made me happier than the opioids. Like the rest of you, I did suddenly learn why opioids are so addictive.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    September 9, 2023 at 11:21 am

    Your ammo is going to cost more, guess it’s time to stock up.

    California lawmakers will send a state excise tax on guns and ammunition to Gov. Gavin Newsom after years of failed attempts by Democratic legislators. The Senate voted 27-9 on Thursday to approve Assembly Bill 28, which would require manufacturers, vendors and dealers to pay an 11% tax on guns and ammunition to fund violence prevention efforts.

    The bill passed with exactly the two-thirds threshold needed for approval of a tax. Gun and ammunition-sellers would pay the new state tax on top of the 10 to 11% federal excise tax they already pay to fund wildlife conservation efforts. Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Woodland Hills, authored the bill after former Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, failed multiple times to get excise tax bills through the Legislature. Prior to Levine’s attempts, at least three other lawmakers had pushed similar taxes on guns and ammunition since 2013.

    Gabriel’s bill was the first of its kind to pass out of the Assembly. When the assemblyman first put the bill forward, there were questions about whether it was “in the realm of possibility,” he said after the Senate vote. “I introduced this bill at the very beginning of session,” Gabriel said. “A few weeks later, we have mass shootings in Half Moon Bay and in Monterey Park and in all these places.” “Frankly, I think part of the reason the bill passed is the public is demanding this of us,” he added. “They are demanding that we have more solutions that will do more to protect their kids, to protect their communities.”

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article279066169.html#storylink=cpy

    A friendly reminder why we need supermajoritites to get anything done.

  101. 101.

    NotMax

    September 9, 2023 at 11:21 am

    @zhena gogolia

    Little place I make a point of stopping by when in NY for nostalgia’s sake.

  102. 102.

    Betty Cracker

    September 9, 2023 at 11:28 am

    @Ben Cisco: For the past two summers, I’ve noticed there seem to be fewer mosquitos at my place. I’m not complaining either — I’ve saved a ton on DEET! But I hope it’s not a sign some ecological tipping point has been reached that portends mass species die-offs and eventual doom, ya know?

  103. 103.

    zhena gogolia

    September 9, 2023 at 11:28 am

    @NotMax: Ooh, looks great. Maybe we’ll get there one of these days.

  104. 104.

    Ben Cisco

    September 9, 2023 at 11:29 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    @noncarborundum: I’m sorry for you both. Went through YEARS of that growing up here.

  105. 105.

    zhena gogolia

    September 9, 2023 at 11:29 am

    @NotMax: That’s Long Island, right? I was in that town long, long ago.

  106. 106.

    Ben Cisco

    September 9, 2023 at 11:33 am

    @Betty Cracker: Mom’s response when I mentioned it to her: “Wonder what WORSE thing they’ll get replaced with?”

    I wanted to dispute it, but can I really say she’s wrong?

  107. 107.

    rikyrah

    September 9, 2023 at 11:34 am

     

    Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) posted at 7:10 PM on Fri, Sep 08, 2023:
    New reports that there basically is no “Trump 2024” campaign on the ground in Iowa. No surprise. When you’re broke and you’re only pretending to run in order to fund your legal expenses on your way to prison, you’re not going to waste any money on an actual campaign operation.
    (https://x.com/PalmerReport/status/1700300683537444954?t=mpycpmjAnlG-DYCS0oNP3g&s=03)

  108. 108.

    Betty

    September 9, 2023 at 11:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: On her very last days dying from lung cancer, my mom consented to take oxycontin. Afterwards she told my brother, “Oh, now I understand how people become drug addicts.”

  109. 109.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 11:47 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I chuckled at Indian Damien.

  110. 110.

    Ben Cisco

    September 9, 2023 at 11:50 am

    @rikyrah: Also, the rubes will be more than happy to send their money to him. Kinda like the TV preachers scamming their way to Granny’s Social Security checks.

    Come to think of it, it’s EXACTLY like that.

  111. 111.

    Alison Rose

    September 9, 2023 at 11:56 am

    The death toll has gone over 1,000 in Morocco. Just heartbreaking. I haven’t seen any info about local orgs to donate to, but NYT does have this:

    Doctors Without Borders said it was sending teams to Morocco to provide support. Avril Benoît, the organization’s executive director in the United States, said that while the group does not have an established presence in Morocco, it was in touch with local authorities. “Our response will depend on the needs that are assessed on site,” she said in a statement.

    So anyone who has a few bucks, that might be a place to start. I’d assume WCK will be on site soon, too, though haven’t seen anything yet.

  112. 112.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 12:00 pm

    @Subsole: He does give those vibes doesn’t he. His smile totally creeps me out.

  113. 113.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 12:01 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    It never changed. “Tax cheats” was code for black single mothers, or immigrants that took our jerbs and then laid around sponging off our taxes.

     

    Think of tax cheats as a variant spelling of welfare queens or anchor babies, and you’ll have the gist of it.

  114. 114.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 12:03 pm

    @Mai Naem mobile >:

    I watched that, got up, went and checked to see if I was running a fever.

    Nope.

    I am, so far as I can tell, not delirious.

     

     

    That was some weird shit.

  115. 115.

    Miss Bianca

    September 9, 2023 at 12:06 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The only thing missing is him yelling out, “You know who has lumpy pillows?  YOUR MOM!”

    LOL!

  116. 116.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 12:06 pm

     

     

    @rikyrah: Oh please, please godalmighty…let that miserable wretch drag that party down into oblivion with him next year.

  117. 117.

    Subsole

    September 9, 2023 at 12:08 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Yeah. There’s something genuinely unnerving about a man whose smile never quite manages to reach his eyes.

  118. 118.

    Salty Sam .

    September 9, 2023 at 12:25 pm

    @tobie:   I linked to this shameless piece of fan fiction by Walter Isaacson yesterday. The obsequiousness on display is nauseating.

    From 2021.  That piece hasn’t aged well…

  119. 119.

    Ken

    September 9, 2023 at 12:29 pm

    @rikyrah: New reports that there basically is no “Trump 2024” campaign on the ground in Iowa. No surprise.

    I agree that the “campaign” donations are being diverted to his legal bills (and I so hope fake Jack E. Smith is right about wire fraud), but I have to ask, does he need to campaign?

    I’ll still expecting a dozen state Republican parties will find that they never updated their 2020 rules, and are still obligated to give Trump all their delegates without bothering with a primary.

  120. 120.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    September 9, 2023 at 12:32 pm

    @Salty Sam .: Anyone who had anything nice to say about that smarmy fucker, after his attacks/defamation of the hero who saved those kids trapped in a cave in Thailand, was either stone-cold ignorant, or on the asshole’s payroll.

  121. 121.

    Salty Sam .

    September 9, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    @Betty Cracker: For the past two summers, I’ve noticed there seem to be fewer mosquitos at my place. I’m not complaining…

    Here in Texas, we still get them (BAD) in the spring, fall and winter, but summer has become too hot and dry for them.  I won’t complain  about lack of mosquitoes, but I could deal with their presence better than this damnable heat.  This summer broke us- Salty Spouse declared we will not be here next summer.  I was born and raised here, lived most of my life here, and I agree.  We’re leaving.

  122. 122.

    Citizen Alan

    September 9, 2023 at 12:40 pm

    @Steeplejack: I don’t know if I am disappointed or relieved to find out that he was not, in fact, some highly trained paramilitary domestic terrorist who went there to take hostages and/or assassinate democrats but simply some ignorant yokel who picked up the zip ties on-site.

  123. 123.

    Citizen Alan

    September 9, 2023 at 12:45 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Who orders “a piece of pizza” for delivery??

    Maybe he is just sad that Sbarro doesn’t deliver.

  124. 124.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 9, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    @rikyrah: Trump managed to win in 2016 with, by most accounts, no ground game to speak of, so I wouldn’t take this as determinative.

  125. 125.

    Citizen Alan

    September 9, 2023 at 12:50 pm

    @rikyrah: It would be both hilarious and horrifying if shitgibbon can win the republican primary without spending a penny on campaigning simply because he is cult has such absolute control over the party.

  126. 126.

    Miss Bianca

    September 9, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Ah, I’d almost forgotten that “shitgibbon” used to be my epithet of choice for Trump. Thanks (I think?) for the reminder!

  127. 127.

    Miss Bianca

    September 9, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    @Citizen Alan: delete

  128. 128.

    Wanderer

    September 9, 2023 at 1:05 pm

    Merlin sound ID is really fun.  I often realize there are more types of birds around than I realize.  I’ve also used it with the grandkids to help them learn some frequently heard bird calls.

  129. 129.

    Lyrebird

    September 9, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Maybe pizza places are fewer and farther between where you live.

    In these parts, I can think of at least five within 5 mi where you can just call ’em up if you don’t want to deal with the crappy online ordering page.

  130. 130.

    satby

    September 9, 2023 at 1:25 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Delhi street food is the best!

  131. 131.

    JaneE

    September 9, 2023 at 2:10 pm

    Someone needs to tell Ramaswamy that children frequently go with their parents when the parents are deported.  Regardless of their US citizenship.

  132. 132.

    schrodingers_cat

    September 9, 2023 at 2:24 pm

    @satby: Second best. Best is Mumbai, of course.

  133. 133.

    JCNZ

    September 9, 2023 at 4:13 pm

    @p.a.:

    “Senator outs himself as a no-tipper.” Hehe.

    Yet another reason why there should some way of thumbs-upping on this site..

  134. 134.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    September 9, 2023 at 4:48 pm

    Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS): “It is easier to get a fentanyl tablet and cheaper to get a fentanyl tablet delivered to your home than it is to order a piece of pizza.” (?)

    Well, right, you don’t get delivery for a single slice of pizza, you animal.

  135. 135.

    Bill Arnold

    September 9, 2023 at 5:08 pm

    @peter:
    Yeah, the iNaturalist data has been the subject of at least 4 annual machine learning visual classification competitions. It is a difficult dataset, with a very large number of classes (many thousands of species), often with a small number of photos for a class; good side is that the community-sourced labels are quite accurate.
    iNaturalist itself uses it, but good to hear that specialized ID programs are taking advantage of it too.

    iNaturalist Competition Datasets (2017,2018,2019,2021)
    The iNaturalist Species Classification and Detection Dataset (2018, pdf)

  136. 136.

    JR

    September 9, 2023 at 5:38 pm

    @Kay: I found PictureThis to work pretty well. It won’t nail things like all the different varieties of Aster, but it gets the big things right.

  137. 137.

    Misterpuff

    September 9, 2023 at 7:01 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That was Lumpy Rutherford.

  138. 138.

    KCSteve

    September 9, 2023 at 7:25 pm

    72 year resident of Kansas,  I got to call foul.  Tommy Tuberville  is famous  for being the dumbest Senator in office.  I say it’s just because he has a better media operation than are very own Roger Marshall.  Keep it up Roger…you’re beginning to get the recognition you deserve.

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